“You did nothing wrong, Brietta,” I whispered. “You never did.”
Brietta’s arms trembled. A tear hit my shoulder. Then another.
Her mask of quiet confidence finally came off as soon as the first muffled scream tore from her throat. She cried into my hair and I cried into hers, unleashing the roars of two wounded beasts held on chains.
We apologized to each other over and over, understanding each other in a way we never wanted to.
A door clicked open and Brietta and I looked up. Annalisa had walked in from the dressing room. Her face was white and her dress was stained red.
She looked at us like she was looking through us. “They took Mama. The funeral is at sunrise.”
Her hands flew to her face and she sobbed.
Before I could get up to comfort her, a bell tinkled in the air. Magnus rubbed against Annalisa’s legs and let out a soft meow.
Annalisa pulled her hands from her tear-stained cheeks. “Go away, Magnus!”
Magnus prowled over to the dressing room door. He meowed and scratched at the door, swishing his fluffy tail.
“She is gone, damn it!” Annalisa cried. “Mama is gone!”
I got up from the couch and held her as she sobbed. She did not even care that I was half-naked, she clung to me like I was driftwood in the open sea.
I looked past Annalisa’s curls to find Brietta at Freya’s desk, reading a piece of parchment. Brietta’s eyebrows knitted and she placed her hand over her mouth.
She softly walked over and handed me the letter. I rubbed Annalisa’s back as I examined it. The letter was addressed “To the new Duchess of Lycaster” and was sealed not with the seal of the House of Hyton, but with a beautiful fuschia wax with a lioness emblem.
“Freya’s personal seal,” Brietta softly explained.
I gently unfolded the letter and read:
Brietta,
Anders was never going to sign a reformation. My Midnight always held our liberation. Do NOT give him an heir until he releases all women of Lycaster from bondage—that is your only power over him.
Yes, I knew I would never see my own freedom, but my dream was dead until I met you. You will be Lycaster’s salvation.
You are no longer kittens. You are lionesses.
Stay strong.
The parchment crinkled in my hand as I read the lines over again. That was not a letter Freya had in her desk just in case of her demise. She wrote that letter knowing her time was coming, and soon.
Buthowsoon?
Annalisa’s sobs calmed as I handed the letter back.
Brietta’s once sorrowful eyes gleamed with determination. “Derrick is going to change the laws. The Baron council may resist, but the Duke has the ultimate say.”
“Ultimate say?” Annalisa yelled. She pushed away from me and faced Brietta. “Do you two have any idea how much pressure he is up against now? The Barons will not just let him—!”
“I do not care what the Barons say.” I rose to my feet as my fire raged beneath my ribs. “Derrickwillsign a reformation and hewillfree Fraleigh.”
Annalisa’s lip curled into a sneer. “And how do you know—?”
“Imakehim want it.” I splayed my fingers and all the magic in the air awoke at my command. “Brietta keeps her womb empty and I whisper into his mind until he gives us everything we want.”
Annalisa’s brows knitted and her lip trembled, but she bent down to pick up Magnus. She nuzzled into his thick fur and choked on her last sob.
