We changed out of our costumes, throwing the blood stained fabric in a pile on the floor—hopefully to be burned. We slipped on Freya’s nightgowns and fell into the Duchess’s large bed.
The three of us clung together in the center of the mattress with me in the middle. I shifted my head on the soft down pillow and stared at the canopy as my friends slept.
The soft scent of powder and lavender perfume clung around the collar of the nightgown. Freya had just laid in that bed not even a full day ago, and we were what was left in her place.
A new Duchess, a heartbroken daughter, and a…
I let out a breath and closed my eyes. I tried to push it away, but the word echoed in my mind like a scream:
Whore.
I opened my eyes again, staring at the dark canopy above me. Freya did not want Brietta to feel this way. Brietta did not want me to feel this way.
And I never wanted anyone else to feel this way ever again.
I could no longer just run around the palace chasing Ilsa’s ghost or Riyan’s memories. The game had started all over again. This time, I was not going to manipulate Derrick into giving me the Duchess’s crown, I was going to get him to change the world for me.
Derrick wanted me, he desired me, and he would kneel only for me. I had his heart, I just needed his head.
Being Derrick’s friend was not enough. If I were to get close enough to bend his will, I needed to become his mistress.
Just like my mother.
I let out a breath. No, not like my mother. I was finally in control.
I was no whore—I was a fucking lioness.
The sky was still dark when glassy-eyed Merri entered the Duchess’s bedroom and roused the three of us. Brietta solemnly unraveled from our tangle of limbs, rising from the bed as the new Duchess of Lycaster. Magnus nuzzled Annalisa’s arms as she awoke into a nightmare where her mother was dead.
Merri said the maids had selected modest dresses to wear underneath our black shawls of mourning. I spoke up, specifically requesting one of my Hyton Blue dresses for the funeral.
I did not want the Dukedom to think I merely belonged to the new head of the House of Hyton, I wanted to be seen as a Hyton.
Even though my plan was to become his mistress, Derrick did not have me,Ihadhim.His heart was mine and his head would soon be mine too. I just had to get access to him again.
Merri directed the two maids in the group to fetch our dresses. When they returned, Rosaline was with them.
I kept my lips pursed as Rosaline dressed me. If she was supposed to be part of Daigen’s “gentle hand of guidance,” shewas doing a shit job. Hell, Daigen was at the Darkest Night and he could not even save me from…
I let out a silent sigh as Rosaline slipped my bodice on. It did not matter. I could not change it. All I could do was get Fraleigh out of captivity. As long as Derrick played into my hand like he should, it would be easy.
Then I would bring Riyan back from the mountain and hopefully forget any of this ever happened…if he would even want to look at me once he found out.
Rosaline tied my laces at the back of my dress. She leaned in close and whispered so quietly no one else could have heard, “Fraleigh wants to see you.”
I held my breath. Even though my main task was to free Fraleigh from the Hytons, I did not think I would speak to her again.
What could I even say?
Rosaline disappeared back into the fold of maids as I wrapped the knitted mourning shawl over my shoulders. Whatever Fraleigh could say to me, I just hoped it was enough to free us all.
Merri stood on a footstool as she worked the comb of a sheer black veil into Brietta’s hair.
“You will walk with His Excellency behind Duchess Freya’s coffin,” she said. “No one is to see your face until the coronation.”
Brietta rolled her eyes before the veil fluttered over her face.
Once Annalisa had found an embroidered handkerchief to carry, the three of us walked hand-in-hand out of the Duchess’s bedroom. The other Hyton sisters slowly joined us in the hall of the family quarters. Each sister was shrouded in black and completely silent.
