Despite footsteps running through the halls like rain, the palace was still somber and grey. All nine of us huddled at the bottom of the foyer steps, waiting to face the Dukedom.
Stiff-backed soldiers marched through the foyer at the direction of General Hyton, who was dressed in his military uniform. He did not have so much as a scrap of bronze paint left on his skin from the night before, but his body shone with all the brass regalia he could fit on his chest and shoulders. The only part of him that did not shine was the black scarf tied around his right arm and the lavender rings beneath his eyes.
“I bet a hundred marks Derrick does not have to cover his face,” Brietta grumbled beneath her veil.
Annalisa wrung the handkerchief in her hands. “WhereisDerrick?”
General Hyton crossed over to us. I quickly glanced away as my cheeks warmed.
It was almosthim.After I drank the Cupid’s Blood, I had thrown myself at Riyan’sfather.
I had to stop myself from retching as General Hyton bowed to Brietta. “Come with me, Duchess. We must begin the procession.”
Brietta’s eyebrows knitted beneath her veil—she was the only woman tall enough to look General Hyton in the eye. “Derrick is supposed to be here.”
General Hyton’s voice softened. “He is safe. We found that Alastar XI’s death was an accident, but His Excellency is in a secret location because he could still be in danger.”
Accident or not, Anders’s gored corpse flashed through my mind. Only the snap of Annalisa’s teeth pulled me out of the horrifying image.
“Bullshit,” she said. “How convenient that the man next in line for the crown is keeping the new Duke locked away? Quit acting like you—”
“Do you want to walk behind his coffin next?” General Hyton’s eyes turned deadly. He dipped his chin and faced his youngest niece. “While you are painting your silly pictures and dancing at the fourth ball of the week, the rest of the world is in chaos. The Sudrian empire is crumbling.”
Sapphira spat a curse in High Sudrian that I could not translate. Rubia grabbed her arm to keep her from charging at the General.
General Hyton paid no attention to the scorned empress and kept his eyes on Annalisa. “Your brother is the last of his line. You never know what an ambitious few would do to the last Hyton heir, especially when he is in such a fragile state.”
I gripped my skirt. Fragile?
General Hyton looked up to address the rest of the family. “The House of Hyton is in a precarious situation.” He shot me a quick, pointed glance. “If you want to make it out alive, you will listen to me.”
I swallowed and shut my eyes, but his footsteps drew nearer. General Hyton bent at the waist until his face hovered near my left ear.
“We will talk later,” he forced something hard into my hand, “sorceress.”
My hand instinctively wrapped around my Nordingaard crystal, but every other part of my body froze. In the bloody frenzy of the Darkest Night, I had forgotten that I had even worn the crystal.
General Hyton walked away as if nothing was amiss and offered Brietta his arm. Brietta quirked her chin up and walked beside him, but Annalisa shot me a worried glance.
My heart thudded, but the familiar crystal on my skin sent a gentle whisper of serenity through my body.
General Hyton held the Duke himself somewhere unknown and gave the Duchess orders. He commanded all the palace guards and the entire army.
No wonder he had never made any moves for the crown. He was already the most powerful man in the Dukedom.
If he wanted the sorceress dead, I would not be standing in the foyer with an illegal crystal in my hand. I had to be useful to him…somehow.
With a wave of his hand, General Hyton signaled for us to join them outside. I quickly stashed the crystal inside my bodice and held Annalisa’s hand as we walked into the cold dawn. The rest of the Hyton sisters paired up, gripping each other’s arms as we all joined the funeral procession.
Six soldiers each carried two oak coffins and stood in a line in front of the palace gates. The coffin at the front of the procession had the Lycaster flag draped over it and the Duke’s crown on top. The second coffin had a modest wreath of fuschia flowers laid upon the wooden surface.
Brietta stood right behind the second coffin. She took a breath, straightened her spine, and sent her shoulders back.
She stood alone, but she could not be weak.
A line of the six Barons wearing their colorful House capes stood behind us. Baron Tyreon Elvar wore rich purple and chains of diamonds. His eyes swept from General Hyton to Brietta—the richest man in the Dukedom now had the Duchess for a niece.
General Hyton whistled and my head whipped forward. Legions of soldiers snapped into attention at once. I quickly scanned the soldiers for Brandt’s round face. The entire Lycaster guard seemed to be present—had Brandt thrown on a uniform to stand with them? Or was he sitting in an empty guard house?
