General Hyton smiled and took the goblet from Mother’s hands. “At least she is still good for something.”
If I were not in danger of being imprisoned for sorcery, I would have boiled that wine right before it touched his lips.
My eyes flitted to the throne—empty. I searched around the room for any sign of Derrick, but I could not find him.
A missing Duke was certainly a problem. Solving that problem would make me look quite useful to the paranoid General—like abenevolentsorceress, even.
I squeezed Annalisa’s hand and sent a gentle command into her mind. “I have to find your brother. Entertain these snobs, will you?”
Annalisa blinked and then a wide smile spread across her face. “Did any of you notice His Excellency has a scar on the back of his right hand?”
A small smirk flicked up Brietta’s cheek, but her father and uncle raised their eyebrows.
Annalisa held up her right hand. “He tried to take my dessert when we were little, so I stabbed him with a fork. Nearly pinned him to the dining table!”
Baron Elvar barked out a laugh as I made a show of draining my goblet. I smacked my lips. “So vicious, Annalisa! But it looks like I am out of wine, I need to find more.”
I maneuvered my skirt around the Elvars as they implored Annalisa to share more stories.
Whispers hissed past my ears as I crossed the ballroom.
“So much for our new Duke!”
“Looks like hehoppedaway!”
I glanced out the windows and found Derrick. He was standing in the garden and looking up at the bull statue.
I had not even spoken to Derrick since the Darkest Night. How could I face him again?
I closed my eyes and leaned into the soft song the Nordingaard crystal pushed into my skin. I was calm and I was brave—I could do something as simple as speak to a friend.
Even if he had just killed my soldier.
I let out a breath before I stepped out into the starry night. Even the tapping of my slippers against the steps did not catch his attention.
Maybe the sound of my voice would wake him. “Derrick?”
No answer. His face was still gaunt, but his chest rose and fell rapidly with shallow breath.
I wrapped my hand around his. “Derrick?”
His hand trembled. “Why is there still blood?”
I looked up at the statue. Servants had cleaned all of his father’s blood off the stone and polished the golden horns clean.
“Derrick, there is no—”
“Thereisblood!” Derrick shouted. The muscles in his arm jolted harder. The veins in his neck bulged. “I still see it. I feel it on my hands. I smell it. Fuck, I taste it. Itasteit!”
I grabbed his arms and pulled him toward me. “Derrick, look at me!”
His eyes met mine, but it was like he could not see me. The left side of his face twitched.
Shit, what was happening to him?
I stood on my toes and held his face. I stroked his sunken cheeks with my thumbs as he shook. He was little more than a skeleton wearing skin.
“When was the last time you ate?” I demanded.
