I looked across the room at the thin doors with panes of blue and green glass that must have led to the balcony. “Are the doors locked?”
His arm tensed beneath my hand. “Not sure.”
I rose from the floor and carefully dodged furniture on my way to the balcony doors. I found the lock and turned it closed.
“There,” I said with a gentle smile that I hoped Derrick could see through the darkness. “You will not fall off the balcony tonight.”
Silence was the only response. Maybe securing the room even more would help.
I crossed to the bedroom door. The gleam of a silver tray on a low table caught my eye—a loaf of bread sat on it, not a single crumb touched.
I pressed on the door and glanced at the wardrobe. “You are afraid of being murdered but you left the door unlocked?”
Derrick peered around the wardrobe and then the gleam of a blade caught the blue and green light from the balcony doors. “I was going to kill the murderer before he could kill me.”
I bit my tongue. “Derrick, no one is going to—”
“I already killed a man today. What is one more?”
My throat trembled as the image of Derrick plunging the Conqueror’s spear through Brandt’s chest flashed in my mind.
I could not drown in my failure. I was the North’s last hope. Ihadto get into Derrick’s mind so he would free Fraleigh.
I let out a slow breath and turned the lock closed. I joined Derrick in the shadow of the wardrobe and offered him the cup. “Here, while it is still warm.”
Derrick backed away. “What is that?”
“Your mother’s recipe.” I pushed the cup forward. “You have to put something in your stomach.”
His eyes went wide and he shook his head.
He must have thought it was poisoned. I lifted the cup to my lips. “Look, it is fine—”
“No!” Derrick leaped forward, but I held the cup in the air so none of the drink spilled. “I will not let you poison yourself for me!”
I grabbed his face with my free hand. “Derrick, it is not poisoned! Your father is gone! No one is left to poison you anymore!”
He looked at me like he had just fallen backward. The left side of his face twitched again and the knife fell with a clatter as he uncurled his white-knuckled fist.
Damn it, I lost my patience. Maybe I could fix it.
I shifted the drink to my left hand and put my right arm around Derrick’s back.
I gave him a soft kiss on his sharp cheek. “Do you trust me?”
“I trust no one but you, Serafina.”
Out of all the people in the Dukedom,Iwas the only person the new Duke trusted?
I thought I would be excited to use that trust to my advantage, but instead my heart sank like lead.
The irony was nearly as cruel as I was. He trusted no one but me and I was only there to manipulate him.
I glanced at the knife on the floor—a bread knife. “Then please let me take care of you. I know you have not eaten or drank since…since you were last poisoned, but you will die if you keep this up.”
His mouth formed a tight line as he stared at the floor.
I had to push him further. “If you die, you kill Brietta. Do you want that?”
