I gently pushed the bookcase closed. The herb-filled room darkened but felt somehow safer.
Mother’s arms shook as she rolled the pin. “Did Freya tell you why Anders sent all the sons of Bloodstone and Ravenwood to fight the giants seven years ago?”
I swallowed. “To show the Dukedom he was in control.”
“No.” Mother chuckled darkly as she scooped up the nectar and put it in a mortar. “Because there was a certain Bloodstone son he wanted dead.”
Riyan was fifteen during that battle. Anders only sent a dozen soldiers to fight the giants while thousands of Bloodstone and Ravenwood boys died.
I knew Anders would have done anything to ensure his line of succession did not have competition, but I never thought he would have massacred thousands of his own people—thousands ofchildren.
Mother held out her hand and I shakily gave her the leaf.
“He wanted to get rid of the Hyton heir that badly?” I asked.
She rolled the life out of the new leaf. “Ever since he was born. Nikkolas kept him safe in Bloodstone Fortress, then Ragnar kept him under lock-and-key at the military academy. The only way Anders could get him out of the academy was to send him to war, something his General could not refuse. Anders did not want his brother to suspect that he wanted his son dead, soallthe Bloodstone and Ravenwood sons went up the mountain for plausible deniability.”
Her voice dropped and became more hollow than the husk of the leaf. “It was a failed assassination attempt that murdered my boys.”
My mouth went dry. I could not shatter her by telling her that her precious sons were alive and…I had failed to turn them back into men.
But why was Mother telling me all this? Why was she confessing…?
My heart stopped. My voice was soft as a suspicion turned into a question. “Anders did not fall off his balcony, did he?”
Mother’s face revealed nothing as she scooped the nectar into the mortar again. “He had pushed me for so many years, but when I saw him poison you…it was time I finally pushed back.”
I pictured it clearly in my mind—terrified Hyton Blue eyes with starry robes rippling in the night as Mother shoved Anders over the balcony railing.
And that meant she killed Freya too.
My throat tightened. “Freya did not deserve—!”
“Freya knew.” She did not even look up. “After I undressed you on Selection Night, I met with her in secret and told her our plan. Anders would die before the next full moon. All the blood bonds would be sealed so the line of succession would be secure—”
“Our plan? Who are you talking about?”
Mother added a few drops from a tincture into the mortar. “Ragnar’s allegiance is to hisHouse.He was not going to let his brother destroy it.”
The irony of the wielder of Traitor’s Bane plotting to murder his Duke was chilling, but Anders sent Riyan to die. I would not have acted any differently if someone tried to hurtmyson.
My hands crept over my bodice and rested over my lower abdomen. Without a blood bond, would I ever have a son? My chest ached at the thought of never having children, but without Riyan—
Mother’s hands suddenly spasmed and her stirring stick clattered the floor. Her eyes widened as she grabbed her wrist. “Oh…damn my old age!”
I rolled my eyes. Mother had not even reached fifty years. Why was she being so dramatic?
“Here,” I said as I picked up the stick.
She sheepishly looked down and massaged her wrist. “Could you help your geriatric mother? The mixture just needs to stir for another five minutes.”
I was already taking up her old role as the Duke’s mistress, did she want me to replace her as the Viper too?
I might have been a sorceress, but Mother had mastered the real magic of being pathetic enough to manipulate me. I began slowly stirring the clear, syrupy potion in the mortar.
Before I could ask what the potion even was, Mother cleared her throat. “I did not regale my sordid history for mere entertainment. I-I made a promise, and I need you to help me keep it.”
I paused my stirring. I had never heard Mother’s voice break before.
