Derrick looked into his cup. “My…sisters are my friends.”
“And in a few years, you will never see your sisters again.” Anders swirled his goblet. “They will be off in neighboring kingdoms manipulating their own men soon enough.”
Derrick’s brows furrowed. “My…s-sisters w-would not—”
Anders smacked Derrick on the side of his face so hard that he nearly knocked him out of his chair.
If Anders Hyton were not already dead, I would have killed him.
A red handprint burned on Derrick’s cheek and ear. His eyes brimmed with tears and his mouth was frozen in shock.
Anders leaned over him, his face purple with rage. “What did I tell you about that damn stutter? You cannot be weak,ever,do you understand?”
Derrick blinked out a tear and nodded as his body trembled.
I wanted to hold him. He was just a boy!
“Oh, do not even cry,” Anders growled. “Your grandfather once beat me with a leather strap so hard I could not use a chair forthree days.Do you know why?”
Derrick shook his head.
Anders pointed to the portrait of Alastar the Conqueror. “Because we are always compared to him. We cannot show weakness or lack of disciplineever.If we are weak, they will destroy us.”
“Who?” Derrick squeaked.
Anders gripped the arms of Derrick’s chair. “Everyone. You are going to be the Duke of Lycaster. You will not have friends or anyone you can trust. Everyone will try to gain power over you, to use you for their own motives, and you need to know this now…”
He leaned in so his furious Hyton Blue eyes were right in front of his son’s crying ones. “Conquer or die. No weakness.”
Though I wanted to stay with frightened Derrick, the portrait of Alastar the Conqueror pulled my attention away. I stared at his painted Hyton Blue eyes as he stared back at me.
“You are mine, sorceress.”
The strange voice was back. An invisible force coiled around my consciousness and squeezed like a vise grip.
I was not alone in the memory.
I quickly released my hold over my magic. The study disappeared into a sea of darkness as I escaped Derrick’s mind.
My mind settled back into my body. Water lapped at my shoulder blades as I opened my eyes to Derrick’s collarbone. He was still, but his chest slowly rose and fell.
Even if he had fallen asleep, his arms stayed locked around me like a vault, keeping my head above the surface of the water.
I clenched my teeth. I wanted to dig up Anders Hyton and burn his corpse for what he had done to poor Derrick, but I had to focus on the monster in his mind.
Whatever was tormenting Derrick presented itself through Alastar the Conqueror’s portrait, but the Conqueror was long-dead.
But I had to get Derrick calm and stable before I could investigate further.
Magic pulsed around my fingers and his blood vessels lit up at my command: “Derrick, wake up.”
He inhaled sharply and lifted his face from the top of my head. His heart thudded against my chest and he crushed me against him.
“Serafina!” he gasped. “I…I have no idea what happened. Oh…you could have drowned!”
I shook my head. “I am all right. But you need to go to bed.”
Derrick pulled me out of the pool and we retreated into the bedchamber. He put on his night clothes as I combed my hair at the dressing table. After I had tied off my braid, I turned to find Derrick gripping the back of a chair and staring out the stained glass windows into the night.
