Derrick leaned onto the edge of the table, his voice low and dangerous. “You would do well to hold your tongue before talking of spilling Hyton blood.”
I gritted my teeth and desperately pushed down another command: “Derrick, stop!”
Baron Elvar scoffed. “Hyton blood? That woman stopped being a Lycastrian once she bonded to Emperor Orlon.” He waved his hand to the rest of the table, as if beckoning their support. “The one good thing Alastar the Bold did was sell off a daughter to each of the neighboring kingdoms. Their lines of succession depend on blood bonds to the brats that are in the palaceright now.Think of the leverage we could have—!”
Derrick slammed his fist on the table as Alastar tore at the threads of his prison. “My family isnotyour leverage!”
I gathered the strength for a forceful blast of magic to try to pull him back, but Evereon scoffed and broke my focus. All the eyes in the room turned to him as he relaxed in the Bloodstone chair.
“A war with Sudria would be a terrible idea,” he said.
Baron Elvar turned his ire to Evereon. “Of course you would protest,half Sudrian.”
Baron Mydina cut a glare to Baron Elvar, but Evereon flashed a smile. “You talk of what you can gain from war, but you have never borne scars from a General.”
Suddenly every eye was on the line that cut across Evereon’s face, even mine.
He had said Riyan gave him that scar. Had he lied?
“Our lands still bear the scars of the first battle against the giants of Nordingaard.” He turned to Derrick. “How are you going to heal them,Your Excellency?”
The tether on Derrick’s mind thinned—I was losing him.
“I had nothing to do with that,” Derrick responded, low and clipped. “You cannot blame me for—”
“I do not blame you,” Evereon snapped back. He swung his foot off the Ravenwood chair. “But Idemandthat you take responsibility now that you have the power to do something. Ravenwood and Bloodstone are still starving. What are you going to do about it?”
The tether snapped and Derrick threw me out of his mind.
No, damn it!No!
I pressed my hands against the thin canvas of the portrait, casting out my magic to try to reach him again, but I could not get in.
The Barons glared at Derrick, each waiting for him to rise to Evereon’s challenge. Even after a few pounding heartbeats, Derrick still refused to answer.
Evereon shook his head and smiled wryly, not taking his eyes off Derrick. “Just what I thought—nothing. Just like your old man.”
Derrick got up so quickly that the throne flew back and slammed against the wall beneath my feet. Evereon jumped up and he and Derrick stood toe-to-toe.
I wanted to claw through the portrait and drag Derrick back by his collar. Derrick’s neck was tense and rage burned in his eyes—Alastar was rising.
All my efforts were about to go up in smoke.
Evereon merely chuckled in the face of the monster. “The North trustsnothingfrom Hyton Palace.”
Evereon turned, his boots thudding harshly on the floor as he walked past the Barons and shoved the door open.
My blood boiled. Alastar was tearing through its prison because of him.
I tore out of the secret room and stormed through the halls, hunting Evereon down. A flash of crimson rounded a corner and I followed it.
I turned the corner and found Evereon with Rosaline in a darkened alcove.
“Why in the high halls of hell did you pick a fight with him?” I bit out.
Rosaline’s eyes went wide, but Evereon casually turned to face me. “Someone needed to speak for the North.” His yellow eyes flicked down to my skirt. “Especially since its Baron changed colors.”
I gripped my Hyton Blue skirt so tightly I thought I would tear a hole in the satin. “I am doing everything I can to bring Riyan back from the mountain. You haveno ideawhat I have been through to get to this point—”
