He scoffed. “And what did you find in those wine-stained pages? Inventive ways to manipulate your husband? Incoherent babble about my dead grandfather? Or perhaps a detailed list of every way to destroy me?”
I squeezed Brietta’s hand. Derrick’s paranoia had spiraled to an incomprehensible level. Maybe if he just let me touch him, I could put him to sleep one last time and give us a chance to escape.
Before I could take a step forward, Brietta straightened her spine and spoke up. “Our plans of freedom, Derrick. That was what was in the diary.”
I looked from Brietta to Derrick. His brow creased and his shoulders stiffened.
Brietta took a step forward. “Full citizenship for the women of Lycaster. Property ownership. Access to inheritance. No more bride auctions.”
I bit my tongue. Revealing our plans was not going to make Derrick any less paranoid, but it would at least give me time to look for a way out.
Derrick’s voice was low. “You know I cannot do that.”
Of course he would deny her—Alastar would never allow it.
My eyes darted toward the study door. There was at least one guard outside and likely the General too. Not ideal.
Brietta stepped forward until she was right in front of the desk. Her spine was straight. “It is time. Your mother knew it, your grandfather knew it—”
“The Barons would stop it.” Derrick rose to his full height, but Brietta’s eyes were still higher than his. “They are already looking for a reason to dethrone me and behead me. The only liberation you willeversee is when your head is liberated from your shoulders.”
My eyes swept the walls, searching for the portrait I had looked through earlier.
Brietta gestured to me. “You fear the Barons when a sorceress has been by your side this whole time?”
Derrick barked out a laugh and shoved away from the desk. “I see what you are doing now. You are trying to use my love for Serafina against me.”
He stepped in front of me and held my shoulders. Even though he looked at me with glassy eyes and a smile, the door into his mind was bolted shut.
I still had no way inandno way out.
He kept his eyes on me. “But you do not understand what Serafina and I have, Brietta. She demands nothing of me.”
Brietta’s voice had a deadly edge. “Because she has no choice—you own her.”
He shot a glare at Brietta. “I never made that happen.”
My white flame raged and I could not hold back. “Youliar.”
Derrick’s eyes widened. Even Brietta held her breath.
I stepped out of Derrick’s embrace and glared up at him. “You gave me that dagger saying you just wanted to keep me safe, but then you hired Grigory Thornebow to kill Riyan before my blood bond was sealed.”
His chest rose and fell as he silently looked at me. I tightened my hands into fists at my sides. “Eight thousand marks was quite a bargain—eliminate the Hyton heirandown me.”
The air was tight as a noose. I barely reined in the flames inside me, ready to counter when Alastar finally broke free. If Derrick took a single step forward, I would choke him on his own tears.
But instead of fighting back, his face softened. “He was going to kill you, Serafina.”
The ember in the center of my heart warmed and my fire cooled only slightly. He was still wrong. “Riyan would have never—”
“Not him.” He shook his head slightly. “My father.”
Brietta looked at me as I held my breath. Duke Hyton was a horrible man, but would he have really killed me?
Derrick grabbed the bottle of spirits by the neck. He took a long drink before leaning against the edge of the desk and staring at the sunset through the window. “He never even wanted that monster in Selection Night, but my damn uncle had backed Father into a corner. Uncle Ragnar led a surprise siege of Nordingaard without my father knowing—the prime opportunity to show off his bastard to the entire Dukedom.” Derrick swirled the bottle. “He gave Father a choice—either Uncle Ragnar would reveal thatheconquered Nordingaard where their Duke had failed…or his monster would get the first selection of a bride. Father had to choose stability of the Dukedom, even if that meant giving the dangerous heir his own line.”
My eyes darted to Brietta and her face turned white—she was supposed to be Riyan’s choice.Shewas the price of the Dukedom’s stability.
