I had hoped that somewhere in our conversation I would find a clue as to how I would get Fraleigh away from the Hytons, but the day had almost ended without a conclusion. Daigen was right, what good was the Bloodstone army when the Hytons had Fraleigh at their disposal? What benefit was my magic if I could not use it when I needed to and barely withstood it when I did?
I had more power than I ever could have dreamed of and yet I was still stuck. The next full moon was creeping closer by the minute and I had no time to waste.
Derrick’s letter crinkled in my hand. I unfolded the parchment, hoping to find something I had missed.
Serafina,
I worry every day that you are safe. I beg you, do not attempt to be intimate with Sir Bloodstone. I would not be able to go on if you left this earth and left me behind to grieve you for eternity.
Enclosed is an invitation to the Darkest Night ball, held every year on the new moon after Selection Night. Please attend, if only so I can know you are alive and unharmed.
I love you.
Eternally Yours,
Annalisa Thornebow
Derrick was no longer signing his secret letters as “Midnight.” He had escalated from sneaking lines in his twin sister’s letters to completely pretending to be her. To his credit, no one at Bloodstone Fortress was familiar with Annalisa’s perfect penmanship to know the thin script did not come from her hands.
I sighed. Derrick was once my only salvation. I used to comb his letters and find clues of his feelings, his dreams, and his fears. I took his vulnerabilities and used them to make him fall more in love with me.Thatwas my sense of direction over the past seven years. If he loved me, I had the crown.
But now that I was back in the grey, directionless void, what did his letters hold? A desperate plea to not seal my blood bond and an invitation to a stupid ball!
Hinges creaked behind me and the trapdoor into the keep slammed closed. Heavy footsteps grew closer, but I did not turn.
The spiky smell of burning herbs hit my nose. Evereon held a tiny rolled-up parchment that was smoldering on one end. He put the roll up to his lips and inhaled deeply, then he breathed out a puff of smoke. “A hell of a day.”
I hummed in assent and eyed the parchment. “Endre used to use those too, for when his breath was short and his chest hurt.”
Endre croaked and fluttered his wings.
Evereon let out a low chuckle as smoke curled around his face. “This is for a different kind of chest pain. Want some? Of all the ways people in Lycaster try to dull their pain, this is one of the least dangerous.”
I tried not to breathe in the repulsive smell and shook my head. Thin wisps of smoke curled around Evereon’s face as my eyes ran along the diagonal line of his scar. The scar stretched from forehead to jaw and cut perfectly between his eyes.
The corner of his mouth flicked up. “It’s from the military academy.”
I dropped my gaze to my folded arms as my cheeks heated. I should not have been staring. “I heard stories of General Hyton’s methods at the academy. I…never thought he could be so cruel.”
“General Hyton didn’t slice me up,” he said with a wan smile. “Riyan did.”
I looked back up and the sight of his scar made my stomach turn. With how deep the cut must have been, I could not convince myself it was an accident.
Evereon shook his head slightly, but his soft smile stayed on. “General Hyton wanted the two noble sons to spar and Riyan would always do anything to impress him.Anything.Makes me wonder how much worse he would have been had he known the General was his father.”
That did not sound like the man I had married. Riyan had a notorious reputation as “the Beast.” He had killed twelve giants,two of them before my very eyes, but I had never thought him capable of carving open a man’s face.
He had only ever shown me kindness…but that was with the blood bond. If the magic of the blood bond had bent my own hardened personality, how much had it altered his?
I bit my tongue as my blood ran cold. “Did…you know anything else about him?”
“Not really.” Evereon leaned against the battlement. “He was an angry child when I was at the academy. Then he was smitten with you when he came back to the fortress. Not much more to him than that.”
A tense breath hissed out of my nose. Another dead end.
My eyes fell to the soldiers patrolling the wall. Evereon had convinced the army I was a benevolent sorceress and loyal to the North, but a few still had their reservations.
“Did Nikkolas ever tell you what the army was for?” I asked.
