She squeezed my hand. “I will schedule a tea with Freya. We can see how much she is willing to say about Ilsa.”
I smirked. “Better fill her teacup with wine.”
She sighed. “Whatever it takes.” She turned to look through the window again, peering into the darkened dressing room with carpets stained with stale tears. “I am through with the lies of men.”
The Duke of Lycaster was still a threat even in his sleep.
As Brietta and I walked through Hyton family quarters, my eyes stayed glued on the rearing bulls carved into the twin doors at the end of the hallway. Duke Hyton was behind those doors, I was sure of it.
I fought the shiver that skittered up my spine, but not because the Duke was mere paces away. A sickening feeling that I could not name pulled at my chest and I could not tear my eyes off those carved doors.
Maybe that sickness was because my mother was likely there too. My stomach turned and I fought the urge to gag.
“Are you sure you are all right after that faerie wine?” Brietta said stiffly. “Five glasses is more than most can handle.”
I nodded, though my heart ached at the absence of the usual warmth in Brietta’s voice. “I just followed what Annalisa was—”
“Brie!”
Brietta and I both turned to the thick-tongued shout. Annalisa finished dragging herself up the stairs. Her curls slipped out of her knot as she stumbled toward us.
“Brie–Brietta!” Annalisa’s eyes were glassy and drooping, but her voice was sharp with urgency. “I am sorry. I am sorry I used to act like such a cu—”
Annalisa gagged and bent at the waist, heaving the contents of her stomach onto the floor.
My hand flew to my face, but the smell of the faerie wine already stung my nose. Annalisa dropped to her hands and knees and retched again.
Brietta wrinkled her nose, but her brow softened. “Oh, Anna—”
“Lady Hyton,” a man whispered behind us. “It is past curfew.”
We both turned. A palace guard slowly approached us, his eyes on Brietta. I tightened my grip on my Nordingaard crystal, completely hiding it from the guard.
Brietta’s brow hardened again and she gestured to poor Annalisa. “Can you not see that the heir’s twin sister is in distress?”
The guard caught up to Brietta. “You know His Excellency’s orders—”
He gripped her elbow but Brietta yanked her arm away. “Do not touch me!”
Her voice echoed around the hallway and the guard’s eyes went wide. He looked over his shoulder at the door with the carved bulls.
The last thing we needed was for Duke Hyton to appear. I quickly knelt beside Annalisa. “I-I have her, Lady Hyton.”
Brietta gave me a stiff-lipped, yet approving look before whipping her head forward and lifting her chin. She walked further down the hall, the guard only two paces behind her.
She slammed Derrick’s bedroom door shut as I helped Annalisa onto her feet. The guard reached for his belt and the jingle of keys echoed in the hallway. A lock clicked.
Annalisa started crying, but I rubbed her back and kept my head down. “Where is your bedroom?”
“T-to the left.” She hiccupped. “Three doors down.”
I wrapped my hand around the handle of what Annalisa said was her bedroom door and pushed. The door opened without so much as a creak.
Strips of moonlight peeked through curtains. A stiff-backed couch and a low table sat near the left wall. On the far right was a large wooden bed.
Annalisa gagged again and I rushed her inside. I grabbed a pot from the floor and held it under her face just in time.
Her knees buckled and she crashed to the floor. I quickly set the crystal on her vanity so I could catch her.
