The guard sealed the panel shut behind us and we were within the walls again.
All the smoldering sconces on the walls were identical and the roughly hewn bricks in the passages were a monotonous grey. How did anyone find their way?
I kept pace with the guard as I nibbled on the skin around my thumbnail. The moment the coppery tang of blood hit my tongue, I swiped my thumb on the stone.
The slight twinkle of magic in my blood sang out to me as I left it on the wall. The small tear in my skin healed almost instantly because of my magic, so I bit my thumb again.
I repeated the bite, bleed, and smear over and over as we traveled through the narrow halls and down a set of spiraling stairs. As soon as the guard opened up a door and the smell of crisp morning dew filled my nose, I placed my hands demurely in front of me.
My crystal warmed against my thigh and I threw a quick sweep of magic behind me. The trail of blood on the stone glimmered like moonlit pebbles in my mind.
A smile flicked up my lips. I had a path out of the palace.
The guard wordlessly led me to a small castle built into the wall surrounding the palace—the guard house.
Horses whinnied in the stables as we approached the guardhouse door. The guard reached for the door handle when a shadow washed over us.
“Not the front door, Jonson. This is no place for a lady.”
The guard whipped around. General Hyton stood behind us, his towering height blocking the rising sun. The sun’s rays gavethe General’s white hair a golden glow, making him look nearly identical to his son.
If Riyan were not fifteen feet tall, anyway.
General Hyton quickly unpinned his cape from his shoulders. “And I told you to wait until the lady was properly dressed.” He wrapped the cape around me, shrouding everything below my neck in Hyton Blue. “No one should see the wife of the future Baron of Bloodstone in her nightclothes. What were you thinking?”
The guard swallowed. “You said—”
General Hyton’s eyes flashed a deadly look. The guard mumbled his apologies and then disappeared.
The General turned to me and warmth filled his voice. “My deepest apologies, Madame Bloodstone. Please, join me.”
I placed my fingers in the General’s waiting palm. Even though the top of my head did not even reach his shoulder, he was careful to keep pace with me as he led me around the guard house to a more secluded door.
The door led to a staircase lined with Hyton Blue banners bearing the House emblem—the rearing bull. We passed so many bulls as we ascended the steps I felt like I was in the middle of a stampede. At the top of the steps was a single door which the General unlocked with a small iron key.
The room on the other side of the door looked more fit for a prince than the General of the Lycaster army. A four-poster bed sat on a raised platform. The blue and white striped Lycaster flag hung above a crackling fireplace. A tapestry bearing Alastar the Conqueror with his signature spear and shield stood guard over the room.
General Hyton led me to a small table where I sat in a chair carved with snowflakes and flying birds. No desk—he did not conduct official business in the room. Regardless of whateverGeneral Hyton had in mind, he intended to make the meeting look like a friendly visit.
As if to illustrate my point, he crossed over to the fireplace and removed an iron kettle from the fire. He poured the tea into two waiting cups that sat on a nearby cupboard.
While his back was turned, my eyes darted around the room—taking in as much information as possible. A map labeled “Nordingaard” was nailed to the wall next to the Alastar the Conqueror tapestry. A lock of red hair laid on the edge of the night table. Below it, the tail of a crimson ribbon peeked out from the top drawer.
The floorboard creaked. My eyes snapped forward and my gaze fell on his perfectly-made bed.
General Hyton set the glazed teacup in front of me. I kept my hands folded politely in my lap, even as the rising steam tantalized my nose.
He moved around the table to sit across from me, setting down his teacup with a tiny clink.
He rested his forearms on the table. “Imagine my surprise to hear you came back so soon, even after my warning about the…delicate situation the House of Hyton is in.”
General Hyton had told me to go to Bloodstone and leave the Hytons behind, but it was not for my safety. They were just concerned that I would keep Derrick from consummating his marriage to Brietta. Since the future Duke and Duchess of Lycaster were irrevocably bound, my presence was no longer a threat. Why was he so concerned?
“We have not had a war with another country in centuries.” General Hyton raised an eyebrow slightly. “What, then, do you think my job is as the General of the Lycaster army?”
I took in a breath, smelling the fragrant tea. “Well, I know you run the military academy and I assume you oversee the palace guard.” I dipped my head slightly to look up at him throughmy eyelashes. “But a man of your caliber is capable of so much more.”
He gave me a small smile. “So young and yet so clever.”
