Nothing like a dash of flattery to disarm a General.
He rose from the table and slowly stepped toward me. “I am the head of the Dukedom’s law enforcement.”
I held my breath as he got closer.
“Sure, every province handles their own petty crimes, but the serious affairs all come to me.”
Like sorcery.
He softly ran his fingers along the edge of the table. “A nice young lady like you could not imagine how many criminals there are—or should I saywere—in the Dukedom.”
He passed me and stopped at the wall. I let out a breath as my eyes followed him.
A massive sword hung on the wall beside General Hyton and his deep blue eyes did not leave the blade. “When my father died, I devoted my life to protecting my family. I never graduated from Heaston and never had my own Selection Night—all to keep the House of Hyton secure.”
I kept my mental calculations hidden behind a polite mask. If my arithmetic was correct, Riyan was born mere days before Baron Thornebow murdered Alastar the Wise. Did the General even know about his son then?
He turned from the sword and his eyes met mine. “On the morning of my brother’s coronation,Iexecuted Baron Thornebow.”
I did not have to feign the shock in my voice. “But you would have only been twenty!”
“And because I was young, I was messy.” His eyes were hard, but his mouth flicked up in a disarming smirk. “Three swings of the axe before his head came off.”
He ran his knuckle along the flat edge of the sword’s blade. “I do not like messy things, so I had this smithed—Traitor’s Bane.”
Another weapon with a name. Unlike Daigen’s knife, at least the General’s meaning for the sword was clear. My stomach twisted into a knot.
The General turned from the sword to me. “Those charged with high crimes face numerous forms of execution…but for the last twenty-two years, every single traitor to the crown has died by this sword.”
Therewas the threat.
I shifted my knees and grounded myself in the weight of the crystal against my leg. He had just served up a death threat like breakfast and I was somehow still calm.
Maybe the crystal did more than just tell me when my magic was ready.
Regardless, the General knew nothing. Brietta would not sell me out without ruining her own plans. No one else was around to hear my confession of sorcery in the bathing chamber, either.
Well, if he wanted to threaten me with no evidence, I could show him how to issue a threat with some teeth.
I smiled. “You are the perfect executioner, just like your son.”
General Hyton remained firm. I mirrored him, even though the air around us suddenly snapped tight.
The fact that he had not taken the sword off the wall and hacked off my head proved that the General needed me. I had information he wanted and I could not talk if I were dead.
I held my breath as the General took a step forward. “When Nikkolas told you…” Another step. “Did he realize the cost of what he had done? Does he realize the danger he put you in?”
My throat was warm with my white flames. “Nikkolas is dead.”
I quickly closed my mouth, but it was too late. How had I just let that secret out? This was not like when I was hiccuppingmy feelings to my oldest friend. Thelastthing I wanted to do was inform the Hytons that the North was in chaos and was vulnerable to invasion.
I bit my tongue as my mind spun. Maybe Daigen’s rule against asking him questions held more meaning. If the Man of the Mountain’s magic would not let us lie with our tongues, we could not lie with our silence either.
Icould notrefuse direct questions.
General Hyton’s jaw ticked and he quietly crossed to his end of the table. He grabbed the back of his chair with one hand and his teacup with the other. My heart slowly pounded yet I was frozen in place as he dragged his chair over to restrightbeside me.
He gently placed his teacup on the table and sat down. Even his seated figure was imposing, but the somber look in his eyes softened him. “Riyan had another one of his accidents, didn’t he? That is why you are here.”
