I kept my lips closed as the white fire scorched my tongue, compelling me to answer. I could answer the General’s question in the affirmative, telling the truth as it benefitted me…or I could go even further.
If General Hyton wanted to merely scare me into giving him information, he would not have brought me to his quarters and served tea. He wanted to know what had happened to his son in the North? We could make an exchange.
I forced my heated breath to cool with my measured words. “I will tell you…in due time.”
His brows knitted. “You dare refuse your Gen—?”
“You ask so many questions of me, yet my own questions go unanswered.” The flames spun within me. “And I amtiredof not having answers. If you want another answer from me, you have to give me one.”
His Hyton Blue eyes examined me slowly, agonizingly slowly. I felt like I was going to vomit molten lead with every second I withheld the truth.
Finally, he conceded with a smile. “An answer for an answer. Ask your first question.”
The fire within me cooled, as if the magic in my own body agreed to our deal. “What was Riyan like at the military academy?”
The General shifted his shoulders and looked down at his folded hands for a few moments before answering. “He was…obstinate. A young man of his size with the strength of ten men needed a firm hand.”
From what Riyan had told me, “a firm hand” was a light way of putting it. He had made his own son hold up the bridge into Bloodstone on his back.
He took a sip from his cup. “Just when I thought I had him under control, he defied my order to marry Brietta Elvar.” He glanced at me. “Not that I have any objections to you, Serafina. Only when Riyan has no control…he is dangerous.”
I picked wool fibers off the cape as I remembered the axes thrown in anger, the barrels of wine he drank one right after the other, the shattered bed, the bend of my ribs when he did not realize he was crushing me…
I swallowed. “Riyan grew again and…fell. That is what killed Nikkolas and Hilda.”
The General’s cheek pitted like he bit it. “Where is he?”
I let my eyes wander to the map of Nordingaard on the wall. “Ganora took him…he gave his life for mine.”
His eyes widened only slightly. Riyan had once told me the General had sent soldiers up the mountain for years, gathering information about the giants and their queen. I carefully studied his stoic mask for any clue that he understood the sacrificeRiyan made and what it meant, but if he knew, he did not show it.
Though beneath his hardened surface, his eyes gleamed and his breath was still. He had his next question ready and he was desperate to ask.
I took advantage of the General’s desperation and risked my most inflammatory question. I tried not to think of the scar that split Evereon’s face in two as I asked, “How many people has Riyan hurt?”
A muscle in the General’s face feathered. “More men than I can count, but that was by their own choice.”
I did not like that answer. “What do you mean?”
“That is two questions, Serafina.”
“Then I owe you another answer.” I pulled the cape tighter around me. “What do you mean it was the men’s own choice?”
The General let out a long breath. “Like I said, I oversee the executions of the Dukedom. For the worst crimes, I gave prisoners a choice: the gallows or five minutes in a room with ‘the Beast’ and a chance to survive. No weapons, just man-to-man physical combat. Many prisoners…chose to die the hard way.”
The floor fell beneath my feet. I thought Riyan was a perfect executioner ofgiants…not men!
He killed someone,manysomeones…in less than five minutes each.
Suddenly he was nothing like the gallant Prince Haldar at all.
The General’s eyes softened. “They were the worst criminals, Serafina. They deserved everything Riyan did.”
My skin crawled, imagining the same hands that combed my hair and gently stroked my skin beating the life out of another person.
Even those memories were tainted. Stained with blood.
General Hyton leaned on his forearms. “Did you consummate your marriage?”
