Annalisa turned to me. “Why did you not tell me he was your brother before Ifedhim?”
I gestured to Erik as he rolled over onto his feet. “You would have thought I was raving mad!”
“What is he even doing here?” Brietta asked.
I answered by unfolding my hand and showing her the roll of parchment. “Communication with the House of Bloodstone, since…” The flame burned my insides again. Fuck, I had to tell her. “…since I became the Baron.”
Annalisa scoffed. “Great, another secret.”
Brietta blinked and then she smiled. “You are the Baron? Not Baroness?”
“Essentially.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Do not sound so happy that Nikkolas and Hilda are dead. They were wonderful.”
Brietta held up her hands. “I am certain they were but…” Her smile only got bigger. “You are the leader of the Northern provinces! You areexactlywhat Freya and I are trying to achieve.”
Annalisa sprang up from the couch. “What are you talking about? What are you plotting behind my back?”
Brietta stood, rising to her towering height. “No one is going behind your back whenyounever leave your room.”
“No, Grigory was right!” Annalisa stamped her foot. “You two are not really my friends! Not when you keep secrets like this!”
Erik flew to the table and stood between the teacups, shooting me a judgmental look. I wanted to kick him back across the room.
Brietta looked at me expectantly. Since when was I supposed to be a diplomat?
“We have not been fair to you, Anna.” I reached out to touch her arm. “We are just scared.”
Annalisa backed away from me with a scowl.
Brietta chimed in. “Your mother warned me that changing the laws to make the women of Lycaster true citizens was dangerous and we did not want you getting hurt.”
Ice clung to Annalisa’s voice. “You already hurt me by lying to me. And by ignoring me. And not inviting me to tea.”
Brietta and I exchanged looks. For once, Brietta was brave enough to speak first. “Fine. The three of us tell each other the whole truth from now on.”
Annalisa refused to meet my eye, but I offered the first bit of truth. “Both of you already know I am a sorceress.”
“And I…” Brietta squared her shoulders and took in a deep breath. She closed her eyes. “I…I gave Derrick a black eye.”
“What?” Annalisa roared.
I threw out my arm to stop her from giving Brietta a black eye of her own. I turned to Brietta, keeping my voice soft despite holding Annalisa back. “Tell us what happened.”
Brietta bit her lip and nodded. “The night after the family dinner, he was acting very strange.”
“My brother is strange, what else is new?” Annalisa spat.
“He…” Brietta’s voice trailed off, like she struggled to find her voice. “It was like he was someone else. He only wanted one thing, and he was not taking ‘no’ for an answer, and I was trapped in that room…”
Brietta wrung her hands. “After I defended myself, he got sick—like he was purging all the evil from his body.”
I thought back to the memory the Man of the Mountain showed me of Derrick right after he had consummated his marriage with Brietta. He was violently sick and shaking.
I had first thought he was sick because he had drank too much, but maybe it was not how much he drank butwhathe drank. Brietta also had some special wine from Duke Hyton’s private stores right before the ball.
What if it was not the magic of the blood bond that had forced them to be intimate with one another? What if it was…
“Poison.” I looked up at Brietta. “Did Duke Hyton poison you on the night of—?”
