Page 67 of The Bride of Lycaster
I put all my focus on grabbing a soft roll in the bread basket so I would not laugh. “I was surprised when I did not see you in the Duke’s palace. I was looking forward to meeting you since all the Barons have to be in Hyton forSelection Night.”
Nikkolas chuckled with a soft smile as he took a sip out of hissilver goblet.
Hilda cut her husband a look, but her smile stayed sweet. “Duke Hyton gives us special permission to skip Selection Night. Our daughter, Astrid, cannot travel. We both stay here to take careof her.”
Astrid. The womanRiyan broke.
“Sir Bloodstone and I had a lovely time during the festivities,” I lied. “The House of Hyton werewonderful hosts.”
Nikkolas glanced at me with an amused smirk on his face. “I am surprised my grandson has not scared you off yet. General Hyton wrote that he getsquite ferocious.”
I tried to swallow the bite of my roll, but my throat suddenly went dry. How much more ferocious could Riyan get? Hilda pursed her lips and her eyeswent wide.
“Do not say that to her!” Hilda smacked Nikkolas on the arm. “What Nikkolas means is that our Riyan is a spiritedyoung man.”
“No, I meant ferocious,” Nikkolas said pointedly, stabbing his fork in the air for emphasis. “Savage. Bellicose. Sadistic. Pick one! Any wordwould fit!”
I had never heard the word “bellicose” before, but between the words “savage” and “sadistic,” it painted an even more macabre portrait of my new husband than Ihad feared.
If I did not already have the Hyton dagger tied to my garter, I would have stolen a knife from the table before goingto bed.
“So you were selected first, my dear?” Baroness Bloodstone asked dreamily, deliberately changing the subject. “I was the third selected—which was pretty good! Many more people were eligible for Selection Night back then,you see.”
“I remember.” Nikkolas’s gruff face turned up in a soft half-smile. “I was sweating during our selections because Alastar the Wise and Baron Thornebow got to pick before me. Good thing they were both too stupid to choose thebest bride.”
Hilda’s round cheeks flushed. “Stop,” she cooed, “everyone just wanted the Diamond ofthe North.”
I stopped chewing at the mention of Duchess Ilsa. No one would dare speak of Ilsa without fear of severe punishment in Hyton, but in Bloodstone we could casually talk about her over dinner as if she were anold friend.
“Bah, I never saw the appeal,” Nikkolas scoffed. “If I had wanted to wake up to a mean, cold face every morning I would have slept with a mirror.” He gave his mutton a forceful stab. “She always had the strangest eyes too. Not just because they were purple, but so rigidand unfeeling.”
Hilda’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Well, that was because shecould not—”
“Anyway, I am glad everything worked out,” Nikkolas interjected as he sliced his knife across his meat. “Well, except for my two former classmates who are now underground. You know, Richard Thornebow was as bright as the bottom of a well. No surprise he got tangled up with Ilsa Ravenwood andthe Hytons.”
“I liked Ilsa,” Hilda remarked with a smile. “Regardless of whateveryone said.”
“Of course you did, darling,” Nikkolas said brightly as he cut up his meat. “You do notdislike anyone.”
Nikkolas gave me a wink. “Hilda is the only person in Lycaster who likes me. I have to be the luckiest man alive. Everyone fought over the Diamond, but I made off with the real jewel on ourSelection Night.”
Hilda’s cheeks turned bright pink and she cooed in delight. I could not helpbut smile.
“Oh, but you were so grumpy at first!” Hilda giggled. “I was so worried you thought I was a foolish woman andhated me.”
“Never,” Nikkolas said with asmall laugh.
Nikkolas and Hilda continued reminiscing about their first few days of marriage while I ate. A twinge of jealousy crept down my neck as I spread spiced honey butter onto my roll. I was supposed to have a nice marriage like them, but I was stuck with a drunk with an attitude problem. I shifted my right leg and the blade of the Hyton dagger caught the inside of mywool skirt.
I ignored the dagger and took a bite of the warm, buttered roll. I did not want to think about my options or plans, I just wantedto eat.
Hilda blushed. “We went into the third week of our marriage before we…you know. Remember, dear, it is all right to takeyour time.”
“But not too much time,” Nikkolas added with a pointed glance in my direction. “You only have, what, twenty-seven more days left after tonight? You know, Hilda, perhaps that is why my heir is still so cantankerous even after the marriage enchantment! He is all frustrated and bothered because theyhave not—”
“Shh!” Hilda hissed, whacking her husband’s arm again. “You are the one who is going to scare her off,not Riyan!”
I needed to escape the conversation before they also started wagering how my husband would tear throughmy virginity.
