"Very well."
Lord Merrin cleared his throat.
The council chamber fell silent once more.
I wasn't sure why, but suddenly every instinct I had was screaming at me.
Danger.
The old lord opened the file.
His expression became strange.
Careful.
Almost hesitant.
"As stated in the investigation..." he began slowly, "Duke Stephen had a previous relationship with Duchess—"
He stopped.
His eyes flickered toward me.
The entire room seemed to hold its breath.
Then he finished.
"—Duchess Seraphina."
My heart stopped.
Not again.
Not another problem.
For one horrible second, all I could hear was the pounding of blood in my ears.
Stephen.
Relationship.
Seraphina.
The words crashed together inside my head like a carriage accident.
I stared at the table.
No.
No, no, no.
Not this.
Of all the things hidden in the original Seraphina's life, why did it have to be this?
Slowly, I became aware of something else.
Silence.
Everyone was waiting.
Not for Lord Merrin.
For Draven.
