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"You know, I've changed my mind. She can stay," Noah says, although there's a malicious tone to his voice I don't like. I glare at him.
"It's not you who gets to decide," I remind him, "it's his grace, and no-one else."
"He takes my word and opinion seriously," Noah retorts, crossing his arms, and glaring at me, but it feels good that I've gotten under his skin. These Kings need to be put in their place, and sometimes it feels like I'm the only one in the position to do it.
"He can very well make his own mind up," I reply. "He's a good judge of character."
At my words, Benedict makes a noise of derision, and both Noah and I glance to him, our focus pulled from one another.
"And what makes you think my brother, a paragon of vice, can make any good judge of character?" Benedict asks me, pinning me in place with his hot stare. I swallow, the intensity in his voice shifting and making my stomach tighten and grip onto itself.
"I know you hate him," I say, my eyes flitting to look at Noah, and then back to Benedict. "But I can't understand why. He works hard for his people. He loves his daughter—"
Benedict's face seems to transform with every word I say, becoming more angular, more furious, the lights in his green eyes melting to shadow.
"My brother, the duke, isn't the upstanding citizen you think he is. He's got his own secrets, after all. Do you think the duchess stays away apart for her health? Sunning herself somewhere due to nerves?" Benedict sneers. Noah grabs him by the front of his shirt, fingers fisting in his button placket.
"Shut up," Noah grinds out, and the two of them are nearly forehead to forehead as Noah manhandles his older brother around until they're face to face.
I just stand there, confused, and also tempted. Almost nobody has so much as uttered the word 'duchess' in my presence, and now… this is too much. I need to know.
"So why does she stay away?" I ask, even as Noah shoots me a glare.
"It's not for you to ask," he says.
"Don't tell her what to do," Benedict says, shaking his younger brother off and giving him a shove. Noah staggers back a step from the force. Benedict turns to me, a cruel smile crossing his lips.
"You think the duke a hero, don't you? Put him on a pedestal, you're enthralled with him. Foolish, but I don't blame you." He cocks his head. "Have you been to her rooms? Wandered them? Ghost town. She fled here, just like you'd do if you were smart enough." He takes another step closer to me, his eyes going liquid soft. "Maybe if I showed you who he really was, you would finally come to me." Those last words are just for me alone, barely whispered, the back of his hand coming up to caress my cheek. His touch captures me, and I lean into it, not able to stop myself. These men are like a toxin, getting under my skin, controlling me. I inhale, sharp and hysterical, the shuddering sound whispers out of my throat. His eyes flutter shut.
"Oh for fucks sake," Noah spits, "she's a servant!" I jerk back, the moment broken. And I'm grateful for it. I need to get out of here, before something worse happens. Like my clothes spontaneously melting off or something.
Benedict gives Noah a fierce look, furious and righteous, before looking back at me.
"Go to her rooms. Tell me that they aren't an effigy to a woman who had everything and would rather be anywhere but here. And then ask yourself what was so bad about my brother that she gave it all up to run away from him." He jerks his chin at me, Noah standing behind him with arms crossed.
I take a step backward, and Noah cracks a grin.
"Go. We might be here when you get back, and I promise you it'll be a sight to see." Noah reaches over Benedict's shoulder and grabs another fistful of his shirt, before whirling him around. Benedict turns, just in time for his jaw to meet Noah's fist with a crack.
His head snaps back, his body arching, before he snarls and lunges for his younger brother. The fury whips off of them, the energy crackles through the hall, and I turn, bolting down the hallway to get away from it.
Because it's magnetic. And it's pulling me in. It's a whirlpool threatening to drown me.
Their violence should be pushing me away. It's doing anything but. I need to find answers about the duchess. It might be the key to unraveling this whole poisoned house, and maybe, it'll keep me distracted long enough that I can avoid draping myself across Benedict's lap.
Or… worse. Noah's.
33
Eva
My brother, the duke, isn't the upstanding citizen you think he is. He's got his own secrets, after all. Do you think the Duchess stays apart for her health?
Those words echo in my mind as I creep through the upper hallway, turning the corner to the ladies' wing. I shouldn't be here, but it's the middle of the night, and the whole house is quiet. I can't really believe I'm doing this.
But Benedict, I mean, the marquis, is right. The Duchess hasn't been here since I've arrived; I've never seen or spoken with her. Her absences have been dismissed as her being a recluse, or away on a traveling visit, but to not even see her own daughter?
I can't take Madeline asking after her mother any longer. I need answers. And it's obvious someone as cold and forbidding as the duke will never give them to me.
