The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson Page B

before her feet. The only question was how long to draw out his pain.
    Once the huntsman arrived, Gabe was taken away to the dungeon on her order, leaving her alone with Lorencz.
    He reached out to take her hand and kiss it, but his eyes gave away his fear. She ground her teeth. “How dare you think that girl is more beautiful than I am.”
    “Your Grace, I —”
    “Don’t speak! You have become enamored with her too.” That useful girl Darla had told her everything, from how Lorencz had failed to get Sophie to trust him enough to take a walk with him, to being so heartbroken he got drunk with Darla instead. “I shall kill this silly, interfering Gabehart of Hagenheim for thinking she is the fairest. Though what shall I do to you? I already asked you to kill her. Why haven’t you, pray tell?”
    “Your Grace, I simply haven’t had many opportunities. Infact, I was finally able to get her alone just yesterday, but that — that
boy
was skulking about, and even intruded upon us in the woods. You didn’t want any witnesses, as I recall.”
    She gave Lorencz her coldest smile.
    “Your Grace, you can’t think the girl means anything to me. The only woman with whom I am enamored is you.”
    She detected fear in the way his scar turned pale. “Good. But your punishment for letting your eye wander is …” She leaned closer. “Why is it that everyone seems to like her?” She tapped her fingernail against her chin, deliberately drawing out the moment to see if he would squirm. Instead, he kept his face impassive. The only indication of his distress was the barely detectable rapid rise and fall of his chest as his breathing quickened. He knew full well what she was capable of.
    “She is an insipid little creature. I could break her in half with my bare hands. What do you see in her, dear huntsman?”
    “Not me, Your Grace.” Lorencz smiled and shook his head, an attempt to look unconcerned. “She is nothing to me. You are the woman I think about, the one I dream about.”
    “Very good.” She stepped forward and placed her hand under his chin, letting her fingernails glide along his skin, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “I am pleased to hear that. And now I have one thing I want you to do for me.”
    “Anything, Your Grace.”
    “As I told you before, I want you to kill Sophie. And I want you to do it
today
.”
    He blinked several times, as if trying to hide his feelings and not look horrified, but she saw his repulsion.
Weakling
.
    “Of course. How?”
    She took her time answering him, savoring how his expression twisted with each moment. She had misjudged him. He had more of a conscience than she had given him credit for.
    It was a pity.
    There was no purpose in thinking up creative ways to kill the girl, as enjoyable as that would be. Now that it was time for Sophie to die, it would be done expediently.
    “Take her into the woods. Tie her up and plunge a dagger into her heart. I don’t really care how you do it, just make sure it’s done without witnesses. Then bury her in the ground where no one can find her.” She poked him in the throat with her fingernail as she emphasized, “No one must find her.”
    Lorencz’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Yes, Your Grace.”
    She studied him, trying to see into his thoughts. She must have proof the girl was dead, but it had to be something no one else would recognize as belonging to Sophie. Duke Wilhelm would surely come digging around, and if he could find definitive proof of Gabe or the girl’s death, it would ruin everything.
    She smiled at Lorencz and pressed all five fingernails of her right hand into his chest. “You will kill her … and you will bring back her heart … to me. If you fail me, you will die. Is that understood?”
    “Yes, Your Grace.”
    “You may go.” She raised her brows and flicked her wrist at him.
    Lorencz bowed his head and left.
    Once she had evidence of the girl’s demise in her hands, she would taunt Gabe