Page 13 of The Rebel's Prize

Lucien's mouth thinned. "He was conveniently still asleep in the temple during the attack, and he's currently recovering in the palace."

"The emperor let him return?"

"He's being watched," Lucien admitted, "and is not allowed to leave the palace grounds, but by the time I left, we had found no proof that he knew anything about the attack. He maintains his innocence." His expression soured.

"The men I overheard said he was involved."

"They are dead. Dead men can’t bear witness." He was clearly as frustrated as she was by that fact. "But the emperor at least heeded our advice that Alain should not be allowed to leave the palace."

"Does that mean Aristides doesn't trust him?" Her stomach curled with sympathy. A father having to face the possibility of his son's betrayal. That couldn't be easy.

"I'm not sure what the emperor feels. But he has been emperor a long time. And is no one's fool. He won't let Alain flee."

"Good."

"You haven't answered my question."

"What question was that?" she asked.

"The one about whether you want to join my caravan."

"Do I have a choice?"

"You don't have a choice about me going with you, or rather you coming with me," he said. "You may have some choice as to the destination of that trip."

"So, if I don't want to go with the caravan, you'll what, take me back to Lumia? Put me under house arrest, like the prince?"

"It would probably be what the emperor would be advised to do," Lucien said bluntly, "until all of this is cleared up."

It wasn't much of a choice. Return to the city and ignite what could only be a whole new scandal centered on her. No doubt she was already the center of a new scandal, and the gossip mills were swirling and chatting like a flock of crows disturbed. Or else accept that Lucien wasn't going anywhere and do what she'd set out to do. Locate Deandra, find a way to prove her own innocence and the crown prince's guilt, if he was truly guilty, and solve this matter once and for all.

There was no third option. Possibly she could convince Octarus to do something to spirit her away, but if the other sanctii were working against her, not to mention Lucien having the Imperial intelligence network at his disposal, she doubted she would get very far. Letting him take her to Partha seemed the lesser of two evils.

"And Silya?" she asked.

Lucien hitched a shoulder. "She will come with us."

"Doesn't Aristides want her in the capital?"

"She isn't the only seer who accompanied the Andalyssians, and I think he's actually more interested in the actions of the Great Houses and whether they have any connection to this matter. I think he took it as a gesture of good faith that Silya was willing to assist me."

That was one way of viewing it. Silya seeing a chance to meddle might be another.

"And," Lucien added with a shrug, "it didn't hurt her case that Domina Francis supported her."

Well, damn it.Clearly there was no chance of Silya returning to the capital if Domina Francis had endorsed her plan. But then perhaps she was relieved not to have to deal with Silya or navigating the delicacies of the differences between the temple's views of the goddess and the Four Arts and those held by the Andalyssians. Though it was likely that other seers and perhaps even a few patrarchs were amongst the Andalyssians summoned, Silya was, based on the time Chloe and Lucien had spent in Andalyssia, the most influential. Or maybe the most willing to interfere.

And even if Domina Francis had been minded to put up with Silya politicking in Lumia, Chloe couldn't imagine that she would ignore the foretelling of a seer. It was a more common form of magic amongst the Andalyssians, it seemed. Or perhaps a more cultivated one. The talent was rarer and unreliable in Illvyan water mages, but the Andalyssians had incorporated it into their version of the religion. The materials Chloe had studied before her assignment to Andalyssia suggested that there was at least a reasonable degree of reliability to the seers' talents. Why else would they have gained the power they had?

Perhaps Silya's powers would prove useful. She was, at least, one more mage in the party.

Chloe sighed. "Well, then. I guess we're traveling north."

Lucien nodded. "I want your word that you're not going to try anything else stupid."

She bristled. "Stupid?"

He waved a hand at the door. "Like trying to sneak out the window in the middle of the night with your sanctii. Believe me, none of the other traders are going to give you the assistance you're looking for."

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