Page 34 of The Rebel's Prize

He began to gesture as though to drop the illusion, but as Chloe felt his magic chime around her, he stumbled and then sank to his knees.

CHAPTER8

"Lucien!"

Chloe rushed back, catching him by the shoulder, bracing herself as he sagged against her, and helping lower him to the floor. Another few seconds and he would have fallen flat on his face. Blood rushed in her ears.

[Octarus, get Silya. Bring her to Lucien's roomnow.] She didn't listen for a response, instead knelt beside Lucien, trying to get him to move closer to the wall so he could lean against it. The illusion had vanished, leaving his far too pale real face.

She pressed a hand to his forehead. His skin was clammy.Goddess damn it.If they were still bonded, she would have a better idea what was wrong. Could it be poison? But no, they hadn't eaten or drunk anything at the theater.

"What's wrong?" she asked urgently, moving her fingers to his wrist. His pulse was fast but strong.

He shook his head slowly, squinting as though the lamplight hurt his eyes. "Just feel strange. Help me up."

"Is that a good idea?"

"Better than remaining on the floor."

"Maybe we should wait. You could faint."

"Chloe," he growled, "help me up."

Pale and clammy had turned to pale, clammy, and irritated. Hopefully that was a good sign.

"As long as you agree that it's your fault if you fall down again."

He didn't dignify that with a response.

Between the two of them, they managed to get him on his feet and over to the bed. Lucien flopped down on his back, breathing heavily, his eyes closed. Chloe went to pour a glass of water and was just carrying it back when someone rapped on the door. She pulled it open, and Silya pushed past her.

"What is wrong?"

Chloe waved at the bed, water sloshing out of the glass and over her skirt. She bit back a curse, more worried about Lucien than a damp dress, and put the glass down. "Lucien, he...collapsed when we returned from the theater. Can you help?"

Silya shot her a questioning look. "You are an earth witch, are you not?"

"Yes. But in Anglion I couldn't use my magic. I know plenty about the theory, but I'm out of practice."

She had no idea if seers were trained in healing, but Silya seemed to know about Andalyssian poisons, which suggested they probably were. After all, Andalyssians believed in balance in magic and taught the basics to anyone with talent. What they didn't do, unlike everywhere else in the empire, was let those with strong talents in one of the Four Arts to focus solely on that. At least, not women outside the church or men who had the earth sense so valuable to the miners.

What she really needed was an Illvyan healer. But she couldn't just snap her fingers and produce Valentin, or even turn back time to when she would have trusted her own abilities. Silya would have to do.

The seer shrugged. "It is not my strongest skill. I have had the training given to all who join the seers, and I learned herbcraft from my mother as a girl. It might be better to call for the healer who travels with the caravan."

The caravan was camped at the yards outside town. It would take a good half hour to send one of the guards there to fetch them. She wasn't willing to send Octarus on that errand when she might need him here, and there was no other sanctii in the caravan who he could communicate a message to.

"Let's try this first," she said. "Perhaps between us we can work out what the problem is. Maybe it's just the heat."

Silya looked doubtful, but she nodded and crossed to the bed. Lucien didn't look any better. Eyes closed, skin pale, lying still except for the too-rapid rise and fall of his chest. Chloe bit her lip as Silya closed her fingers around his wrist.

"What happened at the theater?" she asked.

Chloe joined her at the bedside and frowned, trying to think. "Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "We watched the performance, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. We talked to one of the performers and the theater owner briefly. And then we came back here."

"He didn't use his magic?"

"He did. He used illusions to disguise us. Does that matter?"

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