Page 38 of The Rebel's Prize

She put her hands on her hips. "Truthfully now, how bad is it?"

His other eye opened. "You want the truth?"

"I wouldn't ask for it if I didn't."

Lucien pushed up on the pillows, and she had to stop herself from reaching out to help him, certain he wouldn't appreciate her trying to assist.

Sure enough, he waved her off with an annoyed flap of his hand. "Don't fuss. I'm all right."

"Clearly that isn't true. How long has this been happening?"

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. This is the first time I've tried to do a sustained amount of magic since you...."

"Since I broke the bond."

His mouth flattened. "Yes."

"But wait, surely you needed to use your truth seeking after the attack at the palace?" she asked, puzzled.

"I did," he said. "But truth seeking doesn't take effort for me. It's not like building and holding an illusion. It's just something I can do."

"But it's still magic." Certainly there were simpler magics that didn't take much effort. Lighting an earthlight, triggering a charm. Though talking to Octarus wasn't hard, and that was a form of water magic. So perhaps it made sense that Lucien's strongest ability was, to him, like breathing.

"Yes. But it's...just easy. I don't know why."

She didn't either. "So you weren't having any issues with your health in Lumia?"

He looked away.

"The truth, Lucien."

"There may have been a bad day or two when you first broke the bond. Imogene noticed. She told Domina Francis. The healers looked me over. They said I would be fine, that I just needed to watch my energy."

"And instead you came chasing halfway across the country after me?"

"I needed to know you were alive. When the bond broke—" He clamped his jaw shut, eyes closing again. Then he huffed a breath. "Well, let's just say, I didn't take it well when I thought you were dead. I won't bore you with the details. Imogene finally talked some sense into me. She pointed out that Octarus was nowhere to be found, and he hadn't gone on a rampage like he had after Rianne died, so you were most likely fine. She said I needed to focus on doing my job. Which I did. Until she noticed I wasn't myself and ratted me out to the healers. That's when I decided to come find you. I thought if I saw for myself, that might help matters." His eyes opened again, the green somehow chilled. "That and the emperor insisting that he wanted Deandra found. I figured that was probably where you'd gone when we couldn't find any word of you immediately. I thought you might have run back to Anglion."

Another thing she hadn't considered, that he might have thought she would flee the empire. Again. "There would be little point in doing that. Sophie would most likely just send me home again once she got wind of me being there. It's not as though it's impossible for the emperor to send people after me there now anyway. No, I left to follow Deandra."

"And what was your plan if the emperordidsend people after you?"

She shrugged. "Try to get lost somewhere in the empire, I suppose, until I could find a way to prove my innocence."

"Running away has never enhanced anyone's reputation."

"An interesting perspective coming from the man who advised me to run in the first place."

"I advised you to leave town for a time," he said. "I never meant for you to flee the country." He laughed then, the sound slightly hollow. "It seems we need to work on our communication."

"Well, that would be easier if you let me reform the bond," she said, trying to entice him. Despite his denials, he was too pale, and she didn't like the way his voice sounded. Almost as though he was working too hard to sound normal.

He looked down. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because I have to learn to live without it eventually. When you leave."

Her breath caught. "Is that what you want? A divorce?"

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