Page 55 of The Rebel's Prize

Was he catching the edges of her memory? Did he remember anything of that nightmare trip home? Perhaps not.

"After all," he continued, "the journey up to Andalyssia was quite comfortable."

Comfortable physically, perhaps. The navire hadn't been the problem with that part of their journey. No, that had been the awkwardness brought about by the fact that Chloe had had no idea that Lucien was to be part of the mission she was so excited to join. Back then, she had still hated him, still laying part of the blame for Charl's death unfairly at his feet.

To find out that he was part of her command on the assignment she'd hoped would be the start of her new life had been galling.

And of course, there had been the part where he had been the most experienced member of the crew when it came to speaking Andalyssian. Who, therefore, had taught the entire delegation for several hours a day, where Chloe could not escape speaking to him. She'd spent most of her time aboard either angry, mortified, or just doing her best to avoid him.

He grinned at her disgruntled expression. "And after all," he added, as though he could read the direction of her thoughts, "you like me now."

Behind them, Silya snorted. "If the two of you are done reminiscing, perhaps we could get aboard. I, for one, would appreciate some sleep."

She didn't seem fazed by the navire, though Chloe doubted the magic it used would be considered "balance." But Silya, and the rest of her countrymen who Aristides had summoned to the capital, had traveled down on a navire. So perhaps she'd had time to come to terms with whatever views she held of the vessels.

"After you, Sejerin," Chloe said, stepping back.

Silya snorted again and marched up the gangplank. Chloe grinned at Lucien and followed the seer.

A young woman in Imperial black, the arrow of a private at her collar, waited to greet them as they stepped off at the other end. "Major de Roche," she said, "Lieutenant de Roche, Sejerin Silya, welcome aboard. I will show you to your cabins."

"Oh, don't worry about that," a familiar voice said from behind the girl. "Or at least you take Sejerin Silya, and I'll deal with the major and the lieutenant."

"Imogene," Chloe shrieked and ran toward her friend.

CHAPTER12

"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked, unable to decide whether she was delighted to see Imogene or annoyed that her friend had put herself in the middle of danger.

Imogene cast a look over her shoulder as she led them toward the lower decks. "I can't let you two have all the fun, can I?" Her bright blue eyes danced with amusement. As usual she looked immaculate, the black of her uniform free of any wrinkle or dust and her dark hair braided in perfect, neat circles at the back of her head. Though she did look slightly tired despite her unconcerned tone. But that was only to be expected. It was past midnight, and the navire must have pushed to get to Basali as fast as possible.

"You have an odd idea of fun," Chloe said.

Imogene grinned again and then turned back to watch where she was walking. "Better than waiting in Lumia while everyone runs around in circles trying to work out what exactly is going on."

"Has there been any progress?" Lucien asked.

Imogene didn't answer, just continued down the narrow passageway until she stopped at one of the cabin doors and opened it. "This one will be yours. Go on in."

When they were all safely inside, she closed the door and pressed her hand to the wall to activate the wards. It only took a quick glance around the small room for Chloe to confirm this cabin was much like the one she'd had on the navire that had taken her to Andalyssia. For all she knew, this was the same navire. Two bunks, a small round window, and a small table and armoire, both bolted to the floor.

Imogene finished checking the wards before she joined them in the center of the room. "No change," she said, shaking her head. "Alain is still protesting his innocence. So far, the emperor has taken no action against him, though he isn't allowed to leave the palace. Officially, that's because all the family are being closely guarded.”

“And unofficially?” Chloe asked.

Imogene’s mouth twisted. “Unofficially, no one is asking that question. The emperor has a very short fuse at the moment. Other than that, none of the investigations have yielded anything useful. The Andalyssians are supposedly investigating the poison on their end, but that hasn't led to any breakthroughs either. So your news of the theater troupe was welcome. Even if we can't find all the conspirators immediately, just knowing what the method is behind the memory spells would be a breakthrough at this point."

"And Aristides sent you to do what? Check up on us?" Lucien asked.

Imogene brushed a hand down the skirt of her uniform. "Not exactly. I told him it wasn't fair that I hadn't yet had a chance to go on a voyage on a navire. And this seemed as good a time as any." A half-wistful expression flitted across her face, then vanished.

"And he agreed?" Lucien said, surprise widening his eyes. "This isn't necessarily the safest of missions, and technically you're in the diplomatic corps."

"True. But you're in the judiciary and you're here," Imogene said pertly. "You're not a blood mage any more than Chloe or me. And unlike you, we both have sanctii to keep us safe."

"He's just grumpy because we've had a long and tiring journey," Chloe said, nudging Lucien with her elbow. "We haven't had much sleep the last few nights." She lifted an eyebrow at him, hoping he would take the hint that she would explain exactly why that was if he continued to make any kind of fuss about Imogene—or her, for that matter—taking part. "So perhaps we should all turn in."

Imogene nodded. "We'll be getting underway soon and then flying most of the day tomorrow. There isn’t much you can do to help prepare the navire to depart, and there will be plenty of time to talk more on strategy once everyone has rested." She glanced toward the beds. "Well, as rested as one can be in these bunks. Also, there's a healer on board should you need one, Lucien." She raised a questioning brow at him.

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