Page 59 of The Rebel's Prize

"Stop squirming," Imogene whispered. She held out a bag of sugared nuts. "Here, eat something. It will calm your nerves."

Chloe's stomach suggested that this was possibly not true, but she selected one, nibbling on it while she passed the bag on to Lucien, who looked down at it and then placed it in his lap without taking anything for himself.

The sugar was a little bit of a distraction, but Chloe still felt as though every nerve was straining as she waited for the lanterns to dim and the curtain to rise.

[Octarus?] she asked silently.

[Yes.] The response came almost immediately.

[Any sign of Deandra?]

[No.] He sounded almost disappointed.

[Any other sanctii?]

[No. Could be hiding.]

[If they were, could they sense you?]

[Maybe.]

[Well, let me know if you sense anything.]

She settled back, trying to subtly scan the crowd. Lieutenant James was a few rows in front of them and off to the left, watching the stage carefully. The illusioners hadn't mastered the facial illusions yet, but they could sense when they were in use. The strain she'd seen in their faces as they worked to perfect the magic had only reinforced both her admiration of Lucien's power and her concern that he might overreach again. But even as she thought it, he moved his leg so his knee tapped her thigh and smiled at her reassuringly, sending a wave of calm down the bond.

He held out the bag of nuts and said, "Here, have another, darling."

She managed to smile as she accepted the sweet. At least the local version of evening wear didn't include gloves. Satin and kid and sticky sugar were not a good combination. The Ancallan dresses were soft and flowing with embroidered linen over robes.

Finally, just when she thought she might scream if it took another minute longer, the lights in the theater dimmed and the crowd fell mostly silent.

A small band of musicians still hidden from view behind the curtain began to play, and gradually the curtains drew back to reveal the set for the first play. As each of the actors arrived onstage, she searched for signs of magic. It would be difficult to hear any magic beneath the music, but now she had Lucien's ability to see it as well.

But for the first play, it seemed no illusions were required, nor were any of the actors using any form of magic. The scenery was deftly implied by different layers of painted fabrics and cunning use of lights. There was a short interval before the second play started, and she turned to Imogene and Lucien, raising an eyebrow questioningly. They shook their heads as though to say they hadn't noticed anything.

They filed back out to the foyer, where vendors were selling other forms of local sweets and snacks, plus cold tea and ale in cups made of some sort of waxed paper that were quite clever in their way. She spotted a couple of the soldiers at a distance, but none of them approached, which meant they hadn't spotted anything either. They returned to their seats, and Chloe's stomach twisted, doubting that they had the right troupe. Which would put them firmly back where they'd started, with no real idea how to find Deandra. Lucien's hand settled back over hers, and she curled her fingers into his, trying to relax.

When the curtain rose again, the stage had been transformed into the semblance of a flower garden that was startling in its authenticity.

Lucien straightened, his attention narrowing with an almost audible snap. It wasn’t hard to see that the flowers were an illusion. There were no musicians onstage, and the sound of the power used to build the effect hummed through the theater.

The illusions were just as good as Violette's, the flowers moving gently in a nonexistent breeze. The performance began, and after ten minutes or so, she realized that there seemed to be more actors than during the first play. More than one troupe could reasonably be expected to employ, suggesting that facial illusions were being used.

It was tempting to reach down to the ley line that ran through Basali to help her determine which actors were disguised, but that risked drawing attention if the illusioner was also using the ley line to fuel their efforts.

Unlike the illusions Violette cast in the opera house, the troupe's illusioner could not have been relying on preset illusions set around the stage to be triggered by the performers. The troupe was only in town for three days of performances, and setting the illusions would be too much work for little reward if they had to be deconstructed every few days and rebuilt to fit each new theater. Lucien had told her at one point that Violette could spend a week setting illusions for an opera. If the illusioner was casting his illusions fresh, then he had to be nearby. In the theater, in fact, unless he was extraordinarily strong.

Unlikely. Those with truly spectacular magic rarely went undetected by the empire. One of the Academes or the temple or the Imperial services found them eventually.

[Can you find the illusioner?] she asked Octarus.

An image of a handsome man dressed all in black came in response. From the glimpse she could see of his surroundings, it looked as though he was standing somewhere backstage. Chloe tried to fix him in her mind. His short hair was dark rather than the blond of many of his actors, and a pearl dangled from one ear. Gold rings winked on several of his fingers. His eyes in his tanned face were maybe blue, maybe green, and he was concentrating hard on something—as you would expect from an illusioner in the middle of a performance.

[Thank you. Can you tell the others?]

[Yes] came the reply. A few seconds later, Imogene’s head turned toward Chloe. Clearly the message had reached Ikarus and therefore her.

Imogene didn't speak, merely widened her eyes slightly and tilted her head at Lucien. Chloe nodded and then leaned toward Lucien, pulling his head down as though to press a kiss on his cheek.

---