Page 76 of The Rebel's Prize

"Maybe it's me. My head always feels too crowded afterward, like it's not only mine. I wouldn't attempt to use my truth seeking while that was going on."

She laughed. "You think too much."

"Perhaps, but you can't tell me you enjoy a reveilé any more than I do."

She grimaced. "No, having someone force a whole language into your head is not pleasant." Then she paused, taken by a thought. "You know, we haven't actually asked the sanctii about the memory magic. Not directly." She frowned, trying to wriggle free to move into a sitting position. Difficult given the size of the bunk. "And it's odd that they haven't volunteered anything. Octarus is very focused on finding Rianne's murderers, and he hasn't said anything."

"Do they know?"

"I don't think we can assume they don't. They listen in on what we say. We should ask them."

"You want to talk to Octarus now?"

"No. I think we should talk to Ikarus and Octarus together. Imogene's been bonded a lot longer than I have. She knows more about the rules."

"There are rules?"

"Yes. Well, protocols, I guess. About asking about the sanctii realm. Or the kinds of magic they can do."

Lucien threw back the covers and swung out of the bank. "All right. Let's go find Imogene."

* * *

Imogene wasn't in her cabin.

"I know where she might be," Chloe said and led Lucien up onto the deck. Sure enough, Imogene was on the observation deck again, her back to the navire, staring out at the night sky. Lucien overtook Chloe, his long legs giving him an advantage. She didn't catch up until he was nearly halfway across the deck. "Slow down," she said. "You don't want to scare her." She lifted her voice. "Imogene. There you are."

Imogene turned, her face creasing in surprise. "I thought you two were sleeping."

"It's a restless night, it seems," Lucien said.

"Yes. Perhaps we should form a club for the sleepless." She cast a wary glance at Chloe, who gave a discreet headshake to reassure her that Lucien knew nothing of the baby. "Are the two of you merely taking in some night air, or did you want to talk to me?"

"We’ve been talking about the memory magic," Chloe said.

"Of course you have." Imogene rolled her eyes a little. "Lucien, I thought you might take the opportunity to rest while we travel back to Lumia. I should have known better."

"Yes," Chloe agreed, "relaxing might be something we need to work on. But, regardless, we realized that we haven't actually asked the sanctii about the memory charms."

"We don't usually ask the sanctii about their magic," Imogene said warily.

"No, but this is important."

Imogene didn't look convinced. "I know you think a sanctii may have assisted, but we have no proof of that. I'm not sure they would tell us without at least a hint of proof about sanctii involvement."

"What sort of evidence would they need to help us?" Lucien asked.

"I don't know." Imogene shrugged. "What happens in the sanctii realm is closely guarded. And what happens here, well, the mage is in control. It's not the sanctii's will."

"That's not strictly true, though, is it?" Lucien said. "You and Chloe don't control everything Ikarus and Octarus do."

"They wouldn't commit crimes of their own free will," Imogene said. "Bonds have been severed for that, and the sanctii's name gets added to the list of those who cannot be bonded, which leaves them stuck back in their realm. I suppose they might help their mage if they were ordered to do so."

"Elarus helped Sophie and Cameron when they were attacked at the emperor's ball," Lucien said. "There was another sanctii there, helping the attackers. The one Elarus subdued."

Imogene frowned. "Yes. But Elarus is something of a law unto herself, it seems."

Chloe couldn’t argue with that. It was just as well that Elarus was bonded to a queen as unconventional as she was.

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