Page 18 of The Rebel's Prize

"I know about the magic that alters one's memories," Silya said with a scowl. "Such things are not balance. On that matter, your Domina Francis and I agree. It is a dangerous magic and should not be allowed to proliferate."

"I agree," Chloe said. "The Truth Seekers are one of the ways our legal system works well. If people can fool that...." Of course, in many countries, the courts operated without Truth Seekers. But when it came to crimes like treason and murder, they had always played a vital role in settling cases.

"Which begs the question of why you have weakened your husband by breaking the bond between you," Silya said.

Chloe frowned. "You didn't approve of the bond."

"Such things are not normal in Andalyssia, no. But Domina Francis explained a little of what happened to your husband, how ill he was when you returned and how the bond helped sustain him." She lifted an eyebrow. "Which made me surprised that you had broken it so cavalierly."

"I didn't want him in danger," she said. "And he is recovered now."

She thought back to the anger and the kiss. Her husband might be physically well, but she couldn't say much about his current emotional state.

Silya opened her mouth as though she wanted to argue, then snapped it shut again. "Very well. I am sure you will work things out between you without my interference. He is angry right now, but he will calm down now that you are together again."

"I'm not so sure about that," Chloe admitted. "And perhaps I deserve his anger."

"Well, you cannot change your past actions, Lady Castaigne. Which, if I may remind you, include twice making vows to this man under the eyes of the goddess. Some would think it foolish to try to deny those vows."

Her among them?Chloe’s irritation spiked again. The temple in Lumia had no issue with divorce.

"After all," Silya continued before Chloe could argue, "we are headed north, and you will need the luck of the goddess to find your quarry. In the south, your lands are easy, and perhaps that weakens your faith. But in the north, we live dangerous lives. We do not tempt fate."

"Partha isn't Andalyssia."

"No, but it is not Lumia either. My grandmother came from Partha. She had the sight, too. Magic runs deep there. You will need your wits about you and all the resources you can muster. Do not weaken yourself or him."

* * *

Lucien waited in the hallway for Silya to emerge from Chloe's room, trying, as he had been for nearly two weeks now, to stay calm.

Chloe was alive and unharmed. That was what was important.

The fact that he was half tempted to wring her neck for scaring him badly enough that he was sure he'd lost ten years of his life was another matter entirely. As was the fact that he didn't entirely trust that she wouldn't run again.

In fact, the urge to make her unlock the door, shoo Sejerin Silya out of the room, and then haul Chloe into bed pounded through him like a beating heart. He'd keep her there until they both forgot everything that had happened in the last two weeks.

But along with the relief that she was alive, and the desperate need to touch her, there was still the anger. She had run. She hadn't trusted him.

She wasn't wearing his ring. That realisation had felt like a blade to his heart.

It had taken almost every ounce of will he possessed not to ask her where it was.

To demand she put it back on.

He'd only stopped himself because he wasn't sure she was still his wife. Not when everything between them felt so broken.

He still didn't know what he felt. What was true. Other than knowing, bone-deep, that if he told her any part of what he felt, he suspected she might just run again.

It would be easier to take her back to the capital. But no, Aristides had tasked him with finding Deandra Noirene and whoever she was working with. Chloe hadn't found her, so that meant the hunt had to continue.

Even if his instincts wanted Chloe safe, if he took her back to Lumia, some people would interpret that as him believing she'd played some role in the attack on the palace. The rumor mill amongst the court was alive and well. It hadn't taken long for news to spread that she had left the city, and speculation had followed about why. He was a Truth Seeker, one who had famously condemned his best friend to death. If he dragged Chloe back to the city without the true perpetrators in custody, that speculation would grow. That was the last thing either of them needed.

Nor could he ignore the fact that if he took her back to Lumia, there was no guarantee she would be safe.

Not with traitors armed with memory-altering, face-shifting magic who seemed intent on disrupting the empire. Who were willing to sacrifice her to achieve their aims. Particularly if there was also a crown prince willing to sacrifice his own father at the heart of the plot.

He pressed his lips together as he considered Alain. Aristides had confined him to the palace, yes, but the emperor had made no more definitive move against his son. And the palace was practically a small city. Impossible to entirely lock down, which left Alain free to scheme if he wanted. If he was involved with the attack, then clearly he had methods of communicating with the emperor's enemies without being discovered.

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