Page 26 of Captive of the Stolen Empire

His stance relaxed, looking almost casual, where he halted behind a chair. “Interrogated as soon as I enter my room. Perhaps I should have locked you in a cell after all.”

A flash of teeth through the slit of his mask marked it for a joke, but that didn’t stop my frown.

“What happened to the maid? The one with the letter.”

His grin disappeared in an instant, a thin press of lips appearing through the slit in his mask. “Why do you want to know?”

I shrugged, though his shift in attitude caused my muscles to tense up, making the movement awkward and stiff instead of casual and easy. “I feel bad for her is all. Unlike the rumors about my mother, I do have a heart.”Sometimes.

It was hard, so hard, not to squirm under his intrusive gaze. Everything in me urged me to run away, not to ask any more questions of this deadly man, but I held my ground.

“She’ll be sent away from Zhine,” he said at last.

“Where—”

He cut me off with a jerk of his head. I wouldn’t get anything more, but at least she was alive.

“What’s the other question?” he asked.

“It’s about your magic,” I hedged.

He crossed his arms. His boot stamped against the stonework as his posture stiffened.

I pressed ahead despite his reaction. “How do I know when you’re using it or when you’re not.”

“You’ve seen it?”

I shook my head. I hadn’t—not for sure. Not here nor in Sorrena, though I’d heard about it, or rather, its effect. Men turned on each other and themselves. Some fled the battle. A few who escaped were near broken with fear. Whatever they’d seen…I couldn’t imagine it.

“Hm…” His fingers drummed against his crossed arms. “Wait here.”

I sat in one of the chairs while I waited for him to return. Nerves sloshed in my stomach like rolling waves on the sea during a storm.

What’s taking so long?

When he returned, he no longer wore his helmet, though the rest of his armor remained intact. I nearly gaped at the sight. Were we so familiar now that he’d show himself to me regularly? He wore the same guise as the day before, and though part of me dearly wished he’d kept the helmet on, another painted a self-satisfied smile across my lips.Progress.

The growing smirk on his lips distracted me so thoroughly that I didn’t notice the object he held in his hands until he presented it to me.

I rose to my feet, inching toward him, but didn’t take his offering.

Lucien held a large silver bangle. Ornate designs of swirls and dots were inlaid in the metal, making it look like a piece of gaudy but fashionable jewelry. A spring clasp on one side with a slit on the other would allow it to open and close to fit around arms of varying sizes.

“What is it?” I glanced at the piece with unease. Was it an illusion? Would my hand pass right through it?

“This bracelet is enchanted to protect the wearer from magic.”

My mouth dropped open. I’d heard of such objects, but they were exceedingly rare. And expensive, even for someone born to wealth like myself.

Those rare few blessed by Aurora, Goddess of Dawn, who could work such magic charged a small fortune for it. Yet they had no lack of customers.

“When you have it on, you won’t see my illusions,” he said. “But without it…”

I yelped as juniper-colored vines crawled across the now mossy ground near my feet. To my right, a tree blossomed with pink blooms, so real their floral perfume teased my nose with memories of the growing season. My mouth watered, imagining the sweetness of the juicy pears that grew in moments on the branches. A few petals let free and drifted down, blown by the warm breeze that tickled my skin.

Lucien nudged the bracelet in my direction. “Take it. Put it on.”

Hesitantly, I took the object he offered. Heavier than I expected and cool to the touch, it dwarfed my slim wrists. I slid it on without opening the clasp.

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