Page 6 of The Exile's Curse

Chloe shook her head, laughing. She should have expected that offer. "Is there any point in me arguing about this?"

"Jean-Paul claims there never is," Imogene said, laughing.

Jean-Paul was probably right. Imogene had always been single-minded in pursuit of whatever she set her mind on. "All right. You may buy me a gown."

"Gowns," Imogene corrected.

"A few," Chloe said, throwing up her hands in defeat. "Not an entire flock. I have no need for a wardrobe as large as yours." Imogene had had an entire room devoted to her wardrobe when Chloe had last been in Lumia. And even then, those were only the clothes she kept in the city. Given she spent half her days in military uniform, it made Chloe tired to think of how many outfit changes palace life must require for her to need so many.

"We'll see," Imogene said. But she smiled, clearly pleased, then looked across the room. "Ikarus, would you tell Lili that we would like some tea, please?"

"Ikarus is here?" Chloe asked.

She had forgotten about Imogene's sanctii. In Anglion, the familiaris sanctii were strictly taboo—considered demons of the darkest, vilest kind. Queen Sophia would change that slowly, given she came with a sanctii of her own. But before she had come to power, sanctii and water magic had been forbidden for many, many years. Chloe might have snuck in a little earth magic here and there in Anglion where she had need, but she hadn't been even slightly tempted to try water magic in a country where it might just get her killed.

But in Illvya and the other parts of the empire where water mages were common, there were sanctii. Not all water mages bonded with them. The required rites took a degree of skill and power that not all could attain. Nor the willingness to spend one's life joined to a companion from a race completely different to one's own. A healthy regard for the potential for destruction embodied in the sanctii's powers also deterred some from trying.

Some but not all. Enough tried and succeeded that she would have to learn once again to guard her tongue and consider the fact that there might be an invisible listener to any given conversation involving a water mage. The skills at dissembling she had gained in Anglion in that regard would continue to serve her well.

"He's nearby," Imogene said with a careless flick of her fingers. "He can always hear me anyway."

"And you use him to convey messages to your servants?"

"Not always. But he doesn't mind. He quite likes Lili."

A sanctii became part of a household over the years. Her father's, Martius, had been part of her life since birth. He had seemed happy to have her home again, as much as any sanctii expressed emotion. It made sense that Ikarus would make his own relationships with the people in Imogene's life.

Chloe had been on what she considered friendly terms with him when Imogene first bonded with him, though he had tended to stay out of sight. She'd met Sophie's Elarus a time or two as well, but the female sanctii—an even rarer thing—was less communicative and more focused on Sophie. Which made sense given the situation in Anglion. The young queen was leading an overturning of centuries of schism in the temple there, not to mention trying to root out the seeds of a plot that had led to her gaining the throne. She needed her sanctii to be focused on keeping her safe.

"I see," Chloe said. She would regain her former ease with sanctii other than Martius in time.

Imogene smiled again. "So, that takes care of clothing. What of your jewelry?"

"I have a few pieces. But in truth, I sold much of it in Anglion."

The smile disappeared. "What of the de Montesse stones Charl gave you?"

"I left those behind. I didn’t want to be accused of being a thief as well as a traitor's wife."

Blue eyes blazed. "No one thinks that."

Chloe shrugged. She appreciated Imogene's loyalty, but she had to be pragmatic. There would be those in Illvya who didn't wish her well and would have been perfectly happy if she'd lived out her years in exile. "I guarantee you that some people do. And his family suffered enough."

"They truly haven't contacted you?"

"No, but I did not expect them to. I don't know how much of an estate there was," Chloe said. "Charl was, after all, just a second son of a second son. He claimed to handle the money himself and never gave me reason to think matters were difficult. But then again, he never gave me reason to think he was conspiring against the emperor either, so who knows what he was really doing?"

She looked away for a moment, regretting the bitterness that had crept into her tone. She was supposed to be convincing everyone that she was fine. Ready to embark on a new life.

Imogene squeezed her hand. Chloe squeezed back, willing away the bite of anger.

"Were that man not already dead, I would throttle him myself," Imogene muttered, voice fierce despite the softness. "I know you loved him, but—"

"You would have to form an orderly line behind several other people," Chloe said.

"Including you?" A dark eyebrow arched.

"Possibly," Chloe said. "I was angry for a long time. Now I am mostly just sad for a waste of a life." A waste oftheirlife.

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