Page 85 of The Exile's Curse

Lucien rose, stalked to the nearest bare patch of wall, and slapped his hand against it. The echo of the ward rang though her like a bell.

"That's hardly disproving their theory about who put the ward around my room the other night."

He swore under his breath, striding back to the table.

Her pulse was racing in her ears, her stomach rolling with the panicked sense that she had landed in a mess there was no good way out of. If there was no resolution, if she was disgraced on this mission, that would be the end of her chance at a career.

She made herself breathe more slowly. One of them had to be sensible. Apparently it was her. After all, she had the most to lose here. "Honore is right," she said. "Aristides would grant you a divorce. Or us, I suppose. I'm hardly the right wife for the Marq of Castaigne, and he'll see your hand was forced. We can return home, tell nobody, get divorced, and go our separate ways again."

His eyes blazed. "It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"For a start, what if the emperor doesn't grant me a divorce?”

"That's hardly likely. Not if you explain things to him. Presumably the two of you are on good terms. You are the Marq of Castaigne. You were raised to deal with politics. This is politics. Play the game, my lord." True, it was somewhat unusual for nobles to get divorced, but that was because their marriages were carefully considered in the first place and made for reasons often more practical than passionate, both parties clear-eyed about what they were doing. But it happened from time to time. And when it did, everyone moved on eventually.

"Marriage isn't a game." His voice rumbled, and she didn’t need the bond to know he was deadly serious. "It's a vow. I do not take any vow I make lightly, Chloe."

Was that what was making him stubborn about this? His bone-deep desire to keep his word? To stay true to the promises he made to his wife?

A shiver ran down her spine. What would it be like to have those promises honored? She hadn't planned on marrying again. Her aversion to making those vows was different to his. He believed in them. Wanted to honor them. She wasn't sure shecouldbelieve again. "In this case, it's politics. And I won't hold it against you."

"I'd bloody well hold it against me." His fingers drummed the table, restless, sunlight glinting off his signet rings.

She had to make him understand. "That's easy for you to say."

He stilled. "What does that mean?"

"It means that you are not the one who will come off worse out of this. You are, as mentioned, the Marq of Castaigne. A Truth Seeker. If you cause a scandal on a diplomatic mission, it will be a minor drama in your life. Gossip for a few weeks at best. But it won’t be minor for me, Lucien. If they send me home from this mission, I won't get another chance. I’ll be discharged. I don't want to be a scandal again. Or lose everything again. I can’t. Iwon’t."

He winced. "Chloe—"

"No. I lost Charl. Had my life upended. I paid a price for what he did. I'm not losing everything again for something that's not my fault. Can't you do this for me? We were friends once. You care about me. Or so you say. If you do, then do this. You can make this right. Make sure I don’t lose my chance. And when we get home, it will be undone, and we will both be happy."

He was silent, eyes searching hers, every line of his body tense. Then he sighed. "All right. You’re right. For you, I will do this."

Something in those words tolled in her chest. He was telling the truth. That it was for her. Impulsively, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

She pulled back. He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut again.

"Lucien?" she said. "Was there something you wanted to say?"

"No," he said. "It's fine. Things are settled."

This time the bell in her chest gave more of a dull thud. Like a cracked note. "That's a lie. What's wrong?"

His head snapped up. "What do you mean, that's a lie?"

"I mean you're not telling me the truth. I can—" She stopped, startled. "I can feel it."

Shock flared his own eyes wide. "You can access my power through the bond. Goddess. That's...strange."

Strange was one word for it. Fascinating might be a better one. "It's not all the time. That’s the first time I felt it. Maybe it's just with you. We should test it. Tell me something. Something from when I was away. A truth and a lie. Let's see if I can tell."

He shook his power. "This power isn’t a toy."

"I know that. I've known you for a long time, Lucien. Do you think I don't know the rules you live by? But we might as well find out how this works."

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