Valen and I hadn’t spoken about her since his brilliant idea of me writing her a letter. I’d thought he’d dismissed the whole thing. It wasn’t his problem, after all. He just needed me to steal the Selenian Jewel for him. What did he care about my mother?
I stared at the stone, unsure what to think.
“Can I use it now?” I asked.
“Go ahead.”
I picked up the stone, cupping it in my hands. Sure enough, it grew hot within moments.
“Um, hello, Maman,” I said, suddenly self-conscious. “This stone is holding my words. I haven’t been turned into a rock, if that’s what you’re thinking. Uh… I’m here in the Moonlit Court, and I’m not hurt. I can’t tell you the details, but things here are going to take longer than I thought. I miss you, but don’t worry. I’m perfectly fine, and I’ll be back in less than two months. Please take care of yourself. I love you.”
Valen held out the box, and I placed the stone inside. He closed the lid.
My heart thudded in my chest as he called the courier back inside. They spoke briefly. Then the courier bowed and took the box away.
Silence filled the room.
“I won’t thank you,” I said after several moments. “It’s not a kindness when you’re the reason I’m separated from my mother in the first place.”
“I’m not trying to be kind,” he said a little too quickly. “You’ve been distracted worrying about her. I need you to focus on the task at hand. Now you have no excuses.”
“Good.” My voice came out high, and I cleared my throat. “Just so we’re clear.”
“Of course.”
But things between us couldn’t have felt less clear if we’d been walking through a fog bank. I’d thought I had him pegged as a cold, calculating bastard, but I was starting to think I didn’t understand him at all.
Chapter 13
Emmeline
“Good heavens, you’re from Thallence?”
My fork paused partway to my mouth, nearly dropping a few spinach leaves and a strawberry back onto my salad dish.
Valen had brought me to a small dinner party, my first official social outing as his lover. Our hosts were friends of Valen’s: Amatien and his husband, Ishaq. Well, they couldn’t have been Valen’s true friends, since he was acting like a different person and lying about our relationship. But he was friendly with them, at least.
“What’s wrong with Thallence?” Amatien asked.
He was apparently the third son of some lesser noble house, low status enough that nobody had complained when he’d married a human for love. He had a round, fair face and curly blond hair that reached his elbows.
“It’s a fascist nightmare,” Ishaq answered.
He was the one I worried about. A short man with a thick beard and dark skin, he’d been perfectly welcoming. But he was from Earth, so if anyone caught me in a lie about my background, it would be him.
“They execute people for the slightest ‘moral deviance,’ which is often just being born with magic,” Ishaq ranted. “King Albin steals his people’s livelihood with senseless taxes, and anyone who speaks out against him gets murdered in their own homes along with their entire families. We have lots of Thallencien refugees in Iladriz, and their stories are horrible.”
His gaze returned to me, Thallencien citizen, and his eyes widened. “Ah. Forgive me if I caused offense…”
I made sure to swallow my food before I replied.See, Valen? The etiquette lessons paid off.
“I don’t get offended by the truth. King Albin is cruel, yes, but you’re forgetting something.”
“Oh?” Ishaq asked.
“He’s also a beef-witted buffoon.”
Ishaq laughed.
