"Why did you think of looking for her in Aurelmont," Aveline asked quietly, "when everyone believed she died in the fire?"
That was what Aelion had told her. Leveret had supposedly perished in the Caelvaris estate forty years ago.
Lucien did not answer immediately. The pride that had filled his eyes moments ago was gone. In its place remained only an old man's sorrow.
"You knew she wasn't dead," Aveline said.
It was no longer a question. She simply spoke the thoughts forming in her mind.
Perhaps it was the trust they had built over the months. Or perhaps… she simply wanted the truth badly enough that fear no longer mattered.
She stood in a hidden chamber no one else knew existed, alone with one of the most powerful men in the kingdom.
Yet she found herself pressing onward.
"You sent her away..."
Lucien lowered his head.
Silence answered her.
Aveline swallowed.
"Why?"
She took another cautious step. "Were you trying to protect her?"
Another silence.
