The corruption came back on the third day, and Lucian felt it happen through a woman who didn't know she was telling him.
He was in his guest quarters. Mid-morning. The matebond had been carrying River's steady, muted grief for two days, the background frequency of a woman hoping things could work out and knowing they couldn't. The hoping was the louder signal. The knowing sat underneath it, patient, waiting for the hoping to exhaust itself.
Then the knowing won.
Lucian knew that but didn't know what she was hoping for or what the alternative was.
Through the connection, Lucian felt the exact moment she stopped hoping and started planning.
