Theron's eyes narrowed.
"Perhaps what?"
Kael looked as though he immediately regretted having a mouth at all. He wet his lips and looked away for half a second before forcing the words out.
"Perhaps the King was looking for another mistress," he said awkwardly, "and that was why it was kept secret."
For one vivid second, Theron wanted to throw something.
At Kael.
At the wall.
At the entire ridiculous world.
Instead, he froze.
His heart gave one hard, painful beat.
His father.
The Arcanum.
The girls' dormitory.
The strange gap in his memory.
And Aveline.
Theron's hands tightened just beneath the water. The surface rippled outward in small, restless circles.
Did his father find her?
The thought landed so suddenly that his chest felt too tight for breath. He had not expected to care so much, and yet the possibility struck with a force he could not ignore.
