Chapter 26

“Just to soothe my mind,” Cree broached through chattering teeth. “How did you convince Tyffial to give up her necklace?”

Lucien shifted. He shifted, and he lied. “I didn’t want to force a sacrifice she wasn’t ready to make,” he replied. “But ultimately, she accepted the bigger picture. I told her she could build a temple to Jurrell made of sapphires and pearls when we reach Cognouza.”

In truth, Tyffial had scoffed at his suggestion that she hand over the jewel. When he reached into her mind to convince her otherwise, he felt a cold, dark slithering in his gut. The tattoos were a change, but he was different now in other ways, ways he couldn’t put a finger on. After Tyffial “agreed” to hand over the amulet, Lucien made her forget the whole thing, and the jewel itself.

He comforted himself that he had magnanimously not touched any of her other fond memories of Jurrell.