Page 111 of Thief of Hearts

“What, the queen of lies?”

She made an exasperated sound.

What you should do is a comparison between two thieves. Let’s take King Actos. Actos steals children to have sex with them. Zain stole a magical object you weren’t even aware of a month ago because there was a question he needed answered. And hadn’t you already decided that you weren’t going to use the diviner stone yourself?

The voice seemed determined to get me to agree. “Yes, but—”

There’s no but. If you’d had that on you, if Zain hadn’t followed you and used it, the Dracanians or Actos would have taken it.

“That’s what he said.”

He sounds smart.

“Maybe if he hadn’t drugged me and dragged me off, we wouldn’t have been caught by the Dracanians.”

The men who were hunting you? It sounds as if that would have happened either way. And think of this—if you hadn’t been taken to Epirius, you wouldn’t have been put in a position where you could save those girls.

I sighed. That was a fair point. “How are you in my head arguing with me?”

There was a long pause and I wondered if my question scared the Lia-esque voice off.

Who can say? Perhaps the gods are involved because they want you to forgive the man who stole my husband.

“Kept him safe. Why would they want me to forgive him?”

Because he’s ridiculously handsome?

That sounded more like a question than an actual answer. Lia wouldn’t say that. “Really?”

That’s why I want you to forgive him. You deserve all of that. Being married to a ridiculously handsome man myself, I can tell you, it’s a great deal of fun.

The voice was missing the point. “How am I supposed to forgive someone who doesn’t want forgiveness?”

He feels bad. He wants your forgiveness. He just doesn’t think that he deserves it.

“And he would be right.”

The voice paused for so long that I thought she had left.

Didn’t he almost die crossing the desert? Forced to walk tied up to a cart with no water, the sun beating down on him, and very few chances to rest?

“Yes.”

So he was tortured for a couple of days and nearly died. Couldn’t that be punishment enough for what he did?

It had been truly terrible for him. He had nearly died. “I—I never thought of it that way.”

Maybe you should. And maybe the reason I’m here is that you’ve conjured me up because you need someone to talk to and you’re currently mad at the person you want to talk to. Someone you’ve spent a lot of time kissing, by the way.

“Stop being insightful and correct.”

It’s my job. Now, go to sleep. You need the rest.

“Yes, Mother.” My eyelids fluttered shut and I quickly fell asleep.

Chapter Thirty-Three

After that conversation, I expected Lia to show up in my dreams. She didn’t and I wasn’t sure how to interpret our conversation—or who I’d actually been speaking to.