Her voice didn’t tremble. He was impressed. Then again, she had served Eloisa for quite some time now. Perhaps Sophie knew as well as he did how to read her moods. Though now she had the added complication of trying to judge the queen-to-be’s magic as well. She wouldn’t have been able to do that before.
He wondered what it felt like to her. He was male and a battle mage. The currents of earth magic were shrouded to him, so that all he could sense were whispers—like catching a snatch of conversation borne on a breeze. Maybe Sophie could hear every word. She had certainly channeled the power from a ley line without damaging herself or him, other than inciting them to stupidity. She was obviously strong.
Hopefully strong enough for what was to come.
“You could be with child,” the Domina said.
“Perhaps. Though I don’t see a child as harm either,” Sophie said. He thought he detected a faint quaver in her voice. Perhaps. Maybe he was listening for what wasn’t there.
“You would disgrace your family,” the Domina started. “Rejected by the goddess, a child out of wedlock.”
Sophie’s chin lifted higher. “My family loves me. They’d be happy to have me come home.”
“Are you sure of that?” the Domina said.
“Yes—”
“I think we have strayed from the point,” Eloisa interjected.
“And what is the point exactly?” Cameron asked, trying to stay calm. “Sophie is still a royal witch. Does it really matter so much if she doesn’t have this . . . binding to the goddess?”
The small shudder that ran over Eloisa’s face as she frowned made him feel ill. He wanted to hurt those who had done this to her. Who had done this to all of them. Taken his father. Taken their king. Hurt Eloisa.
Hurt Sophie in a roundabout way. If there had been no attack, then he wouldn’t be standing there. He never would have been stranded with Sophie. Never been alone with her.
An image of her face awash with pleasure flashed through his mind, and he felt the ghost touch of her body on his again. He should regret it.
But he found he could not, despite the wrongness of it. Found, if he was honest with himself, that there was a small part of him that hungered to touch her again despite all his better judgment.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was to free her of this mess. At whatever cost. He took a breath, nodded at Eloisa. “After all, she has served you loyally for what . . . a year now? She is a member of the court and a subject of the Crown. Your subject. What has changed?”
“Royal witches are expected to serve the court through their marriages,” Domina Skey said. “No lord will want her now. Not if the marriage ritual won’t work. They would want to know why.”
Eloisa tilted her head, the movement slow and careful this time, though it was still echoed by a shiver of pain that made Cameron flatten his palms to his sides against the urge to soothe that hurt. That would be one way to make this situation even worse.
“It is true that Sophie has served me well,” Eloisa said. “And perhaps it is truly no fault of either of you what happened.” She sounded less convinced of this part, but the words gave Cameron a little hope. “So maybe there is a simpler solution in front of us.”
“Which is?” the Domina asked before Cameron could.
“She can marry Cameron,” Eloisa said. She met Cam’s eyes as she spoke, as though waiting to see his reaction. Only force of will kept him still through the shock, the words hitting deeper this time. Beside him Sophie made a shocked sound as rapidly stifled as his own reaction.
Marriage. He had not contemplated ever doing such a thing as long as he was in the Red Guard. A third son was of little interest to the matchmaking mothers of the court, particularly with Alec already producing children to put even more distance between him and any chance of the title. There was little incentive for him to marry, and with Eloisa willing to allow him into her bed, he hadn’t had eyes for any other ladies.
Until Sophie had touched him.
Guilt twisted his gut again. “I—” he began, but the Domina held up a hand, cutting him off.
“She should be married to a powerful lord,” the Domina said. “Her power should seal the loyalty of someone other than a lieutenant in the Red Guard.”
“Cameron is now the brother of the Erl of Inglewood. Not just a third son. If I remember correctly, Liam is yet to have any children. And we are somewhat short of eligible lords, if the casualty reports I’ve been given are truthful. No one will blink if Liam chooses to gift his brother with one of his minor titles and increase his landholdings now that he himself is the erl. That will increase his eligibility.” For a moment her expression softened. “Our condolences on the loss of your father, Lieutenant Mackenzie. He was a good and faithful servant of the court.”
Not a good man, Cameron noted. Just a good servant. A good tool to be deployed as the court and the Crown wished. As, or so it appeared, was he. He gritted his teeth but bowed and murmured, “Thank you.”
“Your father would have had someone in mind for the girl. Someone other than a minor lordling.” the Domina protested. “She’s strong. You can use that to your advantage.”
He noticed she didn’t look at Sophie when she said this. And that the sting of angry power in the air wasn’t Eloisa’s alone. The Domina was not pleased by this situation. What that might mean in the future, he did not know. But the Domina had to bow to the will of the monarch when it came to the marriages of royal witches. He knew that much. So it was Eloisa he needed to be most concerned about right now. He could avoid the Domina easily enough. He went to temple on eighth day as part of the Red Guard, but as a battle mage, he had rites and obeisances of a different nature to honor the source of his magic.
Sophie wouldn’t be so lucky. But once she was married—married as directed by Eloisa—then surely the Domina would have to move on.