That didn’t mean the aristo families in Doun were going to find it easy to swallow. But everything had a price. Males who warmed too many beds sometimes paid dearly. Roxie would be the lesson—and the warning—that witches who used men would pay a price as well. He’d been too passive in dealing with Roxie. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

A servant escorted him into the formal parlor where Roxie’s father waited. The man rocked on his heels, all ruffled indignation and puffed-up anger. But there was fear in his eyes.

“Warlord,” Lucivar said.

“Prince.” Roxie’s father bobbed his head sharply. “I hope you’ve dismissed that servant. Dreadful woman, accosting an innocent girl on a public street and then spreading lies about her.”

“If you’re referring to Lady Marian—”

“Marian. Yes, that’s the name! Your—”

“Lover.”

Roxie’s father paled. “What?”

“Marian is my lover,” Lucivar said softly.

“But—But you promised Roxie—”

Lucivar snarled. “The only thing I ever promised Roxie was that I’d kill her if I found her in my bed again.”

The man staggered toward a chair and sank into it.

He loves the little bitch, Lucivar thought as pity stirred in him. But pity couldn’t alter what he’d come here to do. In truth, he was showing Roxie more mercy than she probably deserved. “Everything has a price. The price of rape is execution. Falsely accusing a man of rape also has a price—the witch’s Jewels . . . or her life.”

“But she didn’t accuse you of anything! You only have that woman’s—that Lady’s word on it.”

“She didn’t have a chance to accuse me,” Lucivar countered. He took a deep breath, let it out in a sigh, and shook his head. Better just to say it and be done. “Because she didn’t have a chance to play out her game, I can be . . . flexible . . . about the penalty. I can’t justify taking her life, but I won’t have her putting men’s lives at risk in the land where I rule. Therefore, Roxie is exiled from Ebon Rih. You have three days to get her settled beyond the borders of this valley. If she’s not gone by then, I’ll come hunting. And if she ever returns to Ebon Rih, I’ll kill her.”

“You can’t!” Roxie’s father wailed.

“I’m the law here,” Lucivar said. “This is as much mercy as I can offer a woman like her. You can accept it and get her out of Ebon Rih”—he called in his war blade—“or I can kill her now. I imagine there will be a fair number of young men who will sleep easier tonight if I do.”

Roxie’s father clutched his chest. Tears filled his eyes. “Where is she supposed to go?”