“Just Cael is fine.”
“Cael.” Tanius nodded. “Thank you for meeting with us.” His gaze bobbed between the two friends. “You served in the colonies together, that right? I thought you had to be able to fly to be a Vestian guard?”
“It’s a recent loss,” Cael said, baring his teeth. “What can I do for you both? Did something happen with the shipment?”
“You haven’t heard?” Tristan asked.
Cael shook his head.
“They knew we were coming.” Tristan dragged a hand along the back of his neck.
“Yes, someone must have informed the Emperor of our plans,” Tanius said, side-eying Tristan.
Surely the male didn’t thinkTristanhad given his brother that information.
Tristan ignored the look as he continued, “Hundreds of Imperial soldiers arrived to greet us. We held them off as long as we could, but they blew up the train. Chose to destroy those missiles rather than let them fall into our hands. Which, obviously, puts a damper on our plans to?—”
Tanius grabbed Tristan’s forearm, hissing. “Donottell him anything. He’s not a member of our movement.”
Tristan’s face hardened, and he reached down to pluck Tanius’s fingers from his forearm, his voice lowering to a dangerous whisper. “First, do not ever touch me again without permission. Second—and you’ve been warned about this—you will treat me with the respect I am due as your future Emperor. Third, I would trust Cael with mylife. With our Delphine’s life. We would be lucky to have him in our movement, were he inclined to join us.” He stepped closer to Tanius and flared his wings in a show of dominance. “If you’d like to question my judgment again—which is your right, of course—you will do so in private. Otherwise, I’ll have you stripped of your leadership and you can join the rank and file. Is that clear?”
The air in the dusty church shifted and a spear of sunlight illuminated Tristan’s blue-black feathers. Tanius took to his knees.
Fuck, Cael almost felt like he should do the same.
Tristan coming into his heritage, his authority—it was a mighty thing to behold.
“My apologies, Your Highness,” Tanius said, sweeping his wings down his back in submission. “It won’t happen again.”
Tristan flicked his fingers, signaling for the male to rise.
“So,” Cael began, trying to cut through some of the tension, “if this meeting isn’t about the shipment, what’s it about?”
Tristan placed his hand on Cael’s shoulder. “How aligned are you with your father?”
“He’s…” Cael schooled his features into neutrality. “My duty is to my family. To Brachos. And to my father, Arran.” He didn’t dare reveal his true feelings. Not in front of Tanius. And anyways, everything he’d saidwastrue. For now at least. For as long as Xenia was his father’s captive.
“Could you be persuaded to do something for us under his nose?” Tristan asked.
“What kind of something?”
“Arran has another weapon. A much more powerful one. One that could mean the difference between the Teles Chrysos’s success or failure.”
Cael remained silent as Tristan gave him an expectant look.
Then opened his mouth and dropped his bomb.
“The dragon of Typhon Mountain.”
Perched on a rickety pew,Cael pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to will away the headache caused by everything Tristan and Tanius had just asked of him.
Tristan had sent the general outside to wait, requesting a private word with his friend.
Tristan crossed an arm over his chest, scratching his biceps. “Well. Will you do it?”
“I don’t even…” Cael raked a hand through his short waves. “I’ve never evenseenthe dragon. I have no idea how my father’sbeen able to control it all these years. Or how he was able to make it obey him during the war.”
“This was part of it.” Tristan pulled a silver chain from underneath his shirt. Dangling from the end was a small object thinner than a pinky finger and crafted of fire opal.
