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“I think it’s great that Prince Shey wants to help Caelan, but how well do you know him?” Drayce asked Rayne. “I mean do you know him know him?” He added a lascivious eyebrow waggle to make it clear to everyone that he meant in a more physical sense.
Rayne didn’t blink. “As I’ve stated, I spent some time in Sirelis as part of an exchange program while completing my studies. It just so happened that Prince Shey was taking the same political theory and philosophy classes as I was. That is how we became acquainted.”
The response failed to answer Drayce’s real question and in truth, Eno wasn’t ready to hear that answer. Rayne’s familiarity with Shey grated on Eno’s nerves, and it wasn’t helped by Rayne’s evasiveness during dinner. Part of him wanted to grab Rayne and shake the full story out of him. But most of him just wanted to kiss him and fuck him until there was no doubt that Rayne belonged to him and not some Caspagir prince.
Clearly, that wasn’t an option at that moment.
And did he even have any right to Rayne’s past? So he and Rayne had fucked. They said they wanted more than a one-time thing, but did that really give Eno any rights to him? Did Eno even have more claim on Rayne than Shey when it was obvious they had history together?
Caelan’s brow furrowed. “Do you trust him?”
“More than most, but not as completely as I trust the three of you,” Rayne replied bluntly. “I think he believes helping you will help Caspagir and hurt the Empire. As long as your goals benefit Caspagir in the long-term, I think you can rely on Shey and his mother for trustworthy assistance.”
To Eno’s surprise, Caelan didn’t appear reassured, judging by the frown that cut lines across his face. Eno thought Rayne sounded logical and correct in his assessment of Prince Shey.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Shey and his mother are hiding something,” Caelan announced.
“I’m sure they are.” Rayne lightly shrugged as he turned on the sofa to regard Caelan beside him. “Every government has its secrets, and I certainly wouldn’t expect Shey to divulge everything in our brief meeting. We’re learning more from the queen tomorrow.”
“Like the fact that they have a godstone?”
Everything stopped. No one moved. No one breathed but Caelan and Drayce, and even Drayce seemed shaken by Caelan’s confidence. A cold chill swept through Eno while his mind rebelled against Caelan’s words. He had to have heard him wrong. But he didn’t, and this wasn’t something to joke about. Caelan was utterly sure of what he was saying and completely serious.
Rayne recovered first, shaking his head as he shoved to his feet. He paced across the room to a white marble fireplace. “That…that is impossible. There is one godstone, and the Empire has it. Are you saying that Caspagir possesses the Godstone of Erya?”
The man was bristling with every word he spoke. Eno got it. Caelan’s question was threatening to shatter what they knew of the world, his trust of Prince Shey and Caspagir.
“No, I didn’t say it was the Godstone. Or the Erya Godstone. Or as it is more formally known, the Life Stone. What’s sitting in Sirelis is a godstone.”
“It’s still nonsense. There is only one, regardless of what you call it. It is, or at least was, in the royal city of Erya, where it has been for the last couple of millennia, since the end of the war.” Rayne’s voice trembled as he spoke and Eno wanted to go to him, to comfort him, but he didn’t trust that his legs would keep him upright. He was shaken to the core.
What Rayne recited were the same facts they all knew. All the people of Thia. Caelan’s claim was threatening to the entire balance of the world. It was all too big, too much to even contemplate.
Caelan shifted on the couch, leaning forward to brace his forearms on his knees as he stared at Rayne. “I’m not wrong, and you know I wouldn’t make a mistake like this. I can feel it. It’s similar to what I sense when I’m home, the sense of power and presence that comes from the Godstone. Similar but different. It’s not our Godstone, but a different one.”
“But…no. There’s one. There’s only one. Everyone in all the world knows there is only one,” Rayne countered. It wasn’t a logical argument, and he almost sounded as though he was begging Caelan to make it true.
The harsh desperation in Rayne’s tone finally gave Eno the strength to rise and walk over to the advisor. Gently, he took him by the shoulders and ushered him over to the chair he’d just left and pushed him down.
“Dude, you totally broke Rayne,” Drayce said with a kind of nervous chuckle.
