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An echo of the same pain that had been haunting him for nearly five days squeezed his heart and tightened his throat, but he pushed through it. Now was not the time to wallow in what-ifs and whys when it came to his mother’s decision to send him away. He needed to know what was going on if he was even to save his kingdom and stop New Rosanthe.
“We weren’t sure if the rockslide was natural or an Empire ploy. We crossed the Ordas on foot and caught a ride from a small border town called Shallow Edge.”
Noemi’s eyes widened and her free hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my!”
Caelan offered her a small smile. “It was an interesting adventure.” The smile fell away as quickly as it formed, and he released her hand. “When we reached Shallow Edge, the news was hitting the world of the attack. We thought it best if no one knew I was alive.”
“And you had no idea what was going on. Who to trust.”
Caelan’s gaze hardened. “I will be honest with you, Queen Noemi. I still don’t know. What do you know of the Empire’s plans? And how the hell are there two godstones?”
For the first time, Noemi frowned at him, her gaze sharpening, but Caelan didn’t flinch or look away. Yes, he was being rude to their generous host, but Caelan was tired of niceties and being delicate. He’d lost his mother, his home, his birthright. He wanted fucking answers at last.
“The Empire wants the godstones. All of them.”
“Well, they’re halfway there!” Caelan shoved to his feet and moved to pace the area around the table.
“Your Majesty, I apologize—” Rayne started but Noemi cut him off.
“You’re wrong.”
For a heartbeat, no one moved. Caelan was pretty sure both he and Rayne had stopped breathing completely. He sucked in a breath, almost afraid to hope. “You mean the Empire doesn’t have the Godstone—I meant the Erya Godstone.”
Noemi shook her head, her sad expression seemed to accentuate the dark circles under her sparkling blue eyes. He had a feeling that she was always a delicate woman, but the death of her old friend appeared to have drained the very life from her. Her pale skin was almost paper thin and her fingers trembled slightly. “No, I’m quite sure that godstone is in the hands of the Empire. Though we’re not entirely sure where it is or how they plan on moving it. We’re still checking into that.” She paused and frowned up at Caelan. “What I mean is that there are six godstones. Well, rather, five now.”
Caelan’s knees gave out and he dropped heavily into his seat. His brain simply shorted out. It wasn’t enough that he’d been shocked to find that a godstone had been hidden in Caspagir for quite some time, but instead of there being one or two, now there were six?
Thousands of questions raged through his brain and none of them had clear answers, though one kept repeating, What did it matter if I’m the last Talos bound to the Erya Godstone, when the world has five other stones? This grand destiny that lay before him suddenly seemed…less. He was smaller.
But that didn’t matter. One, two, six. He had a throne to reclaim and a people to protect. The Erya Godstone was merely a tool to help his kingdom.
A strange, choked, gasping sound was coming out of Rayne. Well, at least his friend was as shocked as he was.
“I don’t understand,” was all Caelan could manage.
Noemi’s expression softened, and she smiled at him. “I guess it starts like most good stories do, a long time ago, with the discovery of the godstones. The gods had fought their war, and…” she paused and held her empty hands in front of her, “well, across the world, the stones were found. In the beginning, people didn’t try to hide the fact that there were six, but then it was your ancestor who discovered that the power of the godstone could be harnessed. The relationship the Talos family started with the Godstone was one of respect and dedication to the protection of the people of Erya as well as the goddess. Other families and leaders tried to establish the same bond with the remaining godstones, but it never worked. As a result, animosity and mistrust grew.”
“War?” Rayne inquired.
“And worse,” Noemi whispered. Caelan didn’t ask her to elaborate. Their world had lost enough to war and violence over the centuries. Add in the powers of the gods and the results could only be catastrophic.
“Are you telling me the stones were hidden?” Caelan pushed.
“And purposefully forgotten. The leaders of the kingdoms who had the stones met in a secret location centuries ago. We agreed that we couldn’t make the world forget about them completely, so the king of Erya agreed to make the Life Stone the one that the world remembered. It became known as the Godstone, and the Talos family were its sole keepers. Only the Talos family would bond with their godstone.”
