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Drayce winked at her. “And this is Melita. The Melita. The most badass warrior woman ever. She’d die before betraying her honor.”
Tomas did not appear impressed. He looked irritated. Or maybe constipated. But then, his face always had that uncomfortable, blocked-up twist to his features.
“We were sent to Sirelis for a meeting with Noemi,” Eno said, his voice barely over a whisper. “She’d made the request for a meeting when the Empire crossed her border and started taking over some of the border bases. The train ran into some trouble in the Ordas, and we were forced to walk the last bit to a border town.”
“You walked in the Ordas,” Melita gasped, her mug forgotten halfway to her mouth. She lowered it again without drinking, leaning closer to Drayce. “Seriously?”
Drayce nodded. “Dude, it was insane. We were attacked by a group of these crazy huge purple cats. Or is it a herd? A pride? No, that’s—”
Eno placed a hand over Drayce’s mouth and groaned softly. “It was treacherous, but we survived.”
“Is Rayne Laurent with you?” Tomas demanded.
Eno lowered his hand, but Drayce pinched his lips tightly together as he watched his companion. He wasn’t saying a goddamn word about Rayne or Caelan without Eno’s approval first. Yes, he believed that Melita and Tomas were on the up-and-up, but did they believe the same about Rayne?
Tomas sighed heavily. “He was rarely more than a dozen steps away from him at any time. When he wasn’t found with him, we wondered…” Tomas paused and frowned at the mug of coffee caged between his scarred hands. “We’re still trying to locate people, but you three were among the most notable who were missing.”
“Some of us wanted to hope that it meant…” Melita said but drifted off and shook her head. “But we also feared.”
Drayce thought he was going to be sick. The idea that anyone thought he could be a traitor, that he could betray Caelan, was disgusting. No, he didn’t blame anyone for thinking it, even briefly. Their world had been turned upside down in the blink of an eye, but still…a traitor? Never. He was prepared to die for Caelan.
Eno frowned and looked over at Drayce. He shrugged at the big man. “We’re not getting anywhere. Not really.”
Sighing, Eno shifted in his seat and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket along with a pair of earbuds. He handed one to Melita and the other to Tomas before starting to tap on his phone, searching for something in particular. When they had the earbuds in place, Eno set the phone in the middle of the table and pressed the play button.
Melita gasped at the sight of Caelan sitting on the sofa within their apartment at the Sirelis palace. Behind him stood Eno and Rayne while Drayce rushed to get into the shot so Tomas and Melita could see them all.
While Drayce couldn’t hear Caelan now, the memory of shooting that video last night was clear in his head.
“Hello. I am Crown Prince Caelan Talos of Erya, the last living heir of the Talos line and would-be king of Erya.” He paused to give a tiny wry smile that didn’t wipe the pain from his eyes. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t meet with you today. I’m sending Eno and Drayce as my emissaries while I meet with Queen Noemi Thrudesh-Vo. I ask that you give my companions a full accounting of the events leading up to my mother’s death and the theft of the Godstone. I want to know what forces are left and where the Godstone is. I am working to gain us the military support needed to regain the Godstone and our kingdom. Together, we will crush the Empire and save our people. I swear it.”
Melita was openly weeping by the time the brief video was completed, and Tomas wasn’t a whole lot better. His eyes were screwed up tightly, and his hand was covering his mouth. Drayce hadn’t realized how much hope had hinged on whether Caelan might still be alive.
Eno picked up his phone, closed out of the video screen, and shoved it into his pocket. Tomas sucked in a shuddering breath as he handed back the earbud. Melita did the same and accepted a paper napkin from Drayce to wipe her face.
“Body double,” Eno whispered, and Tomas nodded. “We left well before the attack for our meeting with Caspagir. We knew nothing until we left the Ordas and entered Caspagir.”
They all suddenly straightened, conversation stopping when the bartender carried over a large tray loaded with food. He wordlessly set each plate in front of a person and then left. He returned a minute later, refreshed their coffee, and beat a hasty retreat. Drayce could only guess that they looked like they were in an intense conversation that shouldn’t be interrupted. So much for not appearing shady.
