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“I wouldn’t even begin to know how,” Shey muttered with a shake of his head. “I didn’t even know the damn thing was there.”
Caelan rose, crossing to stand beside him. “You can’t feel it, can you? You can’t hear it? Queen Noemi said that she has never heard from the God of Storms, but have you—”
“No.” Shey peered over at him, eyes narrowed. “But you can hear him?”
“I feel the power in the air. Like lightning waiting in the wind for a chance to escape. I hear whispers, but the words are too low for me to understand,” Caelan admitted. “I’ve felt your godstone from the first moment I set foot in Sirelis.”
“Can…can you talk to the god?”
“I think so.” Caelan paused and licked his lips. This question had bounced through his brain almost since they’d first set foot in the city. “I think I can bond with the Caspagir godstone. All your kingdom is offering is wonderful and greatly appreciated, but I don’t think I can defeat the Empire and get back my godstone without the power of a godstone at my fingertips.”
Shey waited for only a heartbeat before he nodded and turned to face Caelan. “Okay. I’ll take you to the God of Storms tomorrow. You can talk to him and bond with the stone or whatever your family does. I don’t relish the idea of throwing my entire navy against the Empire, but if you’ve got some magic that can help, I say let’s do it.”
Caelan grinned at Shey. Yeah, he could see how the prince was still dangerously impulsive. He bowed his head to the man. “I’m honored, but I don’t think you understand. Once I bond with the Wind Stone, the bond can’t be undone. The power of the Wind Stone can only move to another after my death. At least that’s how it works with the Life Stone. I’m going to assume the God of Storms works the same way.” Caelan shook his head. “I won’t steal your birthright. I’ve had mine stolen by the Empire, and I won’t do the same to you.”
A low chuckle surprised Caelan, and his head snapped up to see Shey smiling at him. “Considering I didn’t know it existed and no Thrudesh-Vo has ever bonded with the Wind Stone, I don’t see it as much of a birthright. More of a burden to keep hidden from the world. I say you are welcome to the power of the Wind Stone if you can get the old god to talk to you.”
“Thank you.” Caelan allowed a small sheepish smile to sneak out before he moved to pick up his glass of wine again. His mind was still somewhat boggled over Shey’s easy acceptance, but then the man also seemed to regard the stone as more curse than boon. “Of course, this is all assuming the God of Storms will talk to me in the first place. He may decide I’m not worth his attention. That the Talos family belongs to the Goddess of Life.”
“If you are able to bond with the Wind Stone, will that affect your bond with the Erya godstone?”
Caelan sighed. “I’m not formally bonded with the Life Stone.”
“What? But the magic bubble you made in the cell?”
Caelan turned to face Shey. “Only Queen Amara was formally bonded with the Life Stone. When she died, I was already here in Caspagir and the Godstone was in the hands of the Empire. I have to be with the stone, to be able to speak to the dead god, in order to complete the bond.”
Shey rubbed his forehead with one hand as if a headache were coming on. Caelan picked up the bottle of wine and refilled Shey’s glass before handing it to him. “This is all more than I ever wanted to know about the gods. I felt better when everyone was calling them dead and they weren’t talking to us.”
Caelan huffed a laugh. Maybe it didn’t bother him as much simply because he had been raised on it. Gods and the Godstone were facts of life. “Dead is a misnomer, I guess. They’re trapped in the stones. Well, all except the one in Zastrad. I’m guessing that one really is dead.”
“Unless he’s running loose somewhere, and we don’t know it.”
Not a comforting thought.
“But as I was saying, only one person can bond with a godstone at a time. Right now, I’m hoping that they’ll let me bond with two. I can feel the power from both. I can very nearly pull on the power from the Wind Stone.” Caelan paused and smiled at Shey. “You see, Amara might have had a bond with the Life Stone, but she was permitted to share some of that power with me. I could use a fraction of what she could ultimately tap. When I speak to the God of Storms, would you like me to see if he’d let me share some of the power from the Wind Stone with you?”
