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Rayne narrowed his eyes and lifted one eyebrow in clear skepticism. Caelan fought the urge to roll his eyes at the man. It was irksome that his advisor could read him as easily as he read the pages in front of him. He shouldn’t be too annoyed, though. Rayne’s familiarity with him made their working relationship so strong.
Caelan leaned forward, placing his hands on the open book in front of him. “Really, it’s nothing. My mind wandered to random thoughts. Nothing important.”
His advisor continued to stare at him for another few seconds before giving the tiniest nod. “I’m assuming you haven’t found anything yet.”
A grunt rumbled up his throat and he glared at his book. For a week now, he and Rayne had been hanging out at the Library of Ancient History and Folklore, researching old mythology and stories about the gods to see if they could learn anything about Zyros, the Gods War, or even Lore. Rayne had also been digging into what he could learn about the history of Brightspire and its construction.
Rayne nodded and glanced over at his notes. At least he’d stopped prodding Caelan to ask the gods for information. That had been a week-long disaster. The quartet that currently comprised the peanut gallery in his brain refused to say one peep about the Gods War and what led up to it. There was a lot of simmering animosity and a healthy dose of fear stewing in his brain from them.
Of course, when he was reading the stories, he would receive a new flood of emotions and reactions from snickering and cackling to gasps of horror. In short, the gods were fucking exhausting and not helpful in the least.
You know, hiding the past isn’t going to help me survive what’s coming, he mentally snarled at them yet again. If I’m just marching to my death for your amusement, I’m going to stop now. What’s the point?
None of us wants to see you or your friends die, Caris cooed at him.
Tula snorted. Yeah, Caelan was still well aware that she wasn’t overly fond of Rayne’s independence or the fact that Caelan stopped her powers from seizing control of his mind. Whatever gift she’d given Rayne was apparently not enough to give her a strong foothold in his mind to control him.
We’re not trying to kill you, Kaes added, sounding slightly exasperated, as if this was all in Caelan’s imagination.
Speak for yourself. He still owes me, Nyx grumbled.
You got no less than you deserved, Tula sniped.
Caelan rubbed his temples with one hand and squeezed his eyes shut against the throbbing that had started at the back of his head. Why the fuck did he have to get them going again? Wasn’t it enough that he was entertaining them with reading about themselves?
“Are they feeling chatty?” Rayne inquired softly.
“Yes, but not helpful.”
Rayne lifted the pen from the paper where he’d been making some notes and tilted his head to the side. The sun moved across his glasses, temporarily reflecting so that Caelan couldn’t see Rayne’s jade green eyes. “They’re not what I would have expected. With all of us facing potential extinction and their own existence in danger, I would have thought they’d be more helpful. Offer more guidance.”
He smiled at Rayne’s description. His companion had admitted that he’d believed—like most of Thia—that all the gods were long dead and gone from the world. It wasn’t surprising that his idea of the gods was more benevolent and helpful, like the ideal loving parent.
Unfortunately, these gods couldn’t be further from that image.
“They’re…just humans with incredible powers,” Caelan murmured, which set off a powder keg in his brain. All of them began shouting and arguing at once. He winced and continued talking, ignoring the noise in his head. “They feel emotions and have desires like the rest of us. They can be happy, sad, petty, jealous, helpful, benevolent, wicked as much as everyone else. We can wish they’d be more than all of that, but we can wish that about our own neighbors. That doesn’t mean it’s ever going to happen.”
“True. It’s better to face the reality of our world and work within those limitations rather than wishing for what will never be.”
The gods fell silent, but there was still plenty of bubbling anger and indignation. But, oh, the golden, blissful silence. Four pissed-off gods were tolerable when they all decided to give him the silent treatment. It wasn’t like their chatter was helping anyone.
“Have you found anything yet?” Caelan asked, happy to think of anything besides the gods.
“Not much, but I’m thinking this new text might be helpful.” Rayne paused and flipped back a few pages in the book that was open in front of him. “I found some old stories about how Brightspire had to be rebuilt completely after a horrific earthquake several centuries ago. There was some mention of an underground river that branched off the Whitgami River, and how entire neighborhoods fell into the river.” He skimmed the page for a second and then frowned. “Unfortunately, it’s barely more than a brief mention. I’m hoping there might be another, more detailed recounting of the tale later in the book.”
An underground river that ran under Brightspire was intriguing. It could mean there were also caves dug into the ground under the city, thanks to the rushing water. Those caves could also create a perfect hiding place for the Light Stone and the God of Wisdom. It also fit the pattern set by two of the other godstones. Both the Wind Stone and the Fire Stone were underground. The Dead Stone had been the odd one hidden deep in the caves near the peak of Mount Langbo. Only the Life Stone hovered in the air—a clear target for the world.
A beacon of hope for all the people of Thia, Tula corrected.
Maybe. Or just a reminder that the Goddess of Life was watching over them and not so much in a concerned, motherly way.
“Keep looking. At least it proves that there’s more than dirt under these streets,” Caelan directed. He shifted in his seat and pulled his phone from his back pocket. He tapped the screen to find no new texts were waiting for him.
While he and Rayne were stuck in the library for research, Eno, Drayce, Adrian, Vitor, Davi, Nina, and any other contacts the Gray Fox might have in Brightspire were searching the city for any sign of the prime minister. Vitor was coordinating the effort and sifting through any possible leads that turned up.
Caelan was unwilling to make any moves against the Empire until he knew what was going on with the Ilon government. And for the moment, the Prime Minister of Ilon was still the government.
He’d met Prime Minister Jasper Feroz on a couple of occasions during his lifetime. The man had served as the country’s Minister of the Interior for at least a decade before he was elected to the position of prime minister about six years ago. In Ilon, all elected officials were limited to a maximum of two terms, with a term equaling a total of five years. After that, they had to go after a new job. The idea was to keep fresh blood and new ideas flowing through the government.
