But that was how the world of politics worked, and he was not naïve enough to believe otherwise.
From his window, he could see the palace rising up ahead of them. Unlike the castles for the royal families in Ilon and Caspagir, in the daylight the royal palace of Erya was a trio of towers of gleaming glass and warm stone that resembled pale sand. At night, each tower was connected by a series of glass-encased bridges on various levels, creating an almost crystalline web that glowed from within.
Caelan preferred it at sunset, when the stone turned a fiery rose, lending a deeper warmth to the only home he’d ever known.
Fountains lined either side of the wide avenue leading to the palace, shooting geysers of water into the air, glowing yellow under the lamps. Just past the fountains were old trees that had existed long before the towers were constructed, before even the first Talos had claimed the throne. The green space whispered of secrets and history, life and death, or maybe he was just longing for something more in his corner of the world.
He was proud of his home. The opulence didn’t feel wasteful or over the top. Not like what he’d seen of the pictures of the palace for New Rosanthe. That looked gaudy.
No, Erya’s royal city of Stormbreak Point was a place of pride for all her people. It showed off the wealth of the kingdom and her people. There was an elegance to the palace towers, fountains, and long drive. The same understated and quiet charm extended to the rest of Stormbreak with its wide avenues lined with shops, well-maintained roads, and manicured parks.
Stormbreak was home, and he loved its people. His people.
Caelan was in no rush to take the throne, but he was proud to be Erya’s prince. Maybe he did bitch and moan a bit about his lot in life, but he would give his last breath to make sure that Erya remained safe and prosperous for her people.
2
Caelan Talos
He almost wished Rayne had come with him to the queen’s private chambers. As it was, Caelan struggled to not look over his shoulder at his companion when the doors shut behind him, leaving Rayne in the hall. No meeting with the queen was ever a comfortable situation. Even when she was sending him on some new task or duty, she never missed an opportunity to point out how he was failing to live up to her expectations or the standards set by his forebears.
At least he wasn’t being called on to account for some nonsense he and Drayce had gotten up to. Those moments, while few, had been far from enjoyable encounters. And all of them had resulted in increased training sessions with Eno or even Hagen Sigurd, his mother’s personal bodyguard.
Straightening his shoulders, Caelan snatched his hat off his head and shoved it awkwardly into his back pocket, then thrust his hand through his loose black hair. He was way too casually dressed for an audience with the queen, and it sucked to think that when the queen also happened to be his mother.
But Mother was a distant second in their world. She was always Queen first. The same way he was always Crown Prince Caelan Talos first in her eyes. He wasn’t even sure she thought of him as her son any longer.
As one would expect, Queen Amara’s private chambers were enormous. They took up three full floors, the first of which held her personal library, meeting rooms, and study. While the royal towers were covered in marble and shiny steel, the queen’s rooms were the only rooms Caelan had seen where nearly everything was done in warm brown sugar wood. Every accent was hand carved and depicted scenes of nature and animals.
It reminded Caelan of running through the woods along the border of Erya and Ilon. And maybe that was why she’d done it. Queen Amara rarely traveled. As protector of the Godstone, she was never far from it. Almost her entire life was spent within the royal towers of glass, steel, and marble. All three towers also had elegant gardens and a conservatory, but it wasn’t like she could live in those rooms.
A swell of pity balled in his throat as he looked around. They were nothing more than a gilded cage for her. Had she ever had dreams of adventure and travel like the ones he still clung to? Or had she accepted her fate far more easily than he?
Most would argue that the trade-off of seemingly limitless power was more than fair for what she’d given up. The Godstone was believed to be a gift from the gods and a vessel of immense power. For longer than recorded history, the Talos family had been the keepers of the Godstone, its sole protectors against hostile attackers.