Caelan lifted an eyebrow at his mother. “You haven’t decided that I need to be married off to Prince Shey Thrudesh-Vo, have you? In the name of harmony between our kingdoms?” he asked jokingly. At least, he was hoping it was a joke.
Thankfully, Amara’s pale-blue eyes widened, and she looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “No, definitely not. I don’t believe in marriages of state.”
“I also don’t think Prince Shey would help to rein in His Highness’s more dangerous impulses,” Hagen offered, which actually created the tiniest smile on Amara’s lips. A real one. Caelan had seen the manufactured, benevolent smile she bestowed upon the masses, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a real one. It was a little crooked and created the smallest wrinkle on her nose.
A surge of anger and jealousy plowed through him that this…this bodyguard could make his mother smile, and Caelan couldn’t remember the last time she’d shown him even the smallest bit of warmth. But the anger deflated almost as quickly as it appeared. Hagen was trying to help her, relieve her mind from whatever was bothering her.
If he could be the one to give Amara some joy, at least she had someone in her life who could.
“No, you will not be marrying Shey,” Amara agreed. She then cast her gaze up at Caelan and corrected, “Unless that’s what you wish.”
Caelan shook his head. “It’s been ages since I last saw Shey. I doubt he has any interest in me, and I can’t say I feel like we’d be a good fit.”
Amara nodded once, and it looked as if the topic had been dropped completely. Inwardly, Caelan gave a small sigh of relief. He knew Prince Shey of Caspagir only on the most superficial level. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way. Definitely reckless and outspoken. Caelan felt like whomever the prince married would end up spending their entire life arguing with him. Otherwise, he’d just bulldoze right over them.
“We have received word that Caspagir has been attacked by Uris-Oladul.”
Caelan’s knees felt weak. Another attack. And this one by Uris-Oladul. This he hadn’t been expecting. Caspagir was a strong country with an impressive military, more than capable of deflecting invaders. This was insane on the part of Uris-Oladul.
He wished there was a damn chair placed in front of Amara’s desk so he could at least sit down, but no one sat in front of the queen unless she invited them to do so. It felt as though she didn’t want him to stick around long enough to get comfortable.
“Uris-Oladul? Don’t you mean the Empire? The Empire claimed Uris-Oladul as a protectorate years ago. The High Chancellor of Uris-Oladul can’t sneeze without a by-your-leave from the Emperor.”
For the last couple of decades, New Rosanthe had been spouting off nonsense about freeing the world from the cruel grip of Erya control. It had always struck Caelan as sour grapes because Erya had the Godstone and no one else had it. The Talos family had not forced its will on anyone. Well, except maybe the people of Erya, but they weren’t dictators. They had elected officials and a Parliament. Far more than New Rosanthe could claim as Emperor Naram Suen ruled his kingdom with an iron fist.
Since his rise to power, Emperor Naram had conquered Uris-Oladul and Damardor. There had been some minor skirmishes over the years at New Rosanthe’s border with Ilon, but nothing that wasn’t repelled with relative ease. A full attack on Caspagir using its protectorate seemed strange. Unless it was a feint to draw Caspagir into full-out war with the Empire.
“Yes, that is the situation,” Amara agreed, her voice stiff and stern.
Caelan’s mouth opened and closed before he could finally get his tongue to form some words. “I’m not sure what you want me to do.” She couldn’t possibly expect him to act as a go-between for Caspagir and Uris-Oladul.
“Caspagir has asked that a secret envoy be sent to discuss the terms of our continuing alliance. They would like our assistance in handling Uris-Oladul and the Empire. It’s a tricky situation as it is not New Rosanthe directly attacking.”
“Caspagir has to know that we’re already lending support to Ilon in their ongoing troubles with the Empire.”
“They are aware of it.”
Caelan frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. He paced a short distance away from the desk to glare at the leather-bound books on her shelf. His mind was racing through the various ramifications and possibilities of the moves by Uris-Oladul. They would never do anything without New Rosanthe’s approval. What about Caspagir’s decision to reach out to Erya? And then, of course, there was his mother’s decision to send him to meet with Caspagir. That was insane!
His brain cried out. Too many chess pieces on the board.