But this source was located in the royal city. Was it one of the queen’s advisors or another government official? Who?
It wasn’t a matter of not trusting Rayne. Caelan trusted the man completely. It was more of a concern for Rayne’s safety. He obviously intended to meet with this person alone. What if something went wrong? They would have no name, no way of beginning their search for Rayne.
Yet another reason to get out of the hotel room. Eno could growl and grumble at Rayne in private over the risk he was taking. Caelan didn’t have any desire to be present for that argument.
It all felt wrong, but they didn’t have a lot of options. They didn’t know what was happening in Erya. Caspagir was supposed to be an ally, but he wasn’t sure if they could be trusted. While Ilon had always been an ally of Erya, they were on the opposite side of the world. Physically reaching them would take weeks, and right now they were hesitant to let anyone know that the Crown Prince of Erya was still alive.
Caelan reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to massage away some of the tension that seemed to constantly knot up his neck and shoulders.
“So, this tingle…” Drayce started. His voice was perfectly serious. Caelan stared at him until his lips finally twitched and moved into a smile.
“You have to make it sound dirty,” Caelan replied drily.
“Only ’cause you’re so easy.”
“If only,” Caelan muttered under his breath. Easy was definitely not an option for the crown prince, but there wasn’t time for such thoughts.
“Sorry. I’ll be serious now. What have you noticed in the air here?” Drayce actually sounded serious, and Caelan appreciated it.
“I’m not sure. That’s part of the problem. But in Stormbreak, there’s a weight and tingle in the air.”
“Really? I’ve never noticed.”
Caelan nodded and dropped his voice to a whisper. “That’s because it’s from the Godstone.” He motioned for Drayce to walk with him through the shopping area. It looked more suspicious for them to simply stand there watching people. The mention of the Godstone had wiped all joking from Drayce’s expression.
“Wait! You feel the same tingle here?” Drayce demanded harshly. He glanced around them, making sure that no one was paying any attention to them before he continued. “Do you think the Empire moved the Erya Godstone here?”
“No. Err…maybe.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means that what I feel isn’t my Godstone.” Drayce’s eyebrows jumped but didn’t say a word. Caelan winced and massaged his neck again. “I mean Erya’s Godstone. This is similar, but different.”
To his shock, Drayce wrapped an arm across his shoulders and squeezed him once before releasing him. “I get it. Your mom was connected to it. You’ve been connected to it in a way. Your whole family has. It makes sense for you to feel possessive.”
That was part of it, but it didn’t begin to cover the intensity that had been steadily growing by slow increments in the past few years. It was as if the Godstone had started to feel possessive of him, not that the thought made an ounce of sense.
“What I feel isn’t the Erya Godstone, but that doesn’t mean that the Empire doesn’t intend to bring it through Caspagir if it already has control of this area. Not that I think they do, but you never know.” Caelan threw up his hands. “It’s not like we really know anything for sure.”
“Yes, we do,” Drayce countered in a firm voice. “You know that you’ve got me, Eno, and Rayne at your back.”
“Yeah.”
“You know that we’re gonna get your fucking throne and the Godstone.”
Caelan lifted an eyebrow at Drayce, but he wasn’t sure if his friend could see it behind the glasses and hat. He liked to think that Drayce could at least feel his skepticism.
“And we’re gonna kick some New Rosanthe ass.”
“Uh-huh.”
Drayce waved a hand in front of them. “The rest is just details we’ll figure out along the way. That’s why we’ve got Rayne.”
Caelan snorted, feeling lighter. “I can’t wait to tell Rayne about his responsibility for the ‘details.’ ”
“Whatever. Back to what we were talking about. Your tingle.”
“You can’t call it that.”
“I have to. Your tingle.”
“Drayce—”
Caelan groaned. He could feel himself blushing, and it was stupid. Princes weren’t supposed to blush. Fuck, he was technically a king now. Kings were definitely not supposed to blush.
“So, we were talking about your ti—”
Caelan slapped his hand over Drayce’s mouth, and he could feel his friend grinning like a fool against his palm, the soft scrape of teeth sending a shiver down his spine. The feel of his soft lips. Drayce’s eyes danced with laughter.
No! Nonononono. He needed to behave. He couldn’t think like this.
Suppressing a shudder of pleasure, Caelan schooled his features, trying to look stern. “This feeling is like what I feel in Stormbreak, but different,” Caelan said in a low, firm voice. Slowly, he removed his hand. Drayce smiled at him for a second, but then his expression sobered. It was time to get past the joking.