Caelan shook his head. “The emperor wants the power of the Godstone.”
“Though, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind conquering Erya over time,” Rayne quietly added.
Caelan hesitated. Should he trust them with the full truth? Would they even believe him? Well, he did have a fantastic way of proving his words. “This war is bigger than simply stealing Erya and the Godstone.” He glanced over at Eno and Drayce, who straightened. “Close the blinds.”
Both men moved to lower the single shade on the window in the door and close the blinds on the one wall of windows that provided a view of the warehouse floor. Tomas and Johanna exchanged a questioning look, but neither of them spoke.
“What King Caelan is about to reveal to you must never leave this room,” Rayne said in grave tones. “This secret has been carried by generations of kings, queens, and leaders across Thia.”
“I swear I will never betray you,” General Johanna quickly agreed, and Tomas followed, a second behind.
Caelan peered over at Rayne, one eyebrow raised in question. Rayne surprised him by giving a little shrug and smiling back at him. There was no easy way to launch into something that would overturn so many of their beliefs. It was better to just jump in, right?
“There are six godstones spread across Thia, and Emperor Naram Suen of New Rosanthe is determined to possess the powers of the sleeping gods inside,” Caelan announced.
As he’d expected, Tomas and Johanna were utterly lost. They made no sound as their expressions went from confusion to disbelief. This was better than Eno, who’d moved straight into shouting denial. But then, he doubted Tomas and Johanna felt comfortable calling him insane.
Drayce chuckled softly. “I think they’re going to need more than that. Maybe a demonstration?”
Now Johanna and Tomas looked at Drayce as if he’d gone mad.
Caelan leaned forward, resting his elbows on the top of the desk and holding his hands up in front of him. “As you know, the ruler of Erya has always been the Guardian of the Godstone. We bond with the Goddess of Life, and Tula allows us to pull on her power. Queen Amara was the last one to bond with Tula, but as her child and heir, I was gifted with a limited connection and some power.”
In the back of his mind, he pooled together some of the Life Stone power in his left hand. Soft green energy spun and danced in his palm almost like leaves swirling in a spring breeze.
“While I was in Sirelis, I discovered that the royal family protected the Wind Stone. I spoke with Kaes, God of Storms, and he agreed to allow me to bond with him.”
So, this part was a bit trickier. While holding on to the power of the Life Stone, Caelan shifted his attention to calling on his gift from Kaes. The energy was wild and crackled along his nerve endings. It didn’t want to be controlled, but rather, set free to wreak havoc upon the world. Or maybe that was Caelan’s own need to lash out at the Empire.
But after a couple of seconds, snapping blue energy crackled in his right palm, adding to the green glow in the room.
“The Empire knows I’m bonded with the God of Storms and has, at least temporarily, lost interest in the Wind Stone. Only one person can bond completely with a godstone. Once I bond with the Life Stone in Stormbreak, the Empire has no chance of stealing the power of our godstone.”
“Unless they kill you,” Tomas muttered. That was a chilling thought, but it was one Caelan had contemplated a few hundred times since bonding with Kaes. He released his hold on the powers of the two godstones and closed his hands.
“I think I’ve got to sit down,” Johanna mumbled. Eno jumped forward as the woman’s legs were already giving out beneath her. He grabbed her elbow and helped her into a chair, though she didn’t give any outward signs that she knew Eno had saved her from the floor.
Tomas nodded and moved into the only other chair in the room. “Six?” he suddenly asked.
Calean nodded. “Yes.”
“Well, technically, five,” Drayce corrected. “The one in Zastrad is broken. That god must have died a long time ago.”
Johanna rubbed her forehead with the heel of her palm. “I don’t understand. What does the Emperor want? Control of the five godstones?”
“I think so,” Caelan said, though there was a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that screamed there was something more to all of this, and it was all tied to the woman he’d seen with Emperor Suen. “I need to speak with Tula. I think she may know more of what’s going on. So far, Kaes has been cagey and secretive. He doesn’t like to share information right away.”