Drayce grinned back at him as he removed the tea diffuser from his cup. “Yeah, love my metabolism.”
They fell sort of awkwardly silent as Rayne sipped his tea and made a couple of happy humming noises. Drayce nibbled on a tart. They were delicious, but his mind was turning over what he needed to say, how best to say it without potentially making things bad again. He didn’t want to hurt Rayne. He didn’t think what he had to say would hurt him, but then he was also really good at stepping in it without meaning to.
“Drayce?”
He looked up to see Rayne watching him, his eyebrows lifted in silent urging. His expression was surprisingly gentle and kind, as if he knew that Drayce was fighting his own thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m obvious, aren’t I?” Drayce muttered.
“Just a bit,” Rayne agreed with a hint of amusement in his voice.
The words came out a bit halting and stiff. “I guess…I wanted to say that I agree with what you did, and I would have done the same…with Vale.”
There. That wasn’t too bad, right? Supportive and understanding.
Drayce raised his eyes to Rayne’s face to find him staring at the teacup held lightly by the handle. The steam was still curling up from the surface, carrying its light, healing aroma.
“I wondered,” Rayne admitted in a whisper. “After some of the things I said to you, I wondered if you thought I did it…for other reasons.”
Jealousy? Revenge for trying to steal his Eno away?
Yeah, maybe Rayne had let his guard down with Drayce and admitted that he felt threatened by Vale, but as a reason for killing her? No, it never entered his mind.
Drayce snorted and shook his head. “Rayne, you analyze every decision you make within an inch of its life. Cael, Eno, and me are the emotional, impulsive ones that you have to rein in. Probably that one too,” he added, jerking his thumb toward Adrian. “I know you carefully gathered your proof and worked things out before acting. This wasn’t personal or emotional for you. This was about protecting the king, Erya, and Thia, in that order.”
“Thank you, Drayce,” Rayne murmured.
He had to look away from the shininess of Rayne’s jade-green eyes or he was going to start crying himself. Or maybe it was the uncomfortable knot of disappointment that was forming in his throat at the thought of what his own actions might have been.
What would have happened if their roles had been reversed and he’d been the one to discover Vale’s plans? Drayce shivered. It wouldn’t have been pretty, and it was very likely he would have given up his secret much earlier than he had. It didn’t matter that he’d nearly gotten killed in that horrible debacle. No one was allowed to hurt his Cael.
“I know I’m the new guy,” Adrian began and then stopped, glaring at the last bite of tart held between two fingers.
“You’re still allowed to have an opinion and thoughts,” Rayne pointed out.
“I’m left wondering, where’s the line?”
Drayce snapped his head toward his companion on the floor. “What do you mean?”
“What’s the point of having our legal systems if we’re just going to take matters into our own hands? Yeah, she would have been sentenced to death one way or another for betraying her king and threatening the life of ours, but isn’t it the job of judges to decide that? Not us.”
“You’re right,” Rayne said solemnly. “At the very least, I should have brought the issue before my king and allowed him to make the final decision. I shouldn’t have taken matters into my own hands.”
“He’s not,” Drayce argued. He glared at his cup, ignoring how both Adrian and Rayne started at the hardness of his tone. “If we’d been home where the legal system could be pursued, then fine, let the judges deal with it. But we weren’t home, and this isn’t normal times. We’re in the middle of a war, a fight for all of Thia. It’s naïve to believe that normal processes can be followed in times of war.”
Adrian let out a choked laugh. “I can’t believe you’re calling me naïve when I’m so much older than you.”
Drayce’s expression was grim when he looked over at the man he’d enjoyed so many frivolous chuckles with. “No, you’re not,” he replied simply, leaving the room in a cold, heavy silence. He’d lived in Stormbreak for roughly a decade, and he’d never felt like an outsider like he did in that moment. He was older than any of them knew, had lived through things that he couldn’t begin to explain. None of it had come into play when he’d been goofing off with Caelan in Stormbreak. But the threat of the Goddess of the Hunt had changed everything.
“And this isn’t my first war,” Drayce continued softly. “I’ve known betrayal, treachery, and the need to make split-second decisions to keep your leader safe. When it comes to Caelan’s life, I will never hesitate. There will be no room for debate. He is the King of Erya and the Guardian of the Godstones. His life comes first. Any threat to that must fall.”