This was fucking ridiculous. Rayne couldn’t believe the man was so dense and ineffective. How could he have become the prime minister of Ilon if he didn’t have two working brain cells? Anyone who knew the locations of the other godstones had to see the pattern. And as Prime Minister of Ilon, he had that information.
“I-I thought they were just trying to conquer us all, like they did with Damardor and Uris-Oladul. I didn’t think they even knew about the godstones. The emperor shouldn’t know.” Jasper sat back on his heels and swiped a hand across his sweaty forehead.
“Emperor Suen shouldn’t know, but I get the impression that Safa told him about it to get access to his army.”
Jasper straightened to his knees again and stretched a damp hand out to Caelan. “All the more reason to get rid of New Rosanthe as quickly as possible. You must help me save the city, save Ilon.”
“I’m trying to save all of Thia from New Rosanthe and the Goddess of the Hunt,” Caelan growled.
The prime minister’s head jerked and he blinked at Caelan. “Goddess of the Hunt? There’s no such goddess.”
Rayne’s heart lurched and his breath was briefly trapped in his lungs. Caelan started to argue, but Rayne grabbed his arm and squeezed, stopping his words.
“Are you sure?” Rayne asked slowly.
“Of course I’m sure. There has never been a Goddess of the Hunt. We have shrines to all the gods who ever existed—major and minor. There’s no Goddess of the Hunt.” There was a deadness to his voice as if he were reciting a line that had been memorized long ago.
“Is the godstone underground?” Caelan threw out.
“There’s nothing underground,” Jasper replied in the same tone of voice.
“Fuck,” Caelan swore softly and scrubbed a hand over his face.
Rayne released his king and leaned forward. “But you have seen the godstone? You know where it is?”
“Of course! I’m the only one who has access to the godstone. The only person in Ilon who knows of the existence of the godstone is the prime minister,” Jasper snapped. He pushed to his feet, wobbling a little as he winced and rubbed his knees, and then dropped into his chair.
“What about previous prime ministers?”
He shook his head. “That information is wiped from their memory when they officially leave office.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand as if it were no big deal. “Something about the godstone keeps the information from sticking.”
Well, at least that was some small relief. Safa couldn’t get access to the godstone through a former prime minister. They just had to keep this one away from the Empire.
“Show me the godstone first, and I won’t inform all the countries of Thia that Ilon has been stealing children for decades,” Caelan bargained in a low voice.
Rayne gasped and barely caught the denial that rose up in his throat. What the fuck was Caelan thinking? He couldn’t possibly agree to keep this vile betrayal a secret. Everyone deserved to know the truth. Even Caspagir needed to know in case their own investigation had come up short. Maybe they were also missing children, thanks to Ilon.
“You will?” Jasper whispered, his eyes becoming wide.
“I’ll give you this one chance to stop the operation and notify the victims on your own rather than bringing this shameful secret to light. But I’ll only do this if you take me directly to the godstone. Afterward, I will deal with Safa and New Rosanthe. I’ll remove them from Brightspire and keep your people safe.”
“I-I…”
“This is your one chance. There will be no other deal.”
After another second of indecision, Jasper nodded, his head hanging. “Okay. I’ll take you to the godstone.”
Caelan didn’t waste another moment. He shoved to his feet and Rayne joined him. His brain was too twisted up in shock to do anything but follow his king. How could Caelan even think to strike such a deal? It didn’t make any sense. Fuck, Eno and Davi were going to be livid when they found out. He couldn’t explain it to them because even he didn’t understand it.
“We have to prepare. My people will be in contact in a day or two. Don’t try to leave. We’ll be watching,” Caelan stated and marched to the door.
Rayne followed closely on his heels down the stairs. They paused near the entrance as Rayne shot a quick text off to Vitor. The Gray Fox immediately replied that the street continued to be clear of anyone who might try to attack them.
“Caelan, I don’t understand,” Rayne blurted out the second they were on the street and walking away from the building. “How could you make a promise like that?”
“I was lying,” Caelan admitted with the tiniest smirk.
“What?” Rayne choked on the air. That was not the answer he’d been expecting.