And then Rayne said something that sounded vaguely familiar.
“Was…was that Caspagirian?” Caelan asked.
Rayne grunted. “A very old dialect. I fear my accent is quite bad. I learned it so I could read some texts in the royal library.” He spoke something else that Eno recognized as Zastrian. Not that he understood it. The sound was familiar because of the time they’d stayed in the country of Zastrad.
Eno cocked his head, looking at her reaction, but there was none. It didn’t seem as if she understood either language.
Rayne tried again and her head snapped up, her eyes widening.
“What was that? What did you say?” Drayce demanded.
“It was an old dialect of New Rosanthe, called Rosarian. As far as I know, it’s largely a dead language in the country. I asked her if she lived here.”
Caelan chuckled softly. “Only you would know a dead Empire language.”
Rayne shoved his thumb and index finger under his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yes, well, again, reading untranslated texts is often part of my job, and it helps knowing several languages. The problem is that Rosarian is a dead language. I’m largely guessing at the pronunciations and my grasp of the vocabulary is quite rusty.”
“Do what you can,” Caelan directed. “You’re already more useful than any of us.”
“Hey! I speak two languages!” Drayce piped up. “Eryan and dragon.”
“You barely speak Eryan sometimes,” Rayne grumbled.
“Dragons have their own language?” Caelan demanded.
Drayce shoved a hand through his hair and grinned. “It’s not a particularly complex one. Dragons don’t have vocal chords like humans, so it’s a lot of tonal grunts and trumpeting calls.”
Appearing to ignore them both, Rayne asked the girl something else. This time she replied by shaking her head violently.
“She said she’s not hunting us.” Rayne sighed. “At least, I hope that’s what I asked her.”
“Can you ask her if she’s from Green Spring?” the king inquired.
“I’ll try.” Rayne paused, his brow furrowed and lips pursed. Eno could easily imagine him quickly sifting through the vast library of his brain, plucking out the words he knew to form the question. He couldn’t think of a moment when he wasn’t in awe of his lover. Nothing in the world seemed to daunt him, nothing was too big for him to attempt to handle.
Learn several old languages so that he could research what he needed to better serve the king? Of course.
Study various forms of self-defense and fighting to serve as the king’s bodyguard? Of course.
Face assassins, royalty, and even gods without batting an eye? Of course.
Admit to his lover that he’d had feelings for him for years?
A low chuckle rumbled through Eno’s mind and he fought a smile. There was a tiny chink in Rayne’s armor. Doing what he could to serve the king was no problem at all.
Doing what he needed for his own happiness was a task almost too big for him.
Thank the gods Eno had no trouble taking the reins and showing this amazing man exactly how deeply he was loved.
Rayne spoke and the teen gasped. She tried to shove to her feet but fell on her ass hard. It didn’t stop her from fighting to her feet a second time. Eno made a grab for her. She twisted, eluding his grasp.
“No, it’s okay. Leave her alone,” Rayne ordered. He shoved to his knees facing her. He held both hands out and open in front of him as he repeated the same short phrase over and over in a calm, soothing tone. He could only assume that he was telling her that they were no threat or that she didn’t need to be scared.
She was on her feet with her hands still tied behind her back. She hurried to the green dome barrier and stopped. Twisting around, she faced them, her eyes darting from one person to another. A quick battery of words exploded from her throat. It was the first time she’d spoken, and Eno couldn’t help but be stunned at how low and husky her voice was. It wasn’t what he’d expected from her delicate frame.
“What did she say?” Drayce demanded.
“I…I didn’t catch a lot of it, but it sounds like Green Spring is bad.” Rayne answered. He switched into the Rosarian tongue and asked her something else.
She shook her head. This time her reply was shorter.
“I take it that she’s not from Green Spring, but a place called something Falls. Maybe Veiled or Hidden Falls. My guess is that this is another village.”
“Damn,” Drayce exhaled. “How are this many people living in the Ordas? Nobody was supposed to be living here. Everything is trying to eat you!”
Eno made a face at the dragon and pulled his eyes over to Rayne. “Can you ask her name?”
Rayne smirked at him. “That would be more polite of us, wouldn’t it?” He turned his attention to the girl and pressed his hand to his chest before stating his name. He then reached out to Eno and said his name. He repeated the action for Caelan and Drayce. At the end, he motioned toward the girl.