Eno smirked and nodded. “I will see that Rayne does not lose consciousness or give himself a heart attack.”
“I will not have a panic attack,” Rayne said crisply while giving Caelan a look he was pretty sure an advisor was not supposed to give his king. But Caelan was so glad he was. It was a hint of the normal, a taste of an old life he wasn’t ready to give up completely.
Shey cleared his throat, sounding suspiciously like he was trying hard not to laugh at Rayne. “Your Majesty, if there’s anything I can do to help…”
Caelan grinned at the prince. “Actually, there is one thing. If you’re on your way back to Sirelis, would you mind terribly giving us a lift?”
Shey could only blink at him. “You’re planning to return to Caspagir? I mean, forgive me! Of course you’re welcome in Caspagir any time, and I would be happy to have your party join me on the battleship.”
“Our ultimate destination is Zastrad, but a ride to Sirelis with you would speed up our travel immensely, and it would give us a chance to chat about the current situation with the godstones.” Shey nodded.
“Your Majesty, Zastrad…” Morgan didn’t need to say more. The horror in her voice was clear enough.
“I know, General, but it’s where the goddess wishes me to travel. I would prefer it if our destination didn’t leave this room. Our people only need to know that I’ve been sent on an important mission by the goddess, and I’ll be returning as quickly as possible.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Caelan lifted his arms. “Everyone has their assignments. Please see to them. Prince Shey, I’ll see if we can find something that resembles a bottle of wine so we can catch up and celebrate your naval victory.”
The assembled people bowed to him and started to leave, with only Drayce hanging back. A thought suddenly snapped in Caelan’s brain, and he jumped to his feet, shouting, “Captain Soto! A moment! I have an additional request.”
Rayne smirked and handed over a folded piece of paper as he left the room, instantly falling into conversation with General Morgan. He was probably already filling the poor woman’s head with useless theory.
Caelan met Tomas halfway across the room and smiled. “I have a personal request that I’m hoping you can help me with, Captain.”
“Anything, Your Majesty.”
He paused, crinkling the paper in both hands. Such a delicate matter…but he didn’t want to wait. “Chancellor Croft crudely brought it to our attention that Eno and his family are refugees from New Rosanthe. His parents died when he was quite young, and Eno was soon adopted. He had no idea of the truth.”
“Oh gods,” Tomas whispered.
“I continue to stand by Eno. His loyalty to me and Erya is unwavering and unimpeachable. I won’t accept anyone slandering his name.”
“No, Your Majesty! I didn’t mean it like that!” Tomas gasped, eyes wide.
Caelan nodded, forcing himself to relax. He couldn’t help but be protective where Eno was concerned. “I didn’t think so, but in light of current times, this matter is delicate.”
Tomas nodded, his face serious with traces of intense worry. The man had probably known Eno most of his life, trained him. Possibly even regarded him as a son. “How can I be of help?”
“Croft also revealed that Eno has a younger brother that he didn’t know about. This kind of detective work isn’t your normal job, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could find Eno’s brother for me and for him. You don’t need to approach him unless you feel that he might be in danger. It would be enough to be able to know his name and a way for Eno to contact him if he chooses to. It is likely that the man doesn’t even know he has an older brother.” He handed over the piece of paper Rayne had given him. “This is a list of all the information we have about Eno and his brother as well as some contact information for Rayne’s spymaster. If you hit a dead end, I’m told there is little that this person can’t uncover.”
Tomas’s eyes widened at the mention of a spymaster, and Caelan couldn’t blame him. Even as the crown prince of Erya, he’d only heard mention of this person in whispers and rumors.
Mentally sighing, Caelan had to admit that he was content to leave that business to Rayne for now. Maybe he’d think more on having a spymaster after they finished this business with the godstones.
With a final bow and a promise to secretly locate Eno’s brother, Tomas hurried from the room, looking a bit dazed.
Caelan turned around to find Drayce still standing beside the throne, though his arm was now draped across the back, and a smirk was playing on his lips. It didn’t reach his eyes, though, as they regarded him with stark concern. Exactly how much did his best friend see? Probably far too much. Drayce had known him since high school and could see through all his false smiles and upbeat words. Had he also noticed the new tremble in his hand?