Shey’s hand landed on his tense shoulder and squeezed hard. When he loosened his grip, the muscles automatically relaxed under his touch. “I’m sorry, Rayne. This must be killing you.”
Rayne shook his head. “No, I’m sorry for snapping. I can’t help him, and it leaves me at loose ends. What good am I if I can’t help him?”
The hand on his shoulder tightened again and gave him a little shake. “You’re a lot of good for him simply by being there. He might be asleep, but I’m sure he can feel you here watching over him. Sometimes it’s enough to know you’re not alone in this world.”
“Thank you, Shey,” Rayne replied, his voice low and rough with emotion. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed to hear that.
“Mother and I are all worried about you. We want to help any way we can.”
“Thank you from all of us. Your support and protection of Prince Caelan will never be forgotten by Erya.”
Shey smirked at his very formal gratitude. The twinkle in his eye proved he understood that it went far beyond the formality of kingdom. He meant it as one friend to another.
“We’re happy to help. No thanks are necessary.” He dropped his hand to his side and turned his attention to Caelan’s sleeping form. “I’ve ordered food sent up. It’s not much right now. Our kitchens have been diverted to quick and easy things for all our citizens in need.”
“It’s appreciated. Coffee, the most. How go the cleanup operations?”
Shey sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping. Whatever reservoir of energy he’d managed to tap was dwindling fast. Or maybe he was worn out by the state of his capital. “Slowly. Entire districts remain flooded and will probably be that way for another day. We’re trying to focus on collapsed buildings to make sure no one was trapped inside. Most of the districts closest to the harbor were evacuated, but we don’t know if there were any stragglers. We’re telling people to stay outside Sirelis if they left prior to the fighting. The ministers and engineers are still working on an estimate of when people can return.”
“The Empire?”
Shey snorted. “Our jails are overflowing, and we’ve had to set up a detention center in an old warehouse to house the rest. I’m using up too many valuable men to keep an eye on them when they could be used in rescue efforts. We’ve got ministers arguing to execute them all. Others want to hold on to them to use as a bargaining chip against New Rosanthe. On the plus side, it appears as if half their fleet was destroyed by Caelan. The rest limped back to Erya or toward Zastrad. We’ve had word from some of our fleet that they managed to sink another four ships on the run from Sirelis.”
“Do you know which way your mother is leaning with the prisoners?”
He wearily shook his head. “It depends on her mood at any given moment. When she thinks of Queen Amara, she wants them all killed. But when she looks at our home, I know she wants to bargain to keep this from happening again. For now, I’ve talked her into waiting to make any decisions until we at least hear from Caelan.”
“I wish this hadn’t happened to Sirelis, but I’m afraid that it was likely to occur even if we hadn’t come here,” Rayne said.
Shey’s head snapped around, eyes narrowing on Rayne. “What do you mean?”
“Before all hell broke loose, Caelan did manage to tell us that the Empire knows about all the godstones. I wouldn’t put it past them to make a move on Caspagir’s after they acquired Erya’s.”
“No,” Shey said in a harsh whisper as his hand flew to cover his mouth. He stared at Rayne for a couple of heartbeats and dropped his hand again. “Are you sure? Do you know…” He drifted off as Rayne shook his head.
“We didn’t have time to talk, so I don’t know more than that. Only that Caelan discovered that the Empire knows about the godstones. If he knows more of their plans, he hasn’t been able to tell us yet.”
“Dammit,” Shey swore. He paced away a few steps and turned back. “I’ll tell Mother. Keep us posted.”
“The lighthouse?”
“Destroyed. The tunnel has also collapsed completely. I’ve got men posted around the rubble and near the tunnel’s entrance to keep an eye on things. It’ll take us days to dig the stone out. I hope Kaes doesn’t mind being buried.”
Rayne made a noise that was almost a laugh. “I think it might be safest to keep him buried until New Rosanthe is taken care of completely. Focus on your people and rebuilding your city first.”
“What are you planning to do next?”
Rayne moved closer to the foot of Caelan’s bed and stared at his sleeping prince. He looked so very pale. Too pale even for him. He didn’t like what Caelan’s interactions with Kaes were doing to him. Twice now he’d passed out, once from simply bonding with the god. He had little doubt that Caelan still planned to bond with the Goddess of Life. What would that do to him? And what if he had to bond with a third stone? Could he even survive that?