Despite the fact that Kristopher was taller by at least an inch, Drayce placed his hand on the top of the kid’s head and rubbed his hair. “Looks like you’re doing a great job to me.”
“Seriously?”
He grinned. “Sure. Consider who you rescued today.”
“Whoa, yeah. That’s true.”
Drayce dropped his hand to his side and started down the aisle with Kristopher trailing behind him. There were only a few other shoppers in the store. It seemed as if everyone was simply picking up a few basics before heading home again.
When they were alone in an aisle offering pasta and rice, Drayce asked, “Has that Ophelia been good to your group?”
“Oh, yeah! She’s amazing. She’s been teaching us all about weapons and setting traps. She explains all her strategies and how best to implement them. Even given us fight training.”
Drayce flashed him a grin. “She’s making soldiers out of you.”
Kristopher shrugged and stared at his basket as Drayce tossed a bag of rice in it. Rice was easy, filling, and it stored well. “Sort of, I guess. I mean, I’m nowhere near as strong or skilled as she is, but I’m getting better. Plus, she really cares about all of us. She’s making sure that our families are provided for since we’re out there protecting the city.”
“That’s good. I’m glad that Hollowind has her and your team.”
“Yeah, Ophelia is awesome. She…she even said that she’d write me a recommendation if I wanted to join the academy when I turn eighteen next year.”
Drayce stopped in the middle of reaching for a package of cookies—because cookies stored well too and were yummy—and looked at Kristopher. “You want to join the Royal Guard?”
Kristopher nodded but seemed reluctant to lift his gaze to meet Drayce’s. “I do. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. In Hollowind, you either work on a fishing boat, in a store, or you learn to repair boats. None of that has ever appealed to me. But helping keep people safe is a lot more exciting and fun. Do you think if I trained hard I’d get to protect the prince like you and Lord Bevyn?”
A frown puckered Drayce’s brow as he grabbed the cookies and mentally consigned Rayne’s greens to hell. “Well, he’s got a lot of guards now in general, but by the time you get trained up, you could be assigned to his family. You know he’s got to have an heir.”
As soon as the words were out of Drayce’s mouth, it felt as if his stomach had been dropped from the top of the Stormbreak royal towers. Caelan with kids? Even just one kid seemed…insane.
But now that he’d said it, he couldn’t shake the idea. Did that mean Caelan would have to marry a woman? No. That was utter nonsense. He wasn’t into women. Plus, Caelan’s own mother had never married. That left him with a surrogacy. It wasn’t like he could adopt since he had to continue the Talos bloodline and ensure there was another person to take over the guardianship of the Godstone in Erya.
Caelan with a kid. He could easily imagine the baby with dark hair and pale-blue eyes just like his father. Jealousy ripped through Drayce, and he immediately felt shame. Caelan would be an amazing father, and it wasn’t like they’d stop being friends if Caelan had a child or even multiple children.
The image in his head shifted to him holding Caelan’s baby and the jealousy changed to a deeper possessiveness. He wanted to hold that baby, to protect them with his life. He wanted to be part of that life.
“Yeah,” Kristopher said slowly, pulling Drayce out of his strange swirling thoughts. “That would be pretty cool. To become the guardian of the next king or queen of Erya.”
“The next Guardian of the Godstone,” Drayce murmured mostly to himself. He shook his head as if to knock loose those random thoughts. This was not what he was supposed to be focusing on right now. He grabbed a few things at random, throwing them in his basket or Kristopher’s, not even really seeing what he laid his hands on. He didn’t want to think about a future he wasn’t entirely sure they would reach. This was more than the Empire capturing Stormbreak. The Empire was out to claim the power of all the godstones. That person with the Emperor Caelan had mentioned was out for all the godstones for whatever reason.
What they needed was a big fucking army to crush the Empire. Thousands of soldiers surrounding Caelan at all times. He was a vessel for the power of the Wind Stone and very soon he was going to be the same for the Life Stone. His friend needed to be protected.
Except Caelan wasn’t the type to idly sit by and allow people to just keep him safe. No, he needed to be out doing and protecting others.