“Who would dare to question the integrity of King Caelan!” Shey roared, his voice filling the quiet room.
“Prince Shey, I—” Octavia started.
“Was it you?” Shey snapped, cutting her off. “You are not only maligning the Talos family name, but you are maligning the Thrudesh-Vo royal family and all of Caspagir with such slanderous accusations. Queen Noemi Thrudesh-Vo personally contacted Queen Amara Talos, requesting that she send her son to Sirelis for a meeting to discuss the New Rosanthe dilemma. If you were not given knowledge of that request, it is a reflection of your overall trustworthiness. The alliance established between Talos and Thrudesh-Vo stands despite your carelessness.”
By the time Shey finished with his outraged diatribe, Octavia’s skin took on a green shade, but there remained something dark lurking in her eyes. She was thwarted in this direction, but Caelan worried that she still had another trick up her sleeve.
“Thank you for your kind words, Prince Shey. I look forward to speaking to you in the near future,” Caelan said before returning to his chair.
“Call me anytime, Your Majesty,” Shey replied and ended the call.
They sat in silence for nearly a full minute. Caelan watched Octavia closely as she gathered herself. When she lifted her eyes to him again, the mask of politeness and etiquette had fallen away. A mix of smugness and hatred gleamed in those cold depths as she stared at him.
“Fine,” Octavia started, her voice a sharp stab of sound. “You were sent to Caspagir, and the royal family is willing to vouch for you. And I greatly appreciate you taking the time to strengthen the alliance between our two countries, but I’ll be taking over the communications between Erya and Caspagir going forward. It’s over, Caelan.”
“Excuse me?” Caelan gasped. It felt as though he’d been kicked in the chest. He suddenly couldn’t drag in a full breath. How…how could this even be happening?
“It’s over. The time of the monarchy and the great Talos family is over. Queen Amara’s death was unfortunate, but it has opened the door for new opportunities. It’s time for leaders who are elected by their people and who will listen to them. Who will take into account what is best for them.”
“And as chancellor, you’ll be stepping into that new leadership role for how long?” Rayne snapped. “Or are you simply planning to shift Erya from a benevolent monarchy to a dictatorship?”
“Erya will have new elections as soon as we have finished dealing with the Empire. We’re already in negotiations—”
“What about the Godstone?” Caelan demanded in a low, harsh voice. “The Talos family was more than simply the monarchy of Erya. We were first and always the Guardians of the Godstone.”
A new crackle of electricity zinged through the air, raising the hair on Caelan’s arms. The bright sunlight through the windows dimmed, and the room grew darker as clouds started to fill the sky. Even Rayne noticed Caelan’s growing lack of control. His advisor looked over at him, but he said nothing. Maybe he was hoping Caelan would destroy this woman with a bolt of lightning for even saying the horrid things that were coming out of her mouth.
“As I was saying, I’ve begun negotiations with the Empire to give them the Godstone.”
“What?” Rayne and Caelan cried in unison.
“The Godstone is a relic of a bygone past and does not represent the new Erya that is being built. If New Rosanthe wants a chunk of useless rock so badly, they can have it.”
“You don’t even know what the Godstone is!” Rayne cried, losing his rigid composure. “You’re giving the Empire a goddess!”
Octavia gave an absent wave of her hand as if what he was shouting about made no difference at all. “A dead goddess. What good is that?”
“Lady Tula, Goddess of Life, is not dead,” Caelan said very slowly. Electricity crackled around him and wove between the fingers of his clenched fist. “She fought with my mother to protect Stormbreak, and you are now negotiating with her murderers to hand the goddess over.”
“I will do what is best for the people of Erya,” Octavia countered. She lifted her chin stubbornly.
“You have no idea what is best for the people. You only care about having power over them. You will never sacrifice yourself in the name of protecting them.”
“Ha! Like you have?” Octavia jumped to her feet and sneered at him, her eyes raking over his dirty attire. “The wastrel, do-nothing spoiled prince. Years of hiding behind his mother’s skirts while she handed down edicts without even consulting me. Not when I was her advisor and certainly never after I became chancellor. She simply wanted me there as her puppet to nod and smile. I’m nobody’s puppet!”
Caelan wanted to rage at her for the countless sacrifices he’d made for Erya, the times he’d put his life in danger, the perilous path he was already on with the godstones, but there was no point in wasting his breath with her. And he definitely wasn’t going to tell her about the other godstones. She wasn’t worthy of that information. Not after betraying him like this.