He waved for Eno to help him to sit in one of the chairs around a small table in the breakfast nook. His lover eased him down and Rayne wanted to nuzzle the man for his exquisite care, but not under the eagle eye of his father. Some of the throbbing eased, and his body threatened to unravel beneath him. A hand squeezed his shoulder and he looked up to find Caelan watching him and Drayce scowling with worry.
“What can we do?” Caelan inquired.
This would not do. His prince had other things to concern himself with, though he appreciated the concern. “Let me catch my breath for a moment.”
“Rayne,” Stanton said in a hard voice, reminding his son that he would not be ignored.
Swallowing a sigh, Rayne lifted his eyes to his father. In the bright light of the kitchen, his father was looking all of his seventy years and a few extra. The wrinkles were heaviest around his eyes and mouth. He still had a full head of hair, which gave Rayne some hope, but it was all snowy white. His gaze was sharp, revealing a mind that was still quite there despite his advanced years.
“Your Majesty, I don’t believe you’ve had the pleasure of meeting my father, Stanton Laurent,” Rayne introduced, taking at least some perverse pleasure in surprising his father. “Father, this is Crown Prince Caelan Talos.” He would have preferred to use the title of king, but his father was no fool. He knew that Caelan wasn’t technically king until he completed the ascension ceremony.
But his father was an expert. There was only a slight widening of his eyes before he bowed deeply to Caelan. “Forgive me for not recognizing you sooner, Your Majesty. I am your humble servant.”
“Thank you, Mr. Laurent,” Caelan murmured, and something dark and bitter cackled inside of Rayne. Yes, he’d been given a title when he became Caelan’s advisor, something his father had never achieved. It had only succeeded in expanding the rift between them, and Rayne was just petty enough to relish it when he could.
Caelan continued, being warm and gracious as he’d been trained, despite the fact that they were all cold and dripping on the marble floor. “I’m rather glad you didn’t recognize me. I’m not exactly looking my usual self right now.”
“Father, these are Eno Bevyn, and Drayce Ladon, his bodyguards,” Rayne finished. His father straightened and quickly gave the two men a small nod of his head. Rayne hadn’t expected much more. They were briefly studied and dismissed as the muscled help. Not of much worth.
The clack of heeled shoes across the floor halted any further conversation and sent Rayne into a deeper slump in his chair. Couldn’t they have left him in a puddle in the backyard?
“Stanton, darling,” called a woman’s voice. “What’s going on? Who were those hooligans at the gate?”
His father flushed lightly, and Drayce snickered before Caelan could elbow him in the ribs. At least that felt a little more normal to him. His mother appeared in the kitchen a second later in a pale-peach pants suit with her golden hair formally twisted up. She looked as if she were prepared to go to some charity luncheon and not hiding in her house while most of the city was occupied by an enemy country.
Stanton intercepted her and quickly made introductions to stop her from saying anything else embarrassing, which wasn’t likely. After fluttering at Caelan for a few minutes, she finally turned her attention to Rayne and gave a weary sigh, as if he were constantly turning up on their doorstep due to one scrape or another.
“Really, Rayne,” Ingrid Laurent huffed, tossing her hands up in the air. “At your age, you should know to be more careful. And to bring everyone here. Our pantry isn’t remotely stocked in a proper fashion to entertain royalty.” She turned to Caelan and flashed him her brightest smile. “Not that we aren’t so very honored to have you here, Your Majesty. We just hate that we can’t properly serve you.”
A couple of Eno’s knuckles cracked as his fist tightened. Rayne glanced up to find the muscles in his jaw were flexing as if he were grinding his teeth. Caelan must have noticed it too, because he immediately jumped in.
“We greatly appreciate your hospitality. Truly, all we need is a bedroom so that we can fix Rayne up and rest for a bit, then we’ll be out of your hair again.”
“Rayne’s here?” another voice called, followed by fast footsteps.
For the first time since arriving at the house, Rayne was happy to hear a voice. A young woman ran into the kitchen. Rayne got only a glimpse of a tall, willowy woman with pale blond hair piled on her head in a messy bun. Her bright-green eyes met his and she dove for him, wrapping her arms tightly around Rayne’s throat. She may or may not have shoved Caelan out of the way, which would explain his parents’ gasps and Drayce’s chuckle.