A sigh escaped Caelan. “Dating or not, I will always hesitate to send you into dangerous situations because you three are my family and my friends, but I understand our duty. My feelings for you won’t stop me from going forward.”
“Thank you, Caelan,” Rayne murmured. Some of the weight that had rested over his heart from that secret lifted. He hadn’t thought it was bothering him that much, seeing as he was a master of secrets. But then, his secrets were gathered and shared with Caelan with the intent of helping him lead. They weren’t intended to be kept from him.
A comfortable silence eased between them, punctuated by the low crackle of the fire as it ate through the logs in front of them. The air was growing cooler, and the wind was shaking the upper limbs of the trees. A storm was potentially blowing in. A real one. It was coming on far too gradually to be caused by the man beside him.
“Are you happy?” Caelan inquired suddenly.
Rayne laughed at the casualness of the question, feeling as if most of the chasm between them had disappeared. “I am, all things considered. I still spend a lot of time wanting to strangle him, but I don’t think that would ever change simply because we started dating.”
Caelan snorted and shook his head but didn’t say anything.
“Is this the part where you admit that there’s now something between you and Drayce?” Rayne prodded.
His king’s head popped up, eyes wide and lips parted in a small O. Yes, that was his “busted” expression. One he was familiar with, thanks to Caelan’s and Drayce’s antics over the years.
“How?”
“Partially because Drayce admitted as much when we were in Stormbreak, but I’ve also noticed that things have changed between you two. You’re closer.”
Caelan dropped his head back and groaned loudly. It was the first sign that the young man he’d gotten to know over the years had truly returned. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d say that this was a bad idea and that it was a distraction I didn’t need. That I need to remain focused on the problem ahead of us.”
Yes, that did sound like him. And maybe those were the exact things he would have said if they were walking the halls of the Stormbreak royal towers on their way to a meeting or important function.
But they weren’t in Stormbreak. They were in the middle of a forest on the side of a Zastrad mountain. Caelan was making deals with gods to save all of Thia from a woman or even goddess they couldn’t begin to understand. All his old rules and advice weren’t really applicable. Who was he to say that Caelan couldn’t find some happiness when he was able? From where he was sitting, there was a damn good chance none of them would make it out of this escapade alive.
“How about I just tell you to be careful?” Rayne said gently.
Caelan reached over to touch Rayne’s head. “I must have done a shit job of fixing your head. Your brain is still all scrambled.”
Rayne grunted and batted Caelan’s hand away. “My brain is just fine, thank you very much.” He reached up to smooth back his hair and ripped his hand away when he encountered the rough feel of dried blood. Disgusting. It also made his stomach queasy to think about how badly he’d been injured, whether he’d been close to death, and how he’d been completely unable to help Caelan while he struggled with kidnappers and impulsive gods.
With a smirk, Caelan leaned away from the fire and lifted his voice. “Hey, Eno!”
“Yeah!” Eno replied instantly. He jogged over as Rayne raised a questioning eyebrow at his king. What in the world was he scheming? “What’s up?” Eno inquired as he came to stand beside Rayne.
“There’s a stream a short distance to the west. Can you accompany Rayne there? He needs to wash the blood from his hair, and I want someone there to watch his back.”
“Really, this can wait—” Rayne started to argue, but Caelan was shaking his head and Eno was grabbing his elbow, hauling him up to his feet. “Wait! What about your protection?”
“I’ve got him!” Drayce shouted, proving the man had stayed within close range should Caelan need assistance.
“Fine. Fine,” Rayne grumbled as he shoved away Eno’s steadying hands. Putting distance between himself and Caelan wasn’t his first choice after everything the young man had been through, but it would give him a chance to make sure that Eno wasn’t worried about his well-being.
He glanced over at Caelan to find his king smirking up at him. Wonderful. He’d worried about Caelan making decisions that would keep Eno or himself from being put into danger while sacrificing their mission. Clearly, he should have been worried about Caelan trying his hand at matchmaking.