Vale smiled at him and waved on hand in the air. “You know, get in with him. Offer to give him a deal. Expand his trade into Erya or something else that could make him and Giri a lot of money. They are underworld, drug-dealing scum. Just appeal to their greedy side and they’ll agree to anything you want.” She shrugged lightly. “After you get passage to Mrtyu, we kill Magar and take out Giri in Mrtyu. That’ll stop the KoD flowing to Caspagir once and for all.”
She was making it all sound far too easy. Killing Magar and Giri could potentially create a power vacuum. With a drug route and network already set up, it wouldn’t be difficult for someone new to step into the role and take over.
But he couldn’t dismiss her suggestion completely out of hand.
“I think it’s one avenue to pursue,” Caelan agreed. “Particularly since we are running short on time.”
“You have another idea?” Rayne inquired. His arched eyebrows rose toward his hairline, peeking above his wire-rimmed glasses in surprise.
“I think we should also pursue the politically correct route as well. I can go speak to whomever the mayor or the governor of Temit is.” Caelan held up both hands in front of him and smirk. “Tell him I’m the King of Erya and that I would like to speak to the leader of Zastrad to formalize a more open and prosperous relationship between our two countries.”
“Ahhh…the direct approach,” Drayce drawled out and finished with a cackle. “You’d think old Rayne would have thought of that one.”
“Do you think it will work?” Rayne asked, ignoring Drayce.
Caelan made a face. “Won’t know until we try. At least we’ll be able to say that we tried all the legal routes in the event an international incident is created.”
“A lovely thought,” Rayne mumbled under his breath. He gave a small shudder before straightening his shoulders. “Very well. I’ll accompany you tomorrow, while—”
Caelan shook his head, cutting off Rayne’s line of thinking. “No, I’ll take Eno with me tomorrow. I can talk my way through this without creating a giant mess, I promise. I just want Eno to watch my back and be suitably impressive as a bodyguard. I want you to accompany Vale and Drayce in locating this Yash Magar tomorrow and getting a conversation with him.”
“Really?” Drayce’s voice jumped up a little higher with his surprise. He’d even sat up and turned to face Caelan on the couch.
“Rayne can keep you from starting a fight, and Vale,” he paused to point at the woman in question, “from killing Magar when he doesn’t automatically give us what we want. I also don’t want anyone promising anything to this man.”
No one looked particularly pleased by this pairing, but Caelan felt that it was the only way to keep all of them from finding trouble tomorrow.
FOURTEEN
Eno Bevyn
When Caelan looked back over his shoulder and flashed a cheeky grin, Eno groaned softly. All his efforts to hide his growing anxiety and worries had been wasted. Caelan saw right through him.
He was acting like a green soldier on his first assignment. Not the seasoned warrior that he was. Fucking ridiculous. He’d accompanied Caelan to court in Stormbreak and Sirelis. They’d gone on missions all along the Erya border with the Ordas and Ilon, killing creatures that threatened the kingdom.
And then there were all the times they’d sneaked around Stormbreak, drinking and partying in places a prince had no business visiting. He was still fairly certain Rayne didn’t know about the trip to the Pink Pig. Thank the gods.
Why was this trip rattling him so badly?
Because Caelan wasn’t a prince any longer. He was a king.
The King of Erya.
And this was one of Caelan’s first official visits as king to visit another government representative. He wasn’t counting the quick trip to Sirelis since everything had been kept hushed up.
There was even more pressure now because they were in Zastrad, and all countries had limited dealings with the theocracy.
He didn’t want to be the reason things went poorly.
“Breathe, Eno. It’ll be fine,” Caelan reassured him in a surprisingly relaxed tone.
“How do you know that?” Eno grumbled as they walked along the busy street, wearing the only change of nice clothes from Erya they had on them. Rayne had seen that they were properly laundered by the hotel the night before so they could at least look like they were official members of the Erya royal court.
Eno was dressed all in black with deep-green stitching accents that reminded him of the glint and glitter of the Life Stone in Stormbreak. There was some comfort in being in his official guard attire, as if it offered some added protection, but really it was about confidence. He felt more like himself in these clothes, like he’d slipped into a familiar routine and could rely purely on muscle memory.