Instead, he turned the conversation to their initial topic. It was safer and sure to distract Caelan from his darker thoughts. “Eno is good for Rayne. He’s the one person that will laugh in Rayne’s face when he tries to get too bossy. Also, Rayne is good at talking sense into Eno when he gets pissed and wants to smash someone’s face in.”
“True. I—” Caelan was interrupted by a hard rapping on the bedroom door. They both bolted upright in the bed, a sudden foot of empty space appearing between them as if by magic.
“Don’t come in!” Caelan shouted.
Drayce busted out laughing as he flopped on the mattress. How fucking ridiculous! They were adults, and Caelan was the damn King of Erya. It wasn’t like they had anything to hide, and certainly not from Rayne and Eno.
“Ugh. Shut up,” Caelan groaned, giving his shoulder a shove.
Rayne’s weary voice came through the door. “Your Majesty, the High Aspect has sent an emissary with a message for you.”
Drayce winced. Well, that put a damper on things.
“I’ll be out in a moment!” Caelan called, throwing off the covers.
They rolled out of bed at the same time and rushed to pull on the clothes they’d stripped off near the door. Things were more wrinkled now, and Drayce’s didn’t smell any better having been left on the floor, but none of that mattered. This seemed too fast to be a positive response from the High Luminance, but he didn’t want to think they’d been shut down already.
He followed Caelan out, not bothering to pull his boots on. At least his clothes were on straight. Caelan’s hair was more than a little mussed, but then so was Rayne’s. Drayce had to bite his lower lip to keep from smirking at the advisor, who had his warning glare in place. And that glare looked so incongruent with the red beard burn and somewhat puffy lips he was sporting. What exactly had the king’s advisor and king’s bodyguard gotten up to?
“Forgive the late hour of my visit, Your Majesty,” a small slender man in black priest robes was saying from where he stood near the hotel room door. He bowed respectfully low and offered up a tentative smile.
Caelan quickly waved off the apology. “No apology necessary. Has the High Aspect received a response to our request?”
The priest bent again, but this time he seemed to bubble over with excitement. “The High Luminance has indeed sent word! They have invited you and Lady Safa to the Frozen Square at noon tomorrow, where the High Luminance requests that you each provide a sign from the gods. The correct sign will earn you and your entire party entrance into Mrtyu and a formal meeting with the High Luminance.”
“What in the world is the correct sign?” Drayce blurted out before he could stop the words from leaving his tongue.
The priest’s smile crumpled and fell away while his brow wrinkled. “I’m afraid I don’t know. I only know the message that the High Aspect has asked me to deliver to King Caelan Talos and Lady Safa.”
“I understand. Thank you for delivering the message. We will be at the Frozen Square by noon tomorrow,” Caelan replied in a calm, even voice.
That tone lasted until the priest quickly shuffled out of the room and the door was closed. He turned wide, slightly panicked eyes on the Rayne.
“What the fuck is the correct sign?” Caelan demanded.
“Do the gods know what the High Luminance is requesting?” Rayne immediately shot back.
Drayce watched as Caelan stiffened and then fell completely silent. His gaze became unfocused as if he were looking inward rather than at anything in the hotel room. But whatever conversation he was having with his two new roommates, it didn’t last long or have a happy outcome.
Caelan’s fists were trembling at his sides when he finally spoke again. “Kaes called it bullshit and Tula sort of shrugged as if it were beyond her capability to understand the nonsense of silly mortals.”
“Do you think Vale would know anything?” Eno inquired.
Drayce glanced over at the woman who continue to snooze on the sofa, oblivious to what was happening around her. He turned his attention to Caelan to find the king frowning.
“I doubt it. The priest didn’t seem to know what kind of sign the High Luminance is looking for.” His expression softened a little and he sighed. “However, Vale might be able to tell us something about the Frozen Square. There has to be a reason why the test is to happen there.”
“She would be our best source of information right now,” Rayne agreed.
Caelan walked over to the chair positioned closest to Vale’s head and dropped into it, but he didn’t immediately wake her. He didn’t say anything for several seconds, just stared straight ahead at the coffee table. Drayce wasn’t sure if he was conversing with the gods or lost in his own thoughts.