“We’ll allow that,” Yash announced as if she were a queen granting a royal pardon.
“Thank you,” Rayne murmured.
“Well, since we have that all settled, I must be off. I’ll get my little minions digging about this silly sign nonsense and get back to you if I learn anything. If not, you know Kamal is all too happy to help you.”
Rayne’s smile was brittle but polite as he slid from his seat and reached out a hand to assist Yash to her feet. If he had his way, Caelan would have no association with Kamal Giri, Yash Magar, and their network of drug smugglers. But they were out of options, and New Rosanthe was closing in on the godstone.
TWENTY-ONE
Caelan Talos
Wind howled down off Mount Langbo and wound through Temit’s narrow streets. The early afternoon sky was gray and heavy with the promise of snow.
Caelan pulled his cloak a little tighter about his body. Sadly, the damn thing was more ceremonial than functional and didn’t offer much in the way of warmth. His ears stung already from the cold, and he was regretting trimming back his beard, but he’d looked less like a king and more like a wild madman pedaling conspiracies.
Swallowing a sigh, Caelan mentally shook his head at himself. That wasn’t far from the truth.
If you were mad, would you really doubt your sanity? Kaes asked silently with his usual cackle.
Most sane people don’t have conversations with themselves, let alone arguments, Caelan pointed out.
You’re not arguing with yourself, Tula pointed out. There was a feeling of a hand patting him on the head that left him wanting to snap at her.
He wished to point out that arguing with two gods in his head wasn’t any better, but he abandoned that line of thinking as his attention was drawn to his left hand. It was shaking again, and it wasn’t from the cold. He held it in his right, rubbing it before moving up to massage each finger. There wasn’t much in the way of relief, but he didn’t know what else to do. The trembling had begun after he bonded with Tula, but the goddess wasn’t saying anything about having a negative impact on his body. He suspected she didn’t know what happened to a human who bonded with two gods, because no one had ever been insane enough to do such a thing.
If she thought he was bonding with her dead brother as well, the goddess had lost her damn mind.
“Hey, Cael,” Drayce started, leaning his head toward him while keeping his voice low. “You brewing up this storm?”
Cael dropped his hands to his sides and threw his companion a dark look. “If you’re going to blame me for every windy day and thunderstorm, we’re going to stop being friends.”
“Don’t be like that,” Drayce teased. He bumped his shoulder against Caelan’s as they strolled down the sidewalk toward the Frozen Square. “Who else is going to cuddle you and keep your feet warm at night?”
Eno made a coughing sound behind them as if he were choking on an aborted laugh.
Rayne was a little more up front about the fact that he’d overheard them. He glanced over his shoulder at Drayce, giving him the “I will strangle you right where you stand” glare of warning. “This isn’t the place for such comments, Drayce.” Once his friend was appropriately chastised, Rayne turned his attention straight ahead and continued walking beside Vale, who was leading them to the square.
At the very least, Drayce had solved Caelan’s problem with his cold cheeks, because they now burned with embarrassment. He looked over to see Drayce’s brazen grin directed at Rayne’s back. He didn’t give a shit what Rayne thought, or anyone else for that matter.
That kind of confidence had to be nice. It wasn’t so much that he was worried about other people judging him for choosing to be with Drayce, but rather the new scrutiny Drayce would come under for being with the King of Erya. His best friend was a carefree, impulsive guy. So much of that would get squashed under the responsibility and weight that came with dating the crown. There was no way Drayce had given a single thought to any of that. This dating thing had sort of just happened because Caelan thought he was going to die, and he didn’t want to die without having kissed Drayce.
Wait…were they dating?
Or did Drayce just see this as a bit of fun?
Caelan tipped his head back and groaned loudly. Really? This was what his brain had decided to panic about as they walked the final block before the Frozen Square where their path forward to the godstone was determined by whether he could conjure up the proper celestial sign. Dating panic? Is this just sex, or does he actually like like me?