“And now?”
“Ever since what happened in the cave, it’s like everything got amped up. All I want to do is stay cuddled with you and growl at anyone who gets too close. Being in the Ordas has made it a bit easier to deal with because I can shift into my dragon form more often. When I’m in my human form and there are others close, I get this restless itch I can’t scratch. I’ve even been thinking…” His voice drifted off.
“What?” Caelan prodded. “Tell me.” He truly wanted to know. This side of Drayce was interesting. He’d never imagined he’d meet a real dragon in his lifetime, let alone be so close to one that he could ask all these kinds of questions. Drayce eased his hold on Caelan enough that he could lift his head to meet his friend’s wide eyes.
“I was thinking when we get home, the throne room is really big and that’s where you spend a lot of your day for meetings,” Drayce started. “And the dais with your throne is big too.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“I was thinking that some days I could just be in my dragon form wrapped around your throne while you’re holding meetings.”
Caelan dropped his head back on Drayce’s chest, his entire body shaking with laughter. He could see the image as clear as day. The throne room was enormous, both wide and long. At the far end of the room covered in white and dove gray marble was a tall dais and the throne his mother had sat on for years. He’d had trouble seeing himself seated on that chair, but now it was easier as he pictured the body of a giant black dragon draped about the chair and pouring down the stairs on either side of him.
That would be intimidating.
Except for the fact that Drayce would be bored out of his mind within the first five minutes and likely spend the entire day sleeping.
“You think I’m crazy,” Drayce grumbled.
“No, I was wondering if you snore as a dragon, because you are going to be dead asleep within five minutes of listening to my meetings.”
A surprised bark of laughter jumped from Drayce and his arms tightened on Cael in the most wonderful hug. “I don’t know, but I suspect that Rayne would kick me every time I did snore.” When they stopped laughing, Drayce asked, “Does this mean I can do that? I can hang out in the throne room in my dragon form?”
A sigh slipped from Caelan and he closed his eyes, content to just lie in Drayce’s arms, listening to the pound of his heart under his ear. “I have no idea. We’ll figure it out. But since you mentioned being anxious when others are close to me, does it bother you to have Eno or Rayne or even Adrian near me?”
“Nah. They’re family. They don’t trigger my instincts. Keeping them close to you actually helps me relax.”
“Because they can help protect me?”
“Nope.” Drayce pressed a kiss to the top of Caelan’s head. “It means all the people important to me are in one place. Easier to protect them that way.”
Caelan closed his eyes and let himself sink into this moment. The familiar heat of Drayce pressed to his body, while one hand slowly moved up and down his back in a wonderful caress. This was better than meditating. The world fell away so much faster and there was only Drayce.
But as he relaxed and the unnecessary clutter fell away in his brain, certain things rose with uncomfortable clarity.
Zyros.
Lore.
The Empire.
They needed to leave Hidden Falls and start for Green Spring, even if they didn’t know what they would find there. It was tempting to linger in Hidden Falls until Adrian and the Erya army reached them, but he didn’t want to turn this serene village into a war zone.
“I can’t believe Gilea was Zyros in disguise,” Drayce said suddenly, breaking the silence of the moment and proving that his mind had wandered in the exact same direction.
Caelan had shared the unexpected news with his companions over breakfast this morning. Rayne, in particular, hadn’t looked good after hearing that he’d healed and coddled the Goddess of the Hunt. Eno had wrapped up Rayne, holding him tight as if he were afraid something would retroactively happen to him.
No, Caelan suspected that Zyros might have actually developed a soft spot for his advisor after he’d been so caring of the young woman. He wasn’t sure that so-called “soft spot” would protect Rayne from her later, but he prayed that it didn’t make him a target.
“It was a good disguise, but I’ll admit that I was expecting some kind of surveillance on her part the moment we entered the Ordas,” Caelan murmured. “She is the Goddess of the Hunt and had been a skilled hunter, according to Lore, before she became a goddess. Right now, we are her prey. It makes sense that she’d do some kind of reconnaissance prior to attacking.”