That was his name. Caelan had stumbled across that easily enough even if he couldn’t understand the actual words dancing across the man’s brain. Ram Tharu.
Those weren’t the only names he collected. He snatched up two more he was sure Vale would find of interest.
Just thinking of the woman summoned a strange memory from Ram. It was of Vale speaking to someone in the last town they’d visited. As soon as they finished talking and she disappeared into a shop to join them in their gathering of supplies, the other person ran to Ram, delivering Caelan’s name in an excited whisper.
She’d set them up to be kidnapped.
Her actions had put them all in danger. Had nearly resulted in Rayne’s death. Could have killed Drayce.
The rage fueling the storm around him turned his blood to nearly frozen slush pumping through his veins. He closed his fist for a heartbeat and flung it open. Power surged through Ram’s brain, wiping everything away. The man didn’t know his name, had no awareness of his past or even the present. There was nothing left of him.
His brain knew only one thing—to keep the body alive. He breathed. His heart pumped blood on its course through his body. And then nothing more.
He was a living vegetable, and he would stay that way. There would be no honorable meeting of his Dead God anytime soon.
Caelan stumbled a couple of steps away from the man, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his palm. Betrayed. Again.
Was it not enough that Chancellor Octavia Croft had betrayed him in her desperate attempt to grab power following the murder of Queen Amara and his own absence from Erya?
Or even his own mother’s betrayal of his trust? She’d sent him away to protect his life when she feared the Empire would attack.
Now they’d been delivered into Vale’s hands, forced to depend on her to see them safely across Zastrad, and she’d betrayed them for her own ends.
How do you know they are the only ones keeping secrets from you? Tula murmured.
Caelan shook his head, shoving away the ugly thought. The only ones left alive in the camp were Drayce and Rayne. The goddess couldn’t possibly think that either of them would be plotting to stab him in the back.
Drayce would never betray me. I know all of his secrets, he thought at her. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to upset Drayce with such things. He refused to cast any kind of doubt on Drayce. He knew Drayce better than he knew anyone else in the world.
Tula softly clucked her tongue at him. But how many times have you seen Rayne whispering with Eno? And there’s no question that he’s been successfully wooed by the Caspagir prince in the past. How do you know Prince Shey hasn’t won your trusted advisor away from you?
The wind had stopped howling suddenly and the sky was clearing, revealing a blue so pale that it was nearly white. Snow dusted the cold gray boulders and gathered in little clumps.
Almost against his will, Caelan’s eyes strayed to Rayne Laurent as he lay sleeping beside the dancing flames. His color had improved and the lines of pain around his eyes and mouth had disappeared.
But even wrapped in the blankets, Caelan could make out the dark blood that had dried in his brown hair. The last bit of proof that Rayne had ever suffered an injury.
Rayne wouldn’t—couldn’t betray him. The man’s entire life was the strength and prosperity of Erya. He would do anything to protect the kingdom.
Does that include protecting Erya from you?
“No!” Caelan shouted at the Goddess of Life.
“What? What’s wrong?” Drayce demanded but Caelan ignored him.
There’s only one way to know for sure all his secrets, to be sure that he’s not plotting against you and Drayce. Tula’s voice was a haunting singsong. Just slip into his mind and snatch control. Then he will always obey you.
“No! You gave him your power. You made me believe you trusted him,” Caelan argued. It didn’t matter if Drayce could hear his half of the conversation. He could feel the goddess’s power tug at his tight grip. It was as if it had a mind of its own, and right now, it demanded control of Rayne the same way he’d taken control of Ram.
Trust is a fool’s game. Tula laughed and it was a brittle thing, like nettles being dragged across his bare flesh. The only way to be completely sure of the people surrounding you is to have full control of them.
“What?” he gasped.
His shock gave the power he’d been barely holding on to the opening it needed to escape his grasp and shoot straight for Rayne. It slipped so easily inside of his mind and started riffling through his memories. Flashes of distant past and closer memories paraded through his mind. Things he’d never wanted to see danced past in only an instant.