“And she went after Rayne?”
Caelan nodded. “She argued that if anyone had secrets or was plotting against me, it had to be Rayne. He had contacts in the Caspagir royal family. I…I chose him as my heir.”
Drayce’s heart skipped a beat and his throat became painfully dry. “Do you believe that?” When Caelan didn’t immediately reply, Drayce shook him lightly, forcing his head up. Blue eyes flicked open and Drayce repeated in a hard voice. “Cael, do you believe that? Do you believe Rayne would betray you?” He didn’t know what he’d do if Caelan answered in the affirmative.
“No.”
Relief ripped through Drayce from the very bottom of his soul.
“But she was so convincing and powerful. I tried to stop her, but she reached for Rayne. Her…I…slipped into his mind. I s-saw things. I invaded his privacy. Broke his trust. How can he ever trust me again? How can any of you?”
“But you stopped, right? That’s why you ran?”
Caelan nodded and Drayce squeezed him tighter. His friend, the man he trusted and believed in above all others, was still in there despite the gods mucking up everything in his head.
“Cael, you gotta give yourself a little more room to learn and definitely a lot more forgiveness,” Drayce said, huffing a weary laugh.
“What?” For the first time since finding him in the middle of this crazy forest, Caelan looked up at him, his eyes filled with confusion rather than pain.
“Think about it. You’ve got two full-fledged gods as roommates in your noggin. No one in all of history has ever done this. Not your mother. Not any Talos ever. Give yourself a break.” He rubbed his thumb along Caelan’s high cheekbone to wipe away tears, unable to keep from marveling at the beauty of the man in his arms even when he was at his most broken and dirtiest. But then, Caelan had shone with a bright inner light long before he’d started sharing his body with a couple of gods. “It’s not like Tula or Kaes handed you an instruction manual on how to deal with them and their powers. You’re still figuring things out. How they handle the world is not how King Caelan Talos handles the world.”
“But what if I hurt you?”
“You won’t.”
“But—”
“You won’t,” Drayce repeated with more force. He bent his head and cocked it so that Caelan couldn’t escape his gaze. “You stopped yourself. You didn’t hurt Rayne. You are still in control, and I’m sure you’ll gain more control with time.”
His friend’s eyes narrowed on him, and Drayce nearly rejoiced to see this first little spark of true Caelan attitude. “I grew a fucking forest.”
“And it’s amazing!” Drayce laughed. He leaned back and threw his arms out to encompass the thick mass of trees and plants all around them that Caelan created in a matter of minutes. Terrifying, sure, but also amazing. “Yeah, you grew a forest, but you also didn’t hurt Rayne. You didn’t hurt me. That’s the important thing.”
“But when Tula and Kaes are whispering in my head, what they’re saying sounds so convincing. I don’t know if I should listen to them, if I’m going too far.”
Drayce pinched Caelan’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, turning his head so that he could bump their noses together briefly. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes!”
“Then ask me. I will never lie to you, Caelan. I will always tell you honestly if I think you’re going too far, if I think you’re wrong.” His friend started to look away and Drayce leaned around him, following his eyes. “And if you can’t ask me, you ask Rayne. You know he’s going to be honest with you. You trust him. His entire job is to give you advice. Same goes for Eno. We are always there for you. We will do anything for you. Lean on us, Cael. Please.”
“I’m the king. I’m also the Guardian of the godstones. I feel like I need to be strong. That I need to be the one protecting you. The one with all the answers.”
“Babe, what’s the point of having an advisor if you’ve got all the answers? Let us be there for you. You don’t have to protect us all the time.”
Caelan jerked his head back and blinked at him a couple of times. The strangest expression crossed his face, one Drayce couldn’t read. Maybe surprise mixed with some confusion and amusement.
“Did…did you just call me ‘babe’?” Caelan asked softly.
Drayce replayed the words that had just come out of his mouth in his head. He did. Holy shit, he did. How did that even happen?
“I think I did,” Drayce said, his voice full of laughter. “Do you mind?”
“No, but you probably shouldn’t use that when anyone else is around.”
Drayce snickered. “Calling you babe in front of Rayne would probably give the man a heart attack.”