“You know what I mean,” Vale continued. She looked over her shoulder at him to roll her eyes in his direction. He didn’t know what she meant. “It’s got to be that you’re both missing your boyfriends. Trust me, I needed a break from that.” There was a good dose of disgust in her voice, and he wasn’t exactly sure what part she was so disgusted about.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Rayne demanded. Drayce glanced over at his companion and winced. The king’s advisor’s cheeks were flushed, and his jade green eyes were practically sparkling behind his glasses with the need to kill something.
“Oh, you know, just that all the love-sick gazes and flirting were making me ill.”
Rayne sidestepped around a pair of women strolling down the sidewalk and caught up with them again. He twisted just enough so Drayce could see the question in his wide eyes and lifted eyebrows. Sadly, Drayce was wearing the same damn expression on his face. Had they been doing that for the past couple of weeks? He certainly hadn’t noticed it, and he didn’t think Rayne had seen it.
Clearing his throat, Rayne shifted his glare to Vale. “I assure you that if our mood is dour, it is simply due to the fact that we’re concerned for our companions and their meeting with the High Aspect.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure,” she drawled, finishing with a low chuckle. Nope, she didn’t believe them at all.
Drayce wasn’t completely convinced that he believed Rayne. Yes, he was worried, but he also missed Caelan. It wasn’t often they were separated like this. They did all their exploring and adventures together. Already today, he’d wanted to grab Caelan’s arm and excitedly point out something to his friend or tell him some random thought that crossed his mind. But he wasn’t there.
“Now, I don’t have any problem with who you’re dating,” she started and Drayce found himself balling his hands into fists at his sides. Why didn’t he believe that either? Was he not being fair to Vale? Yes, she had lied and betrayed them to further her own mission, but she hadn’t meant for them to get hurt. And her actions didn’t mean she was homophobic. “But you’ll want to keep all that under wraps in Zastrad.”
“Excuse me?” Rayne snapped.
Vale shrugged, not seeming bothered by his tone at all. “They don’t believe in that sort of thing here in Zastrad.”
“A person’s sexuality is not a matter of belief. It simply is,” Rayne argued, his voice starting to rise.
Drayce wanted to add his own cheer, but they were already earning a few stares from the other pedestrians, and they didn’t need to garner any more attention.
Vale waved a hand absently over her shoulder in their general direction. “Whatever. The point is that Zastrians believe in life and death. You need to create more life to honor the Dead God before you rush off to meet him. Two guys together, or two girls for that matter, don’t create that life.”
Rayne took a deep breath and opened his mouth, looking as if he fully intended to give a detailed response as to why that was a bunch of bullshit. The only problem was that it wasn’t going to be a quiet speech. Drayce grabbed Rayne’s elbow and silently shook his head at the man, trying to end the discussion.
He didn’t give a shit what Vale or the Zastrians believed. His heart and soul belonged to Caelan fucking Talos, King of Erya. That was never going to change. And judging by the way Rayne had instantly gotten worked up, it seemed pretty safe to assume that Rayne felt the same way for Eno.
His companion pressed his lips together into a hard, unyielding line, giving him a death glare. Drayce offered up a pleading look he hoped Rayne understood. This was not the time and place. It said a lot for Rayne’s current state of mind that the advisor needed to be reminded of that.
“You’re right,” Rayne muttered at last. He took another deep breath and held it for a couple of seconds before pushing it out between clenched teeth. “What would happen if people were to realize that I was involved in a relationship with a man?” Rayne inquired, sounding a little calmer, even if the words were being ground up between his teeth.
“No clue, but do you really want to give these people a genuine reason to kill you? Oh! Goat-milk taffy! I’ll be right back.”
There was no chance to argue as Vale darted into a quaint confectionary shop that was brightly painted in white and lilac purple. He peered in the window to see two walls covered in glass jars, each filled with different kinds of candy. If goat-milk taffy was the kind of thing they carried, though, Drayce was going to pass. He’d enjoyed the food in Zastrad so far, but goat-milk taffy didn’t sound appealing in the least.