“I’m fine,” Caelan snapped. He placed a hand on Adrian’s shoulder and moved him over a step. He appreciated his attempts to come within the line of fire, but this wasn’t the place to be making sacrifices.
“Lies. You tell me to let it go in front of Adrian. What about you?” Rayne pressed and Caelan instantly regretted urging his advisor to speak freely. He should have seen this coming.
Inside his chest, he worked frantically to shore up the stone walls he’d built around his heart and the partitions he’d erected in his mind to block off certain thoughts. But it was too late. Just having Rayne poke at things created cracks that were spreading.
“Everything is fine,” Caelan repeated, clinging to the lie. He needed it to be fine. He was afraid that if he let go, he’d never be able to keep moving forward.
“Thirty-two days,” Eno murmured.
“What?” Caelan demanded.
“We arrived in Stormbreak thirty-two days ago, and for thirty-two days, the city has not seen a single ray of sunlight. Dark clouds moved in with our arrival and have not left.” Eno shook his head. “People are blaming it on magic created by New Rosanthe. What they don’t understand is that their king has the power of the God of Storms, and he’s heartbroken over the loss of his best friend.”
“Drayce is not dead!” Caelan roared. He lunged at Eno, his fingers like claws as they gripped his shirt and twisted. “He’s not dead,” he repeated through clenched teeth.
Outside, a crack of thunder boomed so loud it was as if the heavens had split open, shaking the very ground beneath their feet. And with it came all the emotions Caelan had been desperately fighting since Drayce had flown away.
Rayne was right there, a hand clamping onto the back of Caelan’s neck as he pressed their foreheads together. “Drayce is not dead. No one thinks he’s dead. He’s still alive, and we’re going to find him.”
“Why?” The question fell like broken glass from Caelan’s tongue. It was the question he’d not been able to voice for three months, but now that his chest had cracked open, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Why didn’t he tell me before? We talked about everything. We didn’t keep secrets from each other. Why didn’t he tell me this? Was he a spy? Should I have not trusted him?”
Saying those words left him feeling like he was dying inside. He’d trusted Drayce completely. Maybe even more than he trusted Eno and Rayne. He’d honestly believed they knew everything about each other. He’d kissed him, touched him, fallen in love with him. In the deepest, most secret of his fantasies, he’d been trying to find a way for them to be together for the rest of their lives.
“We don’t know,” Eno murmured. His heavy hand rested on Caelan’s shoulder and squeezed tightly. “Maybe he wasn’t allowed to tell you. We can’t possibly know the truth until we talk to him.”
“Was any of it real?”
Rayne tightened his grip and dipped his head to meet Caelan’s eyes. “I honestly think Drayce’s feelings for you are real. He broke in the cave, and the despair we witnessed when he saw you alive and accusing him of betrayal was very real.”
“How many times over the past months has he come close to dying to keep you safe?” Eno pressed. “I’m not giving up on him. We’ll find him and get the truth.”
Caelan nodded, swallowing hard around the lump in his throat. “Dragon or not, we’re going to find Drayce, and we’re bringing him home where he belongs.”
There was a slap of flesh on stone that had the three of them turning suddenly to find Adrian with one hand braced against the wall, his face pale and eyes wide. “Dragon? Drayce…I-I don’t understand. Drayce…”
What sliver of Caelan’s heart that wasn’t shattered went out to the man. While he’d largely been selected because of his skills and loyalty, the tipping point had been his friendship with Drayce. Caelan wanted someone who would fight for Drayce as much as he would fight to protect the crown.
And until this moment, no one outside the three of them had ever spoken to another about what had happened in the cave at the top of Mount Langbo. There were whispers about the destruction of Mrtyu and Temit, but it was being blamed on New Rosanthe. No one knew of the black dragon that rained death from the clouds.
“Drayce Ladon is a dragon,” Caelan said.
“He flew off from, Mrtyu and we’re hoping to find him on the Isle of Stone,” Rayne continued, somehow making it sound as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His advisor turned toward Eno, his smile stiff and proper again. “Eno, could you take Adrian to gather the last of the supplies we need? I believe His Majesty’s lunch is waiting for him, and we need to go over the final crop harvest reports before his meeting with the Caspagir representative this afternoon.”