One decision…and he’d lost his king and his lover.
TWENTY-ONE
Caelan Talos
Trigger Warning
Caelan watched as a group of Omari clan members worked to place a set of tiles that had been broken during the fight. Several men were already on the roof, clearing away the broken and displaced tiles while another group was setting up a pulley system to lift the new tiles up from the ground.
There was a second group removing the broken and burned plants from the courtyard gardens. He’d attempted to help both groups, but everyone had been so unsettled and confused by his presence that he’d decided it was better if he didn’t try to assist them. They were working far faster and easier without him there.
But he needed to do something. He’d barely closed his eyes all night, trapped in swirling angry, sickening thoughts and doubts about Rayne. And when he wasn’t worried about Rayne and his actions, he was back to worrying about Drayce. His lover was moody, bouncing from almost manic joy to quiet darkness. He was also shrugging off Caelan’s touch every time he wanted to check that he was healing properly.
Even the gods in his head felt disgruntled and restless, creating a sensation of his skin crawling that he couldn’t shake.
It probably didn’t help that he was avoiding Eno. He didn’t know what to say to the man. He adored Rayne, and for his lover to do something like this…last he’d seen, Eno was on the practice fields, fighting anyone who would stand against him. Pushing himself to the point of exhaustion sounded tempting, but becoming too tired left Caelan vulnerable to the whims of the gods and no one wanted that.
The sound of footsteps behind him had Caelan turning to see his grandfather staring at him with worried eyes. He got the feeling that Nori knew something of what happened since the shouting could be heard through most of the building, but no one had been bold enough to approach him about it.
Caelan bowed his head in greeting. “Grandfather.”
The old dragon sighed and motioned for Caelan to accompany him. “Come with me, Little One.”
“Why do you call me that? I’m not that much shorter than you,” Caelan asked as he fell into step with Nori.
“It has nothing to do with your height,” Nori admitted, turning to enter the main house. He started through the wide corridor with shining, warm woods. They made a right, heading into the part of the structure that Caelan had always assumed were Nori’s private quarters. “Your grandmother and I called your father Little One when he was growing up, and you remind me very much of Kei.”
Something warm and fuzzy wrapped around his heart. He’d not minded the nickname, but it had always struck him as odd. No one had ever called him an endearment like that. The closest anyone had come was when his friends called him Cael rather than Caelan or Your Majesty.
But he found he liked the nickname as well as the reason behind it. He wasn’t exactly sure how he was similar to his father. He’d never gotten the chance to get to know Hagen. There were some foggy memories of when he was young, but the older he became, the less he’d seen of the man. Of course, he’d seen a lot less of his mother during those last ten years.
Near the back of the house, Nori stopped at last and slid open a door to reveal a private garden hidden away from the rest of the compound. Several very old trees ringed one side of the garden, their dark-green needles shading a good amount of the area. The center of the garden had a pond filled with gray rocks while flashes of orange and white fish darted through the clear water. With winter already wrapping around them on the Isle of Stone, there were few colorful flowers, but it didn’t detract from the sense of peace that pervaded the entire place. None of the training or construction sounds could reach them. There was only the soft burble of flowing water and the whisper of the wind.
With another wave of his hand, Nori beckoned Caelan over to a beautifully carved wooden bench that was just big enough for the two of them.
They sat and no one spoke for an incredibly long time. Caelan watched the fish lazily gliding through the water with the barest flick of their elegant tails. Their motion was almost hypnotic after all the noise that had cluttered his brain for so long.
“My mother had a garden like this in the central tower,” Caelan started slowly, the words sort of dripping from his lips. “It was enormous, taking up three entire floors. There were trees and a brook that meandered through it. And butterflies. Lots of exotic, colorful butterflies. Some of them with wingspans at least twelve inches across. I always thought it was the most beautiful place in all of Stormbreak. Maybe even all of Erya. It was a shame.”