Part One: Escaping Stormbreak
Arms wrapped around Rayne’s waist from behind just before his neck was nuzzled. He smiled as he tiredly tugged at his bow tie, leaning back on Eno’s chest.
“Husband,” Eno purred into his ear, sending the most wonderful chill skittering through his frame. In a single word, Eno had staked ownership; announced his deep, unwavering love; and promised him forever. When “husband” rolled off Eno’s tongue, it was the perfect word.
“Are you sure you don’t mind one last stop for the night?” Rayne inquired.
“No. Not at all.” Eno pressed a kiss to his jaw, and Rayne could feel his grin against his skin. “I’ll admit it doesn’t feel right not seeing them.”
The wedding had been perfect in every way.
In truth, it could have been a complete disaster, but Rayne was sure he wouldn’t have noticed so long as Eno stood at the end of the long aisle with him and agreed to be his for the rest of their lives.
But the day went off without a problem.
The wedding began with an official procession, him and Eno riding white horses and accompanied by the Royal Guard. The parade stretched from the gardens—where both of Caelan’s parents were honored—through the city, and ended in the royal throne room, where Caelan was seated on the throne, waiting for them.
After a great deal of debate, it was finally decided that the Erya high priest of Tula would marry them—the same person who’d married all of the heirs to the Erya throne over the years. The people of Thia didn’t know the truth about the Goddess of Life, and Rayne was more concerned with people being upset if they suddenly changed tradition.
In the end, Rayne clung to the idea that because of the power he’d received from the goddess, lives had been saved. That was what they were honoring. Not the horrible things she’d done in the past.
After the wedding, an extravagant ball was thrown with a sumptuous dinner. Every Erya official was present, along with countless dignitaries and country leaders. Everyone got along; even his parents were well behaved for the night. Rayne danced with his lovely sister, Zephyr. Eno was toasted by his brother, Davi.
Yes, it was far more extravagant than Eno had wanted, but his sweet husband understood the necessity. This event represented more than the beginning of their married life, or the fact that the dauphin had taken a consort who could very likely stand beside him when Rayne one day rose to take the throne should Caelan pass away.
Their wedding was a much-needed moment of joy following the loss of their queen, New Rosanthe’s attack, and so many other problems that had plagued Thia recently. It was a chance to celebrate the living and to hold loved ones close. It was a reminder that Erya was strong and would continue to persevere through any hard times that might be ahead.
But in the end, the only thing that mattered was the man currently holding him.
“I just realized that I forgot to tell you something,” Rayne murmured as he rested his head back on Eno’s shoulder.
“What’s that?”
“I love you.”
Eno’s answering chuckle was nearly silent, but Rayne could feel it in the shaking of his powerful frame. “I’m pretty sure you whispered it to me every chance you got today, in addition to marrying me.”
“Yes, but I know I haven’t told you in the last hour.” Rayne straightened and started to turn in his husband’s arms when the elevator softly pinged, announcing they’d arrived at the appropriate floor. Rayne almost sighed. This was the first private moment they’d had since waking that morning, and he was very much looking forward to getting his new husband alone.
But he wanted this too.
Eno released the hold on his waist only to tangle their fingers together prior to stepping out of the elevator. The playful smile on Eno’s lips seemed to claim that he understood exactly how Rayne was feeling.
They strolled down the hall to the double doors of the royal apartments. Rayne lifted his hand to knock, but the door was jerked open before his knuckles landed on the wood. Drayce grinned broadly as he waved them into the room. The scoundrel was already changed out of his dress suit and back into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, appearing very much like he wasn’t engaged to the king of Erya.
“Finally escaped, huh?” Drayce teased as he shut the door behind them.
“Last I saw, a handful of dragons and delegates were still dancing and drinking. We’re leaving it to Tomas to wrangle that drunken mess so it doesn’t turn into an international incident,” Eno replied.
Drayce snorted. “That would explain why he texted me three times in the last twenty minutes about whether a dragon would find a certain comment insulting.”
They walked down the hall to the comfortable living room with the long wall of windows that overlooked the city. They found Adrian and Caelan lounging in overstuffed chairs. Their suit jackets and ties were missing, their sleeves rolled up, and both men had looks of weary happiness.
Caelan started to rise, but Rayne immediately waved him off. They were all tired after the incredibly long day.
“Thanks for stopping by. I’m sure you’re both ready to be away from the world,” Caelan greeted.
Rayne paused in front of the sofa, stopping himself from sitting to stare at Cael. “The five of us weren’t able to spend any time together today, and after everything…that felt wrong.” He sank into the thick cushion on a sigh and Eno sat next to him, their legs rubbing from hip to knee.
“We need at least a moment with this family,” Eno agreed.
“Plus, I’m hoping you’ll at last tell me what Queen Noemi needed to speak with you about this morning,” Rayne said firmly.
Caelan chuckled and lifted his wrist toward Drayce, who’d perched on the arm of the chair. He tapped the face of his watch and then held out his hand.
“Dammit, Rayne!” Drayce swore as he leaned to the side so he could dig into the back pocket of his jeans. “You couldn’t have waited three more minutes?” He pulled out a folded bill and slapped it into Caelan’s palm.
“What?” Rayne choked out while Adrian cackled.
“Drayce bet Caelan fifty bucks that you’d wait at least five minutes before asking about Caspagir. Caelan said you wouldn’t make it two minutes,” the royal bodyguard explained.
Rayne rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact that he could feel his husband shaking with silent laughter. “What is going on with Caspagir?”
“What? You don’t trust me to run the country without you there to look over my shoulder,” Caelan taunted as he tucked the money away in his pocket.
“We noticed that Prince Shey wasn’t at the wedding,” Eno interjected smoothly. “Considering we both spoke to him and he stated that he was going to be here, we can only assume there’s a problem.”
Caelan sighed, his gaze softening on Rayne, which only made the nerves twisting in his stomach all the worse. No, he didn’t love Shey like he loved Eno, but he did regard the man as a friend and respected him as a leader of his people. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.
Leaning forward, Caelan rested his elbows on his knees and folded his hands together in front of him. “Shey went to Damardor to secretly investigate some internal rumblings. He took a very small team with him. Unfortunately, he’s disappeared, and Queen Noemi has lost all contact with the team. It’s been five weeks since she’s heard from them.”
“Oh gods,” Rayne gasped.
“Has she sent in a retrieval team?” Eno demanded.
Caelan shook his head. “I think she’s nervous about sending more people and it looking like the beginning of an invasion. They’ve already lost one team.”
“Sending more could cause a war,” Rayne finished, his eyes blindly dropping to the table in front of him.
“It’s why I’ve offered to send a very small, very specialized team to locate Shey.”
Rayne stiffened. As Shey’s friend, he was overjoyed at the idea. As the politician and guardian responsible for the peace of Erya, he was greatly concerned. If their people were caught, this could be very bad. Erya was just getting through trouble with New Rosanthe and they were still working through a tangled mess with Ilon. This was not a good time to start a war with Damardor.
“How small? Who’s on the team?” Eno inquired.
Caelan held up two fingers. With a smile, he pointed one over at Adrian.
“You’re going to Damardor?” Rayne gasped.
The bodyguard smirked at him. “You guys went to Zastrad without me. I think it’s only fair that I get to go somewhere new without you.”
“This is not the same thing!” Rayne countered. He would have continued, but Eno squeezed his hand and spoke.
“Who else is going with Adrian?”
“Haru. I cleared it with both my grandfather and Haru before the wedding,” Caelan answered. He straightened, relaxing in his chair again and looking very much like a king comfortable making decisions that could change the course of kingdoms. “Everyone has been apprised of the risks involved in this mission and made aware of the dangers as we know them. Adrian has a great deal of experience in stealth and blending in. I think he can adapt to whatever he finds in Damardor faster than any of our other men, save maybe Vitor, but I need the spymaster for additional projects. Haru brings speed and power to the team.”
“They’ll be like a team of twenty in just two men,” Drayce tossed in.
Rayne might have worried about Omari Haru being able to handle such a stealth mission, but the dragon had already proved to be critical in their assistance in the fight against New Rosanthe. Adrian would also be there to guide Haru through the tricky situations. He just had to hope that Haru would be willing to follow Adrian’s instructions.
“Thank you, Cael and Adrian.”
His king smiled at him. “I’ll admit that I was tempted to not tell you until you returned from your honeymoon, but I was afraid of you somehow learning of Shey’s disappearance while you were gone. Eno would never forgive me for keeping something like that from you.”
“Too true,” Eno murmured.
Rayne frowned at his husband and then shook his head. “I’ll admit that I am concerned for Shey’s safety, but it’s not as if we can send in a large team to locate him. Adrian and Haru have the skills to handle this and bring him home safely.”
“Good.” Caelan tipped his head up to Drayce and placed his hand on his fiancé’s knee. Drayce nodded, hopped up, and headed to the kitchen. Apparently, it was a signal that he’d been waiting on. Caelan smiled at him and Eno. “I think the wedding went off perfectly today, and I promise not to get Erya into any trouble while you’re gone.”
“Cael,” he started in a warning tone, but Caelan was already waving him off.
“I’m teasing. I’ve seen my schedule. I’ll be plenty busy over the next several weeks. I’ve got piles of meetings with every delegate who attended your wedding, plus Grandfather has announced that he’s staying for at least two weeks so he can catch up. I won’t have time to get into trouble.”
“Maybe we should be more concerned with your fiancé finding trouble,” Eno said.
“Oh, ha ha. So funny,” Drayce called as he entered the room again, carefully carrying a tray with five wineglasses and an opened bottle of wine. He placed it on the table in front of them and started to reach for the bottle, but Rayne beat him to it.
His eyes widened on the label for a heartbeat before he held it up to his king, who was already smiling. “Caelan Talos. Your birth wine? You can’t be serious?”
Each time a child was born to the royal family, a vineyard was selected to produce what was called the royal birth wine for the child. The royal family then bought every bottle produced that harvest by the vineyard. Most bottles were given away to dignitaries, other royals, and important officials. Several more cases were saved to be opened at important milestones in the royal child’s life.
It was only now that he was holding one of those rare bottles that he realized they’d missed one of the most important milestones in Caelan’s life.
He lifted his gaze to Caelan’s face, a lump forming in his throat. “We missed opening a bottle at your ascension.”
Caelan’s smile wilted and became slightly crooked. “I don’t feel that it was missed. We were dealing with war and the death of my parents. I didn’t want my wine to be used for mourning, but for celebration. Your marriage is an excellent reason to open a bottle. My wedding will be another.”
After a small nod from Caelan, Drayce took the bottle back from Rayne and proceeded to pour a healthy amount into each of the five glasses. With the bottle nearly empty, Drayce put it aside on the table and handed out the glasses.
They stood with Caelan, who raised his glass out in front of him. His expression had become serious, but there was a wealth of warmth and love in his shimmering pale-blue eyes.
“I know I made a toast at the ball, so I will try to keep this one brief. That one was King Caelan addressing his people. This one comes from Cael to his family.” He paused and cleared his throat a couple of times. “Today was more than celebrating the love of two of my closest, dearest friends. It was about celebrating the family that we have made in times of great danger, pain, grief, and triumph. We faced impossible odds and sacrificed so much, because we never wavered in our belief that we must protect this world. We never wavered in our belief in each other. When I look back on the past year, I know I would not be standing here right now if I hadn’t had each of you beside me every step of the way. Thank you for standing with me. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being my family.”
“To many more years as family,” Drayce shouted, thrusting his glass forward.
Rayne wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he clinked his glass against the other four in the center of their small circle. He smiled as he drank his wine. There was an unmistakable sniffle from Adrian’s direction, and Eno wrapped an arm around Rayne’s waist.
After they finished their first drink, Caelan surprised him by raising his glass a second time.
“To the happy couple. Rayne, you might have been selected to be my advisor, but you are so much more than that. You are my sanity, my conscience, and the older brother I would have prayed to the gods for. I love you and wish you a long lifetime of happiness.” Caelan paused and shifted his glass so that it was pointed toward Eno.
“Eno—”
“Shit, don’t. I will fucking cry,” Eno mumbled under his breath.
“Eno, you have protected me from exterior threats, internal scheming, and even my own stupidity. You are always my immovable rock in the middle of the swirling storm. The dependable, stable force guarding my back so I can keep pressing forward. I can think of no one better in all of this world to protect and love someone so precious to me. I love you both as family and wish you many years together.”
They drank again, though this time it was a little more difficult to get the delicious wine past the tightness in his throat. Rayne closed his eyes, leaned his head against Eno’s shoulder, and smiled. Warmth and contentment spread through him, relaxing every muscle in his body. Everything just felt right in the world.
Standing there, surrounded by his family, held by the love of his life, he was sure nothing would be more perfect. He was only vaguely aware that he was sliding down a black hole.
At least not until he heard Caelan murmur, “He is going to be so pissed at you later. Good luck with that.”
There was laughter.
Wait…something’s wrong.
But it was already too late.