18. Rain

Chapter 18

Rain

We got back into the castle to find the housekeeper waiting for us, and it was almost a disappointment. I assumed Caspian would want to go to his rooms and maybe shower and rest after his long trip. Sunrunner palace was right on the ocean, on the southern tip of the continent, so out of everyone, Caspian had come the farthest to be in Amalion City.

Ember had said he'd left the night before, and with that distance, he must have driven very fast, and I doubted he'd stopped to sleep. To say nothing of the fact that he'd made the trip alone, with no one to talk to or to break the silence of driving. The very idea sounded exhausting to me, so I was prepared to have him want me gone.

Instead, he took the housekeeper's hand in both of his and kissed it, smiling at her, and then said, "That's great. Could you show me and Rain up there?"

As before, she was clearly charmed. I wondered what Frost would make of him. My brother thought I was good with people, but I had nothing on Caspian Sunrunner. The man knew just how to act, to bring people around to his side. He'd met precisely two people in Gloombringer Castle, and both liked him already.

"So tell me about your sister," Caspian said as he dropped his bag on the enormous bed in the main room he'd been given.

I cocked my head in return. "You've met her. Hells, she likes you, so that's a pretty impressive start. Not that Ember is especially hard to please, but she called me to tell me to help you out if I could, and that is unusual for her."

He gave me that same boyish grin he'd given the housekeeper, dimple on one side, and ducked his head. "That's just...I dunno, I get along with people." He patted the leather cuff bracelet on his wrist, with a single stone in the middle. "And Mella tells me how to communicate best on everyone's wavelength. But I feel like maybe your sister's not into guys?"

I didn't comment on the revelation about his stone. It was...odd, since tigereye, which the stone he'd patted was a lovely example of, was well known as a shapeshifter's stone. Maybe it gave him more than one ability. That wasn't unheard of, particularly among the most powerful families. Still, that wasn't what the conversation was about; he wanted to know about Ember. "Good catch. Yeah, Ember is strictly for the ladies."

"Too bad, she's hot as fuck." He opened the bag, rummaging through it but making no effort to unpack, just pulling out a dopp kit and tossing it onto the bathroom counter halfway across the room. "What about you?"

That was...odd. "Me?" My voice came out a little squeaky. "What about me?"

He rolled his eyes and plopped down on the bed, shedding his jacket and tossing it onto a nearby chair, leaving him in nothing but a shockingly casual outfit of jeans and black T-shirt with heavy black boots. "You," he agreed. "You're also hot. You only like ladies too? You definitely haven't been checking me out."

Checking him out? I honestly hadn't even thought about it. He was a fellow future family head, and as his father had pointed out, the only border we shared was quite literally Mount Slate itself, so it was no real border at all. Our families had little in common, and we didn't see each other. We were perhaps the only two major families that didn't have bad blood between us; it was just that there was nothing else either. They were all about following their passions, and we put logic first.

Still, he was a beautiful man. It simply hadn't occurred to me to find him attractive.

You're too busy mooning over Rhodri's boy , Iri pointed out.

I sighed and sank into a tall burgundy wingback chair. Of course Iri would think of Adair as belonging to his stone. She probably thought the same of me. "There's, ah, someone. Someone I'm interested in. I hadn't really thought about anyone but him. There's not much time for it, trying to learn how to run a family and the summit and...honestly, there's hardly even time to go having feelings for"—I swallowed hard, pausing, but letting myself say it aloud—"for Adair."

"Ahh," he said, nodding sagely. "Gotcha. He must be something special."

"He is," I agreed, and only barely refrained from starting a speech about just how special Adair Courtwright was.

Somehow, I suspected that Caspian wouldn't laugh at me like my family would, for all the silly nothing things I liked about Adair. The way his hair almost glowed in the sun to match the gold sheen in his eyes when he used his powers. The way he pursed his lips when he was trying to figure something out, like when he'd watched me explaining the concept of nuclear fallout. He'd probably been the only person in the room who'd paid attention and understood. Not to doubt the others' intelligence, but...well, they hadn't given a single damn about what I'd had to say.

"So," Caspian said, smacking his hands against his knees and pushing off the bed. "Ember is your sister? I'm guessing different fathers?"

"Different parents altogether," I corrected. "We have a brother who has the same father as her, and the same mother as me."

He blinked, staring at me for a moment. "Wait. She said this whole thing, where your mother was sending you all to different places, was about picking who's going to run the family next. How could all three of you be in the running, when at least one of you can't even be related to the Moonstriker line?"

I shrugged. "That sort of thing doesn't really matter to Mother. It's not about blood relations. It's about being smart and efficient. Adaptable. Everyone in primary school in Moonstriker lands gets tested for opportunities for service. Test well and you're set for life, everyone used to say."

For a moment, he just blinked at me. "Are you saying if some random person tested amazingly, your mother might have just, like, added them to your family?"

I paused in the middle of another helpless shrug. It hadn't ever happened, but it wouldn't have shocked me, either. And while many of my schoolmates had clearly pitied me over the perceived disrespect, I understood.

One had only to look at the Gloombringer family to see the sense in Mother's way. She was making sure her people got the best opportunities, and that the best person from the next generation would lead us. Not just a person who happened to be born to the right blood line. Oberon Gloombringer was one of the poorest leaders I'd ever met, and he was the culmination of centuries of Gloombringer blood.

Sometimes bloodlines went wrong and produced people like Oberon. Sometimes people born of anti-intellectuals were the cleverest of all. Why limit your country's future based on whatever random people a bloodline produced?

"She would have," I finally answered. "And I'd have been happy for it. I adore all my siblings. Having even more of them would have been excellent. But I guess she didn't find anyone enough cleverer than us to add another to the family."

I wondered, suddenly, if Mother had tested Ember before adopting her. Wondered what might have happened to my sister if she hadn't been naturally clever.

Of course she tested her , Iri told me, matter of fact, but for the first time when speaking about my mother, sounding maybe a little less than pleased. She might have taken her in if she hadn't been clever, but she wouldn't have raised her next to you. Delta forgets other things have value too .

That? Well, that was too much, in my mind.

Ember was clever, sure, but that wasn't the best part of her. Her passion was incredible, and it had taught me so much about what was important in life. So had Winter's impenetrable will that had stood against even Mother's, and Frost's determination to keep trying no matter how ridiculous the challenge he was facing seemed, to say nothing of his endless cheer while doing so.

And here and now, there was Titania Gloombringer, who'd been broken by the underhanded machinations of the Dawnchaser family killing her brother, but who kept getting out of bed every morning. It was a feat I couldn't imagine trying to match.

Everyone had something to offer, clever or not. And hadn't Mother been the one to teach me that, when she'd said we could learn something from everyone?

While I was all wrapped up in my thoughts, it seemed that Caspian was as well. He was looking in my direction, but his gaze went through me, and he shook his head. "I can't imagine. I mean, I don't know if things are better in the Sunrunner, but it still sounds scary. At least I know my father isn't going to replace me because someone smarter showed up."

He blanched then, giving a whole body shiver and looking away. Part of me, the part that had been trained in seeing through people, in taking the information they didn't want to give and using it against them, wanted to press on what was clearly a sore spot. But Caspian Sunrunner had been nothing but kind to me, and I wasn't going to return the favor by trying to manipulate him. Mother would have, yes, but I was allowed to be different than Mother.

Hallelujah , Iri muttered in my head, and that was...odd. Didn't she adore Mother? Of course I do , she shot back immediately. But I like you better, even if you're a giant potato sometimes. You shouldn't be more like her. You're already better .

That was...a revelation. Iri liked me better than Mother. And apparently better than Uncle Cove. I had no idea what to do with that information.

Before Iri could come back with something pithy, there was a knock on the door. We both turned to look, and Sim gave me an image of Adair standing on the other side. That was new. Not that it was surprising they could give me that information, but it wasn't something they'd done before.

Caspian jumped up and went to the door, swinging it open with a bright smile. When the door opened, his whole body went loose, relaxing against the door frame, leaning there and looking Adair over. "Well hi there."

Adair, for a moment, looked confused. Then he smiled. "You must be the Sunrunner heir."

"Caspian," the handsome bastard corrected quickly. "But you can call me Cas."

A tiny part of me was grateful that Adair's answering smile was small and professional. "I'm Adair Courtwright. I work for the Gloombringer."

Caspian's eyes went wide, and only then did I realize my mistake. I'd told him Adair's name. Oh well, I wasn't going to change it up and start lying now. I'd never been much good at that kind of thing anyway. So when he turned his head and raised a brow in my direction, I nodded, failing entirely to hide my flushed cheeks. "Adair has been trying to wrangle the Gloombringer's ego, and it's quite a job. Frankly, I'm not even sure it's possible."

Adair winced as he looked past Caspian to me, but he didn't jump to Oberon's defense. "I think...could I come in?"

Caspian nodded, ushering him inside, having toned down the enormous bright smile to a normal level, thankfully, and following Adair back in. He winked over at me, making sure Adair took the chair closest to me, as he took the third chair in the room's small seating area, across from the two of us. Was he...helping me? Huh.

"You think . . . ?" he prompted after a moment of silence .

"I think I might have brought Oberon around to accepting you as you are," he said, sighing. "I'm sure Rain told you the elder members of the summit have been difficult about accepting him already."

Caspian nodded. "I was afraid it'd be a problem. It's not like I've got any training at this kind of thing, but like...neither does my dad. And I think he hates Oberon and Huxley, like, a lot. So that'd be worse, right?"

"It would," Adair agreed. "I knew there was bad blood, but Oberon doesn't speak of it. But I think I brought him around to the idea that your father sending you could be an initial overture without the two of them having to see each other since I think they'd fight."

"Damn right they would," Caspian said, snorting. "I guess Oberon used to hit on my mom. Got caught out doing it once, and Dad and the Gloombringer almost killed each other in the fallout. I mean, don't get me wrong, Mom was beautiful, but how stupid do you have to be to step on the toes of a guy who turns into a giant wolf?"

Adair sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Yes, that follows what I knew. If it helps, I don't think he'd do it now. He's...less inclined to flirt with anyone nowadays."

Caspian's look turned haunted, but he nodded. "I guess that's good. But I gotta be honest, I don't even know where to start with this diplomacy stuff. I feel like I'm a kid demanding to eat at the grownups table on the holidays."

Adair looked from Caspian to me and back again. I imagined both of us were thinking about Huxley Dawnchaser voicing that exact thought about me earlier in the day. "Maybe spending some more time with Rain will help. I...far be it from me to work against Gloombringer interests, but Rain's been handling the others with grace. Maybe he can share some pointers."

I grinned at him, pleased that he thought to suggest it, considering the hesitance he'd already shown about my tactics. "I'd love to help. Anything to try to keep this summit on track. Or get it there to begin with."

For the first time since Sim had shown me his hunched form outside the door, Adair seemed to lose some of the tension in his shoulders. He nodded and smiled, leaning back in the chair. "Yes, excellent. We can do this."