I knew what he meant. I shouldn’t act formal and stiff. I was just another guy on his way to a pilgrimage.
A nobody.
I loosened my shoulders and forced my facial muscles to relax. “Is that better?”
“Much.” Codric grinned, squeezing my shoulder. "We are both going to become riders. I feel it in my gut."
"From your mouth to Elu's ears, may it be true," I invoked the old Elucian adage.
Our religions had diverged over three thousand years ago, with the Two-Faced God Elu splitting his essence into two separate deities, Elurion and Elusitor. Elucians continued to worship the duality, and as an Elurian, I was supposed to believe only in the benevolent side of the divine. But I wasn't overly devout, and to me, Elu and Elurion were one and the same. As for Elusitor, well, that was another story. The Sitorians had taken the destructive side of Elu and twisted it into something it had never been meant to be.
The security checkpoint loomed ahead, and as we approached it, I tried to ignore the knot of anxiety in my stomach.
This was it.
After months of preparations, we were clearing Elucia's legendary security. Gaining entry to the country was just one more step in our long journey and far from being the last, but it was crucial, and we were about to find out just how good our backstories and fake documents were. Because if they were not good enough, at best we would be turned away, and I did not want to consider what would happen at worst.
"Stop fidgeting," Codric muttered under his breath. "You are drawing attention to yourself."
I shot him a glare. "I'm not fidgeting." I fisted my hands to stop whatever they were doing. "I'm an excited pilgrim, remember?"
Codric snorted. "You are supposed to look fierce and determined, not nervous."
My cousin was my best friend, but sometimes he could be an obnoxious and overbearing know-it-all. I itched for us to be on the sparring mat so I could take him down a notch.
I opened my mouth to rebut him, but I was interrupted by a booming voice cutting through the air.
"Next in line! Please step forward!"
Codric and I exchanged a quick glance before moving toward the security checkpoint. The Elucian guard, a burly man with a thick, reddish-blond beard and piercing blue eyes, regarded us with suspicion.
I reminded myself that it wasn't personal, and that he probably regarded all passengers the same way, Elucians and Elurians alike. Not that there were many Elurians about.
Codric and I were probably the only ones in the massive port today.
Elucians were suspicious of everyone, and for good reason. It hadn't even been a month since the last Shedun attack was thwarted in this very port of entry.
"Papers," the guard grunted as he held out his hand, bringing us to a stop.
I fumbled in my pocket and produced the documents we'd spent months procuring and perfecting. Beside me, Codric handed over his own papers, a charming smile already in place.
Not that his charm worked on the guard. If anything, it made the creases in the guy's forehead deepen. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized our documents, and I held my breath while schooling my expression into a well-practiced mask of bored indifference.
The documents approved by the Elucian embassy were all legit, but our identification papers had been doctored to hide our identities. They were as flawless and authentic as the real ones, but there was still a small chance that the Elucian Secret Service would manage to uncover the one tiny item that could expose the documents as the forgeries they were.
The guard looked over the papers and then gave us a thorough once-over. "What brings a couple of strapping Elurian lads like you to the pilgrimage?"
We were dressed as members of the Elurian affluent merchant class, which had been a deliberate decision onmy part. Our accents and vocabulary indicated our level of education, and I wasn't as talented as Codric at mimicking the accents and vernacular of commoners.
"The dragons, of course," Codric said with a grin. "My cousin and I have been dreaming of becoming dragon riders since we were young boys." He leaned closer to the guard. "Not to mention our desire for the long life that comes with bonding with the magnificent beasts. That's just a small bonus, eh?"
It was the truth, at least part of it, so even if the guard had a sixth sense for detecting lies, he would find nothing questionable or objectionable in Codric's statement. The problem was his delivery.
Hadn't he learned anything about politics in all the years he had spent by my side?
As I'd expected, the guard's lips twisted in distaste, and I wanted to flick the back of Codric's head for blurting words before thinking.
"We are honored to be here, sir." I strived for a tone of polite enthusiasm. "The pilgrimage is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit beautiful Elucia and come face to face with its great shaman. Saphir Fatewever's name is whispered with awe all over Aurorys."
