Page 514

"Busy."

"Everyone's busy."

He turns a page. I grab the cup and shove it closer.

His eyes lift. "Caelen."

"Drink." He looks like he wants to argue. Then he does. One mouthful. Pathetic. But technically success.

I look toward the food. "That too."

"No."

"You're becoming Eirea." Wrong thing to say.

Not because he reacts dramatically. Rhyven doesn't react dramatically to anything. But I see it. The tiny pause. His eyes lower toward the report a fraction too quickly. Interesting. Very fucking interesting. I lean against the table. "You worried?"

"Yes."

"About Elarion."

"Obviously."

"Varethia."

"Yes."

"Eirea." Silence. There it is. I look at him. He keeps reading. Actually pretends to read. I know because his eyes stop moving. Oh, this is pathetic. "She's fine."

I say.

"I know."

"You've said."

"Then stop asking."

"I wasn't." Rhyven looks up. I smile. "You're checking the sky every ten fucking minutes."

"No."

"You are."

"I check everything."

"Not like that." His jaw tightens. There.

I know Rhyven. I've known him before Chief. Before half the tattoos. Before the Academy decided his inability to mind his own business constituted leadership potential. I've seen him angry. I've seen him injured. I've seen him terrified and pretending he wasn't. I've seen him stand beside a dragon who nearly died. I've seen him take blame for people who didn't deserve it. I've seen him fight. I've seen him bleed. I have never seen him look at a horizon like he's angry at the distance itself. I push away from the table. "Fine."

Rhyven's eyes narrow. "What."

"Nothing."

"You're bad at that."

"Eirea says that." Another tiny reaction. Fuck. This is becoming entertaining. Poorly timed entertainment. Still.

The day doesn't give me long enough to enjoy it. By eight, I'm training Elarion's ground units. By nine, Dax has threatened one officer. By ten, Maelis has threatened two. Rhyven hasn't threatened anyone.