Solace’s lips curled into a snarl as her long fingers grasped the armrests. She leaned forward slightly, her voice a mask of dead calm. “Careful, mortal. Or I might see your usefulness has run its course.”
Sweat beaded against the back of my neck at her insinuation, but I refused to show any bit of fear.
The creaking of the door broke our stare, and I breathed a quick sigh, my wildly thumping heart finally returning to its normal pace. Kaos snickered slightly, as if he’d seen my reaction and thought it amusing.
Maybe hedoesanger me more than the goddess.
Hopefully this little introduction would get them to move on from my manor, distract them with things elsewhere while I prepared for my own role in the growing conflict. Elyria was boiling, and it was only a matter of time before all-out war broke out across the continent.
I squeezed my fingers into my palms at the thought.
With the Last Truthsayer dead, I was the only one left alive to carry on his mission—one that dictated the separation of the gods in order for it to succeed.
Hard boots tapped smartly against the stone floor, only pausing in their rigid cadence to circumvent the slowly widening pool of blood.
“An accident, I presume?” the man asked, his accent nearly untraceable.
“Who are you?” Solace bit. A cold, calculating smile warped the man’s face.
“The answer to your problems, I hope.”
I turned then to smile at our guest, though it was honestly more unhinged than pleasant.
“Welcome, General Razia, to Samyr.”
The smartly dressed general bowed his head slightly, just short of an indicator of respect, before straightening once more. His tunic and coat were neatly pressed, his pants showing no sign of wear. Every brown hair on his head was in place. The neatness had me itching.
“Thank you, Lady d’Hida. I trust your guests understand why I’m here?”
“You have a weapon for us?” Solace asked, interrupting me completely. I shot her a dark look—one she ignored—before moving to stand next to General Razia. Although he claimed allegiance to Lord d’Leocopus, Razia was a wealth of information, especially of the rebels that had called Lishahl their home for the last year.
“In a way, yes,” he hummed.
“Inwhatway? My patience is thin,General, and I’m not sure you would want to suffer the wrath of an impatient goddess,” Solace hissed, and Kaos chuckled darkly.
“She is quite murderous when she’s impatient,” he unhelpfully added.
Razia gulped slightly before inclining his head their way at a much deeper angle than my own bow.
Chauvinistic bastard.
“As you know, the rebels have taken residence inside Lishahl.” The gods grunted in understanding. While they bordered us to the north, the Runewood separated our territories, essentially creating an impenetrable barrier. Not even the gods would risk walking through that wood.
“That is not news to us, General,” Kaos grumbled quietly.
“Yes, though the information I possess might be.”
Solace’s tapping fingers stilled at that, her pure white eyes shifting until she was looking straight into his.
“What kind of information?”
“I think you’d find it interesting to note that the Bondsmith is with them”—the gods sucked in sharp breaths—“as are both godlings. And a Mage that carries not one, but two affinities.”
The taste in my mouth soured, and my head pounded at his implication.
Lex is there.
My hand reflexively gripped the pommel of my sword at the mere thought of his name.
