“Third door on the left, Amick. Nero’s probably in there pouting that he couldn’t go to his precious Valveilious today, so there’s no telling when he may come out.”
I follow the direction of Sevryn’s pointed finger and make my way across their living space.
It’s quite off-putting knocking on a stranger’s bedroom door, but if what Sevryn said is accurate, I don’t want to be waiting around all day for the Mediator to emerge.
“Yeah…oh. Amick. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Of course you weren’t. May I have a moment of your time?”
“Sure.”
He motions his hand inward, but I don’t budge. I won’t be entering his bedroom. I don’t even enter my own brother’s bedrooms.
Thayla’s and my own are the only private spaces I’m comfortable with entering.
“I’ll stand here. Will you look at this agreement for me? I need it methodically analyzed for any loopholes and ways out.”
I attempt to pass him my parchment, but he stares at it, then back up at me.
“Why would you need me to do that? What kind of agreement is it that you or Kyzen couldn’t figure it out?”
“Kyzen hasn’t read it. This is the agreement made on my brothers’ and my behalf when we came to the Godsdawn. It was crafted by the Beginning Gods, and I’d like to find a way out of it for us. I fear we’re too emotionally involved to see an answer for ourselves. Given your skill set, I determined you’d be the bestoutside source to ask for help. I’d like to keep this between us for now.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“Nero,” Doren barks. “When our friends ask for help, we don’t ask for something in return.”
“Friends? We don’t even know them.”
“Correction, you three don’t know them. I’ve been friends with them my whole life,” Sevryn declares as he stomps over to us.
I sigh as a petty and pointless argument ensues among the three men. I’m regretting this decision already.
“This behavior is absurd, Nero. Yesterday, they willingly and freely helped us. No questions asked and no declaration of a debt to be repaid.”
“Yeah, Doren, and now he’s here asking for a favor. That doesn’t seem like repaying a debt to you?”
“I can assure you, I don’t view this as a debt being repaid. If that were the case, I’d require and ask something of your entire Valtrue. My willingness to help yesterday comes from a place of wanting to please my Binder and ask the God of Discovery a list of questions.
“This is a much simpler situation. I have a problem that your particular skill set can help me with. Therefore, I asked. If you’re not up to this task, that’s fine. This ridiculous squabble, though, is redundant and a waste of my time.”
Nero’s tightened gaze scans his Valtrue members, then me.
“Fine. I’ll read it over.”
“Great. What’s your expected timeline for completion?”
I pass the parchment to him, and he slowly unrolls it about halfway. It’s a lengthy agreement crammed with fine print and more stipulations than I believe were necessary.
“I don’t know. A few days.”
“A few days? Should I ask Kyzen to come assist you to speed that up?”
He grits his teeth and clenches the parchment tighter. I’d rather not do that, but if it truly will take him that long, then I’ll consider filling Kyzen in so he can help reduce that time frame.
“No. I’ll have some answers by tomorrow.”
That’s a relief.
