“They are most unhappy with me now.”
“I literally couldn’t care less. Tell them to pull their angry little heads out of their asses and figure this out for me.”
“Derivius is going to. As I was saying, this unfortunately isn’t a case where he can demand you be let go. A rule was broken and Harriseen announced and recorded it immediately.”
“I don’t understand what that matters. It was just Derivius, our Valtrue, Gladian’s, and some piece of shit Dark Gods who heard what he said.”
“This isn’t like when Gladian punished you, Thayla. Harriseen’s ruling carries actual weight. It carries power. As the God of Records, he recorded a crime in your name and sealed it to you with a binding. An ability and right he has as the High Chancellor of the Godsdawn.”
“A binding?”My internal voice sounds more like a breath, and my feet nearly give out beneath me.“That was the heat that spread across my body.”
“Yes. The contraption around your neck is much like what’s around Seismet. It restricts your power. Until he’s satisfied with your punishment and records it as such, that binding stays with you.”
“What does that mean? What will it do to me? Why can’t you or Derivius just starshoot my ass out of here?”
“Because that binding will go with you wherever you go. He can control it from anywhere.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I don’t even know what that truly means, but I don’t want that dickhead to have any sort of control over me, or have a damned binding attached to me.
“So what now? What the hell is Derivius’s plan?”
“He’s going to bribe the High Chancellor with power or a favor to write your punishment off. Let him worry about that.”
I nod, although pointless. The way his voice softened at the end has my mind silencing.
The healing villas’ door looms ahead of me, and I swear I’d prefer we pivot a couple of windows down where we’d enter thedining hall. I’d rather face a crowd and embarrassment than the unknown I’m walking into.
The High Chancellor’s shoes slap against the marble floor, creating a maddening sound as we march down a stretch of hallway that’s unfamiliar to me. The desire to run is fierce when he takes a sharp right and disappears through a wall.
“V…we’re in.”
“Listen to me, Thayla. The boys have asked me to warn you about what’s going to hap—”
His urgent voice cuts out as the power of the Goddess of Illusion washes over me. No part of passing through one of her creations feels as comforting as passing through the God of Boundaries’ barriers does.
We enter a small room with five doors spread out, and Harriseen stands at the middle one with a delighted smile across his lips.
Gladian’s fingers flex against my bicep as he walks me through that threshold wordlessly. It’s hard to see through his facial hair, but I believe he’s frowning.
The smooth all-white walls make me dizzy just from looking at them, but I stop my inspection and glare at the High Chancellor as he strolls up to me.
His hand wraps around the choker on my neck, and I clench everything within me as he frees it. He drags it away slowly, keeping his hopeful, fucking vile gaze locked on mine the entire time.
“Broken glass is all you will be once this room is through with you. I am thoroughly going to enjoy the shattered version of you that emerges, Thayla Godrun.”
I suck my teeth and match his sickly satisfied smile.
“Careful what you wish for, Harriseen. Glass is sharper after it shatters.”
His sneer is as cruel as it was the first day he laid eyes on me.
The way he spins and grips his robe is just as pretentious as well.
“V…anytime now…what were they trying to warn me?”
My gaze clashes with one that’s green as grass. Too bad his blades aren’t as soft and welcoming.
