“Is punishable.” She finishes.
“Yep.”
After what just happened, I don’t think any of us are too keen on testing the High Chancellor. Not to that extent anyway.
I don’t know what’s become of that room even with the God of Shadow’s death.
I’m also not willing to find out.
“Fuck,” she mutters.
Yep.
Amick
30
Admitting defeat sickens me.
The feeling crawls through my system as I stare down at the parchment waiting on my desk.
The note attached to it makes it worse.
“I’ve delivered this a day early as a courtesy to you and your brothers.”
No mention of Thayla. Not even an acknowledgment of her existence. I can’t decide if that angers me more. I want the High Chancellor to ignore her entirely, and yet, I demand she be shown respect.
An impossible contradiction.
One that ultimately doesn’t matter.
Men like him, gods like him, do as they please. We endure the consequences, and then we aren’t allowed to respond without forfeiting even more.
I don’t pretend some moral code keeps me from killing anyone who’s harmed my Binder. My restraint has nothing to do with mercy. It’s strategy.
If I act on the violence taking root in me, I risk us all. Power lost now is power we won’t have later.
We need to secure our power, then we kill them.
My thoughts are beginning to mirror Riven’s.
Splendid.
The decree for the Power Worthiness Test reads exactly as expected.Straightforward and self-aggrandizing.
All completed Valtrues are to assemble in the Gods Sanctum early morning one week from the issuing of this decree. Any chosen Attendants are required to accompany and participate.
Then comes the sanctimonious indulgence—how heavily this weighed on his heart, how the Beginning Gods guided his hand, how this decision was made for the good of all.
I truly wonder if he received guidance and the fool is obliging without questioning.
A knock interrupts my thoughts. The rhythm isn’t my Binder’s, my brothers’, or anyone’s I’ve memorized. My senses stretch toward the door, attempting and failing to recognize who’s on the other side.
“Come in.” I disguise my shock when the last person I would’ve assumed it’d be walks in. “Nero. What can I do for you this morning?”
“Is this a bad time?”
“I suppose that depends on why you’ve shown up to my office unannounced.”
