Page 229 of The Gods Order

“Rella and Calista.”

“What?”

Despite my shriek and what she just said, she still smiles.

“They barely missed me. I starshot out as soon as they burst into my room, swords at the ready.”

I huff and shake my head.

“And the guys think their mother’s never been violent.”

“Calista has always had a violent side to her. She just wields her violence differently. Rella will swing a sword in a heartbeat if she believes that’s the right thing to do.” She lets out a long sigh like she remembers the event as if it were yesterday. “After that, the Valories sealed my door. Any who attempted to enter without my permission would be burned beyond repair.”

I glance down at the scar on my palm. Guess that line of protection didn’t fade when their rooms became nothing but disappearing doors.

“That didn’t stop them, though. They’d force gods beneath them to attempt to enter first. The first and only time that worked, the Valories said enough and assigned their most loyal creation to my protection.”

My lips part.

“Dad.”

Her eyes grow dreamy and she nods.

“Your father was my protector for many years before he became anything else. I loved him for millennia before he was ever truly mine. Our unyielding faith and loyalty to the Valories kept us from crossing any boundaries. Even after all the others disobeyed their law, we didn’t. Eventually, we were the only couple to be granted their blessing. That felt like freedom.”

The love pouring off her seeps into my soul. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that she loves him as much today as she did all those years ago.

It’s as beautiful as it is heartbreaking.

They can’t be together right now because of me.

And it’s not even my doing.

The very creator who created both of them has done this.

“When did it stop feeling like freedom?” I ask.

A huff slips from her that tugs a smirk to my lips.

“The chains felt a little tighter when Kira destroyed all your father’s temples. The Valories were already allowing us to travel here sparingly, but once that happened, they told us it was time to disappear. There was no barrier separating Oddian and the Unclaimed at that point, but we came here and stayed here. It was as far from Godsden as we could go. Then two hundred and twenty-five years ago, I sat on that dais and the Valories told me the prophecy. That is when the chain truly locked around my ankle.”

“The same prophecy that everyone assumed was about me, but it really isn’t.”

She closes her eyes for a fleeting second, then blinks them open and stares at the stars.

“Prophecies are a dangerous thing, Thayla girl. Words can get misconstrued and interpreted in a way that benefits those it was never meant for. It doesn’t help when a desperate mother tells it wrong in order to protect her unborn child.”

My body sinks deeper against my heels.

“You told the gods the wrong prophecy? You made them believe it was about me?”

She holds my gaze for a long moment.

“When five gods are woven by the stars,

Together they will align the realm’s scars.

They shall bring the ultimate salvation,