Page 27 of The Gods Order

He smirks. “You’ve got four gods born from Beginning Gods sitting around this table, gorgeous. We know better than anyone.”

It’s not that she forgot that fact, but a weight seems to lift off her shoulders as her gaze scans over us. It’s as if she’s realizing she’s the furthest thing from alone in this.

None of us are alone, and we never will be.

“We’ve got a long day ahead, so let’s finish breakfast,” I say, picking up my corrected, much better cup of coffee. “Riven, I need you to check the locked hallway when we leave. Make sure there are no obvious signs of what we did last night.”

“Oh, such a responsibility for little ol’ me.” He laughs, and I don’t miss the worry on Thayla’s face.

She has nothing to worry about.

I picked Riven for a reason, obviously.

He’ll be able to tell—and possibly sneak by—any boundary Val put in place.

Or, push comes to shove, he’ll literally shove him without a care in the realm.

Thayla

4

The realm, unfortunately, refuses to stop turning because your life falls apart. That’s been glaringly clear since the second my feet touched the land of Godsden.

It became even clearer seconds after Amick told Riven what he needed him to do today.

By the time breakfast ended, he’d already assigned everyone a role. Riven was checking the locked hallway in the Sanctum, with Nero and Doren following him. Riven didn’t care for that, but the other two easily agreed. Lambrit’s responsibility was to subtly inspect the restricted hallway for signs of our break-in and make sure the Guiders haven’t noticed the discrepancy in their rotations.

Havar was thrilled to actually be tasked with something. He’s going to get together with Verlet and Seismet and classify the Veilatara into two categories. Guardians of the herd and of the land itself.

Kyzen, Creed, Sevryn, Yemi, Rose, and I are carrying on to the Court.

Tonight, just my Valtrue will go to Derivius’s temple and speak with him.

He planned the day out as if any of this were normal.

I suppose in a sense, it is our normal. Shit is always coming along and piling up. Still, I guess I appreciated the structure.

For the first time since starshooting away from the Assembly mere hours ago, I’m not staring at a mountain of emotions and impossible questions. We have a list. A direction. A purpose.

One problem at a time. That’s manageable.

The morning air brushes against my skin as we make our way toward the entrance of the Court. Beside me, Creed, Kyzen, and Sevryn discuss how the male Attendants are coming along and areas the Defenders need work in. On my other side, Yemi and Rose murmur among themselves as well, but their voices fade into the background as we step into the tunnel.

My gaze automatically lifts to the mural stretched across the ceiling. More times than I remember, I’ve walked this hallway and greeted it the same way. A middle finger in the air. Sometimes two.

Today, my hand remains stubbornly at my side.

The painted image stares back at me.

The God of Obliteration. The God of Boundaries.

My chest tightens and I tear my eyes away from it.

One problem at a time.

The distant thuds of wood banging against wood drift to us and Yemi groans beside me. Judging by the sounds growing louder, Mara’s already started the day, and I’m not going to complain. Hell, she can lead this one up all on her own and I’ll be perfectly fine with that.

Sure enough, when we walk into the center, she has the females paired up, getting loose, and practicing their strikes with one another. Yemi and Rose grunt under their breaths as they break away from us and head over to the pile of training swords.