Page 111 of The Gods Veiling
“Yemi, you can go to the information foyer and grab your material for your new lesson tomorrow.”
My mouth opens to tell him not to tell her what to do, but her excited “Really?” halts me. When I turn to her, her smile dims a little. “I don’t have to. I can get it tomorrow and start with the others.”
Oh, she was excited about getting a head start over everyone else.
“No, go on. The more you know, the more I know,” I say with a smile and a wink. I’m not really joking, though. I’m pretty sure I’m going to learn more from her than my ever-changing rotation between the guys.
“I won’t be long,” she says as she practically races to the door.
I keep my face relaxed although my stomach is twisting into knots. Being alone with Kyzen felt a hell of a lot different from being alone with Amick.
Kyzen joked, flirted, and carried on with normal conversation. Even though I know he was only doing that to help me feel comfortable and he meant nothing by it. Amick doesn’t come off as the type to care about others’ comforts. He seems to exist in his own headspace.
I rock back and forth as I watch him sort books into two piles. “So what do we do now?”
“I’m going to go through the new group of Chosen’s schedules, aside from you, and assign them Guiders to lead them through this first week based on where they placed. You may start reading this.”
He picks up a book—a damn tome—off the top of his pile and holds it out to me. I eye the massive-ass thing skeptically and slink my way to him to grab it.
The Creation of the Godsdawn.
The heavy text forces me to use both hands to hold it. I flip it over and crack the back cover open to check the page numbers but find that there are none. There are at least two, maybe three thousand pages, though. Have to be.
“As much as I love reading, it’s going to take me a year to get through this.”
“If you truly read that slow, you’ll need to ask Kyzen to help you get through it. You don’t know a quarter of what we do, and you need to catch up.”
The book drops to his desk with a loud thump. His eyes peer at me through his lashes. “And how fast do you expect me to catch up to the four of you?”
“Immediately.”
I snort and shake my head. “Sorry to burst your bubble, Amick, but you’re going to have to lower your expectations of me. I do love to read and learn new things, but it’s going to take some time adapting to this. Not all of us have a domain in knowledge.”
“Who’s stating the obvious now?” His sarcastic question seems to catch us both off guard. My mouth curls up into a smirk, while he pauses and shakes his head. “What’s your preferred learning method?”
It’s my turn to take a pause as I ponder that. “Uh, I’m not really sure. I don’t know if I have a preferred. Some things I learn better from reading, sometimes I just need to observe, and others it works best to just throw me in and let me learn on the go.”
He nods repeatedly. “Of course there’s no rhyme or reason. In that case, what I had planned isn’t going to work. If you can manage not to talk while I do, then observe and listen. I’ll come up with a regimen that’ll better suit your needs moving forward for your rotations with all of us.”
I let the insult about my talking slide since he’s willing to give me a little grace with my learning. “Thank you.”
His eyebrows squish together. “For what?”
“For creating a plan for me to follow that’ll work best for me.”
He seems to mull over my words. Whatever he thinks about it or feels about my gratitude, he doesn’t comment on it. Instead, he looks back down at the parchments laid out in front of him.
“Starting with your region since you’re most familiar with it, four out of the five of your Chosen placed somewhere within Guider. Eliminating Lambrit outof the equation due to his single Designation, and you for the obvious reason, that leaves two. Mellcom Bellame and Jeremiah Etain.”
My throat closes at the mention of them, but I keep my face covered in a serious blankness. I force the anger bubbling in my belly down and keep my eyes trained on where he’s pointing his finger.
“Both are dominant in Defender, so both will need Guiders with a secondary Designation in Defender. Do you understand those tiers?”
“Yes. Your dominant is obviously where the Volreen placed you highest, then your next one is your secondary, so on and so forth.”
“Very good. Where the two of them will differentiate is the level of the Guider Designation they’ll need to know. Jeremiah’s place in Guider came in fourth of his six Designations. Any placing of four and below requires only knowing the minimum of the role. It’ll be an overview of our history, mostly. The order of all his Designations tells me he cares very little about learning, teaching, or doing anything that isn’t self-serving.
“Mellcom’s Designation in Guider was third. It may not seem like much to only be placed one spot above Jeremiah’s, but it in fact is a realm different. He’ll need a grander overview of the rules, the history, and the direction the region’s heading. Especially taking into consideration his dominant Designation, then his secondary in Ruler. Although Jeremiah’s was as well, Mellcom’s being followed by Guider in third tells me he more than likely cares a great deal about teaching, having control of a situation, and having people follow his orders. He most likely lives by a code of, ‘Do as I say. I know best.’”
