Page 16 of The Gods Veiling
Clarity slices my heart in two, and my panic subsides to barely restrained rage. An inferno burns through me.
A throat clearing has me redirecting my glare and the annoyance on the Chancellor’s face flinches at whatever he sees. He quickly rights it and an unmistakable warning stares back at me.
I take the hint.
I’m not sure how I make it up the platform steps, but I have enough wits about me to reluctantly bow back to the Chancellor. Although the show of respect was begrudging on his part as well.
Before I have the chance to place myself at the end of the line, Mellcom and Jeremiah step apart. Each grip an arm of mine and place me between them. I imagine sending fire to the spots where their hands touch me. If I could, I’d burn them to a crisp where they both stand.
“Oddian, I give you this Veiling’s Chosen.”
The entire community erupts in cheers.
They celebrate as though they’ve forgotten the past year. As if they don’t recall the shriek that left my lips and caused them all to treat me as a societal disease.
They’re so swept up in their excitement, they’re blind to the fury coursing through my shaking skin.
The tears streaming down little Laney’s cheeks halt my disgust at the crowd.
Sweet girl.
There have been times when I’ve thought about how much more mature I was at her age. It was a real concern I had for her before I realized she’s had a perfectly normal childhood. I did not. She’s always acted her age and just as she should.
Now it’s like looking into the past as she sits there and sobs because she’s being left behind.
I know the feeling all too well.
It’s only because of her that I don’t kick the fucking Volreen off the platform.
“Return to your homes and give thanks to the gods as you say your goodbyes. Necessities only. The rest will be provided for you. Very soon, you will embark on your journey to Godsden.”
With that, a flash of white light swallows the Chancellor and the Volreen. Nothing is left standing where they just were.
It’s called starshooting. It’s the means of movement through the realm that only those with godly power can access.
An ability the five of us will gain one day soon.
I wish I had it now. I’d starshoot as far away as I could.
Oddian continues to roar in happiness around us as we march back through their parted path.
I’m not marching. I’m being dragged.
Each step we take, I allow my temper to grow.
How the fuck is this even possible?
Who did what?
I will get my answers.
Mellcom’s and Jeremiah’s hands tighten around my biceps as though they feel my blood heating beneath my skin. Or they’re preparing for me to bolt. Smart on their part.
The sadness that sweeps through me is like a blanket of ice over my fury as our bright white front door comes into view.
Its coloring is stark against the simple dark gray stone structure it’s built into. So is the lush green grass I’ve spent hours lying on, daydreaming about dancing in the clouds or flying in the stars. The rainbow of flowers I smell daily to calm myself when I return from a brutal training will wilt and die since I won’t be here to water them.
It isn’t much, but it’s more than enough for me.
