Page 60 of The Gods Veiling
He cocks his head to the side. The smirk melts off his face as he realizes how serious I’m growing. When his frown eventually turns into a scowl, I gulp, but I don’t let my glare falter.
“Whatever are you talking about?”
His faux confusion both pisses me off and disappoints me. “You know, I get it. I really do. I’m just some foul-mouthed, hotheaded ‘troublling,’ no one from Oddian, and you’re a Beginning God who’s entertained my shenanigans, but I never would’ve thought you’d do something like this to finally get back at me.
“If you really were offended, or I crossed a line somewhere along the way, couldn’t you have just punished me while I was at home? Did you really have to cause this much chaos for me? Why did you let me trust you, then take my greatest fear and bring it to life?”
I push myself off the swing and take a few steps away from him. My arms cross over my chest as I try to calm my erratic breathing and the building tears that make my nose burn. How foolish could I have been to think a Beginning God actually cared and was looking out for me in his own chaotic kind of way?
He stands and his towering size has me nearly tumbling back. I grip the rail for dear life and force my feet to stay strong beneath me.
“I will not ask again, Thayla. What are you talking about?”
His power washes over me and his narrowed eyes freeze me in place. I stare into their depths for a long moment while I catch my breath. I’ve known him since I was ten years old and never once has he ever gotten stern with me. Even when I really and truly deserved it.
He’s always calm and comical with his chaos. Like he was always guiding me through the madness of his own creation.
“Mellcom was visited by a god, a man god, so he claims…” I tell him the entire truth of what Mellcom said. Both dreams, his deal with coming along as well, the way he got my blood. All of it. The more I speak, a glint that’s a mix of admiration and anger gleams in his eyes.
They continue to widen with my words, and he rubs his chin as he begins pacing. Three things become abundantly clear to me with his behavior.
One, he really has no idea what I’m talking about.
Two, he’s impressed that someone did such a good job making it seem like it was him who caused this.
And three…I’ve somehow caught the attention of another god who knows I talk with the one god we aren’t supposed to.
He finally stops his pacing and rests his arms on the railing. “How long has it been now that you’ve disobeyed the laws of the gods and talked to me?”
Too fucking long.
“Twentylongyears.”
He smirks at me fondly. “I’ll be as truthful with you as I can. I’ve known since before that day your sweet, angry, little voice rang out my name that you’d end up at Godsden. That’s a fate that’s been written in the stars for a long time, Thayla. When and how has always been a question, but never if. Only a select few were given that information.
“I always get such a bad rapport with everyone. It stunned me, of all the Beginning Gods, the gods in general, you unconsciously chose me to talk to. I refused to be the one to deliver that news to you, then have you hate me. It doesn’t change the fact I knew you’d come.
“The hand I have in your life has been set for a long time, but I didn’t speed up its fruition. I swear to you that I didn’t visit that boy, but I’ll find out who did. You’re the only ungodly being I’ve ever visited since my worshipping has been stripped.”
My chest heaves as I flatten my hands on the railing a few feet from him. Those ridiculous tears threaten to fall, but I slam my lids shut. I refuse to let them cascade down my face.
He knew…of course he fucking did.
I’ll never forget the day I called out his name. He called out right back.
Why makes more sense now.
Meridamus and I were in the library. This was very shortly after my parents left and I was firmly in my angry phase. I’d thrown a massive tantrum about him trying to get me to work out, so he compromised. We’d run to the library, stay there for a while, then run back.
He was going over the Beginning Gods with me. Something my parents up to that point had only touched on. I knew there were seven of them, but not their names or what they ruled. We only got through a few and Derivius was the last of them.
Meridamus instructed me to return the books to their spots and on my way to do so, I tripped, knocking an entire five shelves down.
In my ten-year-old mind, add in the embarrassment from everyone looking and fussing over me, plus my anger, I wanted someone to blame for that. I didn’t just trip over myself.
I mentally yelled out,“Derivius, you stupid God of Chaos. This is all your fault.”
The laugh I’ve grown so used to hearing now filtered through my mind. At first, I thought it was someone in the library laughing at me until he spoke.
