Page 7 of The Gods Veiling
If I’d never let Mellcom’s words provoke me last Veiling, they never would have known how I felt. I always politely smiled and changed the subject when anyone ever talked to me about which god I prayed to the most or asked if I wanted to visit a temple with them.
They used to tease me about my last name.
Godrun.
They said it’s written for me in the stars and one day, I’d run right to the gods. My outburst about how I didn’t give a shit about them blindsided the entire region.
Contrary to my actions and what everyone now believes, I do, in fact, talk to a god.
One. Singular.
I definitely don’t pray to him. I more so cuss him out for every little thing he’s worth.
He responds, unfortunately.
Our relationship is fitting. He’s a god that the other gods have disowned. I’m a woman who’s disowned them all.
Aside from him, who I’ve been brutally honest with most of my life, the only people to ever know my true beliefs were Mellcom and his father, Meridamus.
Meridamus was…ismy parents’ best friend.
Hence why I was left in his care.
The longing that pinches in my chest steals the air from my lungs. I throttle those thoughts to the far reaches of my mind and stare down at the dust covering my shoes as I force myself to put one foot in front of the other.
I won’t be going down that slippery slope today of all days.
Bodies continue to bustle around me as their serious demeanors give way to the thrill. Laughter reaches my ears as it dances from the crowd ahead on the dirt path. The wind blows, cooling my heated skin and carrying their excitement even farther.
The fresh scent of angel orchids and wild meadow grass flows through the trees that line our path and block our view from the remaining stretch of our region.
My taut muscles relax with the calming smells, and my head tilts back as I take a deep breath. The peaceful scent forces the stress in my shoulders to deflate.
Until a heavy, sweat-drenched arm plops down on them.
“You know better than to leave us behind, sweet T. We were worried sick about you limping home alone. I’d hate for something awful to happen to you today.”
“If you don’t remove your meaty arm from me, Jeremiah, I’ll do it for you. Permanently.”
His chuckle, followed by the rough squeeze he gives my shoulder, causes me to ball my fist and clench my jaw.
I loathe him and his touch. Now.
“Aw, come on. Tell me you’re not upset over that kick. I didn’t even hit you that hard.”
Lying, pathetic, obsessive man.
“The little love tap was nothing. It’s the fact you smell like a dying oxid. I’m about to lose last night’s feast all over your feet from the stench.”
My exaggerated gag draws the attention of the man and woman walking in front of us. Their disgusted glares bounce between the three of us before they hurry their steps.
Mellcom laughs beside me, then flicks Jeremiah’s hand off my shoulder. The sensitive man-child scoffs and mutters what a heathen I am while taking a step away from me.
I ignore them as they pick up their own conversation over my head. Their voices eventually fade from my ears as the trees on the border finally thin out, and the sun casts a warm morning glow across Oddian.
Home.
The crowd disperses in all directions as they make their way to their houses or a temple. The now clearing space gives me a perfect view of the busybodies in the center, a few hundred feet from us.
