Thayla #4
“Strangely, it feels very natural. Despite what I just said about not knowing how to juggle their emotions and reactions, there’s plenty about each of them that I’m attracted to. They each fit a different side of me so well.
“As scared as I was about them wanting a relationship at first, I’m glad Doren came into this with that attitude. He took the pressure off me and pretty much promised he’d wait forever for not only me, but Sevryn, Iric, and Nero to come around to the idea. He swore it was meant to be.
“I don’t really know how to explain it. The permission I didn’t need but appreciated, was there, and so all it really took was getting to know them and getting to the point where I knew for sure I wasn’t crushing or betraying Sevryn, if that makes sense, before I fully gave in to the idea.
I guess I was looking for his permission in a way as well. ”
“Awww,” she sneers and scoffs at my fluttering lashes. “And to think we sat on that ship in the Lost Sea, and you flipped your shit because you were afraid of having an older god in your Valtrue. He ended up being the sweetest.”
“Shut up.” She laughs and bumps me with her shoulder.
“I’m sort of pissy we didn’t get to do the whole, hey, how do you all feel about Yemi dating thing on your men like mine. Fuck, could you imagine?”
My snorts roll right on into a cackle as I think about how Sevryn would’ve reacted. She and Rose glare at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Absolutely not. I still can’t believe how long you got away with not telling them who asked you out. If you hadn’t gotten taken overboard, I’m one hundred percent convinced Collum would’ve died that day.”
“Uh. Glad me nearly freezing to death saved him.” They both smirk and roll their eyes at me. “Gods, I forgot about him. Is he still giving Havar shit?”
“What? No. I didn’t tell you what happened?”
“Um, no, ma’am, you didn’t.”
“Damn. Well, he’s irrelevant, so I guess it slipped my mind. Gladian told the Lead Meadow hand that he created unnecessary drama and was disappointed in his performance. He got demoted and put on a different rotation than Havar.”
My eyes widen. That’s shocking as shit.
“That’s not at all what I thought you were going to say.”
“I know, crazy.”
“In the grand scheme of things, he’s welcome for the distraction. My men wouldn’t have let it go. They can be a tad bit crazy over me.”
“A tad bit?” she and Rose ask.
“Maybe a touch more than a tad, but I’m not complaining.” That makes us all laugh. “And what about you, Rose? Lambrit is treating you amazing, right?”
She smirks at my raised brow. I have no doubt he is, but obviously, a best friend acts differently than a boyfriend, so I need to be sure he doesn’t need any more talks.
“Better than amazing. He’s…everything I ever dreamed of.” She sighs lovingly as her eyes grow misty. I could be sick, it’s so stinking sweet. “We don’t really have much going on. Yet. I suppose some things are about to change, but for the most part, we’re perfect.”
“What do you mean for the most part?” I ask.
“Well, this really wasn’t a concern I had until we talked to Annalise yesterday. It doesn’t have anything to do with our relationship. It’s honestly probably nothing, and I could be worrying prematurely, but I don’t think Lambrit has just a domain under the God of Scripture.”
“Wait, you think he has more than one domain?”
My voice shrills as my heartbeat spikes.
I’ll lose my shit if he’s suddenly popping up with new powers.
“No, no, not that. I think, once he has all his powers, he will be the God of Scripture, or a God of something.” Yemi and I stare at one another, then back at Rose’s, nodding.
“Although right now his strongest and most obvious ability is his enhanced concentration. Even without me assisting, he’s showing signs of more than that.
He can remember massive chains of information and events in order, and he’s starting to point out contradictions when he reads. ”
My eyebrows draw down.
“Not to sound ignorant, or like a slack friend, but the only ability I know that the God of Scripture has is that he can remember everything he writes. I mean, is he, or I guess Lambrit, like Amick? Wait, Amick doesn’t remember everything.
With his powers anyway. He definitely tries to on his own.
I don’t even know where I’m going with this now. ”
“No, I’m following what you’re trying to get to,” Yemi says. “The God of Scripture and the God of Knowledge, aka Amick, definitely have similarities, but from what I know, their biggest differentiating factors are how they handle their knowledge.
“Like Amick’s focus is understanding knowledge, whereas the God of Scriptures’ focus is preserving it. Amick’s wants to discover the truth. The God of Scriptures basically records what he’s told is the truth. You see what I’m saying?”
“So they sort of work hand in hand, but if the God of Knowledge, not Amick, but the one before him, if there was one, told the God of Scripture a lie, that lie would be scripture. Right?” They both nod at me, and I tilt my head to the side.
“And so now, Rose, you think Lambrit’s doing a mix of the two?
His concentration is like hyper focusing, and he’s starting to discover some of the stuff he reads isn’t the truth? ”
“Yeah, I think. I mean, he hasn’t flat out said, this isn’t right, but you know, his eyebrows will scrunch up and he’ll mumble something doesn’t make sense. Then he’ll flip through text until I distract him.”
We each chuckle at that, but a weight grows in my chest. I both want and don’t want Lambrit to have that sort of significance in this region. He’s more than deserving and qualified for that power, but it’s dangerous.
I can’t have my best friend gaining more attention.
“V, can I be a bother and ask you to check on the guys for me? I’m worried about how Sevryn’s acting and about Doren’s stomach,” Yemi says.
“His stomach?” I ask.
“Yeah, he gets a little queasy around blood. There’s no telling how he’ll do around a decomposing body.”
Oh, gross. Obviously, I knew they were searching for corpses. Just didn’t really consider the natural process they go through.
Yuck.