Thayla #3
The memories of the last time I stood at the edge of this sea play through my mind and I allow them to. That quest feels like it happened an eon ago, yet the emotions, truths, and revelations that came from that trip are still so fresh.
So much has changed since then.
“Peaceful, isn’t it?”
I startle at the unfamiliar voice and my breath gets stuck in my chest as fear rushes me. It takes me a few calming breaths to get my heart rate under control.
“I apologize, Thayla. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
My lips part as I study the god standing next to me, staring out over the waves.
His sun-kissed skin glows from the rays of the fading light, and his dark hair that matches the water has bright tips that remind me of the white-tops from the waves breaking against the cliff.
I peer over my shoulder, only now realizing that Doren, Yemi, and Sevryn are several feet behind me. Standing with them is a gorgeous goddess with curly brown hair that reaches her hips. Her greenery headpiece matches her sheer, flowy gown.
Doren’s double thumbs-up and massive smile cause a chuckle to spill from me before I focus back on the man beside me.
“Alamar, God of the Sea, I presume,” I say as I reach my hand out toward him.
“That would be me.”
He grips my fingers tenderly for a fleeting second.
“I’m not sure what all Doren has explained, but I greatly appreciate you and the Goddess of Nature meeting with me.”
“He’s explained it all, and we both have already signed your parchment.”
I flinch, casting another gaze behind me, then back at him.
“Already? When?”
“You were quite zoned out when I approached. We’ve been here for nearly fifteen minutes now.”
I grimace and give him an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry about that. My mind is a little—”
He waves me off casually.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. If something were to happen to Evani…” He glances over his shoulder and his smile grows tender. Then fierce. “Let’s just say there’s enough sea to flood the realm.”
The possibility that he has the power to flood everything and everyone should be petrifying. Instead, my poor bleeding heart locks onto how sweet it is that he’d be willing to do that for her.
Gods. Riven’s rubbing off on me.
My eyes close and I shake my head to get him, them, out of my mind.
“Kick off those dusty boots and take a walk with me, Thayla.”
My attention snaps to him as he takes three steps forward onto the shore and the fucking sea parts for him.
I gawk for a moment longer.
“In there?” I ask.
“Of course.”
“You know I damn near drowned in there, right?”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Starza never would’ve let you drown.”
Great. The sea creatures are talking about me.
My eyes find their way back to my friends, and Doren’s already gesturing for me to follow. I blow out a nervous breath. Although it makes me incredibly uneasy, I feel it’s the least I can do since he seemingly signed the parchment for the guys, no questions asked.
My toes wiggle in the sand, and I take a wobbly step forward. Alamar holds his arm out, gesturing for me to go ahead.
Please, for the love of the stars, don’t let this be a trap.
I’m pretty sure if the God of the Sea feels like drowning me, he can.
Calm down. If Doren trusts him as much as he does, you can too.
He falls into step beside me, and for a while, he says nothing. Neither do I. I take in the experience of watching hip-high waves roll to shore as I walk farther into the Lost Sea.
“You push like a storm,” he says, finally breaking the peaceful silence.
I glance at him, frowning. “That’s a bad thing?”
“It’s not a simple thing. Storms force change. They reshape shorelines and cliffs, uproot what’s settled too deeply, drag things to the surface that were meant to stay buried. But they also exhaust themselves.”
I hum. “So you’re saying I’m going to burn out.”
“I’m saying that even the sea doesn’t rage without end.” He arches a brow at me before focusing his gaze back on the horizon.
“I don’t really have the option to slow down.”
“No, you don’t. But you do have the option to learn when to pull back. When to let the current carry what you’ve already set in motion.”
“Are we going to continue talking in sea metaphors?” I ask, and a faint smirk tugs at my mouth when he tosses his head back, laughing.
“They come quite naturally to me,” he says.
I let out a quiet breath through my nose.
“I don’t think I really have the option to pull back anymore. What I’ve set in motion…” I huff under my breath and run my fingers through the wall of water that now rises to my shoulder. “Well, let’s just say it’s going to make some waves.”
He chuckles and nods.
“It is, but you’re not alone in this. We’re going to ride the waves with you and your Valtrue.”
I peer at him and his easygoing smile. Yemi made the comment she heard he was a little rough around the edges when we were out at sea. I can see that, and the flooding the realm comment sort of confirms he has a side to him. Other than that, though, he seems very laid-back.
Neither of us pushes to continue the conversation and when he stops walking, so do I. We both stare ahead of us, and I take a shaky breath as I watch the sun kiss the sea.
It’s truly a breathtaking view.
“You’re nothing like you were in Oddian.”
That gives me pause, and I pivot my head toward him.
“What?”
His guilty smile causes more questions to brew in my mind.
“I’ve only ever received one message from the Messenger in my time, and that’s when they told me to help Doren and stay by his side.
I never heard from them again, but I put my faith in them, and of course, Doren.
Don’t get me wrong, I had my doubts, questions, and fears, but I continued to believe in him.
It helped that he was always open and honest about everything he could tell me.
“When he asked me to deliver the book he wrote to the Oddian library, I couldn’t help my curiosity.
I needed to see what was so special about this girl that a whole book had to be written for her and I had to map out my sea.
Lo and behold, I tracked you down to the very first hot spring Evani made. ”
Shock steals my voice for a good two seconds.
“The Goddess of Nature made my hot spring?”
“That she did, and of course I clung to that connection. I told myself if you were drawn to her creation, then you weren’t someone I needed to worry about. I checked on you from time to time. Each visit, I watched the storm build.”
My forehead wrinkles as I think back to a very particular time a few years ago.
“Did you almost drown Jeremiah in the hot spring?”
A surprised laugh barks out of him before he smothers it down.
“I didn’t like that boy from the start. He better be happy he didn’t visit it within the last year.”
I force my face into a stern mask. It crumbles as he keeps laughing lightly.
“That isn’t creepy at all. I don’t understand why you gods like stalking me.”
“I wouldn’t call it stalking. More so, trying to keep an eye out for our own. There aren’t many of us who stand firmly in our positions. We have to stick together.”
My lips tighten as I face him fully.
“You aren’t at all what I was expecting.”
“Is that a bad thing?” he asks.
“It’s not a simple thing,” I say, using his words against him.
“No matter how much I’d like to convince myself that by gathering these signatures and handing them over to the Beginning Gods, I’m just freeing my men from that agreement.
I’m doing so much more than that. If I know that, then they’ll know that.
I can’t help but feel a little guilty. It feels like I’m painting a target on everyone’s backs. ”
“Don’t feel guilty. We all know what signing our names means. And yes, the Beginning Gods will know as well. They should know. Then they can decide for themselves if they’d like to make a good change for the realm, or bear witness to the one we all bring.”
His stern confidence has my shoulders sagging in both hope and relief. It’s a stark difference in what I’ve felt after all the other conversations.
“Thayla! Alamar!” Doren hollers from the shore, waving us back.
“That would be our cue it’s time to go. You don’t want to get trapped in the Lost Sea after dark.”
“Even the God of the Sea fears the Lost Sea?” I ask.
“Fears…no. Respects the fact some of these creatures could and would tear me limb from limb, yes.”
That gets my bare feet moving. I’ll be damned if I get stuck in this sea again. By the time we reach the shore, Sevryn, Yemi, and the Goddess of Nature are waiting along with Doren.
“It’s very nice to finally meet you, Thayla,” Evani says as she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug.
The embrace is calming like taking a stroll in the meadow. I unconsciously melt a little against her.
“It’s nice to meet you too. Thank you for helping us.”
“No thanks needed at all.”
She gives my hands a squeeze before moving into Alamar’s inviting arms. They’re actually super cute and perfect for each other.
“We need to head out and get some rest. We have a very busy morning ahead of us,” Yemi says, and I whip my attention to her.
“What have you heard?”
She smiles softly at me. “The remaining signatures will be in Ellian’s office bright and early. Starting strong with the God of Scripture.”
“The God of Scripture? Seriously?”
“Yep. He’ll be there a little after sunrise. V said that Ellian’s arranged the remainder of the meetings back-to-back. That’ll leave us two hours after that. As long as all that goes as planned.”
Two hours.
I can work with that.
A massive smile takes over my face.
“We’ve got this.”