46. Amick
Amick
Warm fingers slip between mine, and I glance down as Thayla intertwines our hands.
Her thumb brushes lazily across my knuckles. The slow pattern is contradictory to how fast her soul strokes mine. Our bond pounds away in my chest like Veilatara galloping through the meadows.
“You really aren’t nervous, are you?” she asks, casting her gaze up to mine once she senses me staring at her.
I smile.
“Not even a little.”
She studies my face and traces my dimple as though she’s waiting for me to crack. I won’t. I lay a soft kiss to the pad of her finger.
“You have nothing to worry about,” I tell her.
“You know,” Riven says from behind us. “You’re making me incredibly uncomfortable.”
“Strange. That’s usually the effect you have on everyone else.”
Creed, Kyzen, and Thayla snicker at my sarcasm while Riven scoffs very unflatteringly.
“Har-har, hilarious. But I’m serious. When you found out that one day you’d become the High Chancellor, you were shitting bricks. Now, we’re just strolling to the room with the Gods Veil for that to become reality and you’re just…fine.”
“Fifty years is a long time to come to terms with something, Riven,” Kyzen says and I hum my agreement.
That’s the perfect way to put today.
I’ve come to terms with the fact it’s time for me to take the mantle of High Chancellor. Is it the role I want? Not necessarily.
The roles and responsibilities surrounding being High Chancellor have changed considerably over the years, but for the most part, it’s a position that’s still heavily based in the Godsdawn.
We noticed a pattern after the first Veiling Week. The younger generation, those around one hundred and younger, came to the Godsdawn and stayed for their training and power release. Almost every eighteen-year-old who has their Coming-Of-Age Day stays here as well.
It was those who have very established lives in their region who wanted to stay home.
So the Godsdawn and Godsden have been bustling with new bodies ever since. The need for a High Chancellor has never gone away. If anything, it’s become even more important now to have someone in the position to guide all these young gods.
Our Valtrue has been very involved. We travel the regions, check on the instructors, and make sure everyone continues to get the knowledge they need.
My time of having adventures with my Valtrue will have to come to an end after today.
The five of us step into the room with the Gods Veil and find Ellian, Annalise, Yemi, Lambrit, and Rose already waiting for us.
Yemi, over the years, has become basically the realm’s coordinator. She even handles my schedule for me. I despise admitting that she keeps it straight better than I do, but the truth is the truth.
Rose officially became the Goddess of Affection a few years back. After that first decade of the realm healing, Esmerie lost power rather than gain more. So Annalise accepted the title without hesitation, but always said she knew in her heart it wouldn’t be hers to hold forever.
Lambrit has dutifully served as Ellian’s assistant all these years. The two of us have already had a conversation about what comes after today. He’s more than welcome to stand by my side and I’d be honored to have him. Or he may do whatever he wants.
I greet them all with a small smile, but it’s soon stolen from my face as Thayla jerks me down and crashes her lips into mine.
As I have over all these years, I melt into her.
“I’m so proud of you,” she whispers against my mouth.
“Thank you, Mysenta.”
She reluctantly releases me, and I stroll toward Ellian. Annalise embraces him with a quick kiss, then gives me a watery smile as she steps away.
“You know you don’t have to do this yet,” Ellian says as he pulls me into a hug. “I’m perfectly fine still fulfilling this role.”
“I know,” I say. “You prayed for me to have more time and I’ve had that. Eighty-five seems like a very reasonable age to take on the High Chancellor role.”
He laughs as he steps back from me.
“Youngest in history.”
“I know that as well.” I smirk.
The two of us face the Gods Veil together, and Ellian squeezes my shoulder once before we each raise a hand.
The warmth is soft, familiar, and it welcomes me immediately.
The white essence curls around my wrist before climbing higher, wrapping around my forearm like an old friend recognizing my touch.
Beside me, Ellian releases a slow breath as the Veil responds to him in much the same way.
I’ve thought about this moment countless times.
I’ve wondered how it’d feel different now that we weren’t forced into this position by the Volreen.
Without the Beginning Gods systems in place that pulled you into the Chancellor Choosing without your say-so, would it feel like an actual choice or inevitability?
I know the answer now.
Somewhere between our father’s downfall, the battle, rebuilding the realm, loving every second of the greatest marriage I could ever pray for, and the days leading to this moment…
I stopped worrying about what waited at the end of this walk. The fear that I’d become like the ones who held this position before me plagued me for so long.
Every High Chancellor had believed they were different.
Every one of them—except for Ellian—had started with the intention of protecting the Godsdawn. And somewhere along the way, they stopped seeing the people they served and started seeing only the power they held.
I was terrified I’d follow the same path.
That knowledge would become arrogance.
That certainty would become control.
That my desire to protect would become a need to rule.
That I’d become my father. The traits we shared would finally show themselves to the fullest extent.
I know myself now, though. I know the people standing beside me.
Thayla would never allow me to lose sight of who I am. Neither would my brothers. My life has never been defined by titles.
It has always been defined by the people walking beside me.
Today, I chose this path.
Not because I was destined for it.
Not because I was forced into it.
I finally trust myself enough to take it.
“Lambrit?” Ellian asks.
I glance beside me, and my eyes widen as Lambrit reaches his hand into the Veil beside mine.
Before I can utter a word, the Veil surges.
The white essence tears away from my arm so abruptly, I stagger back. So do Lambrit and Ellian.
The two of them hold parchments. My fingers are empty.
“What—”
Warmth floods through my soul as my question is silenced, and a voice I’ve come to know enters my mind.
Every hair on my body stands.
The Gods Binding.
“I spoke truth then, just as I do now.” The light around me pulses gently. “A prayer was offered, and it was answered. The mantle would be borrowed until the true Chosen was prepared. He is prepared now.”
My breathing labors as my mind races through everything that was said that day. What was written on Ellian’s and my parchments…
“Lambrit…it was always him. Never me,” I mutter. “You never named the Chosen. Just said takes his place.”
“You, God of Knowledge, are already fulfilling your role. It is time he fulfills his. If he so chooses.”
Their presence leaves me, and I stare at Lambrit with my mouth gaping open.
“Lambrit…” I say.
He turns his eyes to me, and something akin to guilt crosses his expression.
“Did you choose this?” I ask. “Is this what you’ve wanted?”
His gaze drops to the parchment in his hand.
For a moment, he simply stares at it. He hasn’t opened it.
“I’ve always known I was meant to serve this realm.” A small smile pulls at his lips. “I thought I understood what that meant. One day, when the time came, I’d become the God of Scripture. I’d preserve knowledge, protect the words and histories that shape who we are.”
His eyes move over the chamber. Thayla and Rose hold one another, bouncing their watery gazes across us.
“I wanted it to extend beyond that, but I never allowed myself to believe this would really become my purpose.”
A quiet laugh escapes me as I grip his shoulders.
“You have spent your life doing exactly what this role requires,” I say. “Leading without demanding power. Protecting without needing recognition. Carrying the weight of others because you believed it was the right thing to do.”
I glance toward the parchment, and he slowly passes it to me, asking with his eyes rather than words for me to open it.
I do.
Lambrit Armend, God of Legacy, High Chancellor of the Godsdawn.
A laugh laced with pride, and honestly…relief spills through my lips as I snatch him into a hug.
“You weren’t guided here because you can become this. You were guided and chosen because you already are. You’ve always had your own path, Lambrit.”
A startled chuckle leaves him, but his arms wrap around me just as tightly. Before we know it, we’re surrounded. Congratulations, words of praise, and tears are shed for a few blissful moments.
“Hell yeah, Lam-the-man. You keep surprising us,” Riven cheers, and Lambrit shakes his head as he cuddles Rose into his side.
I pass Lambrit his parchment, and he stares down at it with a massive smile.
“God of Legacy…I guess the L on our wrists didn’t mean Lambrit after all. L for Legacy. A for Affection. Makes sense.” He chuckles low, winking at Rose. “I suppose this means I have a few more responsibilities now.”
Ellian laughs humbly.
“Only a few.”
I step out of their space, giving them a second to enjoy this moment together. Ellian has been guiding him from the very first day he took this position. It is so much more fitting that he passes this mantle to him rather than me.
My attention shifts to Thayla and my brothers. The relief that washes over them steals the breath from my lungs. Riven immediately ruins the moment by grinning.
“I was so not emotionally prepared to start calling you High Chancellor. Thank fuck this didn’t work out how you planned.”
Creed shoves him, Kyzen elbows him, and Thayla laughs.
Perfection.
I wouldn’t have this moment any other way.