Amick #3
“I know that!” His shout echoes around us as he grips his hair, then takes multiple deep breaths when Rose lays her hand on his arm.
“I know that, and this isn’t what I meant to happen.
I just needed a distraction. I was—am—angry and the texts in the Athenaeum were leading me nowhere. I needed answers.”
“Answers to what?” Thayla asks.
“All of it. Everything. Why has all this happened? What are the gods really hiding? Why can some gods go have children with ungodly beings and everything work out when we’ve always been taught the opposite?
Why aren’t the Veilatara allowed to flourish across the land?
They’re trapped here, only helping the Godsden thrive.
Everything surrounding the original and replicas of the Gods Binding.
They’re manipulating the order of the Domain Gods and Valtrues.
How does that really disrupt the system?
We know it’s disrupting the natural order of things.
Yemi and her Valtrue are living proof of that, but why?
Just to pair the strongest together? No, that doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense.”
We all observe him as he collects himself. As idiotic as this decision was for him to make on his own, I understand. Every question he just asked haunts me as well, and I was working on a way to begin answering them.
Any other time, he’d be just as methodical and analytical as me. I suppose grief, though, has its way of pushing people a little further and faster than others.
“I’m sorry, guys. I should’ve thought this through and actually planned this with all of you. I’ll…” He cuts his eyes to the pile of text he has scattered around the table.
“You’ll tell us what you found and what you want us to look for. We’re here now, and we’re going to support you. Creed and Sevryn, guard the door in case the—” I tilt my head. “Lambrit, where are the guards?”
He tightens his lips.
“I may or may not have changed their rotations for last night and tonight.”
Riven tosses his head back, laughing as he pats him on the shoulder.
“Oh, gods, this is great. Is their scheduling Amick’s role or Ellian’s?”
“Ellian’s,” Lambrit and I say at the same time.
Riven laughs even harder as Kyzen and many others groan.
Yes, he took it upon himself to forge the High Chancellor’s signature and change the gods’ rotation.
Fantastic.
“Okay, I can see where this is bad. We aren’t supposed to be here, but realistically, what’s the worst that can happen if we’re caught? And caught by who? I mean, we are Ellian’s favorites. Surely, he’d defend us,” Thayla says hopefully.
Too hopefully.
“One of the other Chancellors, another unpredictable god, or a Beginning God if by some off chance they decided to come hunt for something in here. We’d get our power stripped, possibly further punishment, given how often we anger the Beginning Gods, and Ellian could be stripped of his title and power, then be killed for failure to protect this knowledge,” I say.
“Hence why the first time I broke in here, I spent months planning and only allotting myself limited time in here to avoid being caught.”
Her mouth pops open and forms the shape of an O.
“Everyone should go,” Lambrit mumbles as he squeezes his eyes shut. “I got caught up in the moment and didn’t think anything through.”
“Absolutely not,” I declare and he whips his attention to me. “We’re here now, and I surely won’t be leaving. Worry about your regret later. What are these texts you have pulled out, and what have you learned so far?”
Everyone gawks at me, and I raise my brows in return.
What in the realm did they think I was going to say?
We are here now, and if we’re going to risk our lives, we might as well get everything we can out of it.
“Everything is just a massive puzzle with pieces and stories scattered everywhere. I pulled these out, but after bouncing from text to text, I grew frustrated. That’s when I decided I needed more eyes,” he says as his attention scans across each of us.
Mine do the same.
As poorly planned as this may be, this is probably the only chance we will ever have to all work together in this sacred space. We will not pass up this opportunity, and it will be executed properly from this point on.
“Very well. Creed and Sevryn, like I said, guard the door. Just in case. Doren, locate every text that has a mention of the Gods Binding, the Veilatara, the forming of Valtrues, and the Messenger. Kyzen, you’ll examine them and determine which have been read the most. Those will go to Lambrit.
Then I need you to slow time down and keep track of the time passing outside this room.
The rest of you will divide the text and get to reading.
Get me if you find anything of relevance. ”
I cross the space to the first set of bookshelves and run my finger across the perfectly pristine shelf. There isn’t a speck of dust, an artifact out of place, and more knowledge than many know what to do with.
It won’t look like this in a few moments, but we’ll be sure to put it back the way it’s supposed to.
“What are you going to do?” Thayla asks as she wraps her hand around my bicep.
“Look for the truth.”
My hand lies against a displayed broken piece of colored glass.
Let’s see what secrets lie within.