Page 46 of The Gods Veiling (The Valorian Veil #1)

She lowers her voice a notch. “We don’t train like you all do. We’re allowed one hour a week to utilize the Court without the other Designations. I don’t take that opportunity anymore.”

My nose twitches. “That’s taurnshit. I’ll train you every day in the backyard if you want. I mean, I wish I didn’t have to do this, but if you want to, I’ll gladly work with you.”

All four men stop walking and turn to me. Each of them wears expressions I don’t care or have time to dissect.

“Don’t tell me that’s some dumbass rule I’ll be breaking.”

“Not a rule, just unheard of,” Creed says.

“Well, you just heard me say it, so it’s no longer unheard of.”

Amick hums and everyone looks at him. “She has a point.”

“Did you just agree with her?” Riven asks in mock offense. Or maybe he is offended. I don’t know anything when it comes to him.

“Something has to be stated in order for it to become obvious,” Amick says, then turns and continues to walk down the path.

My lips part in shock, but Riven just scowls at his back. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

He doesn’t receive an answer. Even if Amick had responded, I know that statement was directed at me for calling him ‘God of Stating the Obvious’ earlier. I don’t need it explained to me and how he could’ve even guessed that I’d understand blows my mind.

I read a book once about the start of the realm’s traditions and various other beginning things.

It covered many different subjects. Long recap short, a passage spoke about how if no one ever pointed anything out, out loud, then others would never understand.

Eventually, common knowledge spread, things became repetitive, and then they became obvious.

People continued to speak it out loud, though, donning the saying, stating the obvious.

The first step in something becoming obvious is speaking it out loud and making it heard .

It’s obvious to me that if Yemi or any other Attendant wants to be trained, they should be. If I need to start running my mouth about it to make it become common knowledge, I will.

“You really wouldn’t mind doing that? I mean, that would put you at training twice a day,” Yemi says.

“It won’t be too bad. We need to work you back up to what you were.”

She gives me a small smile. “I’d like that.”

“Good. We’ll just need to swipe some equipment from the Court.”

Her face instantly pales.

“Now you’re speaking my language, little burden,” Riven grunts when Kyzen elbows him. “I mean Binder.”

“No one is stealing anything from here. I have some training swords in my room the two of you can use. Now everyone shut up and get focused,” Creed commands.

His seriousness makes my knees weak and the unease on Yemi’s face worries me even more.

I should’ve pressed someone more about the extent of this training.

I had it in my mind there was no way it could be worse than what I’ve already dealt with, so it didn’t matter.

The strain that’s starting to slither through my entire Valtrue says I never should’ve assumed anything.

The short walk is trekked in uncomfortable silence. I’ve resorted to looping my thumbs through the leather belt hoops on my pants to hide the tremble in my hands. Not even Kyzen or Riven are speaking to break the tension, and I find that I really hate that.

Some reassurance right now would be great.

If I thought the four clay walls that kept us confined in the arena back home was intimidating, then getting my first glimpse of the Gods Court can only be described as terrifying.

Instead of a square, this structure is rounded as though the gods attempted to trace the shape of the moon. Its formidable height and the solid stone give it the appearance of an indestructible fortress.

We pass through the opening and my neck tilts back to look at the arches we’re walking through. There’s a scene painted on the ceiling of gods with wings sprouting from their backs and swords clashing together.

It’s both breathtaking and frightening.

“I have to stand to the side and observe. You’ll walk to the middle with them,” Yemi whispers to me .

Words escape me when the echoes of conversations from the opening I can’t quite see yet drift back to me. Both male and female voices spread around me.

It’s a relief I’m not the only female but also nerve-wracking that I now will be training with godly men.

As soon as we make our way to the end of the tunnel-like hallway, Yemi scoots out and disappears around a corner. To my shock, Creed grips my elbow and pulls me up between him and Kyzen. I have half a mind to snatch it away, but he drops it on his own before I even bother.

My nerves make me feel mouthy, but any retort I wanted to say gets lodged in my throat when almost every head turns to us as we stroll in like we own this place.

Okay, the guys walk confidently. I’m mentally reminding myself how to put one foot in front of the other.

My nails bite into my palms. This is the exact kind of attention I didn’t want on me when I arrived. It’s like I jinxed myself.

“About time,” a voice thunders and bounces off the walls.

My eyes merely glance over the many men and handful of women until they land on the biggest man I’ve ever seen in my life.

I swear each of his steps into this center cause the ground to vibrate.

Even if the tree trunks for arms he has didn’t tell me who he was, the energy he gives off would scream, ‘I’m stronger than all of you. ’

The God of Strength isn’t just a title. This man is the living embodiment of it.

He starts with pinning a glare to my left, which means it’s aimed at either Creed or Riven. Then they drift to me, and a cruel smirk crosses his face.

My heart races. It isn’t just because of the intensity in his eyes, but because of the bodies that just joined him.

The touch of Mellcom’s and Jeremiah’s attention has been branded on my skin for a very long time. I’ve always been able to feel when they’ve caught sight of me.

Right now, they’re practically burning me with their gazes, but I don’t drop Gladian’s stare. Even once his eyes move from mine, I don’t look at either of them.

Gladian scans the whole crowd of us. A sneer slowly starts forming and his features twist into premature disappointment.

“Let’s see what the Gods Court makes of this group.”

Fuck, that doesn’t sound good.