Page 64 of The Gods Veiling (The Valorian Veil #1)

I snort at her. She didn’t have to say it for me to already know that’s the truth.

I have to force myself from asking her all kinds of questions about how she knows Riven and if she knows the others as well.

It becomes easier, though, as we continue to walk down the street and child after child approaches her.

By the time we turn down a path, there are at least ten young ones behind us with Riven and Rowden leading the way a few feet ahead of us.

We come to what I’d call the first house we’ve seen, and it’s adorable. It’s larger than the housing in the Godsdawn and has a cute little fence surrounding it. All the kids run in front of us and start scattering around the lawn out front.

“Riven, keep an eye on them for me, please, and I’ll fix the two of you some food to go,” she says as she pats his arm, then turns to me. “It was lovely to meet you, Thayla. Thank you for escorting me home. I do hate to rush you both off, but it takes a while to wrangle all these little ones in.”

I give her a sincere smile as the noise of laughter and squealing grows louder. “You’re not rushing us at all. I can’t imagine keeping track of all these kids. Thank you for feeding me.”

“Anytime. Learn and pay attention to everything in the Godsdawn, Thayla girl.”

As she strolls through her door, teasing the children as she goes, I can’t help but chuckle. “She’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Is she their teacher?”

“You don’t think I’m the sweetest person you’ve ever met?”

My forehead wrinkles as I bite back my smirk. “You’re up there, Riven.”

“I should be the sweetest. But she’s great as well. She’s their caregiver.”

My face falls slightly as I look at all the kids out here. “Wait, you mean—”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”

His words are dark, but he keeps a smile on his face as the kids call his name to get his attention. He laughs at their antics and even participates a little in their games. I stand in utter confusion and awe. He knows every one of them.

“Okay, children, inside, inside. We’ve got to learn a little today,” Mrs. Akova calls as she comes back out of the house holding two containers of mouthwatering food that I smell from here.

“Here you two go. Thayla, I hope you love it all, dear. I didn’t know what you like, so I gave you a little of everything. ”

“As long as it can’t eat me first, I’ll eat it.”

“My type of goddess. I love a woman who knows her food,” she says with a wink, and I beam at her as Riven takes the trays.

“We’re off. I’m taking Thayla to see a meadow.”

“Oh, how romantic. You two have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Riven makes an exaggerated gagging noise. “Which is nothing. You do nothing but smile and make delicious food.”

He tugs me away as Mrs. Akova and I giggle at her sauciness. I think she’s my favorite fully powered god I’ve met so far.

“How—”

“Nope, little nosy thing. I’m not answering the million questions you want to ask me.”

“Fine. Only because I don’t want you to ruin my mood or appetite, I’ll let that slide.”

“Good girl. I knew you could listen like a proper angel. ”

Both annoyance and something else I’m not willing to examine flutter over me. I turn my face to the side to hide my blush and just focus on how the path is starting to completely clear of structures. The farther we walk, the more open grasslands greet us.

My feet are growing tired from all this walking, and this is a time when I really wish my power were settled enough to starshoot. Thankfully, Riven steers us onto a dirt path and the sign sticking out of the ground that reads “Molder Meadows” tells me we’ve arrived at the place he’s hunting down.

Well, we didn’t really hunt. He seemed to know exactly where we were going…

The two of us duck beneath a wooden fence and continue across the field.

It isn’t long before a shouting voice echoes across the open space, and we find who I assume is Mr. Molder with some rope in his hand as he calls down animals.

I’m shocked to see the exact animals Havar told me weren’t here in Godsden.

There are definitely oxids and taurns in this field.

As well as goatlins that are predominantly used for creams and meat.

Woolers, which are shaved down and used to make certain fabrics, and egglayers.

Their name says it all. They’re also a delicious, lean source of protein. Taurns are pretty good as well.

“I thought there weren’t any labor or food-producing animals in Godsden.”

“Aside from the secret meadow the Godsdawn owns for our food, there aren’t many.”

That little tidbit of new information causes my eyes to widen. It makes sense, though, seeing as we had to get our food from somewhere. After a moment of me staring, he huffs and carries on.

“A few meadows here have brought them in. There’re regulations that have to be followed and only certain gods can have their own herd of them, just like they’re assigned which creatures they can take care of.

For some reason, gods who’ve been allowed to keep them seem to think they’re better than the other Plentifuls because it’s more work, so more reason to brag that they’ve been given this responsibility.

Fucking weird mindset in my opinion. Here, make yourself useful and hold our food. ”

I sneer at him but take the containers anyway. I’m starving since I let breakfast get ruined for me and plan on stuffing my face while he does whatever he’s going to do.

He strides away, singing with each step, and I plop down in the grass. The delicious aroma hits my nose the second I open the lids, and I groan happily .

I know which is my dish immediately. It’s like a little sample of everything Mrs. Akova had in her kitchen, while Riven’s is a single casserole dish and three cookies.

I’m tempted to take them but decide that’s probably not the best idea.

The sound of a scream drowns out my moan at the first glorious bite and I peek my eyes open. Riven’s twirling his finger in the air, and Mr. Molder is spinning so fast I can barely see him.

When he finally stops, he’s strung up in his rope from neck to toes. I nearly choke on my food as a laugh bursts free when Riven starts dancing around him. All the animals that were out and about flock to him.

Their noises grow louder and so does Riven’s laughing. The exhilaration from his power skims my skin even from here.

He skips his way over to a barn and my eyes grow wider than a plate when he slings the doors open. I’m not sure what I had expected to see, but the creatures that come out aren’t it.

A group of Venturers jumps and climbs all over Mr. Molder before running free.

They’re small, fluffy, little balls of fur that are expert climbers and can glide through the air.

Their name derives from the ability they have.

It’s recorded they spread messages to the other creatures throughout the forest. Only a handful lived in Oddian, and they were nearly impossible to spot.

The next set of creatures really surprises me. Spyvies.

These felines have tall, pointed ears and slitted eyes.

They stand about knee high on four legs and are stealthy.

Their most notorious feature is the three tails they have.

Those tails can twirl rapidly, lifting them off the ground enough to maneuver but not really take flight.

They’re rumored to be the spies of the gods and Valories.

During the day, their coats are gorgeous burnt oranges, but at night, they’re as dark as the sky.

Goodness.

These creatures have no business being kept locked away, they should be free in the wild, but regardless of my opinion, Mr. Molder must have been an outstanding lead Meadow Hand to be granted the responsibility to take care of them. Too bad he obviously only shows off rather than mean it.

Both creatures and the other animals run wild at Riven’s laughing and cheering. Mr. Molder bellows out, ordering the animals back, but it’s too late as they’ve got a taste of freedom.

I can’t help but suck in a breath and chuckle lightly as a Venturer comes scurrying up to me. It has no fear or concern about me whatsoever. It goes as far as wrapping its little furry fingers around mine and plucking the berry right from out of my hand.

“Uh, stingy little thing you are.” I laugh, handing it another one.

Any animal that possesses realmly power has intelligence in their eyes. I have no doubt they know what I’m saying and what’s going on around them.

This one silently takes a seat on my knee and continues to eat my food.

Riven finally skips back over and isn’t frazzled in the least bit by the creature sitting on me. He even bends down and gives it a scratch before plopping down beside me and opening his own food.

“Well, you seem to be in a fantastic mood now. I don’t think your reaction to what’s going on is normal.”

“You’re one to talk. Look at you, sprawled out in the grass, eating with a creature with no care in the realm. You enjoy seeing a god facing consequences as much as I enjoy delivering them.”

Huh.

I don’t admit he’s right out loud, but he is. I’m not the least bit concerned for Mr. Molder or what he’ll have to do to fix this mess when it’s all over. I was mindlessly enjoying the show without even a thought about how what we’re doing is probably against some rules.

I do like to see wrongs made right.

The two, well, three of us, sit silently, aside from the laughs that fall from us when an oxid knocks Mr. Molder over. It’s quite peaceful and relaxing just sitting in the grass, watching the animals flock around and do whatever they want.

It’s a little depressing when Riven tells me it’s time to get going since we have a long walk back. I don’t argue, though. I give the little Venturer a scratch and set it down as I stand.

There’re small smiles sitting on both our lips as we make our way back through Godsden. It’s a strange sort of comfort. The power that’s pouring from him and into my skin is a mixture of both of his domains. It’s making me both giddy beyond explanation but also calm and content.

It’s an addictive feeling.

We pass through the invisible barrier and a sigh passes through his lips. “Want to play I spy with my little eye?”

I chuckle at the mention of the children’s game. One that requires a variety of sights. “Sure, Riven.”

“Okay, so I spy with my blue eye, something green.”

This god.

The laugh that never left me from the time we crossed back into the Godsdawn slowly dies on my lips as we walk through the house to the kitchen.

All three of the others are standing there tensely like they’ve been waiting around for bad news to be delivered.

I scan over each of them, spending the least amount of time on Creed and finally settling on Kyzen. His shoulders deflate the smallest amount. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. We just didn’t know when to expect you both back.”

“Oh, don’t let the most handsome god lie to you. They were afraid of the condition you were going to be returned in or if I returned you at all.”

I’m positive my eyebrows touch my hairline. “Really? You all were that concerned with me going with him?”

“He tends to be impulsive and destructive. Given his loud and repeated concerns surrounding our Pairing, yes, we were concerned. That’s no longer the case now that we see you’re perfectly fine.”

Maybe they don’t notice it, or they’re focused too much on me, but I catch, more so feel, the slightest bristle pass through Riven. He plays it off with his signature laugh falling from his lips.

My chest pinches.

“He was a perfect gentleman, actually. He took me to the market, fed me, let me pet a creature, and didn’t leave me behind. I had a great time.”

Okay, I may have put too much enthusiasm in my tone, but none of them call me out.

Kyzen’s breathtaking smile replaces the forced grin as his eyes fall to Riven. Creed nods at him in some weird fucking approval. Amick, to my utter surprise, looks a little shocked.

“There’s something I’d like to talk about.

” The attention rapidly moves from Riven back to me and it’s my turn to bristle.

Creed’s glare sears my skin, but I refrain from reacting to him.

“Starting tomorrow, I’m only going to go to the Athenaeum with Amick.

I’m not picking it as where I want to permanently be or anything like that, but until my power fully settles, I believe that’s what’s best for me. ”

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do? ”

I don’t know if it’s just him verifying or if that’s a hint of disappointment in Kyzen’s tone.

“Yeah. I mean, if something comes up that you think I should be with you for, of course come get me, but I’m tired of being clueless. Our little adventure was wonderful, but it was also a major reality check that I don’t know anything I should. Is this okay with you?”

“Nothing would make me happier.”

I tilt my head to the side and stare at Amick. “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

“I’m not using any sarcasm. At this moment, and with our situation, nothing would make me happier than having you alone in my office so I can teach you everything you need to know.”

My mind one hundred percent knows what he’s talking about. My body, on the other hand, doesn’t. Heat rushes through my stomach and straight to my core. If I didn’t think Riven or Kyzen would call me out, I’d press my thighs together to relieve some of the building pressure.

“Kyzen, if you don’t have anything going on, your power would benefit Thayla greatly.”

“You mean it would benefit you.”

“Thayla, me, it doesn’t matter. She’s my Binder, so we’re one and the same.”

Fuck, that shouldn’t sound so…sexy coming from his very literal mouth.