Page 104 of The Gods Order

“I was getting there, thank you.”

“For fuck’s sake, there’s more? What pieces?” Mara asks.

I drag in a deep breath.

“Mellcom’s father, Meridamus, is really the Beginning God of Consequence,” I say.

She blinks so many times my eyes nearly go crossed watching her. I hold my hand up to halt whatever she’s preparing to say.

“The Beginning God of Boundaries has returned, and he’s my father.”

Her jaw drops open. Then…she barks out a sharp laugh that rolls into one full of hysteria. I give her a moment to completely lose herself. I choke back a chuckle a time or two as she wipes away her tears, but then she just starts up all over again.

“Oh gods,” she says through her broken breaths. “You’re fucking with me now.”

Er. I sort of wish I were.

“I’m not,” I say. “You’ll meet them soon enough. This afternoon, actually. I was going to introduce you to them when Yemi and I go to training.”

She lets out a very ungodly-like snort before she drops her head back toward the clouds again.

“Of course they are,” she mutters. “Why wouldn’t they be? At this point, why the fuck wouldn’t they be?”

Yemi and Rose attempt to cover their laughs with coughs and I purse my lips at them. A long, drawn-out sigh pours from Mara as she points at me.

“Damn. I really thought my life was twisted up right now, but apparently, I’m playing in puddles while you’re all drowning in the middle of the Lost Sea.”

“She actually did almost drown in the Lost Sea, remember?” Yemi asks and Mara gasps.

“Fuck, she literally just talked about that,” she says, wiping her mouth. “I seriously hate this for you all. It’s beyond fucked up and just…crazy. The Valories, the gods, Beginning, Domain, whatever, really are a bunch of selfish assholes.”

“Hate this for us? Hate it for yourself too,” I say. “You’re in the deep end with us now.”

She sits up slowly.

“Gods damn it. I am, aren’t I?”

Yemi, Rose, and I smirk as she groans dramatically and slaps her hand that isn’t clutching her drink into the water, forceful enough to create waves.

For a few moments, the only sounds are leaves rustling in the wind, water lapping over the side of the hot spring, and Mara muttering curses under her breath. Then her expression slowly falls.

“I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do with all of this,” she whispers. “For a single minute in time, I thought my life was finally making sense. I knew my role, my purpose, my standing. Then suddenly everything started falling apart.”

A…I don’t want to call it bitter, but a very disappointed smile spreads across her lips.

“I’m an Attendant,” she says, the word rough on her tongue. “Do you hear how insane that sounds? Me?”

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Yemi says.

“It is,” Mara grunts before wincing. “No. Fuck. See? That’s exactly the problem. I know it’s not actually bad. I know there’s nothing wrong with the fact that I’m an Attendant. It unfortunately makes terrifying sense. But my…”

She shakes her head and squeezes her eyes shut.

“Your family isn’t going to accept it. They didn’t accept you before now,” Yemi mumbles as she scoots closer to her.

“Don’t know how you fucking know that, but yeah. Pretty much.” She sighs and scrubs at her forehead. “I’ve never done anything up to standard for them. I really thought being in a Valtrue with the God of Strength was going to, I don’t know, convince them I’m worth a fuck, but it really didn’t do much. Now this. Once they know, they’ll wipe their hands clean of me.”

“And that’s bad?” Rose asks. “I don’t mean to come off as rude, but your family kind of sounds horrible. Wouldn’t you like to be free from their judgment?”