Page 188 of The Gods Order

After all the hours we’ve spent together this past week.

“What consequences did he tell you?” I ask as I start my pacing once again.

His gaze follows every step I take.

“None of them matter anymore. Except for one.”

“Well, which fucking one, Mellcom?”

A quiet laugh escapes him as my anger rises. There’s nothing condescending or cruel about it. It’s laced in fondness. The same kind that’s shining in his eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I growl.

“It’s hard not to. It’s easy to see how they fell for you, fell for the lie you all have been spoon-fed.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means you’ve spent every moment since we arrived here believing you were chosen.”

My brows knit together.

“I was chosen. Unfortunately.”

“No.” He shakes his head, almost pityingly. “You were selected.”

The distinction makes no fucking sense to me.

“Excuse me?”

He adjusts the Binding in his grasp and folds his arms across his chest.

“Tell me, Thay. How many times have you heard that prophecy repeated?”

Honestly…not enough times.

Never in its entirety.

He chuckles as my forehead continues to wrinkle.

“The prophecy spoke of five gods,” he continues before I can answer. “Five who would become either the realm’s greatest salvation or its complete obliteration.”

“I’m aware.”

“How many of you are there?”

I blink.

“What?”

“Not including the Beginning Gods, how many gods have come that could fulfill that prophecy?”

My mouth opens.

Closes.

“Five.”

My answer sounds unsure even to me. He catches that and his smile grows.