God of the Abyss Read Online Free Page B

accounted for. I’ll even
do a headcount to make sure we all make it back safely.”
    “What about… Ron.”
    “Your grouchiest brother is outside, babysitting and
diagnosing.”
    “Ren?” she asked, using her nickname for the older
god. I laughed because we both considered him to be the grouchiest, but really,
he was very wise and offered me sound advice on many occasions.
    We all entered the living room, where the door was
opened about a foot, to see them having a conversation outside. By
conversation, I mean that Regivus was talking to Ron and Sammy was answering.
The boys must not have realized we were there. Sammy confessed that he got in a
fight at school because he hated the other kids and missed his brother. He
explained how I was mad at him and wouldn’t talk to either of them since. When
he told the god that he was sorry for causing me to be mad at them all, I felt
horrible. Sammy thought that I was angry with Ron because of him and
apparently, Ron was miserable.
    “Your father is very concerned that Ron can’t talk,”
Regivus told Sammy. He regarded my younger son. “Do you know that he worries
about you? That other children your age talk?” he asked.
    Ron nodded, but as usual, it was Sammy that spoke.
“Ron can talk,” he insisted.
    We were all surprised by that and I was doubtful.
Sammy was talkative enough for both of them, but I figured that if Ron could
have talked, I would have heard him speaking in private to Sammy. Ron never made
so much as a grunt, even though I never found anything medically wrong with
him, his throat, or his hearing.
    “He can? Then why doesn’t he?” Regivus asked. For
such a powerful god who threatened my life when he first met me, Regivus had a
kind voice for children. He had only ever showed them kindness.
    Sammy shrugged. “We don’t know. He just never does.
He didn’t like to cry when he was a baby and he doesn’t like to talk now.”
    “But you know what he thinks?”
    “Of course; we are brothers. Like mom and dad.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “We are brothers like Mordon and Dylan.”
    “How does that help you know what he is thinking?”
    Both of my boys looked confused. “They talk all the
time in their heads. Brothers can talk in their heads. Ron and I talk and when
someone asks Ron a question, he tells me the answer to tell them. Usually he
doesn’t have to tell me, though, because I know.”
    “Oh. That is interesting,” the god said.
    Mordon and I looked at each other. We discovered the
ability to talk to each other on accident not long after we became friends. I
always speculated that it was because I used my book to translate for us,
although there was never any evidence, or even a strong suggestion.
    “Since I found out about Rojan, I thought it was
because of him that we could talk.”
    “But Rojan and I can’t talk to each other,” I
said.
    “Well, I know you two don’t know me very well, but I
am your uncle, so I should help you when I can, right?” Regivus asked the boys.
They both nodded hesitantly. “I lived a long time. I have one sister and had
ten brothers. Now I only have nine brothers. I am the oldest of them.” Two
little jaws dropped and four little eyes widened. “I have made some foolish
mistakes, but family forgives and forgets. You both will do some things you
will regret, and that’s normal, but your family will always forgive you.
    “Ronez, you need to listen carefully to this. The
first thing you have to do when you make a mistake is tell the truth, and you
can’t do that if you don’t talk. The second thing is to apologize. You can’t
usually do that if you don’t talk, either. And this is the important part, the
part that many people forget; once you say you are sorry, you don’t do it
again. Do you understand all that?” he asked.
    Ron nodded and took his brother’s hand.
    “Does that mean he has to start talking?” Sammy
asked.
    Regivus shook his head. “No, not all of the time, but
think about