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"Yes, in a world where that doesn't inspire fear or devotion anymore," Zeal said, his eyes jumping to my hand when I held it up to stop Eladehl again. "The easiest is to make it stay, but cause no discomfort." He looked at me. "For either party."
"I think that would be perfectly acceptable. No." I shook my head. "I'm sorry, that sounded rude. I mean, thank you. I know this is a part of our price, and we shouldn't ask for it to be - "
"It's not," Zeal said, cutting me off. "There's notemptationin those rings. It's pure torture! The only temptation is for the instructors who laugh at their student's misery. Getting rid of them is one of my many goals, but we must start small, Nari. For now, just focus on the Path of Temptation. You named it, but you picked something so fitting, I think I'll keep it."
He stood, clearly intending to leave. "Zeal?" I asked, making him pause. "Thank you for seeing me again."
"I didn't pick you because I needed a puppet, Nariana. I chose you because I need a partner. Someone who's willing to workwithme, not simply for me. I like that you do not grovel. I'm impressed that you are strong enough to press your demands. I'm humbled at how often those are for these men who love you."
On impulse, I lifted my hand. "Who's the fourth band, Zeal?"
He lifted his own, a matching band on his left ring finger. "It is a hope, not a prediction, and certainly not a command. Although, it seems you missed the fifth."
The moment I looked down at my hands, he vanished. I didn't see him go, but between one breath and the next, he was simply no longer there. At first, I didn't see a fifth band. And then I checked my thumbs. On the right one, a delicate line swirled through the loops of everything else. It was neither wide nor obvious like the others, but it was a perfect circle.
"Eladehl, we need to see who has a thin ring on his thumb." And I reached over to show him.
"Five? What is he trying to say?"
"It's a hope, not a prediction. I'm just curious what he's hoping for, because the fourth one is him. Yeah, and he's gone."
"Ok," Eladehl said, "but what did he say about the rings?"
I sucked in a breath. "I need to talk to Wraythe! Lemme..." And I dunked my head, rinsing out my hair as quickly as I could. When I came back up, I continued, "He says the less faith a room has, the less power he has over our world. He was washing my hair until you came in, and then it was as if my hair slipped from his fingers."
"I believe!" Eladehl hissed. "I've followed you the whole way, haven't I?"
"You accept, but that's not the same as believing. You wait to see instead of daring to try." I stood, clasping his hand. "But I think there's a reason he calls you the golden child, and not just because of your pretty blonde hair. Well, he just decided to call you the goldenone- because he says you are not a child."
Eladehl stiffened, refusing to move. "That's what he said in my Choosing. He said I'm the beautiful golden boy with eyes that hold darkness, and I'm the perfect match for the woman who will walk in shadows to see the light. I'm trying, Nari. I don't know the difference between accepting and believing, but I'm fuckingtrying. I at least know he's real."
"And for now, that's a start. Pass me a towel? I need to talk to Wraythe, because Zeal might be able to fix his ring."
Chapter 48
Nariana
That night, I talked to Wraythe about praying. I explained how upset I was about his ring, that our god had offered to make it not painful, and how pure faith would allow Zeal to help him more. I left out the part about removing the teeth, not wanting to get his hopes up. He promised he would try, pointed out that it already felt so much better, and that something hadclearlychanged, then kissed me the way he had before our Choosing Day.
For the last three days of my supposed break, I spent most of it with Saval, Amerlee, and Jamik, trying to come up with a schedule for my classes. The High Priest wanted me in more courses than could be fit in a day. I pointed out that it wasn't my fault the teachers didn't want to have a class with only one student, and Saval decided to use that as her reason for a lighter load. I would still have more classes than everyone else, but I promised I could handle it.
And Talin followed me everywhere. Our conversations slowly shifted from stiff to companionable, and I learned that I still blushed at times. He loved complimenting me, and touching. Mostly hugging, but quite a few kisses were snuck in against my neck. It was as if that night in our room had shifted something between the entire group.
At one point, I came back from talking to Wraythe to find Eladehl and Talin making out on the couch. It was gentle, not the frantic kind of passion I was used to, but mostly because Eladehl and I could not forget about their rings. Those torture devices made our lovers unable to be anything more than friends.
Then, on the last day of our break, Talin took me into the dining hall for dinner. Eladehl and Wraythe were having a little boy time - which I figured translated to guy jokes and talking about dicks - so they would be eating in Wraythe's room. I claimed our usual table, Talin got me a plate of my favorites, and sat next to me.
We probably took too long eating. We were definitely flirting. It felt so much like that night when we'd met. Just the two of us, teasing each other about the people around us. But when we went to leave, things turned awkward.
"Nari?"
The voice made me stop in my tracks. "Anver?"
Talin had his arm around my waist and turned to the guy who'd addressed me. I could feel the tension increase. Anver made an obvious inspection of Talin, which he returned. Standing so close, it was easy to see that Talin was the more attractive of the two. Anver had a bit of a babyface, which I thought had always made him look friendly. Talin's looks were chiseled and stark. Anver was tan with medium-brown hair. Talin was olive-skinned with black hair. They were a similar size, but somehow Talin came off looking more dangerous.
"This is your guardian?" Anver asked, dismissal in his tone.
"I heard you and Tishlie were matched," I countered.
