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And I scampered out of the room while they both watched me. With the hall still bright, it was easier, although the stench was going to linger a while. When I made it to my own room, I wrenched open the door, stormed over to my bed, and grabbed the puppy I'd been carrying around. The one I would never admit sometimes ended up beside me in the middle of the night. Tonight, he was going to do something even better.
When I left, I didn't even bother to close the door; I just ran. My feet slipped a little when I tried to stop for Nariana's room, but I slowed down once I was inside. There, I made my way over and added the puppy beside her little rabbit, hoping she would recognize it.
"Do I even want to know?" Jamik asked.
"The puppy tells her that Eladehl's ok." And I paused, trying to catch my breath. "Anver has Eladehl in his room, Priestess Saval. Ciella, Ryshie, Kald, and a few others caught him in the kitchen tonight, ganged up on him, tied him to a table, and poured hot wax all over him. I don't know how bad he's burned, but he was there a while. At least half an hour, possibly more. I mean, we started looking after half an hour."
"Is he ok with Anver?" Saval asked.
I nodded. "He's pretty upset, but Anver's taking care of him."
She pointed at Jamik. "You deal with this. I'll find out what's going on there."
Jamik ducked his head, scratching at the back of his neck. "Wraythe, huh?"
"Yes, Priest Jamik."
"Just Jamik," he assured me. "I'm her mentor's guardian, but I prefer to call Nari my little sister. She's told me about you, so you know."
My gut twisted at that. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, you actually did a lot of things right." He looked back at the pair of stuffed toys in her arms. "So, you have any idea why she may have jeopardized her future in the temple tonight?"
I grunted at him. "How did you end up in this hall tonight? Same way I did? Have afeeling?"
He lifted his chin, using it to point over my shoulder. "I had a priestess yank me out of bed. She's out cold, Amerlee."
I turned around to see the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. She had a satin robe wrapped around her body, but it didn't exactly cover much. Her breasts spilled out from the top, and her legs poured from the bottom. A mass of red curls made her look a little wild, and yet there was something about her that made me bow my head in respect.
"Priestess," I breathed,
"Wraythe," Jamik told her. "The big one."
"Oh, I figured that out on my own," she teased. "How long has she been out? I got the lights in the hall turned back off. Seems the switch was never flicked on. Had to get someone to shut off the gas."
"Huh," I said.
Her eyes narrowed on me. "Talk, boy. Something happened tonight, my little sister is in the middle of it, and I want to make sure I'm able to defend her."
"Look at her arms," I said. "She's god-touched to well above her elbows, and she's the youngest in our class. Her lace is perfectly matched, and Saval said it shows the top four Paths. And then what she said out there? I caught the part about playing with gods and how they might play back!"
"It wasn't her voice," Jamik told his priestess. "It was like a chorus coming from her mouth, but when she turned to me, she'd just come back to herself. It was like she'd snapped. She definitely wasn't in control."
"And the switch wasn't flipped, yet the entire hall was lit and turned all the way up," Amerlee mumbled. "When was the last time Zeal spoke through a body?"
Jamik blew out a breath. "It's been a while. I think we were second years?"
Amerlee nodded. "Saval would remember." Then she pushed her way between us. "Jamik, figure out what happened? Make sure her other boyfriend is ok?"
"We're just friends," I corrected.
She looked at me with a devious little smile. "Are you really? You see, I taught my little sister the most important lesson in this temple. I taught her not to be ashamed of what she feels. She talks to me. She comes to us when she's confused. She's told me all about what you four have been doing, and has asked alotof questions, so I think it's safe to say that you're a little more than friends."
I nodded. "It's more than friends. Just... Is she going to be ok?"
Amerlee gently caressed Nariana's head. "She will be, but if you really want to help her, pray to Zeal that he makes it clear this wasn't her idea."
"And," Jamik said, gesturing to the door, "I think you shouldn't spend the night here. Amerlee will stay with her."
