AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Yeah," he agreed. "Me too."
But sleep was already taking over.
Chapter 34
Nariana
Iwoke in the middle of the night. The sounds of the inn had quieted at some point, and the only thing I could hear was the soft breathing of Talin beside me. The room was almost pitch black, little more than shadows in shadows, but I remembered a bit from before he turned out the lights. Carefully slipping out on the far side of the bed, I made my way around to where I'd left my clothes.
My core hurt. No, lower. My vagina. Nothurt-hurt, but definitely an ache. I ignored it, because there was a bigger problem. I had to leave. If I turned on a light, he'd see the god-marks on my arms. If I didn't, I would need to fumble for my clothes. I decided to fumble.
My pants were easy enough. So was my shirt. Thankfully my bra was on top of it. I put that on, pulling my shirt over it, and kept feeling around. I found my boots, my gloves - although the second took a bit - but my panties were nowhere to be found. I decided I could make it back home without them. That was a better idea than waking this man up.
Luckily, though, my coin purses were still in my pockets. I whispered my thanks to Zeal for looking after me, got myself dressed as well as I could in the dark, and then tiptoed to the door. I paused, debating whether I should put on my gloves, then decided against it. If the waitress saw me, at least now she'd understand why I'd been willing to go upstairs with him.
Now, I just had to get back. I managed to unlock the door and ease it open without making noise, but the light from the hall made me blink. Turning away to give my eyes a chance to adjust, my gaze landed on Talin. His back was to me, the blankets far enough down his body to prove me right. He was even more beautiful without clothes.
I tried to memorize the view, knowing I'd want to think about this moment later, and then left. In the halls, the lights had been dimmed, but they were much brighter than that room had been. The room where I'd learned that I wasn't scared of the Path of the Body. I still thought I fit into all the Paths a bit, but the truth was that I'd always hesitated, fearing I'd be one of those women who found sex painful or repulsive.
I didn't.
Thankfully, getting out of the inn was easy. There was no one on the stairs to ask what I was doing. When I made my way through the dining room, only one older man was there, nursing a cup of coffee. He looked up at me and smiled, then gestured to his head. I understood what he meant, so felt my own hair.
It was a mess. My ponytail had been rubbed all sorts of wrong ways, and I probably looked rather frazzled. Shrugging at him like, "What can I do?" I pulled out the tie and did my best to smooth it back into place. I finished just as I reached the front door. My reflection in the glass proved it was good enough.
From there, it took only a few minutes to get back to the temple. The streets were empty, the back door was unlocked, and the halls were wonderfully quiet. I didn't go straight to my room, though. I headed for the bathroom. The clock in the hall proved that was a good idea. It was later than I thought, or earlier, depending on how I looked at it. Dawn came in just over an hour.
Stripping out of my clothes, I folded them, grabbed a towel, and scrubbed away every last hint of what I'd done. Not because I wanted to forget, but because the questions it would cause would be awkward. It was easier to keep this to myself for now, and yet the feeling of peace inside me was so worth it.
I'd finally figured it out. That part that I hadn't been able to put into words? It had been fear of the unknown. I didn't want to give myself to all the Paths because I didn't understandoneof them. I'd been scared of losing out, yet scared of being trapped at the same time. Now, I knew it would be ok. As the priest had said, my god knew me. He'd listened to my prayers since I was a child. He understood me better than anyone else, even Eladehl and Wraythe. It was ok that I couldn't choose a Path, because they were all the right ones for me.
When I was finally clean enough to go unnoticed, I wrapped a towel around me and gathered my clothes. A moment of concern made me check the pants, looking for any hint of blood, but there was nothing. Not surprising. Between the playing around we'd done for the last few years and how careful Talin had been, I hadn't really expected any. I just knew the Priests of Obligation would notice if it came through the laundry.
I made it to my room with only twenty minutes until dawn. A handwritten note had been left on my desk, the elegant style proving it was from Eladehl. I opened it and read quickly.
I hope you found what you needed tonight. Amerlee came by and I told her you'd taken a walk for a while to get your nerves in order. It was the only thing I could think of that wouldn't make her try to find you. Just thought you should know so when you see her in the morning you won't get in trouble.
Wraythe is still worried. If you can, will you talk to him before you get locked in? If you aren't in your room by six, we'll head down there and wait. I love you, Nari. He loves you. Zeal will not let you down. Just remember that, ok?
~Eladehl
Which meant they'd left about ten minutes ago. Rubbing my towel through my hair, I tossed it toward the laundry, grabbed a brush, and tried to get out all the knots. I found a nasty one at the back of my head, but simply ripped it out, not having the time to deal with being gentle right now. Then I grabbed my robe, slipping it on over my bare skin as we'd been directed, and found a pair of thin black slippers that matched.
Pausing to give my room one last glance, I saw the pile of boxes that were supposed to be delivered to my permanent residence tomorrow. Sitting at the top was Bunny, right where I'd left him, but he wasn't alone. Puppy was beside him. I paused to caress the matted fur and blinked away my tears.
Wraythe had managed to make sure I'd know he wasn't mad at me. Even if I hadn't seen the toy now, I would notice the stuffed dog when I began to unpack later. The last piece of worry vanished, and I headed out with a smile on my face.
The stairs were mostly empty, only a few of us still heading down. Below, in the Choosing area, a hum of conversation flowed up toward me. The voices sounded like a mix of excitement and fear, which made perfect sense. I didn't know the time, though, since there weren't any clocks down here - or sunlight. So I walked as fast as I could, making a pass through the hall where Eladehl was supposed to be. He wasn't there. I tried Wraythe's room next, but got nothing.
Their mentors were waiting patiently, but the students were nowhere to be seen. Then I figured it out and made my way around the back. Sure enough, right in front of my room were all four of the people who I really wanted to see. Wraythe spotted me first, and his head jerked up, his eyes narrowing as he tried to read my expression.
I finally let the smile show. His shoulders relaxed, which Eladehl noticed. Turning to follow Wraythe's gaze, he smiled at me with nothing but honest relief. Amerlee and Jamik didn't look quite as happy.
"Where have you been?" Amerlee asked.
Jamik grumbled in a way that made it clear my answer had better be a good one.
I caught her hands in mine. "I asked Zeal for a sign. He gave it, and I followed it. Please don't ask me more than that right now. I promise I'll tell you later, but trust me when I say that I was desperate and needed this. I had to figure it all out before the Choosing."
