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He nodded, so Talin added on, "A coffee for me, and I think we'll need two apple pastries, three cherry, and a pair of the chocolate ones."
"Yes, sir," the guy said, nodding his approval before hurrying off.
No one even noticed that he hadn't talked to Zeal. The ladies also didn't seem to care. Sitting side by side, they were still giggling over the fun on the ice. Evidently Yamina had been doing more than simply making circles. She'd been looking at the people around us too.
"Your cousin was there with some old man," she told Maela. "And the youngest of Ambition was skating with my mother's sister's second cousin."
"How?" I asked her. "You just remember all those family ties so easily?"
"It's the peerage," Maela explained. "Who we're related to and how close we are to the baron of our province means we're worth more as women."
"That's the most insane thing I've ever heard," Zeal grumbled.
"And it's still true," Maela informed him. "I'm sure that as a man, you've never needed to worry about it. From what Nari's told me, it's very different in the temple too. But for most women, our value is as a wife, nothing more."
"What if you have no interest in a husband?" Zeal asked, looking honestly interested.
Maela's mouth paused, half-open. "Excuse me?"
Talin just chuckled. "You know about Thiemo's recent scandal, Maela. Some women have the same desires. Laying with a man is only required to make children. Not to make love."
Her cheeks were turning even more pink. "That would never be accepted."
"Should be," Zeal told her. "I think the love of a man is just as rewarding as that of a woman."
Yamina giggled. "You pleasure boys?"
"Men," Zeal corrected. "I do have strong opinions on the value of childhood innocence. But men? Tell me you don't appreciate their strong muscles and deep voices? Or the sultry curves of a woman and the elegance of her form? One is not necessarily better than another, and I happen to like them all. Your family also has a history of the same thing."
"What about you, Nari?" Yamina asked.
Maela tried to shush her. "That is rude! What she does - and with who - is no business of ours."
"Well," I said, leaning onto the table to look at Talin's youngest sister, "I was once told that Zeal only accepts priests and priestesses who are at least open-minded enough to consider both sexes. I've never been with a woman, but mostly because I wasn't friends with the girls I grew up with. They bullied me. That's not exactly appealing."
Yamina nodded like that made perfect sense to her. Then she turned to Talin. "Would you kiss a boy?"
Talin's entire body stilled. "Uh..."
"You should tell her," Zeal encouraged. "I think your sister would be on your side."
"You have," Yamina breathed.
Talin just ducked his head and scrubbed at his face. "Nari, her partner, and I are all in a relationship. Yamina, I don't just kiss men. I'm falling in love with one."
"But the ring," she breathed.
"Oh, his doesn't work," Zeal said. "Or Eladehl's guardian, Wraythe's. The God of Temptation never intended for his priests to be denied temptation. Thus, those with enough faith find the restrictions to assist in service not a, uh..."
"Service," Yamina finished for him with a giggle.
Zeal grinned, nodding at her because she was technically right. "I'm sure you shouldn't know this much at your age."
"Don't the priests?" she asked.
He sobered. "Yeah, actually. Priests in training, what we call acolytes, are all taught about the pleasures of the body in a healthy way. I've always thought that makes it less taboo and easier to ask for help." Then he looked at Maela. "Forgive me if I'm too brazen for you."
"No," she assured him. "I'm just not used to men being willing to talk to women about such things, let alone be so accepting of..." She dared to look over at Talin. "Um, non-traditional relationships."
