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A laugh burst from my lips and I had to shove my hand over them to stop it. It only helped so much. "No," I finally managed, "I can't really see that either. I dunno, I just figured that if Ela's already there, then he might think of something? Kinda like when he has me hold Nari for him."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "I see. I'm not sure why, but I didn't honestly expect you to have group sessions already."
"Why?"
Her cheeks turned a bit brighter. "Um, because I don't have that much experience? Look, I can't really offer you any good advice when it comes to sex. That's Shalsa's area of expertise, but when it comes to protecting Ela from himself? Just trust him. Not blindly, because there's always the chance that he'll crave this new feeling too much and chase it too far. But do trust him. More than that, trust yourself. You probably know your ward better than he knows himself. You've watched over him for how long now?"
"Since we were kids," I admitted.
She just nodded. "You've seen him grow and change, but he's always stayed the same Eladehl. Youknowhim, Wraythe. Protect him, even if that's from himself. And I will always be here to help you if you need it. All of us are."
Chapter 55
Nariana
The next few days at Sandrest fell into an almost comfortable routine. Talin and I woke up late enough to miss the family breakfast, so he skipped it while I shared pastries with Maela and Lina in the morning room with the children. The oldest was Lina's girl at five, all the way down to Maela's seven-month-old son. The children were loud and surprisingly active, and that was enough to keep the men from joining us in the room.
After that, I'd either spend time with Talin or his mother until lunch. With the entire family packed into the residence, that was a boisterous affair. Then when the meal was done, Talin and I escaped together for a few more hours while the rest of the family worried about business. It didn't matter if that was the duty of collecting taxes from the citizens living in the temptation section of town, or if it was one of the husbands asking for advice with his company - Talin and I had no interest in getting involved.
But I wasn't used to such a slow-paced life. I'd always heard that high society was boisterous and exciting, but it really wasn't. This was more placid and tedious. Needless to say, it didn't take long before I was ready to get back to not just the temple, but also my classes.
Then, on the day before the turn of the year, Talin surprised me with a walk to the back side of the property. It was long, and we trudged through the snow toward some white point against the grey horizon, but I loved the muffled crunching sound my feet made.
When we were far enough away, Talin finally explained why we'd come so far out. "Ok," he said, pulling something from his pocket. "You see that hill?"
"Yeah?" I looked over, trying to see what he had.
Talin was partly turned, a boyish grin on his face. But when he finished whatever he was doing, he turned back to offer me the hilt of a pistol. "The bank is your target. Please do not point that toward me, and whatever you do, don't pull the trigger unless you mean to shoot it, ok?"
"You want me to shoot a gun?" I asked.
To prove his point, he extended his arm and aimed with the second pistol, then pulled the lever at the bottom. A split-second later, the air cracked with the loudest boom I'd ever heard, a puff of smoke poured from the end, and a chunk of snow shifted on the side of the hill where the lead ball had impacted.
Talin chuckled. "Ok, that was loud," he admitted.
"How do we practice aiming," I asked, "if the snow covers it up?"
He passed me his gun. "I have an idea. Please don't shoot me?"
"I won't!" I insisted.
That was enough to send him bouncing through the ankle-deep snow in some mix between a jog and hopscotch. It was oddly adorable to watch. But once he reached the hill, Talin picked up two broken, rotten branches from under a nearby tree, then trudged his way to where the bank was bare. There, he stuck each one into the snow so it stuck straight up, and then he made his way back.
"Your turn," he said as he pulled out the supplies to reload his own pistol.
"How?" I asked. "I have no idea how to work this thing!"
"Thought you wrote a paper on them." But he was already moving around behind me. "Hold your arm up and out. Now, you see the little nub at the end? That's your sight. So look down the barrel and try to line it up, and then pull the trigger. It will jerk a bit and be very loud."
"Ok," I agreed, waiting until he stepped back to aim for the stick on the right.
My entire arm swayed, and the pistol wasn't light, but when I thought I was close enough, I finally convinced myself to pull the trigger. For a moment, I was sure nothing had happened, and then the bang exploded in my ears, the gun jerked, and the snow shifted, proving I'd missed the stick.
Talin chuckled. "So, you want to try again with this one, or learn how to load it?"
I glanced at his soot smudged fingers. "I think I'll let you load it. I'll also wait for you to shoot."
"Sounds good," he agreed, using a stick to smoosh the lead ball and cotton into the barrel.
