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"Good way to explain it," Wraythe chuckled.
"And then, two nights ago," I continued, "Tath completely lost it on Maela. We ran across the hall to make sure it wasn't getting out of hand - it was - and Talin ended up in a fight with his brother. Like, fists and blood and shoving over the third-floor balcony kind of fight. Zeal stepped in. Maela and Yamina saw him riding me!"
"Then he healed us while we slept," Talin added.
"And what does the baron think of seeing a priestess carrying a god?" Ela asked.
"Yeah," I grumbled. "Um, Zeal kinda ripped that memory out and is letting the man believe that he passed out drunk. Maela and Yamina have no interest in saying anything, because his goal was to hurt them. He's got it in his head that they're having an affair."
Eladehl just flicked a finger at Talin. "You sure they aren't? Everything I've heard is that the Ranndor family embodies temptation. The barons usually swing both ways. Talin does, so I just assumed it's true."
"Shit," Talin breathed.
"Does that bother you?" I asked him.
"No," he assured me. "I was more thinking that could be why Zeal wanted me to tell my sister about Ela. He brought it up and set me up. I couldn't have done anything else, because she had enough to guess. Was that his way of using me to tempt her to give in?"
"He kept saying he has a purpose for her," I remembered. "Is this it?"
"And why?" Talin asked.
I just leaned my head back and groaned. "I wish we could just ask him, but every time I try that, Zeal changes the subject so subtly that I never get an answer. Not until he's ready to tell us."
"Because he doesn't know," Wraythe said. "He keeps saying that he can't see the future, and I think that's why. He's trying so hard to save himself and his siblings, so he's pulling out all the stops, but he doesn't want to limit us to one Path..." His words trailed off as he looked at me. "Shit."
Piece by piece, all of this kept coming back to the same thing. Even the same phrase. The theme was more than one Path, just like the marks on my body. He was letting me choose, just like he allowed all of us to do so. This was Zeal's power. This was temptation. It was also my future.
"Guys, the first time I finally felt useful as a priestess?" I said. "It was when Maela walked into the Temple of All Gods because she was scared to talk to the High Priest. Ninth year! I remember thinking that this was what I was meant for, to ease her fears about us and make her comfortable with our god. To tempt her with kindness, I suppose? And now it's Maela again? What are the chances of that?"
"He called you his Voice," Talin pointed out. "I'm the Blade, Wraythe is the Shield, Ela's the Temptation, but you are his Voice."
"Because this, right here, is my Path." I nudged my plate away. "Shit. That makes so much sense."
Talin just pushed my uneaten food back toward me. "What does? I'm not following, beautiful."
"He gave me all the Paths so I can do what Ineedto, not what Iwantto. My place here? I'm to spread the word of his power, seduce patrons to follow him, protect those who do, make it possible for his faith to flourish, and be obligated to care about it all. Five Paths. Five heads on the symbol. Five men in my life." I swallowed and looked up. "I am Zeal's conduit. His tie between reality and imagination. I'm the physical embodiment that speaks to him when others can't."
"The bridge," Eladehl said, summing it all up.
I nodded. "But here's the thing..." I grabbed for my glass, needing a sip to make my voice keep working, because all of this was hitting me a little too hard. "This is what I always thought a priestess should do. It's the Path I really wanted - the one that is just too much to put into words but which I can feel calling me."
"Then I'll walk it with you," Eladehl swore.
"And I'll make sure no one stops you," Talin promised.
"I'll just take care of you when it gets too hard," Wraythe told me. "But you still have to eat."
I chuckled at that, grabbing my fork to shovel a bite into my mouth. "Between coincidence and temptation, I'm starting to think our god is more powerful than he wants us to know."
"So ask him," Talin suggested. "He's coming for family presents tonight, right?"
"That's Amerlee's plan," Eladehl said. "Unless something's changed?"
"No," I decided. "Zeal's going to be there. I mean, I know he's listening to us right now. It seems he's always listening to us, so he'll be ready for it. I just hope he'll finally give me a straight answer."
"Or maybe there is no answer," Wraythe told me. "Have you ever considered, Nari, that this really is nothing more than a god trying to figure out how to impress a woman?"
"But he's a god!" I insisted.
