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He offered her a loving smile. "Darling, I've never expected you to want me like that. You're attracted to women. I'm not a woman. I still love you with all of my heart, and this way, I get to have you love me back in some part. Zeal did me a favor, and I am well aware of it."
"Has itever," she said, not caring that the rest of us were standing around, "entered your mind that sexuality is not black or white? That while yes, I do find women's bodies more appealing than men's, I could still be attracted to someone because of hismind?" She threw up her hands in disgust. "Why do you think I accept assignments with men, you idiot? Because I wish it could be you."
"Oh," he breathed.
I just lowered my head and let my eyes close. "Zeal?" I breathed. "I think this would be a good time to come visit. I have some questions, and I think my big brother needs a favor."
A deep chuckle made every head in the room look behind me. "I was wondering how long that would take. Hello, Priestess Amerlee."
For a moment, everything paused. I was starting to get used to the idea of a god appearing in my room, but the rest still had that moment of shock. More so because he never reallylookedlike a god. And yet he did. Zeal's skin was the color of all people blended into one, a dark sandy shade. His eyes held flecks of all the options. His features were perfect. Not simply lovely, but without a single flaw. Then there were the marks hidden under his clothes. They'd convinced me, but it seemed that appearing in the middle of a room was enough to prove the point to everyone else.
And that included my two mentors - which meant they couldseehim. Except that only priests with complete faith could. Well, and me.
"You..." Amerlee breathed. "I thought you were a Priest of Action!"
"Wait," Eladehl said. "You can see him? Both of you?"
Zeal leaned over the back of my couch. "Well, not always." Then he leaned so that his lips were right beside my ear. "Your mentor has moments of faith, Nariana, but they are not as frequent as I wish. Your brother, however, puts most of his devotion into her instead of me, although your immersion helped to prove a point. They both want to believe, and so often can. Why do you think I wanted them to shape your youth? Of all the people in the temple, Amerlee has been one of the most faithful, and she spreads that to those around her. I told you, Nariana, I put the right people in your path. I wanted to make sure that when you were finally ready to serve me, that you did it out of faith."
"When was the first time you saw him?" I asked Amerlee.
"I was a student," she breathed. "He offered me advice when I was trying to choose my Path. He's the priest who told me that experience with the Path of the Body would make me stronger in the Word. He said it was important - "
"To understand the true nature of the human mind," Zeal finished. "To reach beneath the shallow requests and uncover the base drives that make them so tempting."
"And you healed her," Jamik said.
Zeal dipped his head slightly in agreement. "Nariana prayed, begging me to not allow her sister to suffer. I wasn't strong enough to even knock on the door back then, but I still found a way to make it happen."
"Why?" Jamik asked, standing to address the god. "What do you want from Nari, because the games gods play are rarely favorable to us."
Zeal caressed the top of my head, standing behind me as if I was some kind of shield and the couch I sat on was his barrier. "She is descended from the first priestess. Notmyfirst priestess, but the only one to serve all six gods equally. The woman who cared for us in those few moments we were weak. Our reward to her was the sight. The ability to see the divine. She passed it to her children, and them to theirs, but time has a way of making the miraculous into the everyday."
"And I'm guessing Nari's ability to see gods is important to you?" Jamik asked. His hands trembled slightly, so he curled them into fists.
Zeal hopped over the back of the couch to claim the cushion beside me. The one on the opposite side of Talin. "Sit, priest. Relax. Everyone in this room is safe from me."
"Humans are never safe from a god's wrath," Jamik reminded him.
"You are," Zeal promised. "Because that was the priceIpaid. In order to get Nariana to help me, she only asked for one thing." His eyes traveled across the room. "Her family. In exchange, I got her complete surrender. I think it's a very fair trade."
Chapter 3
Nariana
While Eladehl, Wraythe, and Talin were used to seeing Zeal now - at least to some degree - Amerlee and Jamik took a moment before they finally decided it was safe to sit. Eladehl scooted down his couch to take the corner closest to the god. Jamik sat next to him, putting his beloved Amerlee as far from Zeal's reach as possible. And yet, I knew it wouldn't be far enough if the God of Temptation wanted to make a point.
After all, he was agod.
"Yes," Zeal said, his eyes on Jamik, "I fixed the rings. You, however, never prayed for yours to release. Why?"
"I don't really want to know about my big brother's dick," I told Zeal.
He huffed a laugh at me. "I didn't ask if you did. Besides, you and he need to get over this aversion to each other's bodies. This is a temple made for sex, and I donotwant him to hesitate because you might be undressed. If you are ever threatened, his job is first to protect Amerlee, and then you. Naked or otherwise."
"That's different," Jamik said. "Sharing my personal relationship with her? It feels like it's crossing a line."
Zeal leaned toward him slightly, his focus intimidating. "Your relationship is a healthy one. You treat the woman you love the way she deserves. You aren't with her just to climb inside her body, but toloveher, Jamik. You are probably the best example of emotional attachment I have available. I need my priestess to learn that there's more to it than sex. I want her to become a woman who is strong enough to love herself first, but also to allow others the same privilege."
