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"I heard," Anver admitted softly.
"No." Ela cut him off. "You've heard I'm taking lessons in pain play. You havenoidea. I didn't fuckingget over it, Anver. I didn't suddenly become sweet like Nari. I didn't get tired of tying people up. I learned to love it. To want to push a little further. Ihurtpeople, and I'm ok with that. The question is, are you?"
Anver just pushed out a heavy breath. "Yes and no. I hated that you were hurt. Seeing what they did to you? It made me sick. And when I thought you wanted to do the same thing to Nari and Wraythe?" He shook his head. "I was too young to understand, or not sexual enough, or something. I don't even know. I'm not a kid anymore, Ela. I'm also not your lover in any form. It's Talin's and Wraythe's job to hold you back now, not mine. I'm not her guardian."
"You sure she isn't yours?" Wraythe asked.
We all simultaneously looked at Zeal. He simply shook his head. "Nari's ward isn't one person. It's an entire faith."
"Which means partly yes," Talin said as he pushed himself to his feet. "So, I have tea or coffee, because we are not having tonight's discussion with alcohol. I know Nari wants tea."
"Coffee," Wraythe said.
"Tea," Ela told him.
"Coffee," Anver decided.
Then there was a pause. As Talin pulled down cups, he asked, "Zeal?"
"Uh..." The god twisted to look at him. "Which do you make better?"
"Tea, in all honesty," Talin admitted. "Coffee was always seen as a commoner's drink."
"Then coffee," Zeal decided, "because I'm learning how to be more understanding." And he flashed Anver a smile. "At least I hope so?"
"Slowly," Anver admitted, "but yeah. And I was told there was something big that we all needed to know."
Ela groaned. "Ghale and Oryll. It's like they're purposely going after Nari."
"They are," Zeal admitted.
I just sighed. "Why?"
"Mm." Zeal leaned back to scrub at his mouth, clearly thinking. "It's mostly because you were given the Path of the Word. I'm not completely sure, because neither of them has said anything, but that's the impression I get. They spent decades in the Paths of Protection and Body. What you need to understand is that they both declared the Path of the Word as primary students. They had dreams of working with the High Priest and becoming a part of the inner workings of the temple."
"So, they don't care that this is whatyouwant?" Talin asked as he passed Zeal a cup, then moved around to hand the other to me.
I took it, then made my way back to the couch beside Eladehl. "Do they think my marks are fake?"
"No," Zeal said, choosing to answer my question first. "Oryll believes that you were too indecisive to find your own Path. He thinks it's a character flaw, and one he needs to push. Ghale seems to agree, but I'm not sure he's thought about it too much. He simply thinks you're a mistake. That somehow you found a way around the struggles that every other priest had to endure."
"I kinda did," I pointed out.
"But you got a different set of struggles instead," Zeal countered. "What you all need to understand is that they do not believe in me. Most priests assume the stories about gods are a way to explain things, or have some complicated alternative in their minds. Them? They simply think the Temple of Temptation is necessary to keep the city running, and that should be all that matters."
"So, theyaretrying to fail her out," Ela said. "Thoseassholes."
Zeal sighed. "They aren't lost to us yet. Their concern is that if Nari is allowed to make her own Path, then dozens of other students will try to do the same. Children will no longer focus on one area of the faith. They'll all decide to let me choose - as if I wouldn't set them where they belong regardless. Ghale can see that Nari's beautiful, and Oryll has noticed him looking at her more than once. That means there's jealousy, so to prove himself, Ghale wants to make it clear that he's only looking for ways to be harder on her."
"So what do I do?" I asked.
The look Zeal gave me was a cross between confusion and frustration. "This isn't my Path. It's yours. You wanted it, so now you have it. You already decided how it's supposed to work. I cannot tell you how to walk it."
"I'm notwalkingit, Zeal, I'm forging it. The Path of Temptation has never existed before. I'm breaking the trail!"
"Not as much as you think, because it will never be an option for students. I can't say I won't give it to anyone else, but it will not be something that they choose. This isyourPath, my dear. I made it for you. Not because I needed a new Path, but because you were the one who wanted it. This was my price, and I paid it, just like you paid yours."
"Because our god has a crush on the priestess," Talin said as he brought in another pair of cups. "Coffee," he said before passing it to Wraythe and Anver.
