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"But what would we do?" she asked. "Nari, none of us have much money. The tithes aren't that good. We don't need hardly anything, either. Being put on this Path? It's where bad priests and priestesses go to be forgotten until they die."
"Still not right," I said. "You know, I wondered why Zeal put me on this Path. Why I had to take all these classes, yet not enough to truly understand what you all do, and I think this is it."
"What is?" Norris asked.
"The system is broken, and no one is willing to speak up for you. Even in primary, we were taught that Obligation is where no one wants to be. It was used as a threat. I mean, how did all of you feel when you stepped out of the tears on Choosing and only had lace on your arms?"
"I cried," Odette said. "I went right into the pool, and I spent the rest of the night crying until they opened the door."
"I punched the wall," Norris admitted. "Spent the next day getting a broken hand fixed."
I looked over at Polst. "You?"
"Fuck off," he told me. "I bet you walked out of the pool with glee, huh?"
"Tell him."
Zeal's voice came from right beside me, making my head snap up. The man was just behind my shoulder, completely ignored by everyone in the room - except Anver. His eyes were locked on the god, but Zeal didn't seem to care at all. He moved closer, right into my field of view, and gestured to Polst.
"Tell him, Nari. He won't believe you, but it's a seed. This is how we start temptation, so tell him."
I pulled in a breath, and then obeyed. "I didn't dance or gloat, because it was a very long night for me. You see, I didn't choose. I couldn't pick which Path I wanted. Instead, I prayed, and what I thought was a priest arrived. The candle went out, and it's so dark in there, and then it was lit again, and the priest was just there."
"Someone broke into your Choosing Room?" Odette asked.
"Kinda what I thought until he dropped his robe. Every inch of him was covered in lace, and his eyes?" I licked my lips, looking down to the dough so I wouldn't stare at Zeal. "It was our god, and there's no doubt in my mind because he led me to the pool, and then he drowned me in the water. My price was surrender - to let him in. Time meant nothing that night. Once I gave in, he carried me out and lay me on the floor while I coughed up the water, and that was when the door unlocked."
"Whoa," Norris breathed.
I nodded. "Yeah. In other words, no, Polst, I didn't celebrate. I was just trying to remember how to breathe, and I didn't even get the chance to look at my own marks until they read them."
"Bullshit," he said, but there was less force behind it this time.
I just shrugged and dumped the lump of dough onto the table for Odette to start rolling it. "I promise it was worse the second time, when the High Priest stripped my marks and then had me submerge myself again."
"When your guardian was ridden by Zeal," Odette said.
Polst groaned. "They're ringed. You know that, right? No matter how wet those men get you, they can't do a fucking thing about it."
"Which istheirprice," I pointed out. "Did you know there are teeth on the inside of those rings? A man gets hard in the morning and his dick gets cut to shit."
"Starting to think Obligation might not be so bad," Norris said.
Polst just shook his head. "It's what I wanted. I declared Protection, and instead I got this."
"Because he didn't want to work for it," Zeal told me. "He wanted the glory, not the ward to protect. He would've been good at it, too. I keep hoping that a few years down here will tame him and then he can try again, but they don't let Obligation change Paths anymore."
My head snapped over. "They used to?"
"Used to what?" Odette asked, making it clear she couldn't see Zeal at all.
I waved her off. "Sorry. Don't mind me."
Zeal chuckled. "Of course we used to. People change, Nari. Our Paths reflect what we are right now, not the things we might become. Some will move up. Others will move down."
I looked over at him and thought,So I'm right? You want me to see all the Paths so someone can speak up for them?
"No," he said. "I gave you what you asked for. That you want to speak up for them just proves to me that I picked the right priestess. It's still your Path, Nari. I'm just down here to help you make the most of it." Then he flicked a finger at the pie. "Pretty sure they forgot to add the sugar, too."
