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"What do you think you're doing!" Oryll snapped. "This is not a trinket for your amusement! This is the house of all gods!"
"Trinket," Ela chuckled, thrusting his arm out to demand the bottle from Wraythe. "There's so much irony in that statement, Oryll. You have no fucking idea."
"Shut it, boy," Oryll warned. "I will be notifying the High Priest of this! And what do you think you're - "
Ghale caught the man's shoulder, the gesture halting Oryll's tirade. Then Ghale pointed. "What…"
I followed his finger back to where Ela leaned with his arms resting on the lip of the basin. "What?" he asked.
"Your chest," I breathed.
And Zeal laughed. "I only promised not to changeyourlace, Nari. Not theirs."
"Word," Talin breathed, his eyes jumping over to Wraythe. "You too!"
"And you," Anver said, looking down at his own chest. Then he laughed. "You bastard, Zeal!"
Again, the god laughed, but my head was whipping between all of them. The four men each had a strip of lace beneath their collar bones. Each one was different. Wraythe's matched his arms, branching off from his shoulders and reaching for the center. The lines didn't make it, but that was clearly the Path of the Word. Talin's was heavier on the right side, the asymmetry of it beautiful in a very hard, geometric style. Anver's was sharper, with a pair of swirls reaching up his throat. Ela's was graceful, framing the shape of his muscles and pointing down his sternum like some type of accent.
"Out!" Oryll demanded.
Ela huffed and then pushed to his feet. "Fuck you, Oryll."
But my eyes hung on his back. On the lines that matched those on his chest, but ran straight down his spine.
"Talin?" I asked. "Stand up? All of you? Please?"
One by one, they did. There, just at the level of the water, I could see lace on each of them, right across their hips. Ela's reached higher and spread wider, but each one had it. All of them had been marked. I didn't even need to see to know there would also be marks for Action on their legs.
Because Zeal had tempted us to the basin for a reason. He'd brought us here because I was no longer the only one on the Path of Temptation. I turned, intending to ask him about that, but Oryll was tired of being ignored.
"I said to get out!" the man screamed.
"Do it," Ghale told us. "I have no idea how you will explain the marks to the High Priest, but this needs to be addressed."
"It needs to be stopped," Oryll shrieked. "This is not how the temple runs. I warned you, Nariana, but you refuse to play by the rules."
"No!" I snapped. "I refuse to play your stupid fucking games. We are priests. Our duty is to our god and only our god. I don't care if you like it, Oryll. I don't care if anyone in this temple approves except Zeal. I am not getting out of this basin because my god is the one who brought me here. He is the one who wanted to adjust our lace. This is his decision, and the will of a god outranks that of men."
"Your marks will be stripped for this!" Oryll insisted as he took one more step forward, his arm out, reaching for me.
He never made it. Above my head, the sound of the statue moving was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. Rock ground together, but nothing fell. I looked back in time to see the statue's head lift, the body lean forward, and the arms reach toward the water we were in. Beneath all of that, Zeal held two fingers in the air as if directing an orchestra.
"I sent you my Voice," he said, the statue echoing the words.
Oryll and Ghale both gasped in shock. The guys moved to the sides of the basin, and I matched them as the giant hands moved lower. Zeal seemed completely unconcerned, but clearly the non-believers could seethis!
"I marked Nariana as my Chosen. I covered her in lace to match mine. I sent all the signs, and still you refuse to listen." Then the god stood, water running off his body even as the statue dipped its fingers in to cup the water we were standing in. "I claimed her, and now I claim them. They aremine!Five heads of the same snake. Five hands of the same god. Five priests who will reclaim my temple, and I am done being subtle!"
And the statue moved the handful of water over Oryll's head and released it. The gods' tears splashed down on the man, soaking him completely, and the lace at his throat washed away with it. Then the statue's head turned to Ghale.
"You have the chance to learn, but not like this. It is time for things to change, and she will do it. They will hold her up, and she lifts me. Your god is back." The statue leaned even closer. "You can worship me, or you can betray me. There is no middle ground for my priests. Walk away if you must, but know that I amnota kind god!"
Eladehl flicked his hand at the men. "Now is when you leave. Oh, and turn the lights back down before you go, because when a god wants to have a playdate in a pool of tears? Yeah, we obey."
"Oryll," Ghale breathed, pulling his partner back. "Please, my love. Please let this go?"
"He'll make you choose," Zeal warned the man. "His ambition means more to him than you ever will, and you deserve more than that. Let him go, wounded one. That man will never heal your heart. He will only break it more and you have never deserved that. I'm sorry I ever paired you to him."
