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She nodded. "But do you love them? I was convinced that you and Talin were much closer than was proper, but Pia said to treat you as if you're his wife. Tath said he's a eunuch now, but he wouldn't explain that. Nari, I'm honestly trying to understand, and my husband isn't here to worry about how scandalous this talk might be to my poor, lady-like ears."
So I reached across the table and caught her hand. "I do. I love them all, and a man is a lot more than just his dick." Then I lifted my brows to make my point clear.
She gasped, but not in shock. This was the kind of sound that girls made when another did something wondrous. "I knew it!" she hissed, struggling to keep from squealing. "So why does Tath keep saying he's a eunuch?"
"It's the rings," Irila told her. "As soon as we're declared on the Path of Protection - which the marks on our back prove - we're ringed. Downthere. Women are pierced twice to prevent sexual pleasure. Men have a band with sharp points on the inside. When they get aroused, it causes pain, which stops it."
"No," Maela said. "That's horrible!"
"There are ways around it," Irila mumbled.
Maela grinned, looking between Shalsa and Amerlee. "And I'm assuming you know all of them, right?"
"Of course," Shalsa said.
"Which is what Zee was talking about," Maela realized. "With enough faith, they're not an inhibition to anything."
"Exactly," I said, hurrying over that before anyone asked who "Zee" was. "The rings are a training method to keep guardians from becoming aroused at the wrong time, but our god does do us favors if we're devoted enough."
"Wow," Maela breathed. "Ok, that actually makes sense."
Shalsa just chuckled. "Now, be honest. Have we horrified you too much?"
"No!" Maela shook her head to make the point clear. "Not at all. I may have been a virgin on my wedding night, but Tath and his brothers aren't afraid to talk about 'men's things' at the dinner table. I swear Pia has a minor stroke each time, but they always say it's only fitting for the first family of Temptation. I just think that maybe Yamina's right. If I'm now a part of this family, then there's no reason at all that I shouldn't be allowed to do the same, and some woman has to do it first. If Lord Ranndor isn't doing his duty to the Temple, then maybe I should! That's basically what Zeal told me."
"When?" Amerlee asked.
I groaned. "Um, he kinda rode me the night before we came home. Tath had a tantrum and we were worried Maela and the baby were going to take the brunt of it. I tried to give him submission, but he wasn't ready to be swayed, and I'm barely trained in it, Amerlee. He pushed past me. Talin got in his way, and the men were fighting it out, but Talin didn't want to hurt the baron, so…" I sighed. "Zeal took over."
"Least there's that," my mentor said. "How were you feeling afterwards?"
"I was fine," I promised. "He was gentle this time. He also made a point of healing both of us. I just hated leaving Maela and Yamina in the middle of that."
"We can take care of ourselves," Maela assured me. "We've learned how to do it over the last year. Like I said, my husband isn't an easy man."
"Maybe not, but it sounds like you're stronger than you pretend in public," I assured her.
"I'm getting there," she said. "Right now, I'm going with the theory that the more I know, the easier this will be. I'm going to make sure the Ranndors do our duty to Zeal. I'm just worried that I'd end up blushing and stammering if I tried to talk to the High Priest, let alone any Priest of the Body."
"Start with Eladehl," I told her. "He's a student, so still safe. He'd also enjoy having another female friend."
A million expressions flowed across Maela's face. "Really?"
"Helovesclothes," I assured her. "He has great taste in wine, can't get enough of shopping, and can talk for hours about just about anything, including the other priests and priestesses in the temple."
Then Maela's eyes jumped over my shoulder and she sucked in a breath. Naturally, the rest of us turned to look, completely forgetting what we'd been talking about. There, only a few yards behind me, a pair of men kissed passionately. It looked like one of them had just returned from assignment, simply because he was dressed too nicely for the dining hall. The other embraced him as if it had been an eternity since they'd seen each other.
"Disgusted?" Amerlee asked.
"No," Maela admitted. "I guess I didn't think it would be like that."
"Like what?" I asked, thinking the couple looked rather cute.
"Loving," she replied. "I don't know. They don't kiss like a husband and wife, like it's their duty. They kiss like a young couple, but they embrace each other like they know the other well."
"Those two have been together for almost twenty years," Shalsa said. "Longer, if you count their time in primary training."
"But they're both... men," Maela pointed out. "No, I mean manly. I thought that one would be the girl."
