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Oryll's eyes narrowed. "I would think that your weekends with Lady Ranndor would give you plenty of perspective."
At the side of the room, Talin groaned. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice but me, so I ignored both his reaction and my urge to rip Oryll's head off. I was so tired of being the punching bag in this class. These little mind games were getting old already. I was sick of having my instructors act like bullies. I was here to learn, and something inside of me was burning. It felt a lot like rage.
"I'm afraid we spend more time talking about life inside the temple, Priest Oryll," I told him, struggling to keep my tone civil. "You see, Lady Ranndor's not really a submissive woman."
"Oh, so not the kind your partner goes for?" he taunted.
The man was intentionally trying to set me off. He didn't even look ashamed of it. Once, I'd thought he was honestly trying to teach me. No longer. He took too much pleasure in watching me fumble and sputter. He liked seeing me wilt before him, but I was done with that. I'd promised Zeal that I'd stop being meek, and this was my first chance to prove it.
"What does any of that have to do with our lesson again?" I shot back. "Because no, I have no idea why women are submissive. It's not really something I can relate to."
"If you aren't a submissive, then how long until you and your declared partner split?" Oryll asked, crossing his arms to glare at me a little more.
A man's voice called from the back, "That's out of line!" This time, it wasn't Zeal.
I turned to see who was speaking up for me. I recognized the guy, but his name didn't immediately come to my mind. He was the one Ela had slept with for the first session last semester. The one who'd all but melted in my partner's arms.
"Osas," Eladehl breathed, giving me the guy's name.
"Is it?" Oryll asked Osas. "The whole temple knows that her partner is a dominant. If she's not a submissive, then their pairing will never work. She's proven herself as a guardian, it sounds like, and yet she still tries to claim the same privileges that you get as a Priest of the Body. Tell me how that's fair?"
"She's a Priestess of Temptation," Osas reminded him. "Kinda means she does both."
"No onedoes both!" Oryll snarled, slamming his hand down on his desk. "You, Nariana, need to figure out your specialization. You need to learn how you intend to perform your sessions, because this temple should not have to waste our time with you."
"And what if Eladehl isn't a dominant?" Osas demanded, refusing to sit back down.
So I shoved to my feet, unwilling to let him fight my battles for me. "Or what if I'm a switch, huh? What if, maybe, we've already found out what works for us, and we're looking for our instructor to let us know how to throw each other around safely?"
Osas chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
I looked back and mouthed "Thank you," at him.
The man nodded and then reclaimed his chair, but Oryll hadn't missed the exchange. "I was trying to spare you a problem. You see, your next class session is coming up, and you're his declared partner. I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"So, why are women more submissive?" I asked, knowing he was full of shit. The man wasnottrying to help me. He'd started all of this to make me look stupid, but it wasn't going to work. "Were you just trying to catch me not paying attention?" I grabbed my notes and lifted them up. "Because I assure you I have been. Now, if we want to talk about all the things people are saying, I can offer up a rumor. Some say our class was given the weakest instructor in years. You are here to prepare us, Priest Oryll. That is the responsibility of the Path of the Word: to translate Zeal's lessons to the rest of us. If we want to talk about those who don't know their Path..." I let the words trail off, making it clear he was failing us.
"Sit down, Nariana," Oryll ordered.
With a shrug, I did, but Tishlie stood a second later. "I want to know why," she demanded.
This time, it was Anver groaning. The guardian beside him reached over to rub his shoulder in sympathy, but Oryll ignored it all. He simply turned to look at Tishlie and a wicked little smirk took over his lips.
"Well, then I think you should've read the chapter," Oryll almost sneered.
Sadly, Tishlie didn't know how to stop herself. The girl slammed her hands down on her desk. "I did read it. You're just making things up!"
"Then why are there three submissive women to every submissive man registered in the Temple of Temptation?" Oryll asked. "It has always been that way, and it likely always will be. Does no one in this class know?" He looked around, annoyance clear on his face.
Eladehl just cleared his throat. "You do realize that I read the whole chapter, right? Doesn't say a thing in there about women being more likely to become a submissive than a man. I know, because I was looking. It references surrender as a support mechanism. It talks about dominance as a means of fulfilling our need for control. It discusses sadism and masochism, along with bondage and shaming, but nothing about generic groups like that. Maybe you're remembering an earlier version of the lesson?"
Around the room, the Priests and Priestess of the Body were all nodding. I'd assumed I'd simply missed something because I'd been hurrying through this lesson last night. It seemed that wasn't the case. At the front of the room, Oryll was smoldering, his face turning red from either embarrassment or anger, and his fury was now locked on Eladehl.
"I would've thought it was obvious for someone of your... talents. Women tend to be submissives because they are the gentler sex."
"What?" a woman asked. "I don't think so!"
"Men are larger, and by nature, they tend to be stronger," Oryll went on. "To appeal to them, women submit, giving them the power of feeling even more so."
