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Faylie was nodding. "Ela, I want to have a session with you and Nari, then."
"No," Ela said.
I huffed. "Why not? We're going to work together at some point!"
"No," he insisted. "Nari, not until I have control."
"You willneverhave control," Faylie told him, "until you work with her. Nari is your limit, Eladehl. I also know that you won't always work with her, so you'll need to find a way to hold on to that when she's not around. You need to figure this out, and hiding it from her isn't doing it."
"And you need to figure it out before your session with Tishlie," Talin pointed out. "Because we all know she'll try to push Nari."
"Let her," Ela said, his voice cold.
"You can't kill her," I reminded him.
His dark eyes jumped over to me and his lips curled. "You mean shouldn't, because I could. That's the problem, Nari. Icouldkill her, and I wouldn't even feel bad about it."
I just leaned over my knees toward him. "And it would break my heart. I would lose you, and that would destroy me, so youcan't. I know you're capable of it, but you can't kill her. Just break her a bit. Ideally, the same way she keeps trying to hurt me."
He nodded once. "That's a line I can work with."
Chapter 34
Talin
After we left Faylie's rooms, the group of us headed for dinner. No one had to say it, but we knew we couldn't talk about all of this. Still, the assignment hung over the four of us like a weight. Nari and Wraythe did their best to change the subject, discussing the better parts of the day and trying to drag Ela into it.
He put on a good show, but I could tell this was bothering him. When we went to our training session in the Salle, he put a little too much effort into sparring, but he wouldn't talk to me about it. Grath didn't seem to have that problem. Nari's mentor politely asked Wraythe if he could help Ela with a move, and then the pair moved to the side.
That left me working with Irila. I was facing the perfect way to see when Ela tossed his weapons on the ground and tried to walk off. Grath caught his arm, and Ela turned with a fist raised. I didn't even think. I turned to assist, stopping only when Irila's staff paused a hair before my nose.
"Your focus needs to be here," she snapped. "He is not your ward."
"You sure about that?" I asked. "Because Zeal's been fucking with us in ways we don't even understand."
"Zeal?" Irila asked, looking up at the ceiling.
"Over here," the god answered, appearing behind us both.
Irila laughed, knowing that was what he did. "Is Eladehl Talin's ward too?"
"Mm..." He glanced at me, then his lips curled into a smile. "Not the word I'd use."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"I gave Nari what she wanted," he explained. "I made sure you were all a match, but I left it up to you to open the bonds. Well, except yours with her, but that's been growing. She guards the faith, you three guard her, but to do that, you also have to guard each other. Yes, you feel protective of him, but not as much as you do for her."
"What are you doing?" I asked.
Zeal grunted. "That question! I'm trying to prepare for everything. I'm trying to give you the best chance possible."
Irila lifted a finger, stopping me when my mouth opened again. Then she turned to Zeal. "What about the complications that will make for them? The kids are still trying to figure out their own desires and responsibilities."
"This..." And Zeal gestured to the room. "It's not their problem. I don't care about grades. I'm not worried about the rules of their Paths. They aremypriests. All of you are, but them more than most. I need them to work for me, not the system."
"Because the system's broken," I mumbled, repeating something Nari said far too often.
Zeal nodded. "I need Nariana to grow up. I need her to gain confidence. I need her to fulfill her potential, and that will take time. All I'm doing is giving her the best chance I can. There is no greater plan than that. Not right now. Well, not from me."
