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"Well, for your information, Amerlee made her fame with commoners." Saval looked around the room, making sure everyone heard that. "Amerlee, one of the most beautiful and sought-after priestesses of her generation, and she found her niche early on. She was a safe lover for many common women who'd been married to men young, never realized they could seek actual pleasure, and who could only risk telling a priest about their desires. Many of those women slipped her a few coppers as a tithe, then silvers, until she became so popular that her time was worth gold. Do not turn your nose up at the ordinary people, because they are the ones who spread the gossip, and that gossip will make your reputations. If it's bad, no noble will want to be seen with you."
Ela and I traded a look, because I knew she was right. He just smiled, clearly coming up with a plan of his own. Sure, we had Talin's family as a boost to our future success, but I didn't want to rely on that. From the spark in his eyes, Ela didn't either. The big question was which kind of date we'd have first.
* * *
At the end of that week, exactly six days before our next session, Saval cancelled our classes so we could all meet with our schedulers. She even spoke with both Ela's and my other instructors, getting us excused. Migard's office was on the second floor, tucked into a room filled with nothing but desks, along with at least two dozen others doing the same job. As our class headed in, the schedulers looked up.
Migard, however, hopped from his chair, grabbed a stack of papers, and gestured for us to follow him to the side. There, against the wall, we had a little more privacy. The man flipped through his paperwork, divided it, then handed half to Ela with one hand. The other hand passed my share to me.
"Ok," Migard said. "The two of you will both be doing commoners the first night."
"And here I thought you'd be one of the early ones," Ela teased.
The man flashed him a knowing grin. "I was. I also know that most of the students in your class will be looking for fame and fortune, so I chose the best of the common applicants. This means you get better options. Trust me, it worked out in your favor."
I looked at the first page to see a man in his mid-thirties. He was a widower, one child, and hoped to experience a temple celebration once in his life. He'd asked for a "beautiful woman," but that was as specific as his request got.
"Not much to go on," I pointed out.
Ela chuckled. "Yeah, my date's a lesbian."
"What?" I asked, turning to look.
"It's not on there," Migard assured me. "Eladehl is simply reading between the lines, but I think you're right. She's in her mid-thirties, so well past the age of a respectable marriage. Her family is middle class, she's a spinster, and she said that she'd been ordered to bring a date, so she wanted the most rowdy date possible - of either gender."
"Would she be happier with a woman?" Ela asked.
"No, I think she'd be happier to be introducedtoa woman," Migard said. "Her date needs to get her through the door. That's you, and from the sounds of it, her family is hoping to pressure her into finding someone who'll take her off their hands."
"Oh, I will for a night," Ela said.
Then Migard flicked his finger, encouraging us to turn to the next page. "Nariana, for the Day of Planning, I set you up with a Priest of Perception."
"Peyron?" Ela asked excitedly.
"No," I said, looking at the page. "It's Edrik. I met him at one of Maela's parties. He's the one who said I could be the High Priestess of All Gods. Path of the Word."
"Well, it seems he wanted company for his goddess's big night. When he heard you were in the class, he requested you." Then Migard lifted his chin a bit and turned to Ela. Everything about him looked smug, as if he knew this was going to be good. "And you, Eladehl, were also requested."
Ela turned the page and then simply began to laugh. Unable to stop, he turned the paper so I could see it. Behind us, Wraythe and Talin leaned in, and their reactions were the same. Because, right at the top of the page, Ela's patron's name was one we knew well: Maela Ranndor. It seemed she'd requested a man who could tolerate her and her younger sister-in-law acting foolish for the night.
"Which means you get to meet Yamina," Talin told him. "My little sister is going to destroy you, Ela."
"Oh, I can't wait," Ela said. "And thank you, Migard. You did wonderfully."
"It's almost like I know what I'm doing," Migard teased. "So you know, when you both graduate, you'll have the option of choosing to stay with me or moving on to a more experienced scheduler. My goal is to convince you that I can do this."
"Well, I'm convinced," Wraythe said. "Besides, I like him."
"Me too," I told the man. "This year has actually been good, thanks to you."
"Don't give me too much credit," Migard warned. "There's not a whole lot I know about either of your first dates. I just got the best of the lot so I could guarantee you something better for the second night. Here's hoping you'll both at least get to have some fun."
"Promise," Ela assured him. "Even if we have to make it up along the way."
