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"Good to know," Zeal murmured as he reached over to steal a bite from my plate.
But Talin had other concerns. "What are we doing about Tishlie? I can't be the only one that worries about Anver when he's not here."
I grumbled under my breath, "Give me another session with that little cunt and I'll make sure she won't be able to talk again."
"I need her right now," Zeal said.
"Why?!" I demanded. "She does nothing but terrorize Anver, and she doesn't even believe in you. What could you possibly need her for?"
It was Anver who answered. "Because I need a ward so I can be trained as a guardian."
"She's the only one he matched to," Zeal explained. "It was a weak match, but once Nari met Talin, Tishlie became Anver's best option. I need him to be a guardian."
"Why?" This time it was Wraythe asking, but my thoughts mimicked his.
Maybe we'd fallen away from Anver in our last years of primary training, but that hadn't made me stop caring about him. He'd been my first kiss - Nari's too. He'd been a friend, and one I'd trusted without hesitation. He'd meant something to me, and not a lot of people did, so losing him had hurt. Getting him back? I was willing to fight for him now. I would not lose him again,orsit back and watch in silence while he was abused by his ward.
Zeal claimed the chair at the end of the table and gestured for all of us to eat. Hopefully, that meant he'd actually answer, but I was starving, and it had already been an insane day with Peyron, Savi, and now this? We'd been granted two months off from our classes - unlike in our primary education, when we'd only had two weeks. Both of those months had been calm, filled with research, relaxation, and parties with the nobility of Calseth. Now, the weekend before classes started again, the insanity was back, but we had a god to lead us through it.
"This temple doesn't know how to deal with the five of you," Zeal finally said when we were all seated. "Five is also an odd number. According to Kinen's rules, a guardian must have a ward. A desire cannot have two guardians."
"Wait," I breathed, trying to guess where he was going with this. "So, what do you plan to do with Tishlie then?"
"Give her a chance to redeem herself," Zeal said, "but I don't expect it to work. I love all of my priests, but some disappoint me. Then there's Nari. She is my Chosen. You four are the ones who will hold her up when she stumbles. She is the one who will speak for me, and that is not an easy job anymore. I need her protected over all else, because her threats won't just be angry patrons - as we've already seen. Having Anver help only makes sense if he'salreadyhelping."
Talin gestured at Anver with his fork. "What does that make you? Ela's the Temptation, Wraythe's the Shield, and I'm the Blade. Which title did you get?"
"He's the Shadow," Zeal said. "Always there, never noticed, and willing to follow where he's needed. He can see and hear what I need, will stand behind those who shine brightly for me, and slips away without notice. Anver is the key to making this all work without damaging the rest of us."
"Us..." Anver repeated, catching that word.
Zeal nodded. "Yes, us, because I will not risk any of you more than I risk myself. That's not how I treat those I care about."
Which sounded great, and from the look in Anver's eye, it was working, but I saw a gaping hole in all those pretty words. "But you let Tishlie abuse him?"
"I do notlether!" Zeal snapped, his head whipping around to me.
Once, his rage had intimidated me. Now, I knew better. This was simply a part of him, the way my desire for pain was a part of me. A dark part. A terrifying part. It was also very, very controlled. Zeal might raise his voice and pound on the tables or walls, but he had never once hurt us. Not intentionally.
"You also don't stop her," I pointed out. "Zeal, she slaps him around!"
He hung his head. "I know."
"Then do something about it!" Nari snapped. "Not to her. To him!"
"Hey!" Anver shot back. "I'm right here."
"And I've already told you to stand up for yourself, but you refuse. Maybe Zeal can't nudge Tishlie, but he can fucking nudgeyourmind. He can compel you if he wants."
"But Idon'twant," Zeal said, his voice calm and soft, unlike the rest of ours. "Anver needs to learn. He has to figure this out for himself. I can tell him he's worth more, but I can't prove it to him. I can only give him the space to realize that he's not worthless or forgotten. That the four of you have been fighting for him, even when he wasn't a part of your life."
So l leaned over and grabbed Anver's arm, making him look at me. "If she hits you again, I'm spending the night with her. I will convince her to push her limits far enough that she will never recover. I don't care if I break her physically or mentally, but if she keeps abusing you, I will definitely break her somehow."
"Which means it's easier to stop her yourself, Anver," Talin said. "Also, you're not allowed pain sessions until you've been cleared by Faylie, Ela. If you tried, Saval would have no choice but to demote you."
"They wouldn't demote me," I assured him. "This temple is too eager to have me front and center. I can tempt the women, seduce the men, and remind the nobility that priests have more power. Kinen knows that I'll do nothing but make him stronger, so I'm not exactly worried."
Wraythe flicked a finger at Nari. "He also knows that separating you from her would destroy her. He's more worried about her taking over than losing your influence, so I wouldn't be so sure of your safety, Ela."
