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Chapter 59
Nariana
We stayed at Peyron's place much too late. He'd cranked up his fire so we could all dry out before it, and he'd made tea for us, proving he was actually good at it. Good enough that Ela gave him a compliment. Then, we'd spent the afternoon, evening, and quite a bit of the night just talking, learning a bit about each other.
Peyron was Talin's age, surrendered when his parent's home burned down. He was a little too serious at times, a bit shy at others, but a good priest. He also hadn't been trained in how to socialize with others, because it wasn't really a part of his duties. He'd become obsessed with the Temple of Temptation in his sixth year of primary training, right about the time he started looking at boys for a little too long.
Now he was a man, and while he was fine with his sexuality, he was also perceptive enough to know that most people weren't. Well, most outside of my temple. Still, he talked about it easily, admitting his foolish first crushes. He also wanted to know about us. All of us. Anver's asexuality was intriguing to him, leading to thoughtful questions that somehow weren't offensive.
And then we started talking about our classes. He compared what he was studying to our courses. The three guardians added their lessons, and we all groaned in sympathy when talking about tests. The fear of failing before we graduated from initiates to disciples was universal, and bad jokes kept cropping up.
But when we finally made it home late that night, there was a note waiting on the floor inside our door. Anver bent to pick it up, carrying it to the dining room table because none of us had turned up the lights. Wraythe did that while the rest of us stripped out of our wet shoes and sodden coats. Talin and Ela set those out of the way, but Anver was looking at me.
"It's for you," he said. "The seal is for the High Priest."
"Shit," I breathed, heading over to take the sealed card. "I wonder if he knows about Rebexa."
Cracking the seal, I unfolded the outer layer to find a simple card inside. It listed the location as the High Priest's office, and a time of seven in the morning. Glancing back at the clock, I realized it was already three. This was supposed to be my weekend, a time to relax, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
"I've been summoned to see the High Priest," I told the rest.
"For what?" Wraythe demanded.
"No idea." I tossed the card on the table so they could all see. "But early, so you all can have the bed. I'm going to be awake in four hours, it seems. Three if I want to look proper."
"Fuck," Talin groaned. "I'll share the couch with you. Go get your clothes, beautiful. Robe too. If he's summoning you, that means he's summoning me too."
"And we have lunch with Maela tomorrow afternoon," Ela reminded me. "You want me to cancel for you?"
"She'll need to sleep sometime," Talin pointed out.
I just flapped my arms, shooing them all toward the bedroom. "Go. We'll wing it. Besides after Kinen's done with me, I might be stripped of my lace and thrown out of the temple, so who knows what tomorrow will bring."
There was a bit of shuffling, and the guys helped me get an outfit of pants, a nice shirt and corset, plus my tallest heeled boots. That plus my robe went on the table in the living room. A few blankets from the closet and one of the pillows went on the couch. Talin also claimed the alarm clock.
Soon enough, I was curled up against my guardian's hard body, listening to the murmurs of the three guys in our bed. It was nice in a way that convinced my eyes to slip closed quickly. They jerked back awake to the sound of the metal bells of our alarm, feeling like mere seconds had passed.
"Fucking Kinen," Talin grumbled as he lifted me up and stretched to shut the thing off. "And you'd better get off me or I'm going back to sleep."
"Shower," I told him. "I'll make tea."
"Face," he reminded me.
I groaned. "That will wake the guys."
"They'll deal," Talin promised.
So I made two large cups of tea, then went to the bedroom to do my face and hair. Talin came out of the shower and snagged his cup, heading back to the living room to change. Sure enough, the guys slept through our moving around, and when it was finally time, the pair of us looked surprisingly respectable.
The halls of the temple were quiet as we made our way to the High Priest's office on a weekend morning. When Talin knocked on Kinen's door, it took a while before it opened. On the other side was the High Priest himself, cradling what smelled like a cup of coffee.
"I'm surprised you made it," he admitted, gesturing for us to come in. "I heard you had a long night, Priestess Nariana."
"A relaxing one," I assured him. "I don't get many of those with my extra classes."
"Mm." The man gestured to the chairs before his desk. "Well, it looks like you're both about to get a two-week vacation."
"What?" Talin asked.
