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"She has no idea," Bode said, moving between us. "My only question is whether my brother knows you're here."
"Not exactly," I mumbled, trying to keep my voice down.
"So if Zeal didn't send you, then should I ask why you came?"
"For you," Talin whispered. "Anver has a theory, and I think he's on to something."
"Which says a lot since your gut tends to be right," Bode said.
The whole time, the priestess kept glancing back, but she was too polite to say anything. Soon enough, we reached the nave, and the High Priest's office was just beyond. Unlike in our own temple, this priestess took us all the way to the office door, and then knocked. When a woman opened the door on the other side, our guide decided to help us out a little more.
"I have two priests from Temptation here who wanted to see if they could get an appointment with the High Priest," she explained. Then, "Priests, this is Priestess Soira, the High Priest's assistant."
"Priests," Soira greeted us before nodding at the other priestess to dismiss her. Then she leaned in to grab a leatherbound journal. "And can I ask what this meeting is in regards to so I can see if he has time for it?"
"She means so she can find a reason to send you to someone else," Bode grumbled.
"I know that," I hissed at him.
Talin was simply pushing his shirt higher. "It's about the crossover between the gods," he said. "I'm sure this pattern isn't unfamiliar to you, Priestess?"
"No, it looks like a standard mark of Obligation," she told him, her voice making that sound like an apology.
"Show her yours," Bode told me.
Ok, he had a point, so I pushed my own sleeve higher. "Except that this is lace," I told her. "These are the types of markings we see in the Temple of Temptation. Talin's aren't, and they're all over his..."
Talin just smiled. "I should also mention that I'm the Primary Patron's tithe to the Temple of Temptation. However, I was told that my soul was meant for Bode. I thought that might be something the High Priest of Intuition would want to know about."
"He's right in there," Bode said. "He's even listening! You just..." He groaned. "This was so much easier when they could hear me."
"I know," Talin said.
"You know what?" Priestess Soira asked.
"Sorry," Talin replied quickly. "Um, I was going to say that I know Priest Arion would find this interesting, since I believe I'm the first to have one god's marks in another's color."
"Not the first," Bode admitted. "It's actually rather common for us to mark the tithes this way. It also keeps our temples from becoming stagnant."
"Really?" I asked. "But did you know about all five of his - "
"Let them in!" a man called from the back.
Bode just chuckled. "And those were the magic words, Shadow."
Soira stepped back and gestured for us to come inside the office. "Please understand that the High Priest is a busy man."
Bode pushed his way in first, walking right over to the man's desk. Talin and I shared a look and then followed. This was so far outside my comfort levels, but I'd find a way to make it work. If Nari could do this so easily, then I had to be able to do the same.
"Did I hear something about five Paths?" High Priest Arion asked. "I'm assuming you mean Zeal's Chosen, the Priestess of Temptation?"
"Not this time," I muttered under my breath.
"What was that?" Arion asked.
Talin just walked up to his desk. "In this case, no. My friend was talking about my marks, High Priest. You see, my lace is from Bode."
"And I put a lot of effort into it," Bode told him. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to weave in the match marks for not just one, but four other people? Zeal has to complicate things, but that's my brother for you."
