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"Eladehl, Priest of the Body with Temptation," he said, flicking up an eyebrow to make it clear that was an offer.
The woman accepted his hand, but her eyes flicked over to me again. "Xenia, Priestess of the Word..." Then she tilted her head back to the temple behind her. "With Ambition, of course - which seems to be one thing you're clearly not lacking."
"You have no idea," Ela assured her. "And these are my partners. The big one is Wraythe, my guardian. The sexy one is Talin, another guardian. The cute one is Anver, and yes, he's a guardian too."
"And the priestess?" she asked.
"Oh, you want to know about her?" Ela teased, flashing me a wicked grin. "Well, I'm not sure you're ready for this. You see, she's a little famous."
"Uh huh." Xenia gave him a look that made it clear he wasn't as funny as he thought he was. "I've only heard of a few priests from Temptation. Your High Priest, a woman with red hair - "
"And Priestess Nariana, the Chosen of Zeal and Priestess of Temptation," Ela finished for her. "Yeah, see, I knew you'd heard of her."
Xenia's head snapped around to look at me and she pushed to her feet. "You're really her?"
But I could barely make my brain work, let alone sound like I was anything but a bumbling idiot. "Um, yeah. It's not like it's something I asked for, though. I mean, it's just the lace my god put on me."
Ela pointedly cleared his throat, then moved a few paces further down. Talin caught my eye, smiled, and then followed. Wraythe just slapped Anver's shoulder, propelling him the same way, which basically left me standing there alone with Xenia, the woman who took my breath away while my guys moved well out of hearing range.
"Rumors say you can see all the gods," Xenia said. "True or bullshit?"
"True," I admitted, "but I don't expect you to believe me. Evidently, I'm descended from the woman who was the first - "
"Priestess for all the gods," she finished for me. "Yeah, I've been keeping up with the papers. Well, the gossip letters, if I'm honest, but in Calseth, they tend to be where the real news is." She shook her head. "Which you probably don't care about at all. I'm sorry."
"No, I think you're right," I told her. "It's not always flattering, but it seems there are a lot more issues in our city than I realized."
"So are you going to tell me the real story behind the baroness holding on to the Temptation tithe?" she asked, a playful smile taking over her lips. "I'm supposed to be researching the laws behind the tithe restrictions, and half the stories say Lady Ranndor is keeping it for herself, while the other half say that she's trying to save the temple."
"Are you flirting with me just to get the inside scoop?" I taunted.
Her teeth found her lower lip and her eyes met mine. "No, I'm flirting with you because you're beautiful. I'm asking you straight out because I'm trying to get the inside scoop."
My brain short circuited right there, because that was not a denial. That was encouragement, which made me think that she liked women. I wanted to ask, but that wasn't really considered polite outside of our temple. I also wasn't sure how to do it without coming across as desperate. So, I decided to simply answer her question.
"Maela Ranndor hasn't received the annual financial reports for last year, nor the budget breakdown for this year. Because High Priest Kinen is refusing to show where the tithe is spent, Maela - er, Lady Ranndor - is following the law. His request for funding isn't there, so the assumption is that he needs no funding, and the citizens of Calseth pay high taxes already."
"Even higher in our barony," Xenia admitted, "and Haylea hasn't filed financial reports in three years. Our baron offers her a specific amount, and she accepts it. I'm not sure who started that, though." She licked her lips, and my eyes dropped to watch the pink tip of her tongue. "I mean, so you don't think I'm going to use this against you without giving something back."
"Do you know what they're trying to do with the laws?" I asked.
Xenia shook her head. "I'm a first-year disciple. I'm not even really doing my own research yet. I'm just compiling the resources and information for my department head. What about you? Are you one of Kinen's trusted advisors yet?"
"No," I admitted. "I'm still an initiate, but this is my last semester. I'm also not convinced that I'll be allowed to graduate to disciple." Then I paused, realizing I'd just said too much.
But Xenia caught my hand. "All the temples are watching you, though. Challenge it. If he tries to fail you for some trumped-up reason, then make him prove it. That will weaken him more than anything else, and put you in the stronger position." Then she straightened quickly and confusion took over her face. A moment later, she let go of my hands. "I'm sorry. I have no idea where that came from."
"I do." The voice came from right behind me. I spun to see Will standing there. "Make her see me? Please, Nariana? I just need one faithful, and she believes enough that I can nudge her."
"It's not that easy," I told him. "Is she even close?"
"What?" Xenia asked, clearly catching only my side of that.
I waved the God of Ambition off and turned back to her. "Do you believe in the gods at all?"
"Um..." Her brow creased, and she sort of jiggled her head as if trying to keep up with my change in conversation. "Kind of? I mean, I think they had to exist at some point, and I know you're supposed to see them, but I don't understand why we can't. It just doesn't make sense to me how that's even possible. Either something exists or it doesn't, and why would one set of eyes see it when another doesn't? Granted, that was before I met you."
"And meeting me makes a difference?" I asked.
