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Saval just closed her eyes in a long blink. "They should come talk to me," she repeated. "It has been decided that since all of you are accepting outside patrons, that escorting and entertaining at this event will help you get introductions that many of you..."
She paused, handed the rest of the papers to the last row, and then began walking back to the front of the room. Again, her jaw was tense, but now it was a lot more than that. Saval's casually pleasant attitude had changed so much that the murmurs of conversation faded and the room fell completely silent.
And when she reached the front, Saval spun to face us. "I would like it to be known that I do not approve of this session. Sadly, I was outvoted." Then she looked over at me. "The Entertainment specialists were chosen specifically for this. I'm supposed to tell you that Zeal is counting on all of you to keep the temple running, so now I have." She pulled in a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. "I have also been your instructor since you sat down in your first classroom. Each of you are my students, and my only goal here is to make sure that you are as prepared as possible for your future as priests. I have held your hands when you were scared and bandaged your scrapes when you fell down! Each and every one of you has grown into men and women that I'm proud of. I look at this room before me, and I see so much potential. I also know that a bad session can ruin your enjoyment of this Path and hurt in ways that will never show on the outside. So, when I say that you can come to me if you have any problems with this, that is what I mean."
"We can do it, Saval," a girl at the front assured her.
"You made sure we know how to say no," a guy agreed.
"We don't want you to get in trouble for this," someone else added.
And it didn't stop there. As student after student assured her that we would make this work, I watched Saval reach up to wipe at her eye and nod her head proudly. The tension from her body slowly faded, and for the first time I realized just how much she'd aged. She hadn't been a young woman when she'd taken us in, and now she had to be nearing retirement, and still she fought for us.
So I added my own voice to the mix. "You raised us when our mothers couldn't, Saval. Don't think we'll forget that."
And that was when she broke. Turning for the door, Saval managed to get out, "Class is dismissed. I'll be in my office."
But I wasn't the only one who noticed her cheeks were damp. I was pretty sure the entire class did too, and that made me even more nervous.
"We need to see Migard after class today," I said, looking over at Talin. "Saval doesn't crack like that."
"You hit her right in the emotions," Talin countered.
So I grabbed my things and leaned in toward him. "And you don't know Saval like we do. That woman would face down all the gods without flinching. Something is going on. We need to make sure Migard has us covered."
"We do," Nari agreed, and Talin nodded, making it clear he wasn't fighting us.
Chapter 60
Nariana
The moment I was out of First Aid, I found Wraythe waiting outside my class. That confused me, because it was usually Talin, and sometimes Jamik. It was unexpected, but nice. Yet, when I opened my mouth to ask, he just shook his head and turned me towards the center of the temple.
"Anver and Ela are explaining Saval's reaction about this session to Talin, since he didn't grow up with her. I offered to come get you, but we're all meeting up to talk to Migard. If Saval is this worried, though? It can't be good, Nari. So..." He paused to glance back. "I think you should refuse this session."
"I'm going to wait to see how the auction turns out," I told him.
His head snapped back around and he looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. "Why? Look at what happened the last time you were pushed into a bad session!"
"And I cancelled that session with the virgin! The father showed up with his son. That's one refusal on my part. Another? You don't think Kinen will use that against me in some way? Plus, from the way Saval sounded, she's getting pressure too. If none of us do this session, I have a feeling she'll be the one heading to some country temple next!"
"Oh."
Yeah, because I'd been thinking about this all day long. It would be easy to refuse this. In truth, I had a feeling that Kinen was counting on it, waiting to catch me at something so he could kick me out. Saying that I had no interest in participating in my Path was probably a really good place to start. I'd been the one to declare the Path of the Body as my main. So for me to refuse not just one session, but multiple?
I could think of a million arguments he could make. It would start with me being traumatized after Nyrren was killed and no longer interested in sexual interactions. It would probably end with something about my fall from favor with the nobility and how I thought my Path was just a way to gain rank and privileges. In the middle somewhere would be an entire rant about my indecisiveness.
That would be used as proof that Zeal's tears weren't working properly. He'd trot me out as an example of how the miracles we counted on were weakening, which meant that he - and the other High Priests - needed to step up and take over. Sure, it might be a long shot, but ifIcould figure out how to make me refusing this session into a way for the High Priests to gain control of writing the laws of Calseth, then I was pretty sure that Kinen could as well.
When we reached the stairs that led to the second floor where the schedulers worked, Ela, Talin, and Anver were there waiting. I'd barely even stopped before Anver stepped in to wrap his arms around me in a tight hug. I tensed for a moment, confused as to what had brought this on, and then I simply relaxed into the feel of him.
Because Anver's shoulders were broad. His chest was flat and muscular. He was shorter than Ela and Talin, but just right for me to press my face against the side of his neck. As my arms closed on his back, I felt tension flee my body - tension I hadn't even realized I had.
"This has to be a setup," Anver whispered in my ear. "Do not let them break you, Nari."
I turned to kiss his cheek. "Not anymore," I promised. "Does Tish have a session?"
"Nope," he said. "I'll be at home waiting for you all to get back." Then he canted his head back. "But her session is this weekend, so I should probably make the effort to check on her."
