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Nari rolled her eyes, but I wasn't going to take that from Tish. "Do you ever listen to a single thing I say?" I asked. "Tishlie, we are done. All we have to do is make it to the end of the semester, and then we can both request a re-immersion. It's not as if you even like me, so why the fuck do you care what I do?"
"But you know how much I wanted to go to the Fresh Start," she huffed. "You are my guardian, not hers, and yet you took her instead of me? You took her to theone thingthat means this much to me?"
"Everything means 'this much' to you," I countered.
"Well, if it's something that can get her a little attention," Ela added. "Besides, it wasn't Anver who got Nari into the Temple of Compassion last night. It was Nari who got all of us in there, Tishlie."
"Her?" Tishlie scoffed. "Please. Just because you're friends with the baroness doesn't mean anything. It also isn't going to last. The High Priest has already sent a letter to Baron Tath. Once he hears what you're doing with his wife, he'll make sure that she's never allowed in the temple again."
Talin groaned. "That is not how it works," he told Tishlie. "Does no one in this temple have any clue of the laws we're supposed to be living by?"
"Tishlie is lucky she can remember her name most days," Nari said. "Don't expect her to understand the laws of Calseth. I'd be surprised if she's even read the words of Zeal."
"Don't act like you're so much better than me," Tishlie snapped. "You are nothing more than a mistake that this temple should be ashamed of, and without the baroness to protect you, you won't last very long."
And with that, Tishlie spun, letting her long curls fluff out behind her, and stormed away. The worst part was that I felt nothing but relief. Once, I'd thought that the two of us could be happy. I'd daydreamed that I would be able to take care of her. Somehow, I had convinced myself that she was gentle and sweet. All I had to do was make sure no one took advantage of her, and she would appreciate me the way I'd always hoped for.
Instead, I'd lost the three people who actually felt that way. Sure, Nari and her guys blamed Tishlie for what happened between us, but I knew exactly how much fault was mine. Compared to Wraythe, I was a sad excuse for a guardian. When Nari started protecting me instead of me protecting her, I'd felt like a failure - so I'd chased the shallow and easy things. The problem was that I'd caught her.
That was why Zeal had bound me to her. That was why I'd needed to pay penance after Choosing. Tishlie was the price for my temptation, and I'd been willing to pay it, yet now that was over. I was finally done paying my dues - which meant it was time for me to start getting it right. Last night, I'd taken the first step in doing that.
"Come on," Nari said, angling me towards the food line. "Let's get some breakfast and pretend like Tishlie has never existed."
We headed that way, but Wraythe shifted behind me. "That's great, but did you actually hear what she said?" he asked.
"She knows about the High Priest sending a letter to Tath," Ela said. "And she's using his verbiage in her threats now."
"The bigger question is how she knows about that," Talin pointed out. "We know that Kinen is using Ciella to get information from us. Did Ciella tell Tishlie? Or is Tishlie also helping Kinen?"
"I honestly have no idea," I admitted. "Granted, Kinen didn't seem like he was worried about keeping that a secret. Maybe he said something to Ciella loud enough that Tishlie heard? I can come up with a million ideas, but the truth is that they're all simply speculation."
"And we can't do much with speculation," Nari said.
"Maybe not," Talin countered, "but stop and think about this, Nari. There's no way Tath is going to forgive us for what we've done. The moment my brother gets that letter, it's going to be the last excuse he needs to cut Maela off from the temple. My mother wouldn't even talk to me last night. That means she's livid. The most important thing in my mother's world is her standing in society - which is based on the respect of her peers. Having Maela step up as the Primary Patron is going to cause a scandal."
"Which makes all of this abigmess," Wraythe summarized.
"That's putting it mildly," Ela said. "Guys, I think I really fucked up."
"No, you didn't," Nari assured him. "You did exactly what I needed you to do. Ela, Zeal says that you're my weapon, and I'm the one who started that."
"Yeah, and none of it is going to help us with the mess we're in here," Ela told her. "I should've just let Wraythe beat the shit out of him. Or Talin! According to the law, he has the right to cut his own brother's throat for touching you without permission."
Talin just ducked his head and let out a heavy sigh. "And I was the last person in that room. I was supposed to be the closest, yet I was still the verylastto get there when my desire needed me the most."
I turned back and clasped his arm, giving him a little shake to stop the way his mind was thinking. "There is a reason that Zeal gave her four people to watch over her. It's not because he expects her duties to be easy, Talin. It's because he thinks that one man will never be enough. Playing with gods is never a good idea. Agreeing to be used by them is even harder. The simple fact that no one thinks Nari's insane speaks volumes. It means that youaredoing your job - and so are we."
His beautiful blue eyes met mine, and Talin nodded once. "Thanks, Anver. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear."
Our conversation paused when we reached the Priest of Obligation to get our food. Nari went first, making her selection, then moved down the line so that I could list off what I wanted. I was halfway through my order when the second Priest of Obligation lifted his head and smiled at her.
"Polst?" Nari asked. "Hey, what are you doing up here?"
"I graduated," he told her. "Because you stood up for me, I wasn't held back for another year of initiate training. And, as a new disciple, I got the short straw of serving on the holiday." Then he smiled. "So, how are you liking your new suite?"
Surprisingly, I actually recognized this guy from Nari's cooking class. He was the one who'd been such a jerk to her, yet I'd also heard about her final. Nari had stopped the Priest of the Word from hitting a guy, and had proceeded to chew out the man who was responsible for her grade. The end result was that she and another priest hadn't failed their final exam, and now the entire Path of Obligation treated her like their savior. I simply hadn't realized that the priest she'd stood up for was Polst.
Nari gestured at the four of us. "We love it. There is no way I'm ever going to be able to thank Obligation enough for what you've done for me."
