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Jamik's eyes landed on Talin. "And where were you?"
"No," I said, stopping that before anyone could make Talin feel worse. "We were in the house, on the first floor. I was heading from one room to another to meet Maela, Ela, and Wraythe for breakfast. Talin's mother wanted a word with him, and I'm the one who decided to keep walking."
"She was trying to convince me that I should pressure my youngest sister into marriage," Talin explained. "What my mother doesn't understand is that Yamina isn't interested in a man. She and Maela are involved - although that is a very closely kept secret. So, I was trying to convince my mother that Yamina is young, the family doesn't need more financial security from an outside marriage, and thus there's no reason to push her too fast."
"She needs someone to stand up for her," Jamik said, showing he counted that as a good excuse for not being with me. "And in the middle of your childhood home isn't where you expect bad things to happen."
"But they did!" Talin snapped.
I reached over to grab his hand. "And Tath paid." Then I looked back to Amerlee. "Wraythe pulled him away from me, but Ela took over. Tath tried to rape me. Ela simply raped him back, and I was encouraging it."
"He had consent," Talin countered.
"Ela pressured your brother to give consent," I pointed out. "That is what makes him so dangerous. Ela talked that man into saying exactly what he needed him to, and then Ela proceeded to abuse him. Tath liked it, right up until he realized that the doors were still open and he was the one the staff and family were all watching, not me."
"Shit," Shalsa breathed. "That's the sort of thing that will come back to bite you, Nari."
"I know!" I groaned. "And then, Kinen got up in my face last night. He's also making it known that he's sent a letter to Tath, trying to get around Maela's pressure for those financial reports. He told me that last night, and then Tishlie mentioned the same thing today. That's going to put the pair of them in contact, and if Kinen hears aboutthis? He's looking for an excuse to get rid of me, and I'm worried that we may have given it."
"If Kinen hears about it, it won't be Ela paying the price for his actions," Amerlee finished. "It'll be you. Well, that adds another layer to this that we really didn't need."
"Do not blame them for what Tath did," Shalsa warned her.
"I'm not," Amerlee promised. "In fact, I'm proud of the kids for handling this so well. Nari looks angry about it, nothing more."
"I'm not traumatized," I assured her. "In all honesty, I was expecting Tath to try something like this. The man thinks women exist only to please him. He uses us and throws us away at his convenience, not ours. He saw me as Talin's weakness and nothing else."
"He has hated me since I was born," Talin explained. "I was pampered and spoiled because they were going to give me up to the temple. Tath was pushed and reprimanded to be constantly better because he was the heir to the barony. In his eyes, I got the love and affection he worked for, so the only way to deal with that is to make sure I suffer now. My brother knows enough about the temple to understand the traditional pairing of a guardian to his ward."
"So he doesn't know about your ring," Irila said as she carried over our tea. "Then that's one thing he can't tell Kinen."
"The problem is all the rest of this," I told them. "Maela is my friend. She has taken her place as the Primary Patron of Temptation, and Zeal is encouraging her to do more. Kinen is trying to block her, thinking Tath is easier to work with."
"More like absent," Amerlee corrected. "From what I've been hearing, Tarben let things slip at the end of his life, as his health declined. Kinen took that opportunity to pad his own pockets, and now the High Priest is addicted to the life of luxury he's made for himself. You, Nari, are the only thing threatening that, because all of his problems can be tied right back to you. Talin, Maela, and even the excitement your lace causes in the temples - they're all things that weaken his control."
I scoffed. "Which is stupid, because I don't want his position."
"But he needs to go," Jamik told me. "So long as Kinen 'rules' this temple - and yes, we did catch most of that last night - Zeal will always lack power. As proof, the rings on the guardians are a good place to start, and it just keeps going. Those who choose power over faith are promoted. The work is pushed down the line to the weakest priests, convincing them that our god isn't fair, and they stop believing. Nari, Kinenisthe problem. That means you do want his position. Maybe not for yourself, but you need to remove that man so Zeal can thrive again."
"Me?" I shook my head in denial. "I'm still an initiate!"
"And Zeal's Chosen," Amerlee reminded me. "I think that title counts for more than anything else. Your god put enough lace on your body to get noticed. In case you missed it last night, it's been noticed. In the last year and a half, more and more priests have begun to believe. Not all of them, but Zeal talks to people as he walks through these halls now." She paused to lick her lips, glancing over at Shalsa quickly. "What you don't understand is that Kinen is already making his move."
"How?" I asked, braced for the worst.
Slowly, she bobbed her head, looking like she was trying to accept the news she was about to give me. "You know I put in a request for a reimmersion with the next Choosing? While you were away last week, it was denied."
"What?" I gasped. "Why? You've earned the right to move up!"
Shalsa just lifted a hand, halting my rant before I could really get started. "And Amerlee has been a thorn in Kinen's side. Even as a Priestess of the Body, she has power in this temple. Just imagine how much more she'd have if she was on the Path of the Word? He can't take that risk, Nari. Not with you still in play."
"And," Irila added, "I've been hearing about priests being sent to the country temples and altars."
"Out of Calseth city," Talin realized, but he looked over at Amerlee. "Do you think he'd do that to you?"
"I really don't," Amerlee assured us. "First, because sending me and not Shalsa would make bigger problems. Sending both of us to separate temples simply gives us more chances and a bigger swath of land to convert."
"And conversion is the thing he's most concerned about," Jamik explained. "No, Kinen won't let Amerlee out of his sight. If she had an entire countryside filled with desperate farmers and new merchants around, it wouldn't take long before she'd convince them all of Kinen's failings. We know that and he knows that."
