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"I know," Amerlee assured her. "But Kinen's concerns aren't inside the temple. They're about placing himself well in the peerage. Before Nari, he could easily say that improving his standing with the barons was for the good of the temple, but now? It's becoming more obvious that he is trying to place himself well, not his priests, and certainly not his god."
"So what do we do?" Faylie asked.
Zeal gave her a soft smile. "You're already doing it. The more people you convince to see me, the more I can do to help you. The bond between god and priest is nothing more than a larger version of the one between guardian and desire. Where do you think we got the idea?"
"What about me?" I asked.
Zeal chuckled once. "Nari, you have enough. I never asked you to do everything at once."
"But she needs to make it clear that Kinen is the problem," Amerlee countered. "Zeal, hewilltry to prevent her from graduating to disciple. This is the last chance the High Priest has to get rid of her."
"But it's not working," Quin pointed out. "Too many of us can see that her interests are inside the temple, not to raise herself up. I've heard other priests talking about how she could've claimed the Path of the Word, but instead is on Body as her main. She didn't even ask for the highest Path, but rather the one that best suits her."
"Yeah, but..." Faylie paused, glancing over to me with a guilty look. "I'm sorry, Nari, but not everyone is happy about you. Plenty of the priests on the Path of the Word think that you're trying to rank yourself above them. I guess there was an incident last year when you were studying Obligation? Well, one of the Priests of Word who heard about it - He wasn't even there! - was offended that you think you outrank them. He's convinced a group of others that you want to make all of them into little more than schedulers."
"But," Shalsa pointed out, "it's not as if everyone is going to agree with her."
"We just need to make sure we keep the naysayers to themselves," Amerlee said. "Unfortunately, a few are worried that my concern about Nari's place in the temple has more to do with my connection to her as her mentor, and less to do with the structure of the temple leadership."
"So, in other words," I summarized, "instead of bringing the temple together, I'm basically splitting it apart even more? Isn't that the exact opposite of what I'm supposed to be doing?"
"No," Zeal assured me. "You, my Chosen, are supposed to make waves. You're supposed to be enough of a disturbance to cause people to talk." He paused to give me a rather smug smile. "And trust me, they are all talking."
Chapter 28
Nariana
We all paused as our food was brought to us. The servers didn't seem to be able to see Zeal, so Anver asked if he could have an additional drink. I was truly impressed. Anver was so casual about making sure that Zeal's needs were met, never drawing attention to them, and all while placing himself to explain people looking that way. It was like he'd done this a few times before.
But once the servers left, Maela picked up where we'd left off. "Do the priests inside the temple even know that Kinen is refusing to give me the financial documents, or that the tithe has been withheld?" she asked.
"No," Amerlee said. "I mean, a few of us do, and those who spend more time outside the temple have heard rumors, but it hasn't yet become a topic of discussion."
"What about how the temple is running?" Maela asked.
I murmured at that. "I know that the kitchens are running out of a few luxuries. Cherries were one. It's also off-season for them, so they would be more expensive."
"And the food in the session last night," Talin pointed out. "It's normally chocolates and fine candies. Last night, your room had an assortment of finger foods."
"We had cheeses and wine," Wraythe said. "No flowers, either. That decorative table had been turned into a place for oils and cloths."
"I thought it was just a Control session thing," Ela admitted.
"Tish's was the same," Anver admitted. "Well, the food. The decorative table had evergreen branches in a vase, instead of flowers."
I was listening, taking it all in. "So the frivolous stuff is being cut back. I don't know if that's because the temple can't afford it, or if it might be preemptive, making sure the finances stretch longer."
"But the temple still seems to have money," Maela pointed out. "We're well into the year, and there isn't a panic about funding. In other words, the temple had a surplus."
Faylie leaned in. "Is that why Kinen doesn't want to show you the budget? Is it because the temple has been running a surplus for so long?"
"What Kinen wants," Maela told all of us, "is for Tath to raise taxes again, and thus raise the tithe. The documents we found from last summer hinted that the cost of living, like for food and necessary supplies, has gone up. To cover that, we should be braced to raise taxes and increase the tithe to the temple. Ten percent should be enough."
"A ten percent tax increase?" Irila gasped.
Maela nodded her head slowly. "Maybe it's because I was raised in the barony for Compassion, but lowering taxes was always my father's goal, never raising them. My bigger concern is what will happen when the temple does run out of money."
"Maybe that will be enough to convince Kinen to finally give you the reports," Jamik said, his tone making it obvious that he didn't think it was likely.
