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And yet, when I headed to my Word class the next day, I wasn't surprised at all to find that the other students had questions. Lots of them. I was barely through the door before Konas asked the first one.
"Why is the High Priest stalking you?" he demanded.
"I don't think he is," I said, trying to downplay the situation.
"He's definitely keeping track of you," Delran countered. "He also couldn't see Zeal."
"How?" Zevon asked just as Vernie walked in.
"How what?" our instructor wanted to know.
Everyone fell silent, and from the looks on the faces around me, no one really wanted to say too much. Not that I blamed them. Kinen was the High Priest, the leader of our temple. There was an inherent assumption that he deserved his place. In my primary training, the man had rarely been discussed, but when he had, it was always as if Zeal had put him in the position.
But Zeal didn't have that problem. Appearing at the back of the class, he spoke up as if he'd been listening all along. "He wants to know how the man in the highest position in this temple can be one who has absolutely no belief in me," he told Vernie.
She just took her chair, watching him the whole time. "Well, care to share?"
"Because I didn't pick him," Zeal said. "Before Nari's Choosing, she was the only person in this temple who could always see me. Now, a year and a half later, more can, but certainly not all."
"But how did you let it happen?" Zevon asked. "I mean, you said you were always here. Couldn't you have stopped it?"
"No," I said, making everyone look at me. "When we stop believing in him, he loses power over us. The gods rely on us as much as we rely on them. So when we refused to believe that he was right here, encouraging us to not only tempt others, but also to be tempted, he lost power, and it was our fault."
"And mine," Zeal said softly. "We stopped believing in humanity as individuals. You live and die so fast to us. It hurts to lose you, so we distanced ourselves. That distance was felt, and you pulled away. In trying to keep from suffering grief, we lost our believers, so it is our fault, Nari."
"All of ours," Orilee said. "But Kinen basically said that he wants to get rid of Nari, right?" She looked around as if trying to get others to agree with her. "If her lace is a mistake, then it means he thinks she doesn't belong here, right?"
Konas was looking at me intently. "He thinks you're a threat, doesn't he?"
I nodded slowly. "He's convinced that, because of my lace, I'm going to try to become the next High Priest, taking his position and status from him." I paused, almost leaving it there, but I couldn't. "And he thinks that if he can convince others that the tears are no longer working, it will explain why his lace vanished."
"What?" Vernie asked, sitting up in her chair. "His collar?"
"All of it," Zeal said. "I removed his lace and that of the initiate priestess known as Ciella. I do not want them in my temple. They do not believe, and we are not required to keep those who are not grateful for what we offer them!"
His voice rose to a roar as Zeal stormed forward, up the aisle of chairs beside me. Most of the other students leaned away from him. A girl on the far side had wide eyes like she was ready to bolt, but I knew better. Zeal was loud. He was powerful. He also preferred to use that power for us.
But once he reached the front, he turned to face the entire class. "I made this temple. I am the god here. I am the one who made the laws that provide you with food, comforts, and privileges that your births would never have afforded! I did this, and how was I repaid? The one I name as my Chosen has been ignored. They tried to remove the marks that I chose to put on her! I found a way to remind you all that I am still here, and no one is listening!"
"But they are, Zeal," I said, my voice calm and gentle. "Everyone in this room is. You're screaming at the ones on your side, and they did nothing wrong. Nothing more than you did."
His eyes snapped to me and stayed there for a little too long. "I will not give you up."
"Nor I you," I swore. "Kinen already had me reimmersed, and how many more did it convince? What else can he do to me?"
"Refuse to acknowledge your graduation and cite you as a failure on your Path and thus the entire temple," Vernie said, sounding like she didn't want to admit that. "Nariana, he is the High Priest. He has power given to him by the laws of Calseth and the charter of this temple. He could kick you out right now, but that would make too many questions that he can't answer, so he's waiting. Don't be surprised if he expects you to complete the graduation tasks for all five Paths."
"But I've only taken one class on each Path," I reminded her. "I mean, except for Body, but I declared that as my primary Path."
"Declared," Vernie repeated. "But there has never been a priestess like you before."
"I'll help you," Zeal promised. "I know all of my Paths. I understand them, and if he tries, then we will make sure you succeed."
"We'll help too," Delran said. "Nari, everyone in this room can see Zeal. I've talked to priests in my other classes, and they say the same. Somewhere in the last year, we've all begun to see him in the halls, and while some have wondered, most are sure it's him. Every Priest of the Word since your Choosing. Why?"
"Because I'm tired of rewarding the faithless," Zeal admitted. "I hoped that by the time she was ready, all of you would be established priests, there to support her." He paused to shove his hand over his hair. "I just didn't expect that she wouldn't wait until she graduated to save me."
Delran and Konas shared a look. It was the kind that proved how many years they'd spent together, and how easily they understood each other. Then Konas nodded, so Delran looked back at Zeal.
