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"Priests are being denied the right to reimmerse. Is that your doing?" Delran asked.
"No," Zeal said. "I want all of my priests, not just Body and Protection, to have that chance. I have a woman on the Path of Obligation who should be in Protection. One in Action who deserves to be in Word. People change. They grow. They should not be stuck. The Paths were designed to limit your responsibilities, not your entire lives!" Then he hung his head. "Your partner and her guardian deserve to wear the collar."
"What about my sister?" Livia asked.
Zeal shook his head. "She doesn't know yet. I don't place priests on a Path as a reward, but rather because it's what's right for them."
"And Nari?" Orilee asked. "Her Path?"
"It's right for her and me," Zeal answered. "On the day of her Choosing, she was all the Paths and none. I was going to let her pick, seeing which called to her, and then give her that, but she refused."
"I didn't want to be disappointed," I told him.
"You were being petulant," he countered. "You were also right. This is your Path. You named it. You laid it. It isn't my Path to offer; it's your Path to help me. I need you there. Now that others know, for you to change will only cause confusion and secure the belief that my tears do not have power!"
"Which would allow Kinen to use that to explain his lack of lace," Konas said.
"But he had lace," Livia pointed out. "His hands were covered."
"Tattoos," Zeal assured her. "They will never change, not even in my tears. I offered the man a chance to redeem himself, and instead he worked harder to remove all proof of my existence when I needed it most. He rewards the sycophants around him, punishes those who question him, and has been systematically removing anyone with power in the temple who believes that Nari's marks are real. Especially those who claim they can see me." And he looked at Vernie.
"I'll be happy in some remote village," she assured him. "I'm also old enough for him to force my retirement, so I'd prefer the remote village."
"But you belong here, teaching the students to think for themselves," Zeal assured her. "There are no students at the country altars."
"Wait," Delran begged, turning to look at his fellow students. "Kinen is sending away priests who could be a problem for him. Priests like all of us? He's trying to keep the talk under control, and using threats to do so. He's denying those who have served their time and are waiting to reimmerse."
"Like my mentor," I told him. "Amerlee wants to move to Word."
"She deserves it," Vernie said. "That woman has been caught between two Paths since her Choosing Day. She was an exceptional Priestess of the Body, but she could have easily been a Priestess of the Word."
"Except for Jamik," Zeal explained. "She didn't want to lose him. That's why she chose Body. Not me. Her. Now, he's ready for Word as well, and he will be a wonderful teacher for the young ones."
"Ok," Delran said. "But Kinen can't stop all of us from talking, right? And with the way things are going, he's already going to assume that everyone in this class is now a threat. Never mind that Zeal is real, but only a small portion of us believe?"
"About half," Zeal corrected.
Livia pointed at the god. "We start there. We need to find out who can see him and who cannot. We need a list of the priests in this temple who truly believe, and those who only say they do. We need to know which of the highest priests are actually working for our god, not themselves."
"And," Zevon added, "no one will think too much of Word initiates asking about that. Make it a class project, Vernie?"
Our instructor was nodding. "I can even get a list of every priest registered in this temple."
"And we'll divide it," Konas said.
"In pairs," Orilee added. "Then, once we know who believes and who doesn't, we can start working on ways to convert the rest."
"Wait!" Delran called out, halting the excitement that was quickly building. "Yes, all of that is great, but it does nothing to stop Kinen. So long as he is the official leader of this temple, he has the power. He can kick all of us out, denying our graduation."
"And if he removed an entire class of priests?" Orilee countered. "Do you not think that would cause even more questions? One person might not be able to do much..." She tilted her head towards me. "But if we all work together, we become a rebellion. A force that he will have to work with or avoid, because he cannot stop us all."
Zeal chuckled softly. "And Amerlee is already trying that. The problem is that so long as she is Nari's mentor, the question of her loyalty will always be there. Is she causing dissent because her one and only student is a failure? Is this her way of trying to protect her own reputation? Does she think she can use this to position herself better?"
Vernie leaned back and tapped at her chin. "Why is she doing it, Zeal?"
"Because mothers fight for their daughters, and Amerlee is more Nari's mother than the one who gave birth to her. Because Amerlee is my priestess, and always has been. She saw me before Nari was surrendered. Not always, but her faith is real. It's why I put her in Nari's path. Amerlee is doing my work, and for the right reasons."
"Then we'll start with surveying the faith of those in the temple," Vernie announced. "Once we have numbers to work with, we can begin designing a plan for how to use them. This will be your next exam grade, and the one after, if we need more time."
