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"And Kinen?" I asked.
Vernie just shook her head. "I don't know."
"We tell the believers about his lace," Delran said. "Those who know Zeal is real? We make sure they know that our god took the High Priest's lace."
"But why?" Konas asked. "That's what everyone will want to know.”
"Because he tried to drown Nari instead of allowing my sign to be seen," Zeal growled. "He tried to hurt the woman I - "
"Love," Delran finished for him. "Zeal, your feelings for her are obvious. You may be using her to regrow your faith, but I'm not sure you picked her for that."
"I did," Zeal admitted. "I just didn't expect the child with potential to grow into a woman who could challenge me. I chose her as a tool, and I found a partner instead."
Biting my lower lip, I looked down at my desk. "But that doesn't really help your case."
"No, but trying to drown our god's Chosen is a good reason to strip the man," Delran assured me. "And I think you're blushing. I also think he likes it."
"Help. Less," Konas whispered at him.
At the back of the class, Livia just giggled.
Chapter 40
Wraythe
When our classes were finally over for the week, Shalsa stopped me to let me know that the furniture was supposed to be arriving today. She was smiling like she was hiding something, but Nari had already told us what she'd picked. In my opinion, turquoise, cream, and gold would be pretty, and Nari deserved a pretty room. So I waited.
Eventually, Nari came back from her First Aid practical, excited because she'd helped to set a bone. Talin was hanging on her every word, gently guiding her towards the bedroom so she could get cleaned up. I had a feeling that Nari didn't even realize that there was a bloodstain on her pants. In this one class, she got to be nothing more than an ordinary priestess, with no one to wonder about the lace on her body or if she belonged there.
And Talin had been helping Priest Farik, the physician teaching the class. All too often, we guardians had trouble leaving our wards when they were hurt. Talin didn't mind holding the guardians back while their desires were healed, and Farik appreciated it. But when Nari was changed, the furniture still hadn't come.
Ela took her into the empty room, the pair of them using extra pillows to lie on the floor and do their reading assignments. I warned Talin that the furniture was coming, so the pair of us camped out in the living room, waiting for that knock. And then we waited a little more. But when Anver returned from his visit with the gods, he was talking to someone when he opened the door.
"Let me check," he begged, walking in. "Nari?"
"In here," she called.
He looked over at me and Talin. "Is everyone decent? Because Drandir's here." He paused, nodding his head a few times. "Ok, I think most of Obligation is here."
"The furniture," I said, pushing to my feet. "You dressed, Nari?"
"What about me?" Ela called back.
"You like showing off," I yelled at him.
He laughed. "Yes, we're dressed."
So Anver opened the door. "Come on in."
Drandir came first, holding flat sticks in various colors. "Ok," he said, looking around. "Where are we putting everything?"
Nari rushed through the doorway between rooms with a smile on her face. "The furniture?"
"And more," Drandir promised, lifting the painted sticks. "We need a little direction, though." And behind him, half a dozen more Priests of Obligation walked in, carrying closed buckets and rolls of white fabric.
"Um..." She looked at me first, then Talin. "We wanted the black couches in here with the purple conversation chairs and that rug."
"And the old couches?" he asked, gesturing to the ones currently in the living room. "Should we move those to the dressing room?"
