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"That's actually pretty good," Talin told him. "It doesn't say that we drank it, but it also doesn't say we didn't. It's also just obvious enough that you know Drandir will make sure he finds out who put it there."
So I took another, longer drink of my tea, finishing off the last of it. "And this tea seems to be fine. Now, I'm going to go get ready, because we have lunch with Maela and I want to look good enough to make my guardians all drool."
"Partners," Wraythe called after me. "That way you include Ela too."
Behind me, the guys started picking on each other. Ela was adamant that he was also a guardian, but Anver said he wasn't good enough to count. Talin pointed out that Anver had done his part in our orgy, so Ela clearly wasn't keeping up. Not long after, Ela stormed into the dressing room, acting like he was offended, but the smile on his face gave him away.
On impulse, I decided to wear gold today. The color brought out my eyes, and when Ela added it to his suit, it accented the shade of his hair. Then he handed out accent pieces in the same color to each of the guys. Wraythe ended up with a gold cravat, vest, and pocket square. Talin had on a gold shirt and found a pair of gold cufflinks to match. Anver, it seemed, had a shirt that was black with gold pinstripes, which made his compass-shaped tie pin into an accent piece.
When we walked into the café, the five of us looked good. We also looked like a matched set, and I liked how that felt. Even better, the staff turned and then paused as if a little intimidated to see us. That was the same kind of reaction that Maela usually got as the Baroness of Temptation.
Talin stepped up to ask for our table to be set up the way we usually had it. It was something that the staff was used to, so none of them batted an eye. They simply got to work. While we were waiting for that to be finished, Maela arrived, walking through the front door with the biggest smile on her face.
"I am so glad to see all of you. Oh, and you wouldn't believe what I saw on the way over here. It's a new little deli or café that's being built. We're definitely going to have to try it." Then she waived all of that off. "Tell me everything is good? I feel like I haven't seen all of you in forever."
So we caught up. The one thing we didn't tell her about was the strange alcohol that morning, but since we didn't have any answers, there was no sense in worrying her. However, Anver did tell her about the tensions growing in the other temples, and how worried the gods were getting. That seemed to be something Maela already knew about.
So once we were sitting down and had ordered our meals, she leaned in and lowered her voice. "Three other barons are trying to refuse giving the tithes to their temples. They're trying to say that it's the same thing I'm doing, but it's not. However, two of those temples, Ambition and Inspiration, did not give their baron the financial reports for last year."
"Why not?" I asked before I could even think about it.
"Because it seems that there's an unwritten rule between the barons and the temples," she explained. "They come to an agreement about how much of a tithe will be needed. The barons do not want to deal with the paperwork, and the High Priest doesn't want to keep track of it. I mean, I can understand how it would be easier, but it's not fair to the citizens who are paying taxes in order to cover this. Taxes that have been raised each and every year for as long as I can remember!"
"And if the temples don't provide the financial reports, then by law, the barons are not required to give them any money," I realized. "I'm going to assume that most of these barons think that the tax money they collect is theirs, not the temples."
"Exactly," Maela agreed. "I told you that Thiemo has been helping me with all of this. Well, he's gone a couple of steps further. Many of the people he spends time with for leisure are related to barons. They could be sons, brothers, cousins, but all of them have a good understanding of how each barony works. The Baron of Inspiration's younger brother is the one who laid all of this out. Evidently, Inspiration got the idea from Ambition, and that seems to be where Tath got it from, because it was easier to just have a set amount when Tarben got sick."
"Which is why Kinen is so pissed about this," Ela said. "But I'm actually impressed that Thiemo's really…"
His eyes got wide and he glanced at me, realizing that he'd accidentally said a little bit too much. Maela, however, just laughed, waving him down.
"I already know that Thiemo has been spending time with the five of you. We've actually talked about it. In fact, I even told him that I may have kissed a woman. Okay, so I told him it was Amerlee, but I did kiss her, so it's not exactly a lie."
"It's also all he needs to know," I assured her.
Talin just shook his head, clearly not agreeing. "I don't know. I'm wondering if maybe Yamina should tell him that she's more attracted to women than men. The way my brother has been acting lately, I would like to believe that he'd actually take that as a reason for why he should prevent her marriage. If Tath is no longer pushing, doesn't that make Thiemo the head of the house at Sandrest?"
"Is Tath pushing?" Wraythe asked.
Maela shook her head. "No, he seems to have lost himself in his drink. I'd heard about men who loved alcohol more than their wives, but I always thought it was just a story. Now, I'm not so sure. Tath barely bathes. The few times he does leave his room, it's usually to just demand something - often more alcohol - or just to scream about how I've ruined his life. The man has easily lost twenty pounds, and he looks like a complete wreck. So, if he wants to drink his life away, then that's fine. The rest of us will handle his responsibilities."
"And you are handling them very, very well," I assured her.
She nodded. "I actually know that. I honestly feel like I'm good at this, and like I can make a difference. Zeal even came to see me the other night. Thiemo saw him! I mean, if that's not a way to be sure that I can trust Thiemo, I don't know what is."
"So tell Yamina to trust her brother," Talin said. "I'm sure my mother is still trying to arrange a marriage for her, but if anyone can distract her from that, it'll be Thiemo. And if he knows why it's so important, I think he'll do everything in his power to make sure Yamina can be happy."
"I think he also wishes that he'd had the freedom to explore his own sexuality without shame," Ela added. "Maela, your brother-in-law is on our side."
She just nodded, looking relieved. "I was actually going to try to convince you all of the same thing. In fact, the last time Tath tried to talk to me, he shoved me against the wall and was yelling about how all of this was my fault. I was scared that he was gonna start swinging like he used to, but then Thiemo was there. He shoved Tath off me, and it was like some switch flipped in my husband's mind."
"And there haven't been any problems since?" I asked.
Maela shook her head. "None. Pia tried to say that I was being a horrible wife, but I just asked her if Tarben had ever hit her. Then I told her that I was pregnant, and I was more worried about making sure the baby was safe than anything else. After hearing that, she said she understood why I was so worried."
"And now the whole family knows about the baby?" Anver asked.
"They do," she admitted. "They've also realized that she was conceived before the winter holidays, which means there's no question about her paternity. If Tath starts trying to claim that I had an affair - with a man - then there are enough people who know about my pregnancy now to confirm her legitimacy."
