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"Which was why Zeal told you to say something," I realized. "I just wish I could think of a way to make your life easier. By becoming the Primary Patron, you solved so many problems for those of us in the temple, but instead ended up paying for it yourself."
Maela just reached over and clasped my hand. "But I have Yamina," she reminded me. "Believe it or not, Iamhappy. Most women in my station never get to say that, but I do. I'm convinced that Zeal has given us this in his own way, which is why I will gladly do anything he asks."
"Let's just hope he doesn't ask for too much," Talin said softly, "because being the pawns of gods rarely leads to an easy life."
Chapter 43
Eladehl
Slowly but surely, Talin's brother was starting to actually impress me. While I'd technically met all of his family, I hadn't spent enough time with most of them to really be able to say I knew them. Granted, I hated Tath. The oldest of the Ranndor brothers was a complete asshole. Yamina, the baby of the family, still held the place as my favorite - but Thiemo was catching up to her quickly.
And when he came over the next day for his regular "business" meeting, he raised himself another notch. The man had brought a housewarming present because Maela had told him that we'd redecorated the suite. Even better, he didn't bring the usual bottle of wine or foolish trinket to display. No, Thiemo had found a collection of decorative bottles that would be perfect for holding lube without making it clear exactly what was inside them.
Clearly, we were corrupting him, and in just the right way.
But the weekend sped by much too fast. When our dinner arrived late that evening, the priest who delivered it also had a note from Drandir. There hadn't been a bottle of alcohol in the hall when the firewood was left for our room. However, he'd been asking around to see if anyone knew who had put it there. One priestess said she saw a woman carrying one up the hall by the dining area, but she couldn't be sure if it was the same one that had ended up outside our room.
In other words, we had no idea who had tried to send us poisoned alcohol, but at least it wasn't someone from Obligation. That little bit of news seemed to be all it took to make Nari relax. She stopped looking twice at our cups or utensils, and started focusing on her homework. So did the rest of us, because we'd been letting it slide a little bit as we tried to deal with everything else that was going wrong around us.
Like always, I felt like the alarm went off much too early the next morning. When I woke up, the smell of paint was barely noticeable, but the dark color of the room made it feel like I was waking up even earlier than normal. Still, I managed to crawl my way out of bed and shut off the annoying ringing. One by one, everyone else got up, proving that we were falling into a wonderfully comfortable routine.
Wraythe made tea while Nari and I got dressed. We drank our tea while Wraythe and Talin got dressed. They drank their tea while Nari and I gathered up the things we needed for class, then all four of us headed out. Just as we left the room, Nari paused to trail her fingers over the decorative invitations that were laying on the reception table that now stood by our front door.
The funny part about that was that I actually knew that it was called a reception table. Two days ago, I would've called it a side table, or a buffet, or something like that. The thing was nothing more than a narrow piece of furniture that served as a place for us to set our keys when we came home or lay out the mail. It was Talin who knew the right names for all of this, and he'd spent the weekend teaching us all the proper terms.
But while the five of us had spent last week chasing after gods and trying to identify those who actually believed, the rest of the temple had continued on like normal. In our Advanced Sexuality for Entertainment class, Saval focused on the qualities of what made for a good public display. It seemed that when we were having sex for someone else to watch as entertainment, every movement needed to be made larger and more obvious. The point was to make it theatrical, not necessarily realistic.
When Saval began talking about the noises we made, Nari ducked her head and giggled. That was just enough for Saval to notice. "I wouldn't have thought that you, Nari, would find sexual noises to be that amusing," Saval said, calling her out.
Beside me, Nari was struggling not to smile. "It's actually not that," she promised, hoping that would be enough to get out of this.
Of course, Saval wouldn't let it go that easily. "I would love to hear exactly what is so funny about emphasizing your pleasure noises?"
Nari glanced at Talin first, then over at me and Wraythe before she answered. "Well, it's just that I would have assumed that every Priest of the Body already knew that. We've been doing all of these sessions with real patrons, and faking it usually makes things go a little…" She bit her lips together as she tried to think of the right word.
"Easier," I suggested.
"Which proves my point," Saval told the rest of the class. "The sounds someone makes during pleasure can be just as arousing to the viewer as the sight of what you're doing."
And she continued the same way. It made me think that we were probably going to have a display session next. That was how this class usually went, which was a lot more helpful than the lack of education Oryll had offered. Then again, she was also preparing us for the display that would be our final for graduation.
This class, however, was one that seemed to pass by rather quickly. When Saval released us for the day, the four of us got up and headed out to the hall to wait for Anver. Sometimes he made it into the hallway before us, but usually we were the first there, and we made sure to check on him before he had to spend an entire class with his official ward.
Today was one of the latter kind. Since Anver wasn't there yet, Talin flopped against the wall, caught Nari's waist, and pulled her up against his chest. Looking over at Wraythe, I tilted my head towards the couple with a lifted brow, making it clear that was a suggestion. Wraythe just stepped closer to me, grabbing my shoulders, and guided me back until I leaned beside Talin with this monster of a man looming before me.
"Yep," I said, "and now I'm getting hard. Please say that you've decided to kiss me next?"
Wraythe's answer was to roar out a laugh. "One day, I'm going to, so you had better make sure it's the day you want."
I pressed a hand over my heart and did my best attempt at swooning before him. "Does this mean my fantasies aren't completely unrealistic?"
"I never said that," Wraythe said as he took a step back. "I just said that you get one - and only one - kiss from me. One, Ela."
I puckered up and took a step towards him, acting like I was going to force myself on him. That made Wraythe back up a little faster. Nari barked out a laugh, and Talin was giggling just one pitch too high. I was enjoying myself a little too much, and didn't even see the person behind Wraythe until he bumped into her.
"Oh, sorry," Wraythe said as he turned to make sure he hadn't knocked her off her feet.
Looking back at him was Ciella with an expression that was caught somewhere between horror and complete surprise. Her eyes were much too big and her mouth was hanging slightly open. Suddenly, the woman shook her head as if to deny what she was seeing, then she glanced over as if making sure Talin and Nari were here too.
