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"It's perfectly natural," I countered. "As much as sterile priests and women who enjoy contact with their husbands. The only reason it's not accepted is because it doesn't make someone else stronger."
"What?" she asked.
"Your son finding love with another man doesn't result in a marriage to a prominent family, or children to bind your houses together. It doesn't create a line of offspring to bolster your position. That, Madam Ranndor, is why people look down on the pleasures of the flesh, but it has nothing to do with the naturalness of it."
"You sound as if you support the idea," she said.
"My partner in the temple is a man who serves both men and women. My mentor is a woman who prefers patrons of the fairer sex. My mother, on the other hand, had so many children she gave us away so someone else could feed us. I think natural is a very grey, and very blurry, line."
She steered me to a chair in the middle of the table, claiming the spot beside me. Talin made his way around to take the seat directly across from me. Lina sat beside him, and then the youngest girl, Yamina, took the spot on my left. We'd all just gotten comfortable when the men made their way in. Tath locked eyes with Talin and laughed once, acting like sitting with the women was something to be ashamed of.
"Those two," Yamina said, leaning toward me, "have never gotten along. Tath was born to inherit the title and Talin to worship our god, but Papa always doted on Talin. Said he'd lose him soon enough."
"And Tath," Pia said from the other side, "wasn't allowed to say anything that could cause problems with the peers unless he'd run it past his father first. He felt like he'd been silenced. That their father was always proud to show off his seventh child at the drop of a hat? It was like Talin had stolen his spotlight."
"Do you think they'll grow out of it?" I asked.
"I hope so," Pia said. "As a priest, Talin's influence has been muted a lot, but not completely."
"It's why you're here," Yamina said. "Tath wants to make sure Talin knows who the baron is, and that he's just a baby priest in training. We honestly didn't expect him to have a ward."
"Does that make me a complication?" I asked, glancing across the table to see Talin deep in conversation with Lina.
The oldest sister held up three fingers. Talin nodded, reaching over to pat her arm gently, then both of them bowed their heads closer together to hide their mouths. Whatever they were talking about looked serious.
Yamina looked up at me with eyes that were a little too wise. "Not really a complication. It makes you a pawn, Priestess."
"Nari," I told her. "Short for Nariana. All of my friends call me Nari, and I'm a very bad pawn."
She nodded. "I hope so, because stepping up as the baron hasn't been easy for Tath. His wife is terrified of our god. The High Priest has been pushing for a show of support, and the last priest who visited said that Talin was making a mess of things with the upper ranks in the temple."
"That," I told her, "was actually me." I turned my arm, showing the black lines marked on my skin. "You know about the Paths?"
"I do," she admitted.
"I'm supposed to have one. Zeal gave me all of them. Your brother has been nothing but the loyal protector he's supposed to be. I, on the other hand, seem to have caused quite the stir. I hope you won't be offended if my loyalty is always with Talin over the rest of your family."
She shook her head. "He needs someone to stand up for him. It's only ever been us. Well, me, Lina, and Mama."
"But playing with a baron is different," Pia warned. "And trust me, Tath knows what power he has. He was raised to embrace it."
"I mean no disrespect," I told Talin's mother, "but I still believe that a god outranks a man. Doesn't matter what title either wears. The god is always going to be the winner, and I answer directly to a god. And no, that is not a metaphor."
Chapter 41
Nariana
After dinner, the men retired to drink and smoke their pipes. The ladies made their excuses for the night, evidently heading up to a room on the second floor for a little more peace and quiet. Before she left, Pia stopped to tell Talin that our things had been placed in his room. He thanked her, then made a point of letting his brother know we'd be retiring early.
Hanging on his arm again, I was led through the massive house to a set of stairs tucked discreetly out of the way. And then we headed up. Not to the second floor, but all the way to the third. The stairs let us out into a small lobby. That led to a hall. Talin followed it straight ahead and then through a door near the end. There, I stepped into a young man's personal space.
The walls had been papered in a blue and gold jacquard. Dark wood wainscotting covered the lower half, creating a masculine feel. A body-length mirror stood in a corner. The table and chairs were set before a window which overlooked the back of the house. In almost every corner was an accent chair so waiting guests would have a place to rest their feet.
Talin didn't stop, heading to a pair of doors on the right wall. Those he threw open to reveal an impressive bedroom. The fireplace had been lit. Before it was a thick rug that begged me to pull off my shoes and push my toes into it. Across from that was a line of windows, but two layers of curtains blocked both the view and the winter air that would come with it.
The bed was placed directly before me as I stood in the doorway, the windows to my left, and the fireplace to the right. And yet, there was still another room's worth of space between all of that. Not even the stacks of luggage for both of us was enough to fill it.
"This is where I grew up," Talin said. "Out back is nothing but acres of unused land. The anteroom we came through means we have plenty of privacy." He gestured toward the bed. "My sister Reylie had the room next door, but she's married now, so it's empty. The only ones left on the third floor are myself, Yamina, and the baby with his nurse."
