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"I think I understand," I said softly. "I'm not supposed to carry all the priests together. I'm supposed to protect one priest or priestess at a time."
"Don't..." Ela warned.
"I'm not," I promised. "But Zeal said something to me that night. He mentioned that I'm his possession. And when he rode me as a child? Yeah, he said something about how he put too much work into training us to have it all ruined." The whole time, my eyes were locked on Anver. "I think I finally get it."
"Get what?" Wraythe wanted to know.
I tore my eyes away to meet his. "My Path. I'm supposed to be the protector of the faith. The whole faith, and everyone willing to believe. The Path of Temptation is the one that ties his believers right to Zeal. I'm the conduit. I'm the protector of how Zealwantshis faith to work. And if that bitch hits Anver again in front of me, I'm going to fucking hit her back."
Chapter 62
Nariana
"Wait," Wraythe said, leaning closer. "You've figured out your Path?"
"I'vebeenfiguring it out," I assured him. "Ever since Choosing, I've been trying to understand what I'm supposed to do, and Zeal wasn't helping. He keeps saying it's all up to me, but I'm not convinced that it is. Yet when he rode me last night - "
"What?" Ela demanded, cutting in.
I just sighed, so Talin took over. "The baron, my brother Tath, hates me. He also has no faith or respect for the temple. He certainly doesn't believe in gods. So, for the entire week we were there, he spent most of his time taunting Nari in an attempt to piss me off." He paused to look at both Ela and Wraythe. "It worked."
"But in doing so," I told them, "his wife was paying the price. She was raised in Compassion, and he'd convinced her that Temptation was lecherous and terrifying. I spent that time changing her mind. Me, leading one single person to Zeal's faith."
"An important one," Talin added. "Because she's the baron's wife. She's Lady Ranndor, the head of the household, and my brother's equal in the eyes of the law."
"But not in our society," I added. "That's the thing. Maela's a gentle woman, but she's not necessarily a weak one. With Tath ignoring his duties to the temple, Zeal kept nudging me to convince Maela to pick them up, and I think I have."
"Good," Ela said. "And if she's someone you know, that negates part of the High Priest's power, right?"
I nodded, seeing how that would work. "Yeah. Another of Zeal's little gifts? Or is it more that we're looking at this backwards? He's not helping us so much as we're helping him?"
"How so?" Wraythe asked, leaning across the table so his voice wouldn't carry.
So I pointed at each of us in turn. "Talin's the baron's relation. He's been trained in politics and combat since he was born. You, Wraythe, are the biggest and strongest man I've ever seen. You're an immovable wall when you want to be, and the most caring and considerate person I know. A blade and a shield. Can't you see? Weapons. And Ela? What was it Faylie called you?"
"A destroyer," he said softly.
I just nodded, making sure all of them thought about that. "Another weapon, and one people will beg to have used on them. Me? I'm the girl with all the Paths. I'm the obvious and shiny thing that the High Priest will be distracted by. I'm the one the barons will want to impress, hoping for a god's favor. I'm the woman people will try to seduce in order to gain more power, but I'm surrounded by three of the most dangerous men in this entire temple. Don't you see?"
"Step by step," Ela realized, "he's been leading us right to this point. To become the tools he needed. Shit, even Ciella torturing me as a child was a part of this!"
"I'm not so sure," I told him. "He was so pissed about that. I think he used it, though. He took everything that happened to us and nudged us to see it in a way that made it useful. None of us started as anything impressive, and now look at us. Wraythe was supposed to be tall and lean. Instead, he's the biggest guardian in the temple. Talin's political ties have helped more times than I can count. Granted, he was born with those, but Zeal taunted me to find him. You, Ela, protect me in a way that's subtle and even more effective than they can. But more than all of that, it's that together, we are unstoppable. We've learned not to care about the opinions of anyone but us."
"Ok," Ela said, waving me down. "What happened at the baron's residence?"
I just pushed out a heavy breath. "Tath has a mistress. Seems she's pregnant, but the baby's a girl, so Zeal's not worried about his line of succession being thwarted. Never mind that he writes what name he wants in the book, but that's beside the point. Tath just found out his mistress is bred. He's been ignoring his wife, and she's started to see his flaws because of it. Talin's youngest sister? She's something else."
"Yamina," Talin groaned.
I flashed him a smile. "She kinda reminds me of a female version of you.
"Oh?" Ela asked, sounding much too interested.
"And not quite seventeen," I added.
"Shit," Ela said, glancing up to see if he'd earned a reaction from Talin. "There goes that idea."
"Funny," Talin told him. "But both Yamina and Maela - who are friends, by the way - saw Zeal when we went skating. Both, and he let them think he was a priest named Zee. When we had a meal afterwards, he nudged me to tell them about our relationship, Ela. They know I'm with Nari, and Zeal let it out that our rings don't work if we have enough faith."
