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"But..." Harlin leaned enough to see my back.
I lifted the bottom of my tight-fitting shirt to reveal the marks on my stomach. "He matches these, not the ones on my back."
"Fuck," Harlin breathed. "You're the Chosen?"
"She is," Irila said. "And I promise you, Talin, that if he gets out of line, I will protect Nari myself. Go work out your stress with Eladehl."
"Talin, huh?" Harlin asked, offering his hand. "Guardian Harlin, ranked top of my class when I graduated to disciple four years ago. Assigned to a very lovely woman who has my heart. I will watch after your desire as if she were my own."
Talin accepted his hand, but it was clear he didn't like it. "Is this a thing?"
"Yeah," Harlin said. "Doesn't get better, either. Among us, it's considered honorable to respect the bond between guardian and ward. Anyone who doesn't will have to deal with the rest of us. I'm gonna hit your girl, but I won't hurt her."
"You're talking about the protective obsession?" I asked.
Harlin nodded. "You're marked for Protection. No match?"
Irila chuckled. "Her mentor thinks so, but not one that can be proven."
I looked at her quickly. "What do you mean?"
"That stripe down your spine?" Irila asked. "That's where a match mark would be. Saval checked, and no one has a similar marking inanyother lace. Not Body, Action, Obligation, or Word. You, however, have been claimed. Zeal rode Talin and made it clear that you belong to him. Sounds a lot like how you talk about Talin, huh?"
"Wait," I gasped. "You think my lace is matched to..." I couldn't even wrap my mind around what she was saying.
"Zeal," Irila finished for me. "And Amerlee thinks that. Saval agrees that it has merit. Unfortunately, there's no way to check."
"Sure there is."
Talin and I both glanced over, but no one else did. Leaning against the wall beside Talin's shirt was the god in question. He smiled at me deviously, and then turned his attention on Talin.
"Go teach Eladehl. I do not want him to end up unable to protect himself. I'll make sure she's fine."
Talin let out a heavy sigh, then his eyes came back to me. "Lemme just grab my shirt."
Because no one else could see Zeal. Not Irila, not Harlin, and our friends were all far enough away and busy enough that they hadn't noticed him yet. Grabbing his shirt would give Talin the chance to move close enough to whisper, but only if I stopped gawking.
"Ok," I said, looking at Harlin. "So, I've had two years of acolyte weapons, mostly fencing. That's it. Talin's already upset because I got a black eye in grappling this morning, so can you help me make sure that doesn't happen again?"
"Nope," Harlin said, his eyes flicking over my shoulder to Talin. "But I can make sure that bruises are pretty much all he has to worry about. Irila, she doesn't need to spar with initiates. Keep her with disciples or higher."
"That's Jamik," Irila told him. "He's her mentor for Protection. I'm just helping because she needs to learn how to fight like a girl."
"Then we'll need to ask a few girls, huh?" Harlin asked. "And get a leash on that boy before he hurts someone?"
"Talin?" I asked, keeping my voice down.
Harlin nodded. "Heard Zeal rode him. Priestess, carrying a god isn't a simple thing. Sometimes, they leave bits behind."
"Tell me about it," I said. "Not among the things I recommend, because it's a little confusing afterwards."
Harlin's brows shot up. "Confusing? Did you know that history is full of priests who end up as rambling idiots afterwards? And the ones who don't? They tend to be..." He paused. "You did it too, didn't you?"
"She was an acolyte," Irila told him. "Akid."
"Tend to be what?" I asked him.
"God-touched," Harlin finished.
