AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her eyes jumped up to mine and she pressed her lips together. For a little too long, she said nothing, but it looked like she wanted to, so I waited.
Finally, "I'm having an affair with your sister."
I couldn't help it. My lips cracked into a smile and I laughed, hugging Haryth closer as I did so. "Good."
"Good?" she asked.
All I could do was nod. "Wraythe was the one who told me she's a lesbian. I was too blinded by family tradition to notice. She had to get married, so that meant she had to like men, right? Never mind my own preferences. I was the tithe to the temple, so it made sense that I was like this. Thiemo is just spreading his wings, learning his own desires. Yamina? She would have children." Then I leaned in a bit. "And I was wrong. You make Yamina happy. I think she does the same for you, and you deserve someone who truly cares about you, since my brother won't."
"She's not a lesbian," Maela mumbled.
"She's... not?"
She shook her head. "No. She said she's had crushes on men before. Well, boys." Maela glanced away, a hint of a smile touching her lips. "That's why she doesn't blame me for falling for Tath. The problem is that as easily as I fell in love with your brother, I seem to have fallen out of it just as fast."
"Which makes sense, with the way he treats you," I pointed out. "But he didn't hurt anyone after we left?"
"He didn't even realize you'd gone," Maela admitted. "He ordered three different bottles of alcohol to be brought to his room and then locked the door. I couldn't even get in. Pia screamed at him through the wood for almost two hours, but nothing. We can hear him moving around inside, but he won't let anyone treat his back."
Shit, I'd forgotten about that. Zeal had slipped into Ela's body, riding beside Nari's partner to help with the punishment. Ela said that the snake he'd carved into Tath's back had been the work of our god, not him. He'd simply focused on the appropriate punishment for Tath touching Nari without her consent.
"But you said my mother came tonight?" I asked.
Maela made a subtle gesture across the room, showing me where my mother and Thiemo were talking to a collection of Priests of Compassion. "The moment she stepped into the carriage, she was like a different woman," Maela explained. "Pia knows how to put on the right mask for these functions. She's also not happy with you."
"She'll get over it," I promised. "My mother is often mad at me for my 'antics,' as she calls them. Does she suspect anything between you and Yamina?"
"No, but Tath does," Maela admitted. "He also thinks I'm sleeping with Nari. That's part of why he tried what he did. He stormed into my room the other night and ranted about our affair. Mine and Nari's, I mean. He's been accusing me of sleeping with Yamina for over a year now." Again, she reached up to caress Haryth. "That's actually how I got him into my bed, you know. I told him that I needed a man, and he was determined to prove that he could fix me."
"There is nothing wrong with you," I promised.
"I know," she promised. "You see, it may have taken me a while to get used to your beliefs, but I made sure I was ready. I asked all my questions. What Nari couldn't answer, Amerlee and Shalsa did. There is nothing wrong with being attracted to women and men. There is nothing unnatural about it. In fact, it's why Zeal noticed me. It's why Merci feels I belong here. I know the pull of temptation - and the price. I'm ok with that, Talin."
"You're a good baroness," I assured her.
That made the smile on her face into something with true feeling behind it. "I will be," she promised. "What Tath doesn't realize is that the more he tries to push me down, the harder I'm going to fight to stand back up. If he won't support our god, then I will do it for him. Zeal gives us power as women. Not all the gods are as obvious about it, but I believe that they agree. The priests might not, but someone has to push back, and I'm the woman with the title to do it."
"You are meek because you can be," I said, thinking about what Zeal said about Nari. "Not because you have to be. It's a strength, Maela, and one Zeal seems fond of."
"Nari," she breathed, nodding to show she understood. "But she's not very meek anymore, is she?"
"Less and less every day," I admitted. "I see the same with you."
"Because I'm learning from my friend," Maela assured me. "Sandrest will be fine, Talin. I've already promised that if your brother tries anything, I will grab Haryth and Yamina and head to the temple. High Priest Kinen might not be willing to give us sanctuary, but Zeal will."
"Unfortunately, the temple isn't Zeal's," I reminded her.
She just lifted her eyes to mine. "Maybe not, but I'm not sure it's Kinen's either."
I found my head nodding in agreement, because I could see her point. The High Priest kept trying to knock Nari down, but it only made more people notice her. The more they talked, the more they realized that miracles followed her around, and thus they began to believe. Slowly, piece by piece, the Priests of Temptation had begun to believe again.
Which was why Zeal was stronger than his siblings. It was the entire reason why they needed us to see them. I just wished they'd given us a little time to deal with everything that had happened with my brother first. It felt like things were starting to pile up, and too many of them were on my shoulders.
But this was how Nari always felt. It was why she'd been drowning in her classwork during her first year as an initiate. It was why Zeal had put us all on the Path of Temptation. The only problem was that I wasn't supposed to be the one feeling like I was suffocating under the weight. I was supposed to be the one making it better. Instead, I felt like I'd done nothing more than make it worse lately.
"What's that look for?" Maela asked.
"Nothing," I said, trying to wave it away. "Don't mind me. It's just been a long day."
