Page 34 of The Games We Play (The Path of Temptation 3)

"Yeah, but - "

She caught my hand, halting my words mid-sentence. "You know how learning a new weapon means your arms or back will ache the next day? It doesn't really hurt, but you can feel the strain, and maybe you want a lot of hot baths, but that doesn't mean you won't go to your next lesson?"

"Yeah?" I said.

She smiled. "Same thing. I can feel that my body wasn't used to that, but it doesn't hurt. It also won't keep me from doing it again."

"So I didn't hurt you?" I asked, my question only a whisper.

"That was me," Ela said.

Talin tapped my arm, then glanced to the side, making me look. Ciella and Tishlie were giggling over something. I was just about to ask why that was a big deal, but then Ciella turned to look at us, and it clearly wasn't the first time. She found me staring and laughed even harder. That was when I realized that I had my arm halfway around Nari and was leaning over her a little too protectively. Grumbling under my breath, I pulled it back and focused on my meal.

"They know we're friends," I mumbled, not really sure who I was talking to.

"They also know she's my desire," Talin said. "Not yours."

Ela lifted his glass, took a large drink, then set it down a little too hard. "We're getting complacent. You all realize that, right? We're comfortable with all of us together, and we forget how strange this is for everyone else."

"Fuck 'em," I decided.

"Can't," Talin countered. "Look, Wraythe, I know it sucks, but we're the guardians. We're supposed to be tightly bound to our wards and sexually frustrated."

"Yeah, but..."

"No," Talin said. "She's Ela's and mine now."

"I'm still her friend," I insisted.

"And a slightly overprotective one who smiles at her too much," Talin pointed out. "I honestly don't care, but if you think that Ghale, Oryll, or the High Priest feel the same way, then I've got some bad news. And eventually those rumors are going to reach them."

"The fucking rumors!" Ela snapped. "Did they talk about us this much before winter?"

I let out a heavy sigh. "Mostly Nari," I said. "Everyone talked about the girl with all the Paths."

"Now," Talin added, "it's all about the initiate who gets invited to the places they want to be."

Nari scrubbed at her face. "It's politics, Wraythe. Amerlee explained this to me when Ciella destroyed my clothes. Even in the temple, there's political power. Knowing the right people, having the right connections, and being welcomed into the right places gives someone influence. Influence is what makes changes. Those who are in the best places are the ones who will get the best assignments. The High Priest, as an example, wasn't chosen because he knows the words of Zeal the best. He got his position because he had a lot of power when he was young, I bet."

"Exactly," Talin agreed. "And with power comes luxury. The more your duty requires you to think instead of do, the more comfortable it is. Why do you think the Path of the Word is the highest in the temple? Those who do our laundry and cook our food are the lowest. It's not because one works more, but because one has more power."

"But that's not really true," Nari said. "If Obligation stopped doing all the things they do, then where would the rest of us be?"

"Sleeping on cum-stained sheets," Ela joked. "The difference is that they have power as a group, where our instructors have power as individuals."

I felt dumb listening to them all explain it, because I'd never really thought about any of this before. Clearly, they had. "So how does that have anything to do with me being her friend?"

Ela grunted, thinking about his answer. "Nari's something the rest don't understand. To the people in power, she's a threat. Anyone in power, Wraythe. That includes Amerlee, Oryll, Saval, Ghale, and especially the High Priest. See, they don't want to lose their cushy spots. The more you step out of your role as the man who's supposed to only think aboutmywelfare, the more it makes them wonder what Nari's doing, and planning how to stop her before she can take their position."

"Doesn't even matter that I don't want it," Nari said. "They do, so they assume that everyone else should."

"So I can't touch her outside our rooms?" I asked. The idea sucked, and I wasn't ok with this.

"Just..." Talin waved his finger between us. "Be less boyfriend and more good pal, ok?"

"But this is what I did when we were just friends," I countered.

"And when we were just friends," Ela said, "you were kissing her in ways that made Ciella jealous. You don't know how to be friends, Wraythe. You're all in or all out."

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