Page 45 of The Ways We Betray (The Path of Temptation 4)

Chapter 16

Nariana

Yes, Tishlie was in our Sensuality course. No, she didn't talk to us. After that Ela and I blew through our next two classes easily, since the first day seemed to be focused more on letting us know what to expect and less on calling anyone out. Saval taught most of them, except Bondage, and that priest seemed like he'd be a fun instructor.

But when Working with Multiples was over, Eladehl was done for the day. I still had one more class: First Aid. Being a gentleman, Ela walked me all the way to the door, giving me a kiss before he'd let me go. Then I stepped inside to find a rather large room full of people. The best part was that they were laughing, leaning over to talk to their friends, and generally acting like they wanted to be here.

I paused to find an open desk, but that was long enough for the man at the front to notice me. "Priestess?" he said. "This class is for Action, not Word."

"I'm Temptation," I said, knowing that was about to make me a spectacle. "Saval should have mentioned that I'd be in here?"

"Priestess Nariana," he said. "Yes. Have a seat wherever you want." Then he pulled out a pocket watch to check the time. "Ok, people. We're a little early, but that's fine. Listen up!"

I hurried to a chair on the far side, sliding into it while the others fell silent and turned to the front of the room. The man was clearly the instructor, but he wasn't as old as I'd expected. He also didn't have any lace showing at his collar. His next words explained that.

"My name is Farik, and I'm the lead physician for the Temple of Temptation. Unlike your other instructors, I am a Priest of Action, and proud of my Path. Now, I'm sure that a few of our first-year initiates are still trying to get over the disappointment of not getting the marks you desired, and others of you chose this Path intentionally. In the end, it doesn't matter. This is where our god saw us serving best, so let's make the most of it, hm?"

"Least I didn't get Obligation," someone murmured behind me, and a girl laughed a moment later.

Farik cleared his throat, clearly having heard that. "We also do not put down the other Paths. In this class, you will learn one thing, and one thing only: how to care for injuries. If you move into another Path later, this will be useful. If you don't, you may decide to specialize in medicine. I can assure you that our Priests of the Body and Protection will need a lot of care."

"It has to be horrible," that girl whispered. "Can you imagine the things Body has to deal with?"

"Yeah, but they ask for it, don't they?"

I couldn't help myself. I turned to see a pair of younger students, clearly first-years. "They don't always. Sometimes, it's for a greater cause."

Farik cleared his throat again, this time pointedly. "Is there something you'd all like to share?" he asked.

"The Path of the Body," I said, raising my voice, "doesn't ask for half the abuse they get. They take it to make sure someone else doesn't get worse. Sometimes, allowing a patron to smack us around is what keeps him from beating his wife to death - or child. That's why they do it. We, I mean. Each Path has its own challenges."

"Except ours," someone else said.

"Even yours," I countered. "Where is the glory for Action? Where's the recognition for all you do to make everyone else's lives a little easier? Have you seen the flower arrangements and the food laid out in the session rooms? Do you know how many Priests of the Word count on Action to keep their research moving? Finding a book might seem unimportant, but it helps the whole."

"Well said," Farik praised. "How does Temptation fit into all of it?"

Yeah, I'd walked right into that. "Well," I tried, "it seems I'm the link between Zeal and his priests. All of you can see me. Not all of you have pure enough faith to see him. That makes it hard to know when he's talking back. I've had to learn a bit about all the Paths so that I can understand the struggles each of you has to face. It's only a sliver, but sometimes just a glimpse is enough to let me know where to start."

"How'd you make it happen?" someone else asked.

I turned to find a guy from my primary years waiting for the answer. "I didn't. Zeal did." But I lifted a hand, making it clear I wasn't done. "Some people think that's devoted bullshit, but it's not. Not a single thing I did was special. There's no trick, and I promise that the High Priest made sure that my marks aren't from henna or dyes. I just had the good luck to see our god, and it seems he likes having someone to talk to. He'd like more."

"And," Farik said, taking over, "for those who practice medicine, you will learn to believe in him - if you don't already. I can't count the number of times I've seen a wound heal in days rather than weeks. Lacerations that close without a scar. In fact..." He began to pace across the front of the room, clasping his hands behind his back. "A few years back now, there was a session that went bad under the domes. The Priestess of the Body had her throat cut by the patron. Guardians were in the right place at the right time, as if by some miracle. If that's not enough, let me assure you that the woman's neck is fine. Not even a line to remind her of what happened."

"The price is less for his priests," another student murmured.

"And our god does help," Farik went on. "That doesn't mean he'll do it all for us, and this temple is filled with enough priests to mean there are accidents every day. Maybe it's someone in the kitchen cutting their hand open on a knife. It could be a guardian who suffers internal injuries after saving his ward. Maybe a Priestess of the Word trips down the stairs. These things happen, and the more people who can identify the issues, know how to deal with them, and stabilize the person for me, the longer lives we will all lead."

"How detailed will this class get?" I asked.

Farik smiled at me. "I think you're trying to be my favorite student, Nariana. Very detailed. My goal is to make sure that each of you has to run out of class at least once because of the gore." He grinned, making it clear he was mostly joking. "For the first semester of this class, we will focus on the technique and theory. After the winter break, we will begin to put all of it into action. Yes, you will get your hands dirty. Doesn't matter if that's blood, shit, or mud - something will end up on you in this class.

"So," he went on, "We will assign all of you a black coat once we reach the infirmary. There are lockers, and you will not need to change before class. I know that would get very tedious. Next semester, we will have a few days of rounds, though. For those days, I'll start the class half an hour later, so you can all prepare for the worst and spare your favorite outfits."

"I thought we'd just be bandaging wounds," someone said.

Farik lifted a brow. "Do you have any idea how much the average wound bleeds?" And he turned to me. "Nari? I'm guessing you have experience with that."

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