Phoenix’s Fire (The Ruins Of Men #2)

Chapter 5

Five

Ayla

T he initial meeting was chaos. When Meri came out, everyone was talking to each other, standing in the living room. I'd gotten used to looking at these people, but when my friend sucked in a shocked breath, they all moved. Kanik stepped on Jeera's toes trying to make room. Zasen pulled his mother out of the way, and Rymar jumped back, putting his body against the door.

Meri had frozen, but I knew how to make this better. Tugging gently on her hand, I moved her to the chair I usually sat in, then claimed the closest corner of the couch. That would put her at a safe distance from everyone.

Behind the chair, Zasen jerked his thumb back towards the kitchen. Rymar nodded, slinking along the wall to head that way. Kanik paused to catch my eye, but when I nodded, he moved to follow the other men.

That left only Jeera and Naomi in the living room. Moving around the coffee table, Jeera took the chair opposite Meri, groaning as she eased herself into it.

"Brielle and Irrik went to get some things," she said in English.

"Who?" I asked, catching that second name.

And Jeera grinned. "Our boyfriend. The Reaper who gave you the pliers."

My mouth fell open. "That was your boyfriend?"

"Mhm," Jeera said, looking a little smug. It was actually rather cute.

But Meri's head was jumping between all of us. "What's a boyfriend?" she asked, her voice soft and respectful. "Is that what you were telling me about, Ayla?"

"No." I grimaced, trying to think of how to explain this. "It's what they call a suitor, but Dragon suitors are different."

"I thought he was a Reaper."

"He is," Jeera assured her.

Meri just shook her head in confusion. She couldn't even form a question .

Naomi decided that was a good time to speak up. "We - everyone here in Lorsa - are Dragons. The people who move from place to place as they grow food? They call themselves Reapers. Many of us have tails -" She gestured to Jeera. "- but not all." She tapped her own chest. "Many Reapers are tailless, but not all. Sometimes Dragons decide to live as a Reaper. Sometimes a Reaper lives as a Dragon. My daughter - "

"Who?" Meri asked, quickly looking at me.

"This," I told her, "is Dr. Naomi Griffin. She is Jeera and Zasen's mother. The one I was telling you about."

Meri's eyes were huge, but her face was stoic, as close to a perfect expression as she could manage right now. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she mumbled before giving me a pointed look.

"What?" I asked.

"I thought she was a Dragon!"

"She is. Tailless. That's what I meant when I said Dragons are people. The Wyvern's mother is shaped like you and me. She's also different-colored, but some are colored like us, or in completely different ways. Humans aren't only blondes with pale skin, Meri."

"So your name is Meri?" Naomi asked.

Meri nodded, pushing a smile to her lips before glancing at me again. That meant she was worried about making a mistake. In the compound, being impolite could be a reason for punishment, so she was hoping I'd help her out.

"Her full name is Merienne, but we call her Meri," I clarified. "We shared a room with one other girl as we grew up. She and Callah are my friends."

"Her only ones," Zasen called from the kitchen.

That made Meri flinch and twist to see where the sound had come from. In the kitchen, Rymar was chopping vegetables. Kanik was mixing something on the stove. Unlike them, Zasen stood in the archway with a towel in his hands.

"They're making food for you," I assured my friend. "Proper food, not something horrible."

"It's pheasant," Zasen told me. "Sweet potatoes and green beans to go with it."

I smiled because that was almost exactly the meal they'd fed me when I'd first arrived. Simple food, they called it, but delicious. It would be similar enough to what Meri was used to.

"And it's probably been days since you had a good meal," Naomi said. "Meri, may I look at you? I want to make sure you're healthy and don't need any medication."

"What?" Again, she looked to me for an explanation.

"Dragons have medicine," I explained again. Considering how much information I'd dropped on her, it wasn't surprising Meri was having trouble remembering it all. Repetition would help. "They use pills and liquids and ointments to make things better. Not just prayers, Meri. It's okay. She is kind and gentle. She will not hurt you."

"Okay," Meri almost whimpered. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. "

"Just lean back," Naomi said gently. "I'm going to check how fast your heart beats. Just relax and let's see how you're doing."

Meri nodded, so Naomi rested a pair of fingers against her wrist. For a moment, neither moved, then Naomi smiled.

"Good," she said. "Now, how far along are you? Do you know, Meri?"

"I haven't had a bleeding since January," Meri whispered, glancing back in the direction of the men.

"They can't hear," I promised, knowing the guys would pretend they couldn't, even if they could. "It's okay to tell Naomi such things. She knows all about marriages too."

Meri nodded again, the movement small and jerky from nerves. "I was married in January, and I didn't have another flowering. Gideon - my husband - said it was proof of his virility."

"When's January?" Jeera asked from her chair.

"The first month," I explained. "Thirty-one days. Meri was married almost three of your weeks after the new year."

"Mrs. Worthington said the baby should come at the end of October," Meri went on. "Maybe as late as November."

"About twelve more of your weeks," I told the Dragon women, doing math in my head to convert our calendar - and longer weeks - to theirs.

But Naomi was quiet. Her eyes were locked on Meri's body as she scanned the girl from head to toe. What she didn't do was touch her, though.

"Ayla?" Jeera asked. "Is this her first child?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Jeera got up and moved closer, taking the cushion beside me. "Meri?"

"Yes, ma'am?" Meri squeaked.

Jeera gave her a kind smile. "I'm Jeera. Just Jeera. We don't use proper titles here like you did in the ground."

"Compound," I said, giving her the proper word.

"That," Jeera said. "I'm also a nurse. That means I help heal people like Ayla did in the compound."

"But more," I added. "Jeera knows more than even me, Meri."

Jeera gave me another of those smiles. "I dunno, you're better at sewing wounds."

"She's so good," Meri said - and then paused. A look of confusion crossed her face, followed by a timid little smile. "I just talked to a Dragon!"

"You did!" Jeera agreed. "And I'm hoping you'll keep doing it. See, our houses are small, not like in your compound. We can't all live together, and since my brother is hosting Ayla here, he doesn't have any spare room. I was hoping that maybe you'd be willing to stay with me?"

"But..." Meri looked at me one more time.

"As a guest," I said. "But the kind who lives there. She'd be your roommate like Callah and I were. We didn't think you'd want to live with so many men."

"Men?" The fear was back in her voice .

"I live with men," I clarified. "She doesn't."

"Have you met them yet?" Naomi asked, making her words a little slower and more intentional than Jeera.

"No, ma'am," Meri whispered.

"Rymar, come here!" Jeera ordered.

"Yeah!" Rymar called back, hurrying out of the kitchen to stand respectfully away from Meri.

The man lifted a hand in a wave which - since he wasn't wearing a shirt - exposed the brilliant colors of his scales. Most of him was yellow, but vivid orange spots covered that with red markings on top. Then there were the bright turquoise stripes and speckles above everything. His reddish-orange hair was cut short and pushed back on his head.

The man was vivid in a way we never saw in the compound. His skin was brighter than any color I'd seen before I'd come to the surface - except the Wyvern's eyes. But his color wasn't the only bold thing about him. His personality was just as bright. Thankfully, Rymar was doing his best to be quiet and sedate - for now.

"He's the one who doesn't speak much English," I explained to Meri. "But he's nice."

"You say," Rymar told her, "me hear. Me no say gut."

I giggled. "See? And he's better now than he used to be."

"Talk ta gurl," Rymar said, pointing at me. "Lernt Anglish."

"No, you really didn't," Jeera teased in English. "Now go cook. Kanik!"

"My turn," Kanik said in English, and the men traded places.

Where Rymar was nearly glowing with colors, Kanik was the opposite. His skin was close to the color of Naomi's. Just different enough for the black markings to stand out. But the lavender color of his chest was a beautiful contrast, making the purple behind his ears fit everything else.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kanik told Meri. "Ayla missed you a lot." Then he dipped his head in something that was almost a bow.

"Kanik's the one who taught me to speak Vestrian," I explained. "He teaches children."

Then Jeera mumbled in Vestrian, "Don't you dare mention the militia."

Kanik just smiled, never taking his eyes off Meri. "I mostly let her read. Ayla has a fondness for books."

"And it's allowed," I added. "Kanik and Zasen gave me so many. I learned all about the world and how it changed. I've also read many fantasy stories. No one gets mad at me for it."

"Because," Naomi said, shooing Kanik back to the kitchen, "among Dragons, women are equal. Do you know what that means?"

"No," Meri admitted.

"It means you can do anything you want that doesn't hurt anyone else," she explained. "Read, yell, or anything else." Then she pointed to Meri's belly. "Is it okay if I feel for the baby's position?"

"Oh. Okay? "

So Naomi gently pressed along Meri's stomach, judging the swell of the child inside her. A few times, she nodded, but the look on her face was a little too serious. I watched. I forgot to keep talking because I knew how dangerous pregnancy was. I nearly forgot to breathe.

"Okay," Naomi finally said. "Meri, I'm going to call this a high-risk pregnancy. I would recommend you stay with Jeera and Brielle - "

"Who?" Meri asked.

"Brielle is another woman. My own roommate," Jeera explained. "Like me, she has a tail, but she's Mom's main nurse. I only help sometimes."

"Oh, okay," Meri agreed.

"And," Naomi said, turning to look at her daughter, "Meri is going to need a lot of meat. Protein, Jeera. I would like her to put on at least ten pounds, but that might not be possible. The child is small, she's malnourished, and she'll need muscle more than weight."

"So a lot of walking," Jeera said, nodding to show she understood. "Means we can come visit you, Ayla."

"Or I can come visit you," I offered Meri. "Just like I wanted to when you got married."

Jeera made a thoughtful sound. "I think we should also consider taking her to meet Father Dayne."

"And have her marriage annulled?" I asked.

"Ayla!" Meri hissed, trying to snap at me and be quiet about it. "I'm pregnant!"

"The marriage was consummated," I explained to my friends.

"Clearly," Jeera teased. Then she waved it off. "Meri, that doesn't matter. See, in Lorsa, rape is a crime."

"That's not a word we're supposed to use in the compound," I explained. "I learned it from my books."

"Okay…" Naomi breathed. "Meri, rape is when a man has sex with you but you didn't agree. It doesn't matter if you were married, if you weren't, or anything else. If he lies, or hurts you, forces you, or has sex with you in any way you do not want, then it is rape. To us, that is a very serious crime."

"And it means you don't have to stay married to Gideon if you don't want to," I added. "You weren't given a choice."

"I was, Ayla," Meri countered. "Gideon courted me, and proposed, and I accepted. I said yes!"

"There's always divorce," Jeera said. "That's what we do when you no longer want to be married."

"What?" Meri asked, but this time it was surprise instead of confusion.

"Mhm," Jeera almost purred. "Women are allowed to change their minds and undo it. I can tell you all about it tonight, if you'd like?"

Meri glanced at me one more time, then back to Jeera. "I think I'd like that. Thank you."

"And I promise I will answer all the questions you have," Jeera said. "Doesn't matter how long that takes or how improper you think they might be. Meri, Ayla is my dear friend, so I think that means we will be good friends too, right?"

Meri quickly licked her lips. "I hope so," she breathed.

"And none of these people will hurt you," I promised. "If they try, Meri, I will punish them. Here, I'm allowed to, and I swear to you that I will protect you."

"Okay," Meri mumbled, her short answers showing how overwhelmed she was.

Which was when Zasen cleared his throat. "First, I think our newest refugee needs a meal. Ladies, the table is yours. Dinner is served."

I stood and offered Meri my hand. "Meat, fungus, vegetables, and tubers."

"No fungus this time," Zasen corrected.

"Oh." I shrugged. "But lots of the rest. The meat is a bird I shot myself. It's going to be okay, Meri. You'll see. The surface is nothing like you were told, and it's okay to be confused, but we'll show you everything."

"Thank you," she breathed, reaching out to clasp my hand. "I was so scared I wouldn't find you, Ayla, but Callah said it would be okay, and now it is. I'm trying, I'm just..."

"I know," I promised. "Trust me, I know, but you really are safe now."