Chapter 13
Thirteen
Ayla
M y words made Meri relax. Closing her eyes, she slumped back in the chair and let out a very heavy sigh. To me, it sounded like days of confusion and anxiety had just been set free.
So I turned in the chair a little more, facing her fully. "Meri? Now that we're alone, will you tell me what happened? I know you tried yesterday, but I don't understand. If it's too much, you don't have to."
"Which parts?" she asked.
"I want to know every single thing that happened after I left the compound. Mostly if you and Callah are okay!"
"I'm okay," she promised. "Well, I am now. I think Callah is too." She paused, waving all that away. "Okay, let me start at the beginning. After you left, she became Mrs. Worthington's favorite healer. I wasn't allowed to do that since I'm with child, but Callah told me she's good at it. Not as good as you, but good enough to be the first of the girls picked."
"She was usually right after me," I agreed.
"But you leaving changed something about her," Meri said. "It's like Callah realized there's another option. She said the same day you were thrown out, she climbed into the library and started reading. She saw all your books, and so many more. She was even reading something about when they made the compound."
"Oh," I gasped. "I didn't see that one, but there were crates and crates of books I never got to. But Callah promised to put the drawing my mother left for me in there," I explained. "I asked because I didn't want her to get caught with it."
"Well, she did more than that," Meri said. "She read. She learned, just like you did. Ayla, she was trying to plan her own escape, but then we met in the washroom. When she saw I was pregnant, she said I had to go first, and she told me she'd just gotten a message from you."
"I told her I'd send back something yellow," I explained. "If I did, it was a sign I was safe."
"Oh!" Meri nodded as if that made complete sense. "Well, Callah didn't get the chance to tell me what your message was. She just said she'd gotten proof you were still alive and doing well. Tobias confirmed it. She also said he helped her. He didn't just ignore it - he went out of his way to help."
"Tobias?" My mouth flopped open.
The guy was a big, dumb lout of a man. I couldn't count the number of times I'd ordered him around in the infirmary. He'd been assigned as a gatherer because he was too dumb to operate a gun safely. At least, that had been the rumor.
"Yeah, him," Meri assured me. "Did you know his mother was from the quarantine too?"
"No..." But Meri didn't know about quarantine. She had no clue what horrors happened in there!
Meri nodded and kept going, unaware of the turn in my thoughts. "Callah said Tobias told her he'd heard things. They talked, and he told her all about how you were safe on the surface."
Which meant Callah hadn't told Meri everything either. That made me feel better. A bit. Meri had always been the more sensitive of the three of us. She was the person who tried so hard to do everything right. When she'd first been put with us, back as ten-year-olds, we'd been sure she would tell on us for anything we did wrong.
She hadn't.
Oh, she'd been scared and confused. She had missed her parents horribly, but she'd quickly become our friend. Callah and I had been the ones to tell Meri she was doing fine. We'd reassured her countless times that she'd get a good husband - and she had. At least by the things we'd been allowed to judge a man by.
Yet that had still ended up a tragedy. Gideon had abused her. Granted, I was sure all men would do the same. So why had Tobias told Callah about me? More importantly, how had he known? He was a gatherer, not a hunter. I would've recognized him by his size alone. The guy had to be as big as a Dragon!
"You should also know," Meri said, her tone changing slightly, "that Jamison came back from the last hunt wounded. It's bad, Ayla. He's lost most of the use of his arm!"
"Good," I grumbled - stopping hard when I realized it had been out loud.
Which made Meri smile. "I knew you didn't really want to marry him!"
"He was the most handsome of my choices!" I shot back. "Of the options I had, he was the easiest to look at, but no. I didn't want to marry anyone."
I'd also been the one to shoot him, but did Meri know that? Was that why she was bringing him up? I wanted to tell her, but not yet. Not before I was sure she could handle everything that had just happened to her.
"But how did you get here?" I pressed, wanting to get her whole story before I told her the bad things. "You told me how you got thrown out, but how did you get here? "
"When I said the child was my brother's," she explained, "Gideon lunged at Nateniel. They began hitting each other and screaming about it. My brother said he was not the father, but Gideon said he knew better, that Nateniel had been there, and he was screaming it as loud as he could. So then Mr. Myers asked me if I had relations with my brother, so I nodded. That was all they needed. Someone yelled to banish me like they had with you, and then people began ripping off my clothes and shoes. Just everything they could keep."
"That part was terrifying," I agreed. "I couldn't even think, and I was so lost. People who'd been polite just minutes before were suddenly ripping at me and I couldn't stop them."
"Yes!" she gasped. "Then they put the shackles on me and hauled me out. It was bright outside, but nighttime. I didn't realize that at first. Not until the sun came up. Then I hung there, unable to even put my arms all the way down. But then the wild men came. They had that box with the beast? I don't know what it's called."
"I think that's a horse and cart," I said. "I'm not sure, but Jeera would know. One of those men is courting her and Brielle."
"Both?" Meri asked, her eyes getting wide. "How dare he!"
"No, it's okay," I hurried to assure her. "He's courting both of them, and all three are okay with it. Meri, not everyone wants just one partner. Jeera and Brielle are the best of friends. The kind who kiss each other, and sometimes they kiss the man too. It works for them, and it's allowed here."
This time, Meri was the one with her mouth hanging open. "They aren't jealous?"
"They are partners," I said. "Jeera loves Brielle, and Brielle loves Jeera. Irrik, the man who is courting them? He loves them both. At least, I think it's love. But see, for Dragons, they can change their mind. They don't get married after a week. They don't have to wait until they are wed to kiss, or hold hands, or even to have sex."
"But – " She stopped hard. "Is that why she was asking you about birth control?"
I nodded. "Because I said I don't want to have a baby." Because birth was how most women died, although I wasn't about to say that now. Meri was heavily pregnant and due soon. She definitely did not need the reminder. So instead, I offered, "Jeera explained that things are different up here for women, and that I can have medicine to make sure there are no babies."
"Are those three Dragons courting you?" she asked, giving me a suspicious look.
"No." But I wasn't sure that was true anymore, so I added, "Maybe?"
"Maybe?"
"Well, the Wyvern kissed me, but it wasn't that kind of kiss. It was a kind one, and it didn't hurt at all. Then Rymar said something on the walk here, and now I'm not sure."
"So what are you going to do?" Meri breathed .
"I'm going to ask them," I decided. "Well, once I get the courage to. I'm not as brave as the other Dragons yet."
"But you're so much braver than me," she countered.
"And you will be this brave soon," I promised. "But tell me the rest? The Reapers found you, but you were chained. Then what?"
"Well, the little beast came first," she said. "It started making that noise, and then the men chased after it. I tried to get away, but I was hooked there, so the men had to get my chain off the tree," Meri explained, "And they carried me to the box. Cart. That thing. I was trying to get away because I thought they were wild men."
"They're Reapers," I explained, "so they're what the Righteous call wild men. Because they don't speak English either, they couldn't tell the hunters what they actually call themselves."
"Oh." Meri nodded. "But I was kicking and screaming, Ayla, and they were so much stronger than me. They hooked my chains inside the cart so I couldn't jump out, and that little beast watched me. But the box had a cloth over it, and that made it darker and cooler. Not cool, though! Oh, it was so hot compared to the compound, but when they got me out so I could relieve myself? Much hotter."
"Yeah," I said. "I had to walk the whole way."
"Oh, I would've died!" she insisted. "And it was bumpy! I was so tired, though. I slept for a lot of the trip, even when I didn't want to. I'd try to look around, hoping I'd see you, but it was so bright, my eyes wouldn't stay open, and then I'd wake up later and not know how long I'd been out."
"But the men didn't hurt you?" I asked.
She shook her head. "They fed me twice, then we got here."
"Okay," I said, thinking over all of that and trying to put it in order.
Two meals? That meant the horse must be faster than walking, or she'd slept through a few meals. I'd have to ask the guys about it, but it had taken us much longer, and the Moles traveled for two days to get here. Still, one thing in her story was very important, and I wanted to make sure I understood.
"So no one hurt you, right?" I asked. "Not the people in the compound, or the ones on the way here, or even the Dragons before I got there?"
"Not like Mr. Cassidy said," she assured me. "They grabbed me hard and pulled me around, but I think they may have been trying to help."
"Okay, good." That was what I'd thought. "That means you're safe now. You just worry about the baby, okay?"
"I don't want to," she breathed. "Ayla, what if I can't do this?"
"But you can't stop it now," I countered. "It'll be okay, though. We'll make sure nothing happens. That's why Jeera and Brielle are hosting you. They both know all about pregnancy and birth. They help."
"So they're like midwives?"
I rocked my head from side to side. "More. They don't just catch the baby. They know how to help you. How to make it hurt less, how to turn the baby, and how to stop all the bad things. They also don't mind talking about it. You can ask them everything and they will gladly explain. "
"About having a baby?" Meri sounded like she was convinced I'd lost my mind. "That's improper!"
"Not here," I promised. "Here, it's considered knowledge, and women are allowed to have as much as men. We can read for fun. We can make our own decisions. We're finally allowed to do all the things we always dreamed of, Meri."
"I'm still scared," she admitted.
"I know," I said gently. "I do know, Meri, because I was scared enough to stab Mr. Saunders with a fork. But it'll be okay."
"How can you be sure?" she shot back.
"Because I've learned a lot since I got here. Meri, it's not all good."
"I knew it!" she hissed.
I lifted a hand the way so many Dragons did, begging her to let me explain. "Most things are good here. Compared to our lives in the compound, it's amazing. But, um, the Moles make problems here too."
"What? How? And why do you call the Righteous 'Moles?'"
"Because they aren't righteous!" I snapped, wincing even as the words came out. "Sorry." I waited for her to nod, then tried to explain gently. "They do bad things, Meri. Very bad ones. See, that's why you didn't end up in quarantine - want to know why?"
"Why?"
"Because those women aren't like us. They come from here. The Moles capture them and take them back. They say they speak the Devil's tongue, but it's just Vestrian. They talk about the evil inside them, but it's just bravery and confusion. It's so bright here that those women are blind in the compound. They're forced to learn English, and then made to marry a man and have his children. It's rape, Meri!"
"No..." she breathed. "No, that can't be possible! We'd know!"
"I didn't know, and my mother was a Dragon. Meri, I have a sister here. Her name is Saveah, and her mother was Tiesha. My mother! Tiesha was abducted, thought to be dead, but she was in quarantine. The elders keep worrying about bloodlines, right? So why can't the children from quarantined mothers marry each other? Why aren't those men ever on our lists? I wasn't related to all of them, so why weren't they on my list?"
"Because of the Devil's corruption," Meri shot back, citing the rules we'd all been taught.
I just looked at her, waiting for her to think it through. "But the Devil isn't up here."
After a very long pause she asked, "So your mother was a Dragon?"
I nodded slowly. "She was. Now I'm a Dragon. If you want, you can become one as well."
"But I'm not half Dragon!"
"You're still a person, and that means they'll give you a chance. You just have to prove you're not like the men. That you're not a Mole, Meri, because Moles have hurt many people here. "
"What if you're wrong?" she tried.
"I'm not." I gave her a long look, letting her see the seriousness on my face. "My mother always talked about a magical place where we could be free. She called it..." And I tried my best to mimic the Dragon accent in English. "...Lorsa." The "s" was soft and nearly skipped over. "When I collected my inheritance from her, I got two things. One was a drawing of the city entrance. The same one you came through, but years and years ago, so the buildings were different. The other?"
I leaned in and showed her the ring on the chain around my neck. It was small and tight on me now, but the tiny snake engraved on it was still visible.
"That's a serpent, Meri. Tiesha's sign was the Serpent. My sister has the sign die that matches." And I lifted my own sign die. "It is how they mark things here. A signature of sorts, and this one is mine, proving I'm a Dragon."
"What's yours?" she asked.
"The Phoenix." I dropped the chain. "Please believe me, Meri. I'm not trying to scare you more, but they aren't righteous. They are horrible, and evil, and cruel. That's why we call them Moles. They live underground and destroy things from the bottom up - just like the animals do."
"But what if that's just the Dragons lying to us?" she countered.
"They're not. I've seen it with my own eyes."
"You saw the hunters take a woman?"
"Trying," I admitted, thinking of the woman in the street and the Mole assuring her he was going to save her. "She got free, but they raid Lorsa, Meri."
"They're hunters," she insisted, "not monsters!"
My eyes jumped up, hitting hers. "Are you sure about that?"
"But these are Dragons!" she whimpered. "We've been warned - "
"And yet none of them hurt you," I reminded her. "They may have scared you, but they were helping. They got you here, where you can be safe. They brought you to me!" I paused, licking my lips, because this was the part she'd hate the most. "What did Gideon do? Did he help like that?"
"But he was my husband and that's his right."
"To abuse you?" I countered. "Meri, he wasn't a good man. He was not kind or loving! He hurt you, and then he kept hurting you even when you cried !"
"But that's a woman's place," she replied, quoting our lessons.
I nodded. "It is down there. It isn't up here. In Lorsa, women are allowed to be free. So tell me, who do you think is really the evil one? The Dragons, who give us a chance to make our own decisions, or the Righteous men, who don't care how much they hurt us - or if they kill us in the process?"
She pressed her lips together and thought about it. Her eyes jumped as if she was watching her own memories and her brow creased with the intensity of it.
"Callah said you were safe," she finally muttered.
"And I am," I promised. "So are you. But Meri? Why did you get kicked out, if things weren't horrible down there?"
"Because I didn't want to die," she admitted. "Callah said we were going to grow plants, but that's not what you do, Ayla. You live with the Dragons! "
"And Callah knew that," I said, hoping she'd figured it out. "It was part of my message to her."
"So you've tamed them?" she tried next. "Is that why the Wyvern didn't eat me? I mean, he listened to you. You even made him cook for us, and it was a bird you killed, not… You know, what they're supposed to eat." She meant humans, even if she wouldn't say it. "Does that mean you figured out how to tame him?"
"I didn't tame him," I explained. "The truth is more that he taught me how to be wild. This is a good thing, Meri. You'll see. It's so much better to be wild than owned."