Phoenix’s Fire (The Ruins Of Men #2)

Chapter 17

Seventeen

Ayla

M eri, Jeera, and I followed the man through the door. On the other side was a long hallway with half a dozen more doors. The walls had paintings on them - landscapes - and immediately to the side was the alcove where this man had been sitting. Now, he was leading us down the hall, clearly knowing where he was going. Oddly, this place reminded me a bit of the compound, except the colors here were much prettier.

Eventually, the man paused before an open door and gestured for us to make our way in. I stepped through first, only to find Brielle inside pulling something from a cabinet. Fabric? I wasn't sure, but it didn't matter. Meri followed after me, then Jeera after her. Once we were all inside, the man closed the door, shutting us in together.

Brielle passed both of us a smock. Together, she and Jeera explained that we'd need to get undressed and put those on. The women left for a while, leaving Meri and me to put on the backless things, and then we waited.

Meri was nervous, and in truth, so was I. Thankfully, the wait wasn't a long one. Soon enough, Brielle, Jeera, and Naomi all returned. Since I'd volunteered to go first, Naomi had the chance to explain everything she was doing. Step by step, she outlined the process before starting, and only once we both understood did she begin. Thankfully, Jeera was right. It was mostly just embarrassing.

As she worked, Naomi talked me through the process. The medical books I'd read in my forbidden library helped me understand. Thinking about that part of it kept me from worrying too much about what was really going on.

Then, soon enough, it was all over. Naomi declared me to be healthy, then gave me a shot of a clear fluid that would prevent pregnancy. She explained how it worked and that it would wear off on its own. At that time, I'd need to get another if I still didn't want to become pregnant, but she assured me I would get a reminder for it.

Then it was Meri's turn.

She'd watched my procedure with wide eyes, but when Naomi examined her, she allowed it. This time Naomi explained much more. She checked Meri's belly, her breasts and her personal areas. When she was done, Naomi leaned back with a heavy sigh.

"What's wrong?" Meri asked.

"Do you know what a high-risk pregnancy is?" Naomi asked.

Meri shook her head. "No."

"Women are just pregnant," I explained. "Many die from the complications."

Pressing her lips together, Naomi nodded. "Meri, your baby hasn't turned, but your body is progressing faster than I'd like."

"What does that mean?" Meri whimpered.

Naomi pulled in a tense breath and held it for a moment. "It means you could have problems delivering this child."

"No..." Meri breathed.

"It's okay," I hurried to assure her. "Naomi's here. We'll make it okay."

"Meri," Naomi said, "if your baby is born too soon, it might not make it."

"But I don't want to die!"

"I will make sure you don't," she promised. "I just need to know what matters more to you. Do you want to save this child or have more children later? If we have to choose, Meri, I need you to know which you'd pick."

"I just want to live!" Meri insisted. "I don't want Gideon to kill me! That's why I came here. It's why Callah got me out, and why I did all of that. I lied! I knew I shouldn't have, but - "

"Shh..." Naomi breathed. "We're going to take good care of you, Meri. I'm just worried about your baby right now, okay?"

Meri nodded. "Don't name it Gideon? Or Merienne? I don't want that. If I can't - "

"No," Jeera said, pushing in so Meri could see her. "We will take care of you, okay?" Then she glanced over. "Mom, what's the issue?"

"The baby is breech, small, and her cervix is softening. I can't be sure, but I wouldn't be surprised at premature labor."

"What's that?" Meri asked.

"If you have cramps, at any time, you send someone to get me," Naomi told her. "If your water breaks - do you know what that is?"

"No," Meri whispered.

"Like you pee on yourself, but didn't. A lot of fluid will rush out. If that happens, then do not wait. Come here if you can walk, or have me come to your house. Meri, I'm worried your baby is going to come soon. Too soon."

Meri's face drained of color. "Will it turn the right way?"

"Probably." Naomi patted her knee. "If not, we'll have to do surgery." She gestured along the bottom of her belly. "We make a cut here, using medicine so you can't feel it. This is what I do, Meri. I help people have babies. Other doctors handle things like broken bones or getting sick. I specialize in helping women. So if there's a problem, we will take care of both of you, but I'd like you to think about your choices - and let us hope you do not have to make one."

"What if she bleeds?" I asked, unable to help myself.

Naomi dipped her head as if I'd made a good point. "Then we find out why and make it stop. Girls, in the last ten years, no mother in Lorsa has died from having a baby, and I do not intend to break that record. Zasen told me that's not true with the Moles, but it is here. In all that time, one woman had twins, and there were a lot of problems. We saved her, but couldn't fix her womb, so she won't have any more."

"And?" I asked.

"No, that's the worst complication I've had in the last decade," Naomi said. "I know childbirth is dangerous down underground, but up here, we've learned how to take care of our women." She looked at Meri. "I don't like how thin you are, so I need you to eat as much as you can. It will make this easier, okay?"

"I will," Meri promised.

"Good protein will help you build the muscles necessary to push the baby out," Naomi told her. "So will walking and other gentle exercise. Now, Jeera and Brielle know what's safe, so if you aren't sure, you can ask them."

"But it hurts, right?" Meri asked weakly.

"What hurts?" Jeera asked.

"Having the baby," Meri almost whimpered.

Naomi made a soothing sound. "It feels like bad cramps. If you have someone get me when they start, we can put medicine in your back that numbs all of it. Labor takes longer, but it's more time for your friends to pamper you. I have a feeling Ayla will be more than happy to do a lot of pampering too."

"I will," I assured her.

"Wait." Meri's head was whipping between us. "There's a way to lessen the pain?"

Naomi chuckled, smiling at her. "Labor isn't comfortable, but God gave us minds to solve problems. Our priests said the suffering of women counted as a problem that needed to be solved. So while I won't tell you there's no pain, I believe both of you ladies could survive it. I did, and I've done it three times. Now, I'll want to see you again next week, just so we can check on the little one and see if the baby has decided to cooperate."

"We'll be here," Jeera promised.

Then we were done. Naomi apologized for making our visit so brief, but she had other women who needed to be seen. As Jeera passed our clothes back to us, the tension was high in the room. That was when everyone left, giving us a chance to get dressed again.

"There's something wrong with the baby," Meri said into the silence and shuffling clothing.

"But not with you," I assured her. "Meri, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"But you can't promise that!" she snapped.

"I've seen their medicine," I reminded her. "They have things for numbing, and medication for infections, and ways to treat sickness. They do surgery , Meri. That has to mean it'll be okay!"

"But Gideon's a large man," she said. "Ms. White said if the baby is too big, I could bleed, and that's how women die!"

"We will not let that happen," I assured her. "And I know Dragons are different, and there's still so much you don't know, but this is what I meant. It is better here, Meri. They don't hurt us like the men did in the compound. They help us instead. Here, we're allowed to be happy, safe, and all the things we always talked about back when we were girls. That means it's going to be okay, even if it won't be easy. I'm sure of it."

A rap at the door sounded like an exclamation point to my sentence, and Jeera poked her head in. "Ready to go?"

We both nodded, so she pushed the door all the way open, then guided us up the hall. I was pretty sure we were heading back to the waiting room, but Brielle wasn't with us. Looking back made me pause enough for Jeera to notice.

"Brielle has to help Mom for a bit," she explained. "I thought we could do lunch and have her meet us there?"

"What?" Meri asked. "Meet us where?"

"Rymar's?" I asked Jeera. When she nodded, I turned to Meri just as we reached the waiting room. "Here, they have places to eat where someone else cooks for you. Not like the dining hall, but kinda like the dining hall."

"Then how is it not?" Meri asked.

"Because there are a lot of them," I explained, "and not everyone goes to the same one."

"And some offer different types of food," Jeera said.

Just as the man at the front called out, "Jeera? I need a few things before you go."

"Okay." She held up a finger at us, then started backing towards that man's alcove. "It'll be just a second. Have to schedule everything for her."

But in the short time we'd been in that room, the chairs out here had filled up. There were now seven women in the waiting room. Quite a few of them had tails, but I got the impression they were here with the ones who didn't. Small clusters of twos and three leaned together, talking or giggling about their own conversations.

To me, it didn't seem like anything to worry about, but when I turned back to Meri, her eyes were a little too wide, and she was hugging her arms to herself. That was when I remembered she couldn't understand those little snippets that were easy to overhear. To her, this was a room filled with monsters, and too many of them kept glancing over at us.

"Let's wait outside," I suggested, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and guiding her to the door .

"Okay," she agreed a little too easily.

I knew it would be too bright for her, but I had a feeling she'd rather deal with that than being surrounded by so many people. The way one woman's tail was twitching looked like she was annoyed about something, and I did not want to see if it was us.

The moment we were outside, Meri proved me right. Her eyes squinted tightly, but she still managed to waddle a few steps away from the door. Just far enough where she had plenty of space all around her.

"How do we know which ones are good, Ayla?" she begged, her words a meek whisper.

"They're just people," I promised. "Meri, Dragons aren't any different than the people in the compound. They aren't monsters."

"But..." She paused. "I just..." Then she sighed. "I know Jeera and Brielle are nice, but they make a point of telling me what they're making for my meals. This morning I had chicken eggs, meat from a pig, and tubers called a potato."

"So that you can learn what you like," I assured her.

"But what do I do when it's a person?" she whined. "And when I die, will they eat me?"

"No, no, no..." I hurried to assure her, clasping her arms. "Meri, that was a lie. It was a horrible, sinful lie too! They did it to cover for their own crimes!"

"No," she told me. "Ayla, that tail was on the wall. I've seen it! I was married right under it!"

"Because they attacked the Dragon!" I snapped. "The hunters weren't trying to defend themselves. Meri, they were hunting!" And then I stopped hard, realizing what I'd just said.

"What?" Meri asked, her head jumping up so she could meet my eyes. "I know they were. That's when the Dragons attacked them, planning to devour the Righteous whole because there's..." Her words trailed off even as she turned to look around at the vibrant world we were in. "Because there's nothing on the surface and no other way to survive."

"They lied," I said gently.

"Why did they have a tail?" Meri asked, ignoring my best attempt to soothe her.

"Meri..."

" Why , Ayla?"

Pushing out a heavy sigh, I dropped my head. "Meri, what did we eat?"

"Meat, tubers, fungus, and vegetables. Why?" There was a defiance in her voice that made me think she already knew.

But I couldn't drop this on her. I wouldn't! "What do you eat here?" I asked instead.

A myriad of thoughts flickered across her face. "Rabbit, boar, turkey, pheasant, carrots, potatoes - "

I stopped her before she started reciting a grocery list. "Yes, types of meat and vegetables. They name it. Why didn't the Righteous do the same?"

"I don't know, maybe because it's a mix? "

Slowly, I shook my head. "No."

"What do you mean, 'no?'" she pressed. "Ayla, what are you saying?!"

This wasn't how I'd planned on telling her. It wasn't what I wanted her to think, but I'd said too much, and she'd noticed. I'd also promised Zasen I'd do this. I had to, because ignoring it wouldn't help her. She needed to know so she could prepare. So she'd be safe. So it wouldn't hurt the baby.

"Meri, in seventeen days the hunters will need to find more food for the Righteous." I gently chaffed her arms, needing to make this as gentle as I could. "They'll come here. Twelve days before a holiday, they head out to hunt. It takes two nights to get here. They travel by night because the sun is too bright, and they come here. Here , Meri. They hunt Dragons, call them lizards, and they butcher them where the women can't see. Then they feed these people to the entire compound."

Meri swallowed. "That can't be true."

I gave her a long look, because her refusal sounded weak even to me.

"They're just protecting themselves," she tried next.

"No," I said as gently as I could. "I know you've treated the wounded. I know you've seen the arrows. Deer don't use them. Bears have claws. Dragons shoot bows because we don't have rifles."

"We don't eat them. No, Ayla. We can't!"

I ducked my head a bit to meet her eyes. "Have you seen any other meat like it? Long, pale - "

She pulled away, lunging to the plants in front of the building. There, she dropped hard to her knees and made a horrible gagging sound. I followed, wanting to help, but she vomited before I could even gather up her hair. Then again.

"It's okay," I told her as I dropped down beside her. "Meri, you didn't know, and - "

She heaved again.

"Get her up!" a woman yelled in Vestrian.

I heard the sound of feet, but I was too focused on trying to comfort Meri. In one hand, I held her long silver hair back. The other was trying to help support her, but my friend was whimpering. When she could, she shook her head, and then she'd heave again.

"Stupid fucking Moles!" the woman snapped as she shouldered me aside.

I dropped onto my rump as a tan woman wrapped her arms around Meri and leaned her back. It took two whole seconds before I recognized her as the seamstress who'd made my clothes, and then Lessa was scooping my friend into her arms.

"Get the door, girl," she snapped at me. Then she growled under her breath. "Never mind, you can't understand."

"I do," I promised, even as I scurried to obey. "What are you doing with her?"

"I'm taking her to see the doctor. She's pregnant !"

"We were just there," I tried to explain .

"Ayla?!" Meri begged before pushing at the tan Dragon woman. "No, let me go!"

"Lessa, you're scaring her," I insisted. "She doesn't trust Dragons yet!"

"Well, she's already upset, and in her condition..." She stormed into the waiting room. "I need a doctor!"

"Ayla!" Meri screamed, starting to panic now.

"It's okay!" I told her. "She's a friend, Meri. Lessa's one of Zasen's friends."

"Me hap," Lessa tried, mangling the attempt at English. "Shh... Ahs oh-key."

"She's helping you," I translated as I followed helplessly after her. "That's Lessa, and she's helping. We're going to make this okay."

"This way, this way, this way," the man said as he shoved open the door and held it for Lessa to walk through. In her arms, Meri looked so very small.

And I felt so very helpless.