Phoenix’s Fire (The Ruins Of Men #2)

Chapter 32

Thirty-Two

Zasen

A yla seemed to like the dogs. For some reason, I hadn't expected that. Maybe it was because she'd been so nervous about them when we'd brought the bear back? Then again, she hadn't really been scared of the bear either. She'd just been cautious. Always cautious.

Meri, on the other hand, pulled into herself whenever the dogs got too close. Naturally, Tamin adored them, and twice now, he'd asked if he could have one. Saveah had finally told him that only adults could buy dogs. It wasn't true, but it did make the boy stop asking.

Soon enough, the food was done. Irrik helped me and Kanik set it all out on the table. Rymar and Lansin got drinks. The women? They got to sit and relax for a moment, but I still noticed Meri watching us with the same confusion Ayla had once had.

There was a bit of jostling as everyone got their food, but Ayla guided Meri through it easily. I was a little impressed with our little Phoenix. She alternated between Vestrian and English so easily, and demonstrated manners by doing and allowing Meri to see what was acceptable. But by the time the platters made their way around to me, the conversation had shifted again.

"So, do we know how long the Moles are out of their base?" Lansin asked.

"Two to three days," Ayla said.

"Before they get here," I corrected. "Then two to three more to get back."

Lansin thrust out his lower lip and nodded. "Okay. And I'm guessing we don't have a clue whether they use the roads or not?"

"Except for the damage they've done in the past," Rymar admitted. "We know travelers have been attacked. We do not know if they were using the roads or drawn to them by campfires. "

Plucking a piece of meat from his plate, Irrik offered it to one of the dogs. "And you're meeting them in the forest this time? What if they aren't where you expect?"

That made Ayla glance up. "If we are out there early enough, we should catch them moving. Moles won't move around in the daylight." Then she turned and explained to Meri what she'd just said.

"Why?" Meri whispered in English.

So I gestured to show I had that answer. "Because the sunlight is bright. It hurts your eyes, and fighting is even harder when you can't see." I spoke in English for her.

Meri looked over at me, but this time she didn't flinch. Still, after she nodded, the girl stared for just a little too long. Then her eyes flicked down my arms, up to my head - probably my hair - and finally to my hands.

I casually cut another piece of meat and switched to Vestrian. "Mama, we're going to need first-aid supplies to take with us. Ayla, I want you to attend some of the training sessions."

"Really?!" she asked excitedly.

"What?" Meri breathed.

So Ayla switched to English. "Zasen's going to let me fight with the men!"

"But what if you get hurt?" Meri whimpered.

Which made my sister lean back. "Zasen, I'm going with you."

"You are not," Irrik said. "Baby, they're going to..." He paused with a groan. "Yeah. Need your medical help."

Jeera just pointed at him. "That is why I want to go. Ayla can heal. Zasen knows first aid. Drozel, Omden, and Tayle can all stabilize people in the field."

"Who?" Ayla asked.

Jeera gave her a confused look, but I understood. "Tayle's one of the women who is in the militia," I explained. "She has basic first-aid training. Black hair, brown skin, tailless."

"Should tailless women be out there?" Ayla asked.

Tilting my head, I gave her a long, measuring look. "Should you?"

"Well, but they won't take me!" Ayla insisted.

"And we'll make sure everyone has a partner to work with them," I assured her. "Ayla, I'd like you to stick with Kanik."

"No," Kanik said.

That made me look over at him. "What?"

Kanik gestured to the Reapers. "I'll run with these two to make sure they don't get in the middle of something. You keep Ayla with you."

"He's right," Rymar said. "She'll be smack in the middle of that mess, and you know who else will be?" He pointed straight across the table, right at me. "And Ayla's been hunting with you enough now to know how to move with you."

"And we're not going to talk about that bear," my mother said pointedly.

Which made Ayla giggle before translating all of that for Meri. All I could do was sigh. Mostly because I knew they were right .

"Fine, but if you're working with the Reapers, Kanik, then you need to make sure they know how we'll move."

"Not my first time to fight with Dragons," Irrik assured me.

"Don't even think about trying to pick up another tailed woman," Brielle teased. "Although I won't hold it against you if you save a few more."

"You liked it," he taunted.

Brielle shrugged. "Might be why we keep you around. That or your pretty brown eyes."

Irrik laughed. "So, maybe I should work with Jeera, Zasen? Might keep me from getting in any more trouble."

I hummed, struggling not to grin at him. "Sure, we can do that. Both she and Kanik will make sure you two survive out there."

"I'll take Meri to my house," Lessa offered. "She can help me sew her new clothes."

Ayla translated that, which made Meri suck in a breath. "Like your clothes?" she asked.

Ayla nodded. "Lessa made most of mine. She's very good."

"And with all the amazing fabric?"

I jerked my chin at Lessa and lowered my voice so as not to talk over those two. "She sounds excited, Less. Just be gentle with her? These girls had a hard time down there."

"I'm starting to understand," Lessa assured me. "But I need to understand their words, otherwise this is going to be hard."

"I wanted to start giving all of us lessons," Kanik said. "I know Ayla picked up Vestrian easily, but she was also reading it and comparing it to English."

"What? How?" Lessa asked.

"Books," I explained. "Alice in Wonderland, actually. We had copies in both languages. She mostly taught herself."

"I can read the words," Lessa said. "They just say it wrong."

"They say it right," Lansin pointed out. "I mean, they've been using it this whole time, right? So we're probably the ones who messed it up."

"Still!" Lessa tossed up her hands.

Saveah patted her arm. "I'm having trouble with it too. Tamin's picking it up easily, but me?" She shook her head.

"And it's too far to walk Meri to your house, Kanik, so should we meet at the school?" Brielle asked. "I want Meri to walk more so she builds some muscles, but I also don't want to overdo it."

"The library," Rymar said softly.

"What?" I asked.

He gestured at the women, then over to the men. "Militia training is beside the library. There are rooms available there. Kanik knows what he's doing. It's close to Brielle's place. So, have the women do their lessons at the library. Kanik can help them. Ayla will be close enough to do a training session and still catch some of the lesson. Since Kanik knows what to do, and you're going to have him with the Reapers, it won't hurt if he misses a session."

"That's actually a good idea," Kanik said.

"But..." Ayla looked at Meri, then over to me. "I told her..."

I lifted a hand. "You can do both." Then I switched to English. "Meri, would you be upset if Ayla is late to some of your English lessons? She may have another obligation which overlaps a bit."

"No, that's understandable," Meri said just as obediently as I'd expected.

So I lifted a brow at Ayla and changed back to Vestrian. "See? Not a problem. It also allows her to make other friends and find her own independence - which she needs."

A little smile flickered over Ayla's lips as she dropped her eyes, but then she glanced back up at me through those gold lashes of hers. "I don't know how to help with that part."

"So give her space to make mistakes," I said. "Let her see she won't be hurt when it happens." I glanced at Lessa, making sure she was paying attention. "And slowly but surely, we will prove to her she's truly welcome here, right?"

"I can do that," Lessa said.

Which was when Tamin spoke up. "I wanna do English too!"

"Baby, you get to learn that in school," Saveah told him.

"But I wanna learn English with Aunt Ayla!"

"It'll be after school," Kanik said. "No reason he can't come. I'm also not opposed to making him enjoy learning."

"Me either," Saveah admitted. So she looked at her son. "Okay, but you have to do your chores - or no English."

"Mama!"

Which made Meri giggle, even if she didn't understand the entire conversation. The childish whine was clearly a universal thing. I glanced at the girl, struggling not to smile - and she noticed. Meri had her lips pressed together in an attempt not to laugh at the boy, yet the moment my eyes landed on her, the smile faded.

So I made a production of pressing my mouth together even tighter, showing I was doing the same thing. One corner of her lip curled, fell, then curled again, almost like she wasn't sure if she was allowed to laugh at that.

Lansin had already moved on to something else, and the conversation at the table was warm, friendly, and casual, but for a moment, it was just Meri and me. I tilted my head at Tamin and rolled my eyes. Meri's smile grew a little more. Then, the smallest little giggle slipped out.

"Kids are all the same, huh?" I asked in English.

And finally the girl smiled at me. "I guess they are," she said softly. "I didn't know that."

"Were you like that?" I asked. "I mean, since I've never seen a Mole child."

Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip, and for a moment, I thought she was going to shut down again. But after just a little too long, she nodded.

"I was a horrible child. "

"Not as bad as Ayla, I'm sure," I teased.

Ayla huffed. "I was a good child!"

"You were not!" Meri said around a laugh.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "I have a feeling Meri's right, Ayla," I said. "The way you've berated me? I think she was the good one of the bunch."

"She's not as good as she pretends," Ayla assured me.

Meri sucked in a little breath. "No, I... "

"I think," I told her, "that Mole women are strong, intelligent, and impressive women. I've only met two, and both of them are stronger than I could ever imagine being."

Her cheeks began to turn pink. On the other side, Ayla's mouth closed as she realized what I was doing, and the look she was giving me? That made me think I wasn't making a complete mess of this.

"I was just scared," Meri said softly. "I didn't really do anything."

"You survived," I told her. "Over and over again, you kept surviving, and Meri? That's something you should be proud of."

Around us, people were talking softer. Most had fallen silent to listen in. Meri glanced around and her cheeks got a little brighter.

"Thank you, Mr. Wyvern."

I shook my head. "It's Zasen."

"They call you the Wyvern."

"That's my sign," I assured her. "And I made sure your men know it. I stamped it on their bodies so they'd understand there was a price for hurting people I care about. So you know, that includes you now."

"Me?" she breathed.

I nodded. "My friend says you are a good person. I happen to trust Ayla's opinion."

"But I'm not brave like Ayla," she said.

"You're not," I agreed. "You're brave like you. I'm brave like me. Everyone at this table can say the same thing, but my sister is not weak because she is what you'd call a healer. Lessa is not timid because she's amazing at making clothes. Rymar is not useless because he is good at organizing."

"I don't understand what you mean," Meri admitted.

My mother opened her mouth, but I lifted my hand, letting her know I had this. "In the compound, you were supposed to be one thing. All women were meant to be good, quiet, and obedient wives, correct?"

"Yes."

"All men were meant to be devout, strong, and leaders of their families?" I was guessing at that from history and things Ayla had said.

Meri jiggled her head in a little nod. "Yes, that is what they say."

"But here, you're supposed to be you," I told her. "A woman who likes the things you like, who talks back - or doesn't. Who laughs at jokes - or doesn't. Who is loud or quiet, rude or polite, rowdy or calm. It doesn't matter which things you like. It only matters that you get the chance to figure them out, and we're all here to help you with that."

"But why?" she asked. "Ayla said the hunters come here . She said we eat..." Her words trailed off. "Why do you want to help us?"

"Because you - " And I pointed at her. "- have never hurt me. I judge people on themselves, not the group they fit into. I don't care if that's 'woman' or 'Mole' or 'tailless.' You are not them, and their cruelty is not something you should be punished for. It also sounds like you've already been punished more than you deserve."

She nodded. "I didn't know."

"No, you didn't," I agreed. "And that means it's on the men, not on you women."

"So this isn't a trick?"

I propped my elbow on the table and leaned my cheek onto my fist. "It's not a trick, Meri. In ten days, your hunters are going to come back. I will fight them. I will kill many of them, and the people around this table will help me. We will do it to keep everyone in this town safe - including you. We may be loud. We're probably nothing at all like what you're used to, but I give you my word that I will be honest with you. I also won't hurt you. Do you believe me?"

Her eyes dropped to scan the table, but she didn't think about it as long as I expected. When she looked up, there was just a bit more confidence in her gaze this time.

"I believe Ayla," she said.

"That's good enough for me," I assured her.