Phoenix’s Fire (The Ruins Of Men #2)

Chapter 75

Seventy-Five

Tobias

T he orders were confirmed. Our kits had been made. The carts had been adjusted to carry back wounded as well as our "harvest." Everything was in order to leave before the compound lights came on in the morning. That meant I needed to say goodbye to Callah.

I wasn't the only man worried about his intended, or that I wouldn't make it back. With the recent announcement given in the dining hall, the pressure on us men to marry had also increased. It was different, though. We were reminded of how nice it would be to have a clean home when we returned wounded, or how pleasing it would be to have gentle hands to care for us while we healed.

My problem was that most of us wouldn't come back. I might not - and if I didn't, I had no clue what would happen to Callah. Would they give her time to meet someone else? Would the council assign her a husband? If so, I hoped she stabbed him hard enough to kill him!

That was spinning through my mind as I rapped on her door. "Just a minute!" she called from the other side.

But when she opened the door, all of my fears faded away. Her hair was down and loose. I'd never seen it like that before, and it looked good on her. I could feel my stupid face heating up, so I glanced away.

"Um, I was hoping we could walk," I mumbled.

"It's not even dinnertime," she said, sounding a little surprised.

"Before dinner, I meant." I shifted awkwardly. "Callah, we leave in the morning."

Her shoulders slumped. "Oh. Let me put myself together."

And she turned back, leaving the door open. As I watched, she reached up and divided her hair by feel, swirling the strands around each other in a pattern she clearly knew well, but which looked like magic to me. When the braid reached the end of her long pink hair, she curled the rope of it around itself into a proper bun, then picked up a tie from her dresser and secured it all.

"What?" she asked, giving me a confused look.

"I've never seen a woman do her hair before," I admitted.

She giggled, then pulled open a drawer. "Well, if you're leaving, then I have a token for you. Something so you won't forget me."

I quickly glanced up and down the hall. Seeing no one around, I dared to cross over the threshold, but only barely into her room. More in the doorway than anything, but I knew this would be considered improper. It also allowed me to see all the walls of her room.

She closed the drawer and turned with something in her hands, but stopped hard. "Tobias!"

"I just wanted to see what the girls' rooms look like," I explained, backing up a little. "You know, in case anyone asks."

"Ah." She hurried over, pressing a bundle of yellow cloth into my palm, but it was hard. Oh, the cloth was wrapped around something. A letter, clearly, but it seemed to be a very thick one.

"Put that away," she whispered.

I shoved it into my pocket.

Then she pressed me back. "And while I may have agreed to your proposal, Tobias, that does not mean I'll allow you to be indecent before the vows are said." She reached back to close her door, then turned me up the hall, taking my arm. "But you can take me to the wishing well."

"I don't think that will be a very private place today," I pointed out. "We were all encouraged to remind our girls that we'll come back."

"I didn't think you normally told your girls when you're leaving," she countered. "What's changed?"

"The casualties." I tucked my arm closer to my waist so I could press my other hand over hers. "Callah, the Dragons are dangerous, and there's a chance I won't make it back."

"No," she hissed. "Don't even talk that way, Tobias. We're going to get married on the Day of the Seven Trumpets. You will bring me back flowers that I can hold for my bouquet, proving you are the most impressive man in the compound. Do you hear me? And while I'll forgive a lack of flowers, I will not forgive you if I don't have my intended!"

"I know," I promised. "But listen to me, okay? If I don't make it back, you'll have to marry someone. If that happens."

"Shh," she breathed, reaching over with her other arm so our hands layered up. Hers, mine, then her other one, and all pressing on my arm. It was enough to make me smile stupidly, struggling not to blush in front of her again.

"This way," she said, turning me onto the main hall. "So, other men are all taking the women they're courting to the wishing well?"

"It's not really a wishing well," I reminded her, "but that's what it sounds like. Callah, it's just a well to the pump equipment. "

"It's a wishing well," she assured me. "As many girls as have thrown wishes down there? I think it's earned the title by now."

Then she turned again, angling me up a very long, dark hall. It curved quickly, disappearing out of view. Worse, there were no lights. Of all the improper things she could do, this hall definitely counted. There was no way either of us could explain being here without her virtue being compromised.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"We're going to be married," she said. "You are an overly enthusiastic man who wanted to try to steal a kiss. I told you no, but my virtue might still be compromised. If you don't return, hopefully that will give me three months to figure out how to get out of here." Then she let go of me and flopped against the wall. "And we should be far enough away that our whispers won't be overheard. So what do I really need to know?"

The light was dim this far back, but not gone completely. I turned to face her, careful to keep a respectful space between us - but not too much of one. In moments like this, she looks so impressively strong and defiant, but also so soft and fragile. I could never understand how some women could manage to be both at the same time, but I liked it.

"We can't practice with grenades underground," I said softly. "Instead, they give us rocks about the same size and have us throw them. Supposedly, they will explode five seconds after the pin is pulled."

"What pin?"

"There are dummy ones we were all shown how to use. They have a pin to keep the trigger from activating. Like a safety mechanism. We've been told how big the explosion will be, but no one alive has ever seen one used. The problem is, we don't really know how they'll work, or bounce, or if they'll truly take that long before they explode."

"Why can't you practice with a few?" she asked. "Wouldn't it be better to know?"

"Mr. Peterson said it could cause a wall to collapse," I explained. "And there's a lot of earth above us that would come crashing down. It would also be heard all across the compound. Instead, they trained us on operating in five-man units. My squad leader is a man named Sylis."

"Yeah," she muttered. "You've mentioned him. I vaguely remember him from sermon. He's not that much older than me, right? Like twenty-two or twenty-three?"

"Same guy," I agreed. "But as the squad lead, he'll be further back."

"Why's he the squad lead instead of you?" she asked.

I grunted, wishing she'd let me finish, but understanding her insistent questions too. "Sylis became a hunter before I did. Yes, I have more experience on the surface, but hunters are sure being a gatherer is so much easier, so it doesn't count. Sylis was on two hunts before I joined, and he pulled the carts his first time. I'm his second-in-command. That means if he falls in battle, I become the squad lead."

"Which looks good, right?" she asked .

"And makes it hard to slip away," I pointed out. "Also means I have four men watching me, and losing an entire squad while I return safely? Less believable than a partner."

"Ah, so - "

"Callah!" I snapped, cutting her off before she could ask yet another completely logical question. "Woman, listen to me for a second, okay? Sylis is going to be safer than me. There's a better chance he'll make it back, and he seems like one of the more decent men I've met."

She shook her head slightly, not following where I was going. "Okay?"

"And if I don't make it back, I want you to marry him. If you want to do this, then you marry him and do it. I'll make it clear to him that he has to propose."

"I don't think he's on my list," she said.

"He isn't twenty-five, so he isn't on any lists unless he asks to be."

She reached up to drag both hands down her face. "That's so unfair!"

"But will you?" I pressed. "Callah, if they kill me up there, will you even consider him? Or attack someone, or do something? I hate the idea of leaving you alone down here."

She stepped closer and grabbed my hand. "If you don't come back, I will make every man in this entire compound pay, do you hear me?" she asked. "I will find all of those grenades and set them off, because if you don't come back, then no one here deserves to live."

"And blowing yourself up would hurt," I reminded her.

She squealed in frustration, bouncing in place to show how much she hated that. "I'll do something!"

"Marry Sylis," I said again. "I'll make him promise me to be good to you, okay? And I looked. He isn't related to you. No more than Mr. Saunders, so he should be fine as a prospect."

She nodded. "But maybe you can come back? It'd be easier."

"I'm going to try," I swore, meaning every word. "But, um, if I don't. I was wondering if you'd let me do something first."

She tensed. "I am not kissing you! That would be indecent!"

"I was actually hoping for a hug," I mumbled. "My mother used to give them, and they always made me feel better. I just... I dunno. I thought that maybe it could be a good luck thing?"

She didn't bother answering. Callah simply threw herself against my chest, reaching up to wrap her arms around my shoulders. Then she squeezed. Carefully, trying not to get too close, I curled my arms around her shoulders and bent into her.

This woman was so incredibly small. The top of her head didn't even come to my shoulder, and her body was so slim, I was worried I'd crush her. Still, the feel of her holding me like this was enough to let my entire body relax. I dropped my head, resting my cheek against her hair, and a sigh fell from my lungs.

Peace.

She was the solace I'd spent my life looking for. This woman was the trust I'd never found anywhere else. She was a friend, and one I truly respected. Somehow, this delicate little thing made me feel like everything was going to be okay, and I needed that more than she could ever understand.

"I can't do this without you, Tobias," she said, turning her face to bury it against my neck.

"Yes, you can," I reminded her, carefully easing her back. "You are brilliant, conniving, and devious. You are going to fix things for the women. I know you will, and I'm going to make it back so I can help you. We are going to make sure the lies down here get exposed, and then we'll figure out how to... I don't know. How to make this better."

"How to free these people from themselves," she said, clasping my biceps so I couldn't lean too far away. "And you're a part of my plan, so you tell Sylis you need to be safe so you can get married. I don't care what excuse you come up with, but you wear those feathers, Tobias, and you give her that, okay? Then you come back!"

I reached up and drew a little X over my heart. "Cross my heart, Callah. And I'll pick an entire bouquet for you too. Maybe not all pink, but I'll get you the most flowers any girl has ever had." Then I shifted her hand, making her draw the same little cross above my heart. "And you can give them to all the girls getting married as something to hang on to - or to prove there's more out there."

"Just..." Her hand shifted until her palm was resting over my heart. "I'll heal you if you're wounded, but I need you to come back. I'm scared, Tobias."

I nodded. "Me too."