Wyvern’s Gold (The Ruins Of Men Book 1)

Chapter 5

Five

Ayla

O ne week after her birthday, Meri got married. The date had been chosen because it was a holiday - the Opening of the Arc. Supposedly, a marriage on such a day would bring God's blessing down on all the Righteous, for it proved we had used our salvation well.

For the entire day, the news was whispered through the compound, making sure everyone knew. The dining hall would be packed. With so many intending to be there, Callah and I had begged and borrowed the best clothes we'd heard of for our friend.

Meri's dress was made of twice-bleached fabric. The veil she wore was aged lace from her mother's line. And somehow, Callah and I had managed to weave her silvered hair up into the most elegant style, with a few tendrils hanging down to tempt her man. In my opinion, she was the most beautiful bride I'd ever seen.

But what surprised me most was Gideon. Less than a week ago, he'd been severely wounded. I'd pulled the arrows from his body myself. Still, the man insisted on acting like nothing had happened so he could stand for his vows. He wore a formal robe and cradled his family's Bible, but no bandages were visible under the fabric. I still knew he had them.

Then, just before dinner that evening, the High Priest performed the ceremony, passing the new husband the rod that signified he was now an adult. Yet while Gideon might be moving slowly, his smile seemed real as he leaned on the three-foot-long rod and swore to protect and care for his new bride. Merienne vowed to obey her husband and gift him with the fruit of her womb. The words were the same as they were for most marriages, but the look in their eyes? It was enough to make me a bit jealous.

My friend seemed to have found happiness. It was what we were all looking for in our matches, but I'd never heard of a truly happy couple. The "honeymoon phase," they called this, although I had no idea why. None of us had seen the moon. I knew the thing wasn't made of honey, though. But if it meant Meri could keep smiling like this, then good for her.

And when the short ceremony was over, the food was served. Plus, because it was a holiday, the meal was "special." Large-leaf vegetables, tubers, plenty of fungus, and pale, stringy meat were all laid out to be claimed. From the murmurs of the people around us, most were excited about the addition to our diet. I wasn't.

I didn't care for meat. It was hard to get, harder to store, and even the sight of it turned my stomach. Still, our bodies needed protein, so the hunters did their best to gather it for each of the many holidays we Righteous celebrated. That was the main reason they went to the surface above, braving the wrath of the demons who claimed it.

When it was my turn to make my plate, I took a heaping serving of the plants but ignored the flesh, telling myself I was merely making sure others could have their fill. As a child, I'd eaten that stuff, yet I'd always complained that it tasted wrong. My mother - back when she'd been alive - hadn't cared for it either, but my father had insisted. Now, so long as I didn't waste away, no one else even noticed.

But a fancy meal didn't make up for the change in our life. I tried to smile at Meri as she basked in the attention of being a new bride. Sitting at a place of honor under the Dragon tail on the wall, she didn't see me. Sadly, I didn't have much to say to Callah, because none of it would be good.

Our friend was gone. She was her husband's wife now. The Righteous saw her as an adult, which meant she had no need of childish things - such as two girls who still lived in the children's quarters. I knew that, yet our room felt empty without her in it that night.

Neither Callah nor I wanted to talk about it. The next day passed slowly. Our classes seemed to drag on for an eternity. I couldn't even bring myself to escape into my library because it would leave Callah alone, yet we had nothing to talk about except our own poor choices of husbands and the empty bed between us.

The day after, Meri's absence began to feel a little more "normal." The one after that, it was even easier. I stopped expecting to see her when I entered our room. Callah and I learned to discuss other things, forging a new balance. Bit by bit, we were moving on, and yet I missed my friend.

Three days after her wedding, when I sat down to eat lunch in my usual spot, Meri was waiting. I gasped, thrilled to finally see again - especially so soon after her wedding!

Then I saw her face.

She looked up at me and tried to smile, but the swelling on her jaw made it lopsided. "I missed you two," she said around it.

"Meri..." I breathed. "What happened?"

She swallowed, putting in too much effort. Obviously, it was painful. "I tried to tell Gideon we should wait to consummate our marriage until he was healed." Her eyes dropped to the plate she had before her. "He made it clear he's not so weak as to need a break."

"Oh, Meri..." I mumbled, reaching for her hand under the table.

She clasped my palm a little too hard just as Callah joined us. My other friend's reaction was barely any better than my own. Callah gasped, but she didn't dare ask about Meri's face. Not with so many people moving around us at the moment. But when our little corner was quiet again, she leaned in.

"Did Gideon do that?"

"I tried to put off the consummation," Meri admitted. "He thought I was refusing him."

"But he's wounded," I insisted.

She shrugged subtly. "It seems men don't care about that. The act of breeding is pleasurable for them, remember."

Callah grumbled under her breath. "Was it that bad for you?"

"Her face is bruised!" I hissed. "How could it not have been?"

"I thought that happened before he... You know."

"It did," Meri assured us. "That's why I snuck out to see you two. I wanted to make sure you both know the reality, not just what they tell us in school."

"It'll be okay," Callah assured her.

"It won't!" Meri snapped, pausing to lower her voice again. "He made me lie on my back and spread my legs. Then he grabbed himself and stared for a while." She glanced over, barely able to meet my eyes before she looked at her plate again. "And when it gets excited, his member gets larger. Once he was ready, he pushed it in."

"Which is what the classes say," I pointed out.

"They don't talk about how bad it hurts," Meri insisted. "I cried, Ayla. He told me to stop because it made him feel bad, but I couldn't. It just hurt so bad! And when I tried to make it hurt less, and moved? He held me down so he could finish."

"But it's over," Callah insisted.

"It's not over until I no longer have my monthly bleeding," Meri whispered. "He did it again twice that night, then three times the next day."

"Oh, Meri," I said wanting to do something to make the torture easier to deal with.

"But I figured it out," she told us. "See, if you relax and breathe slowly? If you close your eyes and think about happy things? It helps. I could relax my muscles and that made it hurt less."

"So relax," Callah repeated, nodding to show she was listening.

I heard every word, but I couldn't do the same. I couldn't simply pretend like breathing slowly and remembering happy thoughts would change my life. No, there had to be a way to fix this.

"What if you're not there?" I asked, desperately seeking some way out of this.

"There's nowhere else to be, Ayla," Meri told me. "We have a family suite now. I sleep in the same room as him. I have a kitchen where I can prepare meals for him. That's it! Unless I lock myself in the toilet room, but he'd just break down the door."

"Men have needs," Callah said, sounding as disgusted by it as I felt.

"And it is our job to serve those needs," Meri agreed. "But it does get better. Today hurt less than the first time."

I pressed both hands over my mouth, my eyes hanging on her. "I don't know if I should hope you get pregnant soon or dread the day that happens," I admitted. "I just wish there was something I could do to help."

"There's nothing to do," she explained. "This is the lot of a wife. I shall bear him heirs and replenish the Lord's people." She paused, pressing her lips together. "And I heard some men still want to do it when his wife is pregnant."

"No," Callah said, slashing a hand through the air. "That's too much."

"I know!" Meri agreed. "I told Gideon I would not be one of those women. He hit me for it."

"Just agree with him," I told her. "Be meek, Meri. Be gentle and subservient and even silent if you have to."

Slowly, Meri licked her lips. "No, I think I will be me. Ayla, I have nothing else to lose. I mean, I know how lucky I am. My husband is at least young and attractive. He cares about me - "

"That's not caring!" Callah snapped.

Meri shot her a look of warning. "And unless you want the entire dining hall to wonder what we're talking about, keep your voice down."

"But it's going to happen to us too!" Callah insisted.

"To all women," I reminded her. "This is our lot, Callah. There's no other option."

Meri simply reached over to rub my shoulder. "No, there isn't. I just wanted to make sure both of you knew what to expect before you accept a proposal."

"Maybe an old man would be better?" Callah suggested. "I mean, if he's frail enough, then at least he wouldn't be able to hit as hard, Ayla."

"And he might die sooner," I added.

That made both of my friends look at me in shock. Clearly, neither of them had thought about it before, but I couldn't think of anything else. A little piece of me had hoped Meri's marriage might be one of those stories like I'd read in my library. One filled with kindness and romance. Instead, she was sitting beside me wearing bruises as proof of her place.

"It's not like the stories," I said softly.

Meri just shook her head. "It's nothing like the stories. Copulation is disgusting!"

"How so?" Callah asked.

"It just is," Meri insisted.

"It's okay," I told her. "We're not going to tell anyone if you say too much."

"And it's the only way we'll know," Callah pointed out.

So Meri leaned closer and dropped her voice as much as she could. "He wants me to touch his thing."

"Penis?" I asked.

She jiggled her head in an embarrassed nod. "And to pump it. He says he likes how it feels. And once, he wanted me to lick it!"

"But that's where he pees!" Callah gasped.

"I know!" Meri agreed. "But if I say no, he'll just hit me and tell me to do it again. So, I..." She quickly glanced between the pair of us, her face heating up. "He had me put it in my mouth. When he finished, it... spurts."

"Spurts what?" Callah asked.

"The seed," I answered, knowing this part.

"And when he's between my legs, it spurts down there," Meri went on. "The seed feels like our monthly flow, but it's white. It just comes out and gets on my legs, but he doesn't like me to get out of bed when he's done. He wants me to tell him how good it was."

"His penis?" Callah asked.

"The act!" Meri hissed. "I'm supposed to praise him for being good at putting his penis inside me and bucking until he spills his seed!"

"So lie," I told her.

"But that's a sin," she reminded me. "Ayla, I don't know what to do. So far, I've told him he must be amazing because he's my husband. I told him I'm sure he will impregnate me quickly. With as many times a day as he wants to fornicate, he must, right? But I don't want to sin and have him report me to the Elders!"

"So tell him he's the best you can imagine," I said. "it's true, since you will only be with him. Tell him he's your best lover. He's also your only one. If you can't lie, then tell the truth he wants to hear. Maybe he'll stop hitting you."

"No," she said, sounding dejected. "He doesn't always hit me for sex. Sometimes it's to train me."

"Spare the rod and spoil the wife," I grumbled, having heard that phrase from far too many wives.

Meri nodded. "I need to learn my place. Gideon expects me to worship him just under God. He is my husband, the holder of my life and controller of my future. I know this is what the Bible says we women should expect, but I'd hoped..."

"For something more like Ayla's stories," Callah finished for her. "Yeah, me too."

"But those stories are all fantasies," I reminded them.

"I still don't know what a fantasy is," Meri admitted.

"A lie," I told her as I finally figured it out myself. "One big, fat lie that is like a daydream. A lie you wish could be true but isn't. That doesn't make it true or real, though."

"No," she agreed. "It doesn't. Just..." She sighed. "I don't know. I just hoped telling you the truth might help you two pick your own husbands when the time comes."

"It will," I assured her, but across from me Callah's eyes got big and the girl sat up straight.

That was the only warning either of us got before a hand landed in Meri's hair and pulled.

"My wife should be at home," Gideon growled, making it clear we'd been caught.