Chapter 31
Thirty-One
Ayla
F or the second night in a row, I slept in the Wyvern's bed. This time, I was brave enough to change into one of the smaller and softer dresses. It wasn't the same as the nightshirts we'd worn in the compound, but it was hotter up here, so the lack of fabric to cover me made sense.
It also made it easy to apply the cream Zasen had given me. He said it would help with my skin. It seemed being exposed to the sun really had burned me, and this cream would make it feel better and allow it to heal faster.
At first, it simply felt cool, but within a few seconds, I could actually feel relief. I'd become so accustomed to the constant aches and pains that I'd accepted this feeling. Yet with it gone, I realized my feet still hurt. Worse, they were starting to itch, but Zasen had just rewrapped them, and I didn't want to mess that up.
I certainly wasn't about to go out and ask if I could put this cream on them. Not in this little clothing! No, the new nightdress came to the middle of my thighs, and the neckline was low enough to show the tops of my breasts!
Then again, all the clothes Rymar had given me were smaller than what I was used to. Most only came to my knees, but so had my chemise. Few had sleeves. Instead, they were made with straps which went over my shoulders and had collars low enough to show most of my chest.
I felt exposed, but I'd also seen the mob in town. I'd noticed the nearly bra-like shirt the grey Dragon woman had worn in public. People here seemed to wear a lot less cloth than the Righteous, which meant showing my arms and upper chest had to be okay. Maybe not quite polite, but at least acceptable.
So when I dressed myself the next morning, I chose a vivid green dress with flowers embroidered around the hem. It was one of the longer ones, and hit halfway down my shins, but also had a lower collar than the shorter ones. Not as low as the nightdress, though! Then I left the room, making my way to the facilities first. Once again, the house was silent.
But instead of snooping or worrying, I crawled into one of the soft chairs - they weren't padded like this in the compound - and read using the natural light from outside. Even through the window, it was plenty bright, although the lanterns which had lit the house last night had been even better.
I hadn't expected lanterns, if I was honest. Then again, I hadn't expected a town either, and so many things were different. In the compound we had electricity, but I'd seen no sign of it aboveground. The Dragons appeared to have plumbing, but it was basic. Water flowed into the tub and out. The kitchen sink appeared to be the same, without any adjustment for heat.
Then there was the food storage. So far, I hadn't found a cold room. Dragons used bows instead of guns to hunt - or fight. And yet, they had medicine far superior to ours. Whatever the woman doctor had put on my feet had numbed the pain! Something like that would've been a blessing to all the hunters I'd pulled arrows from.
So it seemed that while some aspects of Dragon life were more primitive, others weren't. Their lifestyle was also a lot more luxurious, filled with simple pleasures we weren't allowed in the compound. From the soft chairs to the ample food, I felt like I was being spoiled in a way. So one wasn't better than the other, it would just take some time to get used to this new life.
And so far, it seemed like a life worth living. To start with, the men had no issue with me reading! They listened instead of simply telling me what they wanted and expecting me to obey. Never mind the food! There always seemed to be so much of it!
While I knew this could be a show to lull me into submission, I still dared to hope it was real. If it was, Callah and Meri could thrive here too! The three of us could figure out how to fit in. After all, I'd seen humans by those awnings. Never mind the woman who'd healed me!
It wouldn't be easy, though. First, I'd have to prove myself. That meant learning their language. Next, I'd have to figure out how to do things their way. It wasn't just the talking that was different. It seemed to be everything, and clearly, I needed to figure out how to adapt quickly.
It was just like how the brightness required my eyes to adjust to it. When I'd first left the compound, it had been the middle of the night, and I'd thought the moonlight was so very bright. Now, I was getting the impression most people here couldn't see well after the sun went down. For them, the sunlight outside in the middle of the day was comfortable and normal. For me, it was still slightly painful, yet my eyes were adapting more and more every day.
I was lazily flipping through the pages of my book while thinking when Kanik stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen. I caught him glance at me, but he didn't stop. And when he yawned, I realized the man must've just woken up.
"Good morning," I told him.
He grunted before opening a strange stone cabinet and pulling out a pitcher of something. I watched while he used his tail to close the thing. Simultaneously, his hands pulled down two glasses from one of the upper cabinets. Those, he filled with the beverage, and then he put the container back. Picking up both glasses, the half-awake man yawned again as he made his way into the room where I was sitting.
"Cold tea," he explained, sitting a glass before me.
Wrinkling my nose - because I didn't normally care for tea - I politely lifted the glass and took a sip. What hit my tongue was not what I expected. It was sweet! Confused, I leaned back to look at the glass as if it could offer an explanation, then drank again, more this time. A lot more.
Kanik simply chuckled. "So, looks like tea passes the taste test." Then he took a sip of his own and claimed a spot on the couch closest to me. "We've also decided to move around the books from Zasen's room and mine. The ones in Vestrian can go upstairs on my bookshelf. The ones in English can go in his, where you can have access to them."
"So I'm allowed to read as I want?" I asked.
Beside him, Kanik's tail relaxed, going completely limp. "Ayla, why wouldn't you be allowed to read?"
"Because a woman rarely has time for such indulgences," I told him. "But since none of you will allow me to cook, and I don't know what half these items are, let alone where they go, so I can't clean..."
"Okay?" He watched me with his dark purple eyes for a little too long. "I'm still confused. Why can't you read , Ayla?"
"I was allowed to read the Bible as I wanted," I said quickly. "It was the other books that were impolite. They might give me - as a woman - distractions or ideas which would prevent me from caring for my husband as he needed."
"Uh-huh." Slowly, Kanik nodded his head, but the expression on his face was blank. "So the Moles don't let women read anything but their religious text. What happens if she does?"
"She'll be punished," I admitted softly.
"How?" he pressed.
"Usually with the back of his hand," I explained. "For a severe punishment, most husbands have a rod. It is used to punish her for the serious mistakes. That is why it's said if a husband spares the rod, he will spoil the wife."
"They hit you?"
I nodded quickly. "But I was headstrong and defiant. My friends were much better behaved. It's funny, though, because I always thought Callah was the most pious of us, yet the day I left, she told me she thought God was the evil one and the Devil might be okay."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," he begged. "Let me make sure I'm keeping up. Callah is your friend? The same age?"
"Yes, three of us shared a room. We were assigned to it when we turned ten. When we turn twenty, we leave it to live with our husbands. Merienne and Callah were the two girls I lived with."
"I see." He paused to take another drink of his tea. "And why did Callah think the Devil might be okay?"
"Because God punishes us for everything. Anything that might be nice or relaxing isn't allowed. Well, not for women. Men can read. Men can play. Men are allowed to relax. Women are meant to make that possible because men sacrificed a rib for our existence."
"That's not how it works," Kanik groaned before waving away his words. "Okay. So among the Moles, the women are devoted to caring for their husbands, correct?"
"Yes."
He nodded once. "And how does marriage happen?"
That made my brow crease. "The priest gives a sermon and the pair agree to share their lives before the entire community."
"No, no, no..." He groaned. "I mean how do people get to that point? How does a couple decide to get married?"
"Oh!" Okay, that made his question make a lot more sense. "Well, once a girl turns nineteen, she's given her list. That has the names of all the men she isn't closely related to. Mine was horrible, though. I only had five names, and all of them were old. Meri had a longer list, but Callah's was almost as bad as mine. Mostly because my father had twenty-three children."
"How?" Kanik breathed. "Your mother must've been pregnant forever!"
"Oh, not with one wife," I assured him. "He had something like four with the first, and the next had three before she died. My mother was one of his last wives. She died when I was eleven while giving birth to her fifth child."
Kanik didn't reply. He simply lifted his glass and drank - a lot. The man was guzzling back the fluid as if parched.
"But," I went on, "that list gives us a year to consider the men. We see them in the dining hall. Sometimes, our lists are updated, such as if a man dies or becomes unable to father a child. Then, when we turn twenty, the men may propose. We have one week to choose between the ones who put themselves forward. On the final day, if we have not chosen for ourselves, the Council of Elders will choose for us based on our relatives."
"Love?" he asked.
I scoffed. "That's a fantasy."
"I see..." Slowly, he set his nearly empty glass down on the small table beside him. "And you kicked your husband in the stones, so they held you down and made you marry him anyway?"
"Stones?" I asked.
"Um..." He pressed his lips together and his eyes lost focus. "Testicles? Genitals? Penis? I think those are the right words?"
Which was when I realized what he was trying to say. "Oh! No, I kneed Mr. Morgan in the genitals. He was the man the Council assigned me to marry, but that made him refuse. I wanted him to refuse, so I was happy, but then Mr. Saunders said he'd marry me anyway, and since he was on my list, they decided to marry me to him right then."
"Ayla, that's not normal," he insisted.
"Well, most girls pick a man," I agreed. "Meri did. Her husband smiled at her for six months before her birthday, although he almost didn't live. That night, the hunters came back and he was seriously wounded - " I paused, jerking my eyes up.
"From what?" Kanik asked.
Leaning forward, I set both the book and the cold tea on the table. Then I clasped my hands in my lap and looked down at them. The ring on my smallest finger was brighter than before, almost like it had been polished by being worn. The sight of it was the closest thing to encouragement I was going to get. Keeping my voice soft and polite, I answered.
"He had been shot with four of the Wyvern's blue-fletched arrows."
The silence in the room was almost overpowering. I wanted to look at Kanik to see how he took that, but I wasn't quite brave enough. All I could see with my head down like this was the end of his tail where it laid on the floor, and it was twitching. The purple stinger at the end was partially revealed!
But when he finally said something, Kanik's voice was calm and mild. "And you knew those were Zasen's arrows?"
"We all know about the Wyvern and his arrows."
"So how did this man survive?" Kanik asked. "Zasen rarely misses."
My fingers tightened on each other until my knuckles were white. "I removed them. If we use ethanol on the wounds, it's less likely they will get infected. If we clamp the blood vessels, it will prevent bleeding too much. And depending on where the arrow is located, sometimes it's best to pull it out or push it through."
"So you did this?" he asked.
I jiggled my head. "All girls must help in the infirmary once we turn fifteen. For most of us, it's by praying, but if we sew elegantly enough, we're expected to learn how to heal the hunters." I paused, daring to lift my eyes to see how angry this Dragon would be. "But I liked healing. I liked being in the infirmary, because it's the one place where women are allowed to make decisions and give orders. Before I was married, I was the second-best healer in the compound - although most of that was because I found the library."
"What library?"
"The one with the banned books," I explained. "The one with the anatomy and history books. There were also fantasy books, and I liked those, but I wasn't supposed to even know the room existed."
Kanik lifted his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Oh, Ayla."
"I'm sorry," I whimpered.
He lifted a hand, making me pause. "Don't be sorry. There is absolutely nothing to be sorry for. It's just that I had no idea how the Moles live, and it's not the way anyone - especially women - should be treated." Then he dropped his hand and pulled in a breath. "But it's okay. You're now here as a refugee. Once you learn our language, then we can worry about all the other things that will be confusing to you."
"When do I get to start learning Vestrian?" I asked.
"Right now," he assured me.