Chapter 39
Thirty-Nine
Zasen
I was a little shocked when Saveah had accepted Ayla so quickly. Then again, Saveah was a very sweet woman. She had a propensity to root for the underdogs, and Ayla was definitely one of those. Which meant - while I hated to admit it - Rymar's idea of a cookout was a good one.
So, grabbing the selection of meats my sister had brought with her, I headed to the fire. The wood had burned down to coals by now, and Rymar was setting the grill over it. Glancing back, I saw Kanik at the target, retrieving Tamin's arrows.
"Kanik!" I bellowed. "Have him eat some fruit. We're going to need more hands here."
"Can do!" Kanik yelled back before collecting the child-sized crossbow from the child we'd bought it for.
I watched as words were traded, and then Tamin hurried to the table to climb into Ayla's lap. Saveah moved the bowl Brielle had brought, and Tamin immediately reached in. But when he offered the first piece behind him to Ayla? Okay, that was cute.
She was so good with the child. I hadn't expected that from the way she talked about her life with the Moles, but she was. Soft, tender, and she gave him her complete attention. Naturally, Tamin was soaking it up.
"What's up?" Rymar asked, taking the meat from my hand to start laying it out.
Kanik made his way over in time to hear that. "Pretty sure you don't need help putting food over the fire, so yeah. What he said."
I simply turned to the flames, not wanting the women to worry about our conversation. "Jeera thinks I should give Ayla a bow."
"It's not a bad idea," Kanik said. "She seems to know what they are and how they work."
"A weapon, though?" I said.
Crouched beside me, Rymar chuckled. "What are you scared of, Zasen? Worried she might kill you?"
I scoffed at that. "No."
So he glanced up. "Then what?"
"She's a Mole," I reminded him.
Rymar just made a face and tilted his head at Kanik. "I'm with him. She was a Mole. She's no longer a Mole. Now she's a refugee who wants to become a Dragon."
"Just think about it like she was a Reaper," Kanik said. "If she left the nomadic tribes for a more stable life, we wouldn't think it was weird. Plenty of people do that."
"And a few Dragons go to the Reapers," I reminded him.
"True, but that's not what I'm talking about," Kanik insisted. "This isn't about a balance of people emigrating and immigrating. It's about the fact that our community has always accepted those who want to become a part of it."
"He's not wrong," Rymar said.
"And Jerlis was very clear about her," I reminded them. "The Mayor won't even press charges for someone attacking - or killing - her."
"Which is another reason she needs to know how to defend herself," Kanik said. "Zasen, you didn't see how she curled up when Adoet went after her. She didn't fight back. She didn't try to stop him. She fucking apologized and curled up to protect her head and stomach!"
"Just like she did when Omden slapped her," Rymar pointed out.
I sighed, and it was a heavy one. "No one's going to accept her. If she has a weapon as well? They'll kill her on sight."
"Sounds like we need to address that too," Rymar said as he pushed to his feet. The last of the meat was now on the grill.
"How?" Kanik asked.
Rymar murmured thoughtfully. "We need to expose people to her. Get her out of the house - with supervision, so don't panic yet, Zasen - and make it clear she's one of ours."
"She's also not as pale anymore," Kanik pointed out. "I mean, her skin's peeling now, but the sunburn did tan her a bit."
"And the more she's outside like this," Rymar said, "the more she'll tan. Soon, she'll just be blonde, not orin."
"But those eyes..."
Kanik ducked his head and snorted out a laugh. "Been looking at them a lot? Zasen, they're not far off from Rymar's color."
"Fuck off," I grumbled, not wanting to admit that I had noticed her eyes. Usually because they were so big and filled with either fear or awe. "She does that sad kid in the rain look all the time," I tried to explain.
"She's gentle," Rymar said as if agreeing with me. "She's also determined. She's been helping you, so why are you so against this? Why are you trying to keep her prisoner?"
"And you can't say it's because she could be a spy," Kanik broke in. "She's definitely not an assassin."
"She's just so vulnerable," I finally admitted. "Guys, she was abused. She doesn't try to stop the abuse either! She just takes it, thinking she deserves it. How the fuck do we take someone like that into a group of people who want to abuse her and think it's a good idea?"
"He does have a point," Rymar told Kanik.
"And I have another one," Kanik said. "We need to stop tiptoeing around her. Instead of waiting for her to mention something you can use, Zasen, just ask her. Tell her you want to know how to get in, how to get around. Hell, ask for a map, or whatever it is you want."
"And you think she'd just give that to me?" I grunted, not buying it.
"Yes!" Kanik said. "Haven't you been listening to her? She doesn't care that you shot Mole men with arrows. She isn't bothered at all by how much we hate them, because she does too. I think the only thing she's worried about are her two friends down there."
"Who you could offer to rescue," Rymar added slyly.
Which was actually a good point. Never mind that bringing two more Mole women to Lorsa would not make me popular, but I had a feeling I could make it work. Well, I could if I could make the people in town accept Ayla.
But there was a bigger question. "What do you think she's going to do when she realizes why we're fighting with her people?"
"Her old people," Kanik corrected. "And she already hates them."
"You can also stop worrying about Jerlis," Rymar said. "I have a meeting with him soon. I'll bring it all up and smooth things over."
"He will not like us giving her weapons," I reminded him.
"Nope," Rymar agreed. "But I don't give a shit. See, I don't care what Jerlis wants. I don't care what anyone else thinks. That girl is either going to have to learn how to take care of herself or we'll end up protecting her for the rest of her life."
"Or you just kill her now," Kanik tossed at me.
Scrubbing at my face, I groaned. "She was a Mole!"
"Was," Kanik repeated, using my own words against me.
"And you want to fuck her," I shot back.
"Hey!" Rymar snapped, glaring at me. "Don't start being a dick just because you know we're right. I'm pretty sure the last thing Kanik wants to do is fuck her. She's been abused!"
"Exactly," Kanik said. "I'm just trying to teach her Vestrian and be nice to her, Zasen. You know, the thing you wanted us to do? Yeah, so don't be an ass because I'm better at it than you."
Snarling under my breath, I turned away only to find myself facing the table again. It seemed Tamin was now on his mother's lap and Ayla was holding the baby. The young woman looked down at little Taris with a soft smile and one finger toying with the baby's hands.
It was enough to make me pause. Brielle was smiling at Ayla. Saveah was too. Jeera, however, was looking at me. Saying something to her girlfriend, she pushed her chair back and got up, heading straight for me.
Which made me grumble again, because I'd already been outnumbered. Adding Jeera to the mix? Yeah, there was no way this would go well. But when my sister got closer, her words weren't ones I'd expected.
"You need to explain Dragon venom to her."
"Shit," Kanik breathed behind me. "That's a good point."
"What?" I asked. "Why?"
Jeera just gestured back towards the table. "Saveah was talking about how she has to be careful with the food she eats so she doesn't accidentally take in venom that she'll pass to the baby in her milk." Jeera lifted a brow. "And Ayla had no clue what she was talking about."
"Yeah..." One more time, I scrubbed at my face. It seemed I was doing that a lot lately, but it helped me think. "Jeera, we didn't want to mention we could make her immune."
"Why not?"
Rymar chuckled. "Because your big brother has been so sure he's going to have to kill her."
"And a sting would do it," Kanik added.
I just kept rubbing. Right between my brows, I was feeling the pain of a headache forming. "To everyone in Lorsa, she's a Mole," I reminded my sister.
"Which means that at least one of them will try to sting her," Jeera countered. "Never mind Tamin! He could do it by accident, and you've been letting them spend time together."
"Well, yeah, but..."
"No," Jeera snapped, pointing her finger at me the same way our mother always did. "You, Zasen, took responsibility for this girl. You are the one who has to keep her safe. So you need to sit her down, explain how our venom works, and tell her what she'll have to do to get immune to it."
Dropping my hands, I met my sister’s eyes and glared. "Not only do you want me to teach her how to use weapons and defend herself, but you also want me to make her immune to the one weapon every tailed person has? Then, if I'm getting this right, you think I should just... What? Turn her loose?"
"Make her a Dragon," Jeera said.
I clenched my jaw, knowing she was right and hating it. "That's not going to be easy."
"So?"
Behind her, Kanik chuckled. "It's not like you'd be doing it alone."
"I can even talk to her now," Rymar added.
"Her accent is pretty thick, though," Jeera said. "I mean, I can understand her, but she doesn't speak Vestrian like the rest of us."
"And you don't speak English like she does," I pointed out.
"Ohh, defensive," Jeera teased. "See, that means you don't hate her. You have at least a tiny little bit of respect for her. You also know I'm right." Then she patted my arm. "Don't worry. Brielle and I will help you."
"This is such a bad idea," I told all of them.
"It's a pretty good one," Jeera insisted.
"It's really not that bad," Kanik assured me. "If one of us is with her, no one should attack her. They might yell, but we can deal with that."
"And the more they see her," Rymar added, "the more comfortable they'll get with her."
"Or she'll get dead." I looked pointedly at each of them. "Have none of you considered that part? She. Is. A. Mole. Someone will kill her before they give her a chance."
"So why did you bring her back?" Jeera asked. "You found her out by the Reapers. Why not just ignore her and let her get herself killed like the rest of them?"
"Because she was a woman," I mumbled.
"Mm..." Jeera nodded slowly. "So you thought you'd save the cute little girl or something?"
"No," I countered. "I thought she's the first of their women we've ever seen, we might be able to flip her, and then I could get some information that would help us destroy the entire Mole base!"
My little sister merely flicked her brows up. "Congratulations, Zasen. Mission success. So now what do you do with her?"
"She hasn't given me shit," I hissed.
So Jeera leaned into my face. "Then ask better questions, dumbass. You flipped her. She's willing to talk. Your prisoner is now your informant, but how long do you think that's going to last if you keep treating her like she's the enemy? Or worse, a prisoner?"
"She's right," Kanik said.
"And Ayla's been spilling anything that pops into her mind," Rymar pointed out. "She's offering up information just because she can. You're not even asking for it and she's still offering."
"Which means your little project worked," Jeera said. " Now it's your responsibility to take care of your informant, right? Bring her into society, give her amnesty, and all of that?"
"All good points," Rymar muttered. "I'm going to use them on Jerlis."
"And I don't even need credit," Jeera joked, nudging his arm playfully.
Rymar laughed. "Wasn't planning on giving it."
But she was right. My little sister had just made the points I'd been trying to avoid. Ayla was helping. She wasn't a threat. Sadly, that wouldn't stop the rest of us from being a threat to her.
I just didn't want to like the girl. I didn't want to let myself think any Moles could be redeemed. Killing them all was much easier if I hated them blindly, and I did. Most Dragons did.
And over at the table, Ayla giggled loudly, causing my eyes to jump that way again. The pure joy on her face couldn't be faked. She was so pure, so innocent. In all of this, she was the real victim.
The things those men had done to her? The abuse and indoctrination? It was disgusting. That girl just wanted to escape, but what would happen when I explained to her that nowhere was safe anymore? If she wanted to live to be old, then she'd have to fight for it the same way the rest of us did.
Maybe even harder.