Chapter 17
Seventeen
Callah
It was the middle of our last week of honeymoon when someone knocked solidly on the door. I jumped, not expecting visitors, but Tobias simply got up and headed that way. He cracked the door open, looking through the gap, then jerked it wide.
"Come in, sir," he said properly.
I smoothed my hair into place quickly, hoping I wasn't too much of a mess, but the man who entered? It was Sylis. He stood straight and tall, almost like he was angry, but as soon as the door closed, a smile took over his face.
"If anyone asks," he said, "I'm here to find out if you're ever going to make the training sessions."
"Do I need to?" Tobias asked, gesturing to the rocking chairs in the room.
"No," Sylis assured him, settling into one. "But it makes a good excuse, and I thought I'd keep you updated." He glanced up. "Is it going to be a problem having your wife here?"
"Callah?" Tobias asked. "No." Then to me. "Come. Sit."
"I'm not sure if that's proper," I admitted.
"You've never formally introduced us," Sylis pointed out.
Tobias sighed heavily. "Callah, this is Sylis.
He's my friend. He's talked to Ayla. He knows I'll kill him if he causes either of us any problems." Then he turned to the man.
"Sylis, this is Callah. She's my lawfully wedded friend.
Maybe the rest of the compound thinks she's merely a woman, but she's smarter than either of us, and she's the only way we'll get out. "
So Sylis pushed to his feet, crossed the room toward me, and offered his hand. "Callah, it's a pleasure to make a new friend."
I accepted his grip, but the gesture felt unnatural. Women didn't shake hands like this. I'd seen it enough, but this was a man's gesture. That he was offering it to me made that last bit of worry dissipate.
"Yes, it is," I agreed. "Tobias has told me a bit about you, but I wasn't sure how you felt about women."
"I really don't know," Sylis admitted. "I don't have much experience with them, but everyone else's marriage seems more like a chore than something to look forward to."
"Usually," I said, finally heading in to sit with the men, "it's torture for us.
Girls know we'll be married one week after our twentieth birthday, whether we want to or not.
We know our husbands will be excited about the consummation, then will breed us repeatedly - even though it's painful - until one of our children kills us.
We also know he has the right to punish us for anything we do wrong, or that he thinks we do wrong. That punishment could kill us."
"Which means," Tobias said, "they like nice."
"That does make me look at marriage in a new and disgusting way," Sylis said. "Unfortunately, it's also why I've come."
"What?" I asked because his words made no sense.
"He needs to get married," Tobias explained.
"No man needs to," I shot back.
"I do," Sylis said. "And I think you'll even agree. See, I can't get promoted as a young, single man. I need to prove myself a little more, but without that promotion, I can't get the door code the Phoenix wants. If I don't, she'll kill me."
"She won't," I told him. "Not unless you betray her."
"At least there's that," Tobias said. "But we need the code, Callah. To do that, he needs a wife."
"But I don't want children," Sylis hurried to say. "I was hoping you might know a woman in need of a husband who'll leave her alone. A friend would be wonderful, but I'll accept someone content to ignore me - and have me ignore her."
"And he's been helping me," Tobias promised. "Callah, we've talked. On those long walks to the Dragon town, we try to share as much as we can because no one's around."
"Except the other hunters?" I asked, trying to keep up.
"Not really," Tobias said. "The grouping spreads out.
Men stop, or wander. When we camp, everyone's talking to their own companions, so it's easy enough to go unnoticed.
Often, we've talked about how abusing women isn't appealing.
Neither of us wants to hold a girl down and hurt her the way the other men do. "
"They laugh about it," Sylis said. "They tell me how it'll make me feel like a man, and how my household is the place where I get to be in charge.
They do to their wives what the leaders and elders do to them, and I refuse to be a part of that.
I can wash my own things. I can ask a widow to mend for me if necessary. "
"I tried to learn," Tobias said, "but I was told men can't sew."
"Anyone can sew," I huffed.
"But it's women's work," Sylis said. "That would make us less of a man, and our lives depend on being the strongest, best, and most important man in the compound.
That's how men become elders. It's the only way to protect ourselves, and while we're not killed by our wives, we're thrown to the Dragons as if our lives don't matter! "
I looked over at Tobias to find him nodding.
"This is what I was trying to tell you," he said.
"Callah, they kill us off in different ways, but the whole point is to use the women up and kill the men who can't fall in line.
The two of us? We never had a chance, so we're doing something different, just like you are.
I don't know why the three of us can't join forces. Sylis already knows almost everything."
"Except?" I asked.
"Except about our secrets," he admitted. "I didn't think those things mattered in the long term."
"And I don't want to know," Sylis assured me.
"What I do know is that Ayla Ross has become terrifying.
She fights as well as a man, keeps a beast at her side that's as big as me, and the Wyvern listens when she orders him around.
She can also use their words. Language? I don't even know, but the gibberish they speak? She says it back."
"Oh." I didn't know that part. "Sadly, I can't just name a woman for you to court, though. I don't know anyone here well enough to know her mind. It's been Tobias and me ever since Meri left."
"Is there anyone who might appreciate the protection of a husband?" Tobias asked.
"What?" I gasped. "No!"
"Callah, they have to get married anyway," he reminded me.
"What Sylis is offering? It's to let her live like she has been.
Yes, they will share a space, but the nursery could be made into another room.
Getting a bed is harder, but I'm sure there's a way they can make it work even if they are strangers. "
"Oh," I said, realizing he had a point.
"And saying I punished my wife doesn't mean I did," Sylis added. "I don't want to hit a woman. Not one who's done nothing to me, and a mistake? No one learns that way. I didn't!"
"Me either," Tobias said. "But it's easier to hurt others than to help. That's the problem down here."
"It really is," I agreed. "And I know a few widows who are worried about their short grieving period.
We were promised time to ourselves once we're pregnant, and again when we're widowed.
If we are. It's the hope women hold on to, but the closer to twenty we get, we start to realize it's all a lie.
Men can still demand consummation. They can still use the rod! "
"I'm not even twenty-three," he reminded me. "Callah, I'm not sure a widow would take my proposal seriously. They say women look for a man who's earned privileges, but I haven't yet."
"You're a squad leader," Tobias countered.
"And women don't know about that!"
"Yes," I told him, "we do. Squad leaders are more likely to die. Well, new hunters are the most likely, but we know how many squad leaders never make it back, and that's why it's appealing."
"Oh," Tobias said.
I nodded. "We know that old men are weaker than young ones - or big ones." And I looked over Tobias pointedly. "Trust me, I was worried about it."
"He's huge," Sylis said, nodding to show he understood.
"Not like I had a choice," Tobias mumbled.
"But you're kind," I assured him. "And you're my friend. If Sylis can befriend a girl, I might find someone to accept his courtship, but it sounds like he needs a woman who's willing to help."
"One you can trust," Sylis hurried to add. "Tobias trusts you, and I trust him, so if you trust her..."
"I know a widow who is set to be married soon.
I know many wives who want to see things change, but not many widows.
Ms. Lawton will never marry again, since she's barren now.
There might be a few of the girls who are over eighteen - or near it - but I can't guarantee she'll be a beauty, skilled in her duties, or anything else. "
"I don't care," Sylis promised. "I want the woman you can trust. My wife will hear too much.
She'll be in my space, which means our secrets will be overheard.
So, you decide who I need to wed. You pick her, Callah.
Make sure she's okay with it, then tell me who I need to court, and I will play the part out there the same way Tobias did with you. "
So I leaned back, crossing my legs at the ankles out of habit and lifted my chin. "Okay, Mr. Underhill. You say that, but do you understand what it would really mean?"
"No," he admitted. "But the way we do things now isn't working."
"Why?" Tobias asked. "What are you thinking, Callah?"
"We women want a sisterhood. We need a way to protect each other, and that might mean causing problems, acting up, and risking the wrath of every other man in this compound. You, as a husband to such a woman, what would you do?"
"Wait," Sylis begged, looking from me to Tobias and then back. "What do you mean about a sisterhood?"
"Growing up," I explained, "Ayla always said that you men were helpless without us women.
I thought she was right, but knew it would never happen, but after those weddings?
" I shook my head. "No longer is breaking a commandment punished by banishment, gentlemen.
Now? We will be stoned. That means our deaths, and I can only imagine our husbands will not escape unscathed.
You didn't control us. You didn't punish us enough.
I don't know what excuse they'll use, but it will come back on you.
So is marriage really the better option? "
"Yes," Sylis hissed. "Yes, because if we can get that door code, then we can stop all of it before anyone else dies!" And he stopped hard, glancing to Tobias again. "Like me."
"Or me," Tobias said, "because if they try to stone Callah, I will be right beside her."
"Which is what I'm saying," Sylis insisted. "We need out. Ayla expects the code, and we've already missed one hunt!"
"And we might not get out!" I snapped. "Don't you get that? Ayla could die. The Dragons? Who knows. She says they're helping her, but - " And I stopped hard.
"I deliver letters between them," Tobias explained to Sylis. "They're coordinating."
"But the last hunt was cancelled," I reminded them. "And maybe you two haven't figured it out yet, but we're losing men faster than we can replace them. At some point, there won't be anyone left to hunt, and then what?"
"They'll send out men from other tasks," Sylis said.
"And when they die?" I pressed.
Tobias bent over his knees and blew out a heavy breath. "No, she's right. You are too, but there are only so many bodies in here. When we're all dead, the others will only die faster. They won't succeed where we failed!"
"And then?" I asked. "What happens to us women?
We starve? We're locked in here, and I don't know how to get out.
I truly believe the elders will die before they tell us how to open those doors.
I'd hoped some girl would get banished and one of you would drag her out to the tree to be chained.
Then at least you'd know how to get out! "
"But I think that takes a code too," Sylis grumbled, realizing what I was getting at.
I nodded slowly. "Which means we women are making plans for our own protection. Hopefully that will help you both as well, but I can't even tell them my husband is my friend. They wouldn't understand."
"Or maybe you should?" Tobias said. "The ones you trust, I mean. Maybe we all need to stop being so careful, and start being smart about this, like she is!" And while he was looking at Sylis, he gestured to me.
A little smile flickered over my lips at the compliment. Not because it was new, but because he'd said it to another man! That meant he believed it. He wasn't saying nice things to pacify me Tobias actually thought I was smart?
It was the last push I needed. "Okay." I pulled in a deep breath, bracing myself. "Sylis, I'll find someone who'll do. A woman willing to take the risk of marrying you, and someone I think will help us. Does that work?"
"I hope so," he said. "Callah, you're right. We need out, and this is the only way I know to make that happen. Tobias can't get promoted. He's spent too much time convincing the community he's stupid. I can. That means I have to, and to do that, I need a wife willing to play along."
"Then I'll find you one," I promised.