Chapter 69
Sixty-Nine
Meri
I'd been to City Hall once before, but this time felt different. This time felt important, but that could be simply because it wasn't for me. This time, I was coming to make sure Sylis was taken care of, which made the entire experience a little less intimidating.
Until Rymar guided me into the mayor's office.
I'd seen Jerlis before. I'd heard his name a few times. None of that was the same as having the massive red-and-black striped man step toward me with his hand stretched out. For a moment, I wasn't sure what to do. Belatedly, I realized women shook hands here as easily as men, so I offered him mine.
He pumped our grip once, and then smiled. The man's eyes had no white to them. They were solid black all the way around, which made him look like the Demon these people were called by the Righteous. But that smile? It changed everything.
"Have a seat, Merienne," he said, gesturing to one before his desk. Then under his breath, he added, "You two as well, I guess."
"Thanks," Rymar said dryly.
Drozel gently pressed a hand against my back, guiding me where I needed to be, then sat beside me. "So, I only know part of why I'm here. Rymar, you want to tell us the rest?"
"The Moles are mixing things up," Rymar said. "They hit the Reapers, and it wasn't an accident. The attack that sent us down there? It was bad, Jerlis. Many were killed. Seven women were captured by the Moles and put in quarantine."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
Rymar nodded. "Tobias confirmed it. But a few days later, they attacked again.
That was when Tobias's friend was injured.
The man's name is Sylis." And he lifted a hand, begging Drozel and me to wait before interrupting.
"Zasen decided to hunt for them, and with the Reapers' help, five carts of meat were left outside the door to their compound.
Evidently that's enough for them to freeze the excess.
Well, that only slowed them for a bit. They attacked again last night, but thanks to the quick thinking of Lansin and Ayla, they did not make it here. "
"Here?" Drozel asked, his head whipping around.
Rymar nodded. "Here's where they were headed. Apparently, Reapers all train their dogs commands from a dog whistle."
"Too high-pitched for humans to hear," Drozel explained to me, "but dogs can hear it just fine."
Rymar nodded. "Tobias has a whistle. Making the dogs sit means they're going to the Reaper's camp. Making them lie down means they aren't going to the Reapers' camp, and that pretty much means here."
"Shit," Jerlis grumbled. "But you stopped them?"
"Yes, but it gets worse," Rymar said. "They're way off schedule.
Tobias says he was told the night before with only enough time to get ready to leave when the lights came on.
This is at least the second time that's happened, because we think the attack on the Reapers wasn't quite on schedule either. "
"I knew something felt wrong," I muttered.
Drozel simply reached over to rub my shoulder.
"But last night, they weren't trying to hunt," Rymar explained.
"Tobias thinks they're shifting from gathering food to a war.
He didn't use those words, but that seems to be the impression he's passing along.
The age of maturity is now eighteen down there.
Both boys and girls. That means there's a lot of brand-new hunters, and the latest fight? Zasen said it was a complete mess."
"Where were you?" Drozel asked.
Rymar chuckled. "Talking to Jerlis's nephew. Kanik didn't want me in that fight because I stand out."
"I thought you said it was at night?" Drozel asked.
But I knew the answer to this. "That's enough light for Moles. It's what we think of as daylight, and we don't have bright colors in the compound. Even the ones we think are bright are nothing compared to what's up here."
"Okay," Jerlis said. "So why are we all here? What am I supposed to do about any of this?"
"More wounded came in," Drozel said.
Rymar nodded. "And this is going to be a long fight, Jerlis.
There's no more schedule. That means we can either go back to heading inside before sundown, or we can meet them in the middle.
Eriska -" He paused to look at me. "She's the leader of the Reapers, their chief.
" Then back to Jerlis. "The Reapers she has with her right now are out for revenge.
They're not leaving. Most of their clan has headed to their winter camp, and today they should be closing down their summer camp.
The plan is to set up a chain of smaller camps that make a barrier between the Moles and Lorsa. "
"Just Lorsa?" Jerlis asked.
Rymar made a little noise and lifted one shoulder. "There was discussion about where to end the line, but since the summer camp is going to be empty, it doesn't need to be guarded."
"And it's going to be winter soon," Drozel pointed out.
"Is that bad?" I asked.
"Cold," Rymar told me. "Usually wet. Basically miserable. That's why we need to use the emergency housing."
"The tents?" Jerlis asked.
Rymar nodded. "Wood stoves would be a big help too. They have twelve campsites. If we can do at least two tents for each one, and one stove?"
"We'll start with one stove," Jerlis said, "and I'll have the manufacturers make up some more if we don't already have them. What else?"
"Supplies," Drozel suggested.
"Food," Rymar clarified. "They can hunt, but that's not going to work long-term. We're going to need to feed the people protecting us. They're living in tents, for god's sake."
I sucked in a little breath at the blasphemy, but then realized he didn't mean it the way the Righteous always had. When Rymar said that, it was more like profanity. Thankfully, none of the men even noticed.
"This is going to burn through our city budget," Jerlis warned.
But Drozel shot back, "And what is that for, if not this? Jerlis, we're finally making progress against them. They're being forced to change!"
"Because Ayla has given us enough information for us to take the upper hand," Rymar said with a slow, devious smile. "Having Tobias's help? That's filled in a lot of holes, but we can't get much from him in the limited time Ayla can pull him aside. If he's caught, he's all but dead. However..."
Drozel groaned. "Well-played, Rymar."
I was lost, not sure what game they were talking about, but Rymar kept going. "Drozel has been flipping a Mole informant to our side."
"I know about him," Jerlis admitted. "What's the boy's name?"
"Sylis Underhill," I said.
"He needs to be registered as an official refugee," Rymar said. "I saw him today, and the guy's already learning Vestrian."
"Meri's teaching him," Drozel said. "I can also say he has been helping. There's a lot of culture shock - "
"He's gay," Rymar broke in. "That's not allowed down there, so Sylis should be treated like we do their women. He's a victim, just like Meri and Ayla were."
"But he's not," Drozel said. "Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for what he went through, but he was a hunter, Rymar. We can't ignore that part, because the people here won't."
"And you think the people here didn't kill anyone?
" I asked. "Oh, but that's different, right?
It was kill or be killed? That's what Lessa says.
Well, for Sylis, it was the same! He wasn't allowed to refuse to be a hunter - or to get married!
He could put it off, and he did, but he couldn't get promoted without a wife.
" I looked over at Jerlis. "He explained all of this to me.
See, we always thought the women were the ones abused, but that's not really true.
I mean, we were, and we were always at the bottom of things, but the young men?
They were abused by those older or higher-ranked.
It just kept going and going like that, and only the elders are really happy there. "
"I know," Jerlis said.
"You... know?" Rymar asked.
Jerlis chuckled once. "I lost my sister, Rymar. I hated the Moles because they killed her, and then Ayla told me she'd had a son. A boy who's the biggest man down there. One who is risking himself to help stop this. It has a way of changing someone's mind."
"And Sylis was Tobias's friend," I said. "Tobias was his only friend. He was stabbed in the belly because a man was aiming for Tobias and he had to save him!"
Jerlis just patted the air. "I'm giving him the status, Meri."
"Oh." A smile took over, but so did confusion. "But Drozel acted like that was a bad idea."
"I think turning him loose like we did with you is a bad idea," Jerlis said.
"Drozel, treat that boy more like we did with Ayla.
Someone stays with him at all times." He looked at me again.
"To protect him." Then over to Rymar. "And I want all the intel you can get.
" His eyes went back to Drozel. "Everything, you hear me?
We're heading into winter, and Zasen wants to take this battle into the forest? "
"Better in the winter than the spring," Drozel said in a way that made me think something was common knowledge. Sadly, it was something I didn't know.
"True, but fewer leaves makes fires easier to see.
I want those stoves, Rymar. We'll need to start collecting other supplies as well.
Coats, footwear for the tailed, extra blankets and bedding.
Never mind something to get them off the ground.
We'll need to arrange transport for food out to the camps, and we'll need a regular schedule of checking in. "
"I can handle most of that," Drozel said.
Jerlis nodded. "One more thing?" He flicked a finger at me. "Someone take her to see Boris? I'm going to change her status to citizen."
"What?" I asked, looking at Drozel in the hopes of an explanation.
"He's making you a Dragon, Meri."
"But why?" I asked. "I mean, I want to be one, but I don't know what I did!"
"You," Jerlis said, dropping his elbows onto his desk and leaning over them, "healed the wounded, helped where and when you could, and you have not only learned our language, but you've also adapted to our culture well enough to speak up for yourself.
From what I hear, that's not an easy thing for you ladies.
Besides, you're one of us. To me, that means you might as well get citizenship.
So, you need to think about what you want for your sign. "
"And just like that," Rymar said, "all my problems have been handled. That means I can work out the details later."
"And sleep, too?" I asked. "I know Drozel and Lessa get silly when they don't sleep enough. I'll make sure you have food, then you can use my room if you'd like?"
Rymar gave me a sweet - and proud - smile. "Thank you, Meri, but I'm good. I'm going to make your girlfriend let me use hers." He jerked his chin at Drozel. "No offense or anything, but my house is empty, and I won't get any sleep there."
"Anything you need," Drozel said, pushing to his feet. "Jerlis, when will Meri be official?"
"In about five minutes, why?"
Drozel beamed down at me in a way that made my stomach flip. "Because my little friend is a Dragon. I think having her announce that over the meal my partner's working on might inspire my... captive."
"Better make sure that's his kink first," Rymar joked.
"What's a kink?" I asked.
"Nothing," Drozel said quickly. "Meri, that's a question for Lessa, and I'll chop off Rymar's tail if he keeps talking about it."
Chuckling at the joke I clearly didn't understand, Rymar stood. I did as well, getting the feeling we were done here and about to leave, but Jerlis lifted a finger.
"I just have one question, Drozel. Where's your Mole's gun?"
"My closet," Drozel said. "Well, a few of them. We've been using them for training. Why?"
"Because they always have guns," Jerlis said. "I want to make sure he isn't playing the long game and going to turn on us when we least expect it. I may be hopeful, but I'm not stupid."
"No, it's secure," Drozel promised. "Meri doesn't even know where they are. Ommy likes to keep things locked up, so we're safe."
"Good." And Jerlis flicked his hand. "Meri, don't rush to pick a sign. It'll be with you for the rest of your life. Think about it, because you deserve a good one."
"I have some ideas," I admitted, "but thank you."
"C'mon, little Dragon," Drozel said, curling his arm around my back as he turned me to the door. "Keep up, Rymar. I'm babysitting you tonight too."
"One second," Rymar said, lagging behind.
But Drozel kept me walking at his side. Right at his side. I could feel his waist against my arm, and his arm was wrapped around me. Barely, but I was still aware of it.
It was a simple gesture, and a casual one, but the touch made me hyper-aware of every spot where his skin brushed against mine. For so long, I'd dreamed of a husband who'd want to touch me like this. I'd thought it would be Gideon, but I'd been wrong.
Instead, my "enemy" did it. Drozel, Omden, and definitely Lessa.
They held me without even realizing it. They caressed and cuddled.
They acted like all these little bits of contact were good things, and it made me want to lean into them.
To ask for more. To close my eyes and pretend I finally had the big strong man I'd thought would make my life perfect.
"Meri?" Drozel asked, pausing outside the mayor's office. "You okay? You just got quiet."
"No, I'm fine," I hurried to assure him, all too aware he'd pulled away. "I just..." And I waved it off. "It's silly."
"What?" he begged.
"I used to daydream about my future," I admitted. "I thought I'd find the right man, be a good wife, and it would get me what I wanted. It didn't. Coming here did, and the mayor just said it's permanent."
"Yeah," Drozel said, opening his arms so I could step in for a hug. "You, little sparrow, are a real Dragon now."
I took the invitation, wrapping my arms around his thick, solid waist and pressing my face against his massively broad chest. "Like a dream come true," I whispered as his arms closed around my back in the perfect hug.
But this dream wasn't one I'd known I wanted.
It was more like the stepping stone for all the rest. For finding myself.
For finally being able to be happy - and I was.
These people made me so happy. That was what made it easy to fight for them, even if the only fighting I could do was with my words.