Page 176 of Phoenix's Fire

My eyes jumped back up to find everyone in the room had turned towards me, staring openly. I could feel my pulse begin to pick up, and I honestly had no clue how to answer that question. Lying would be easy, but Deenah and Helah had previously made it sound like they'd help me get out if I needed it.

"Yes?" I squeaked. It wasn't a question, but the fear made it come out like one.

"See!" a lean woman said. "I told you those girls had figured something out! Come! Over here, child. I'll help you with the scrubbing while you tell us how they managed."

"But..." I looked at Helah, then Deenah, hoping for some hint of what was going on.

Helah chuckled warmly and guided me that way. "It's fine, Callah. These are our friends. That's Mrs. Durham."

"Petra," the lean woman, Mrs. Durham, told me. "Now let's see what all you've got."

"Just a few smocks," I assured her even as I dumped my clothing into the wash basin. "And underthings."

"From the sounds of it, she's going to need a wedding dress soon," Deenah bragged. "Miss Atwood has been walking with Mr. Warren."

"Warren?" someone asked. "Which one is he?"

"Big," another said.

"Simple," added the brusque woman who'd questioned me earlier. "He's now a hunter - the young man is a giant."

"Oh, darling," Petra said. "The large men may seem attractive, but when they lose their temper, you pay for it more than you'd expect."

"Like with my head," Helah clarified.

"I know," I assured them, "but Tobias - that's Mr. Warren's name. Um, he got permission from the council to court me. No one else has even shown an interest." I looked between the women quietly working around me. "As a woman, I can choose my husband, but only from the men who propose, and I don't think anyone else will."

"Oh, you poor thing," said a woman with an obviously pregnant belly. "But at least as a hunter, he may not survive long. It seems most of those men are failing to return."

"As the food shortage shows!" huffed another.

I nodded. "But Tobias has been sharing a snack with me when we walk. He makes sure I get something to eat, proving he can provide."

"Does he have a temper?" Deenah asked. "Many of the hunters do."

"And the men in unappealing positions," Helah grumbled. "My own husband is so frustrated by the pressure to meet his reloading quotas that he wants me to suffer as well."

"They all do that," another said. "I think they're rewarded for it or something, but it's not like we'd know. The men refuse to speak to us of such things. We're all too simple to understand!"

There was a chorus of guffaws and grumbling at that. Clearly, it wasn't a new concept, but rather an old complaint they all knew much too well. I simply reached for the washing liquid and began to lather up my laundry.

"Tobias sometimes forgets what he's not supposed to say," I mumbled, wondering how much I should tell these women.

"Because he's simple?" Helah asked as she snagged part of my laundry so she could help.

I shrugged. "That, and I think he honestly cares. Tobias is kind and gentle, but so was Gideon before he married Merienne. And Meri warned me about how a husband changes after marriage, when he no longer has to chase, so I'm prepared."

"What will you do?" the woman across from me asked. "The Ross girl attacked her husband, but your intended is large enough to survive it. What if they don't throw you out and he punishes you for it?"

"I told her I'd call for banishment," Helah said. "She healed me when she didn't need to. She could've left, turning her eyes away, but she helped instead, so the least I can do is yell for her to be thrown out."

"But she'll die up there!" someone else said.

I shook my head. "No, I don't think so."

And that had everyone's attention. "What do you mean?" the brusque woman asked.

My guts chose that moment to clench, and hard. My pulse began to speed up, so I kept my eyes down as I answered. "I work in the infirmary. The hunters often say things when they're wounded or fevered. Many of them talk about the Wyvern and his blue arrows, but now there are yellow ones too."

---