Page 31 of Phoenix's Fire

Kanik lifted a hand. "It's called detention, and it means extra lessons orresponsibilities. No hitting, kicking, or abusing. It's simply a way to teach the young ones that misbehaving isn't allowed while showing them that hard work is praised."

All I could do was nod. "Okay, I think that's one more thing I need to tell Meri." So I looked over at Zasen. "When can I go see her? And how am I going to find Jeera's house?"

"Noon," Zasen said.

My eyes jumped to the clock. The one that said it was only nine in the morning. "But that's three hours!"

"Why noon?" Rymar asked.

Zasen grunted softly, then answered Rymar first. "Jeera thought Meri would probably sleep in late. I can't remember if Ayla did, but she also couldn't talk to us, so she was on high alert. But my sister didn't want us there before noon so she and Brielle could get Meri situated, make sure she had underwear and all the important things - including a good meal."

"But…" I said again, ending on a huff. "What am I going to do for three whole hours?"

Kanik ducked his head as he tried to bite back a chuckle. "Well, I mean, I could give you a lesson in hand-to-hand defense. That should take at least an hour."

"Then a shower and changing clothes is probably one more," Rymar pointed out. "Plus, since I have to take all of this to City Hall right around noon, I can walk you over there."

I saw Zasen nod at Rymar, but I wasn't quite sure what that meant. Still, I wanted to see Meri. Mostly, I wanted to make sure she was okay, check up on her, and find out everything I'd missed while I'd been gone. It sounded like Callah was still okay, but I just had so many questions!

Learning how to fight like the men would definitely distract me. It was also something I needed to do. A part of me felt guilty about it, as if I should have Meri as my sole focus right now, but I couldn't. Zasen was right. The Moles would come back, and I needed to be ready for them too.

I still had to make sure Meri knew about them, and that was what had me so anxious about all of this. But if I couldn't see her right now anyway, then there was no reason I couldn't do both, right?

"Okay," I decided, looking over at Kanik. "If you don't mind, I would really like to learn how to hit like you do."

His lips curled and those dark purple eyes of his found mine. "Go put on some pants and I'll show you. We can have our first lesson as soon as you're ready."

"Okay!" I agreed, hopping up from my chair. "And you have everything you need for Meri's papers, Rymar?"

"I definitely do," he said. "And Ayla?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks," Rymar told me. "For making sure Kanik and I understood each other. It's the kind of thing a true friend does."

I felt the smile on my face growing bigger than it had before. "That's because you three are some of my best friends. Maybe even better than Meri and Callah."

Ten

Kanik

Rymar promised he'd send Ayla out back when she was dressed, so I hurried to clear a space. The targets for her bow lessons took up a bit of room, but since they were a pain to take down, I left them. The table got pushed closer to the house. A few chairs were moved out of the way. Then, once I was sure I had a large enough space for Ayla to move, I started pacing, waiting for her.

She slipped out of the house only a few minutes later, wearing her dark brown set of leathers. If anything, that shade made her hair look even more golden, but I liked the color on her. Even better, the close-fitting fabric showed off the curves she was quickly gaining.

"Okay, so what am I supposed to do?" Ayla asked as she made her way to me.

I gestured to the open space around us. "This is our training area. We're going to start with defensive maneuvers, because if you can get space, you already know how to use a bow or gun."

"Okay," she agreed. "That makes sense."

"Now, when Moles come at you, they usually have knives."

"Because they're out of bullets," she agreed. "Although I think they're carrying more now."

"Right," I said, even though I wasn't honestly sure about any of that. "So, what do you do if a man grabs you?"

For a long moment, Ayla looked at me. Her brow creased after a moment, then she clenched her jaw. "I curl up, but I'm sure that's wrong. See, if we bend over -" She proceeded to demonstrate, pulling her arms in and bending at the waist. "- it makes it harder to kick us in the stomach, grab our throats, or break a nose."

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