Page 41 of Phoenix's Fire

"Yah?" he replied, doing his best to mimic English.

I just shook my head, then claimed the chair Jeera had been in. Across the room, Brielle and Jeera were both waving Rymar back out of the house. I paused, wondering what they were doing, but when Rymar waved, I waved back. Maybe he was already leaving?

The door closed, so I turned to Meri. "Please tell me you're honestly okay here with them?"

She pressed her lips together for a moment, then nodded. "I am. They look very strange, Ayla, but theyarenice. Much nicer than most of the wives."

"I know," I agreed. "Now, not everyone in Lorsa is nice, but the ones who arebecame my friends. See, things up here are nothing at all like what Mr. Cassidy said in his sermons."

"I know," she breathed. "I'm just so confused. They have to know the world is livable, right? But they always said it was burning!"

"Maybe because it's so hot?" I guessed. "Kanik told me - "

"Which one is he?" she broke in.

"Kanik is brown. Rymar is yellow. Zasen is the Wyvern and has the blue tail."

She nodded. "Okay. So this one is Rymar?"

"Yep," I agreed.

"Is he courting you?" she asked, quickly looking at the front door to make sure we were still alone.

I shook my head, aware I'd assumed the same thing when I'd been new here. "No. He's a friend, Meri. Just a friend, no different than you or Callah. Rymar has plenty of Dragons who want his attention." As I'd seen on the way here.

"Oh. But he is serving as your guardian today?"

I made a little noise to show she wasn't quite right. "I've never been here before, so Rymar showed me the way. That's it. He's not guarding me. He's giving me directions. Oh, and guess what else I did today?"

"What?" she asked.

Hopefully, this would show her exactly how different the surface was. Yes, I wanted to brag a bit, but mostly I wanted to find some way to prove to Meri that she really was safe. That it was okay to ask things, or make mistakes. Most of all, that I really could protect her.

"I learned something called hand-to-hand combat," I said. "Well, defense, but it's still a part of fighting. I learned how to flip the Wyvern if he tries to grab me. I did it, too! I dropped him to the ground at least four times!"

Meri's mouth dropped open. "Did he punish you?"

"Nope," I assured her. "Kanik was teaching me how, and Zasen was helping by playing the bad guy who tried to grab me. When I made him grunt because he hit so hard? He told me I did a good job." Then I reached over and grabbed her hand. "Everything is different up here, Meri. And the best part? You don't have to be like me, or be a proper wife, or anything else. You get to figure out what you like, and then become that version of yourself."

"Not anymore," she said, lifting her hand to rub her very swollen belly. "I'm a mother now, Ayla. I only have a couple of months before the baby is here."

"That's what I'm saying," I assured her. "Meri, you can raise that baby any way you want. You don't have to do it like your parents did. You can kiss on it, or hug it, or anything else. And you don't have to send it away when it's too old. Families don't do that here. The children live with their parents until they grow up."

"I don't even know how to feed it," she whispered. "Ayla, the wives were supposed to show me."

"And now Naomi will," I promised. "Meri, it's okay. It's all going to be okay. Even if something goes wrong, Naomi will save you. Dragons don't die when they have their babies. They have doctors and medicine."

Meri's hand shifted, clutching at her belly now. "But if it doesn't turn..."

"Then Naomi will help you," I said again. "We're going to make sure you're okay. We'll - " I paused as the door opened and Jeera stepped back in.

"Ayla?" she asked. "Will you be okay here with Meri for about half an hour? Brielle wants to make an appointment with Mom for Meri."

"Oh," I said, nodding quickly. "We'll be fine."

"Good." She turned back, then paused. "Oh. Do you want me to make one for you too? Mom can give you an exam and then start birth control."

"Start what?" Meri asked.

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