Page 59 of Phoenix's Fire

She said it in English, then glared at all of us until the room was so silent, I could hear nothing but breathing. For a long moment, Naomi looked at us, her gaze moving from person to person - except for Meri. There was a warning in her eyes that made her look as terrifying as the woman who'd run the children's wing in the compound.

"Jeera, translate for Lessa," Naomi said before turning to Meri. "And you're not in trouble, my dear. They are, but you're fine, Meri. Now, tell me how you feel?"

Meri nodded. "My stomach keeps clenching." She paused to quickly lick her lips. "Is it true?"

"Which part?" Naomi asked gently as she turned to the cabinet beside her.

"You don't eat us?"

"We don't," Naomi promised her. "We have plenty of things to eat up here. There's no need to eat people. Plus, every tailed child has a tailless mother, and who'd want to eat their own family?"

"But..."

"Don't worry about it," I breathed, moving closer so I could clasp Meri's hand. "I'm sorry I said anything, Meri. I didn't mean to, and I intended to break it to you slowly, when you understood more."

"So it's true?" she whimpered.

"Ayla, wait," Naomi ordered even as she was pulling medication into a syringe. "Meri, I'm going to give you a shot. It will ease your stomach and mind. This is for anxiety, okay?" Then she pinched Meri's arm and pushed the needle into the skin.

"How long does it take?" Meri asked.

"Oh, just a few minutes," Naomi promised. Then she crouched down beside Meri. "Two months ago, we thought all people with sunless skin were evil, Meri. Dragons hated Moles, and that's just the way it was. Moles were evil things, and when they showed up, they hurt us."

"But - "

Naomi lifted a hand, holding off her protest. "Then my son brought Ayla back. Like you, she was scared and confused. And just like you, she was also very sweet. Those of us who met her couldn't hate her because there wasn't a mean bone in her body. It didn't make sense - until the hunters came and Ayla fought back."

Meri's head immediately snapped over to look at me. "You fought?"

"I was hiding with a little boy," I explained. "They were going to shoot him, Meri. I couldn't let them kill a child!"

"No, but that's so brave of you."

Naomi rubbed Meri's shoulder. "You're sounding a little less terrified. Feeling any better?"

Meri jiggled her head in something like a nod. "I think so. My stomach doesn't want to empty anymore."

"Good."

"But is it true, Naomi? Is that why they just fed us meat?" Meri pressed.

"We believe it is," Naomi soothed. "Ayla learned when the hunters come back, why we couldn't figure it out - our calendars and holidays are different - and she showed us that you women are victims in all of this, unaware of what is going on."

"But..." Meri's hands went protectively to her belly. "I ate people? I did that to my baby?"

"Shh..." Naomi soothed. "It seems your people don't have any adverse effects from it, so what's done is done. You didn't know, so it isn't your fault." Naomi gently guided Meri's hair back, caressing the girl's head. "And it bothers me less thinking my son and my husband helped to keep people like you alive."

"Your son?" I asked, twitching at that.

"My oldest brother," Jeera explained. "Not Zasen. Cerlik died when I was like six. I think he was... fourteen, Mama?"

"Mhm," Naomi agreed. "And soon enough, the Moles will come back, Meri. The hunters will come here, but Ayla has taught us how to be ready for it, so you'll be safe."

"I didn't know..." Meri breathed.

"And we didn't know they were abusing you women," Naomi explained. "Not until Ayla told us how things are down there. But you're free now, okay? Your job is to get strong and raise this baby so it will be nothing like its daddy, okay?"

Meri just swallowed, and her eyes were much too big. "I'll try, but I don't know how."

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