Page 94 of Phoenix's Fire

"Okay, I'm going to go get some food started," Zasen said. "We've got Tamin."

"Thank you, Zasen," Saveah told him.

But Meri was staring at my sister with her mouth hanging open. "Ayla, she looks just like you!"

"This is my sister, Saveah," I explained, turning to translate that for Saveah only to have her chuckle.

"Me find Ayla late," Saveah tried in broken English. "Sha me family. English, yes?"

"Sorta English," I said, grinning because her attempt wasn't that good. "Oh, and Kanik got these for everyone."

Lessa lifted a finger. "I'm not following that much English," she said in Vestrian.

"Saveah and Ayla are sisters," Naomi explained, "and Ayla has books."

"Ones for both languages," I told Lessa in Vestrian. "I think this one is for you?" The cover of it was in Vestrian, which made me think it would explain English to her.

Then I found one with English on the cover, and handed it to Meri. I kept the other. The rest were all Vestrian copies. It seemed Kanik had gotten enough for Jeera, Brielle, Saveah, and Lessa.

"That's all he has," I told Naomi apologetically when I ran out.

She waved me off and replied in English. "It took me a bit to shift the way I said the vowels, but I use enough English in medicine that I'm okay."

"Which is where Zasen learned it," Jeera told Meri.

"Tamin speak da Ayla," Saveah said.

"Tamin is learning it to speak to me?" I guessed.

She nodded. "That." Then she sighed. "English is hard."

"But you got it!" Brielle told her.

Meri just kept staring at Saveah. "You're Ayla's sister?"

Saveah nodded, clearly understanding. "Yes."

"Tiesha was her mother before she went to quarantine," I explained. "I always thought it was just the four of us, but my mother really had five children."

"So step-sisters?" Meri asked, thinking of the terms widows used for their children.

I shook my head. "Half-sisters. Like a widow's first husband's children and her second husband's."

"Oh." She nodded. "So Saveah's father died?"

"Yes, but not," Saveah answered with a heavy accent. "Mah dod live. Mam go..." She wrinkled her brow, then looked to me and switched to Vestrian. "Mom was taken by the Moles, then my dad died later. By Moles."

"Oh." I reached over to rub her arm. "I'm sorry."

"And it's not your fault," she reminded me. "Neither of yours, but I don't know how to tell Meri that without making her feel bad, or if she even knows."

"I got this," I promised before turning to Meri. "Our mother was taken by the Righteous. She was married to a Dragon, but the Moles didn't care. They made her marry my father, not knowing she had a husband and daughter - " I paused. "I think they were married?"

"Not mahried," Saveah said, clearly doing her best to follow along.

"Wait," Meri begged. "How did they have children if they weren't married?"

Lessa giggled, proving she could understand enough to keep up as well, but it was Naomi who answered. "Meri, for Dragons, sex is something we're allowed to enjoy. Women get to choose when and with who they do it with. So do men. Our tailed daughters can't have children." She gestured to Lessa, Brielle, and Jeera. "And our tailless daughters can use medicine to prevent children. That means our relationships are made because we like our partners, not simply for children."

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