"She's a victim of the Moles."

"She's a Mole!"

So I surged to my feet and pushed right into his face. "She's a damned Dragon now, so get the fuck over it. Boris makes that call. His family always has, and you couldn't change that if you tried. The scribes know, like they can see it inside us - and he saw it in her."

"Because that old man is nearly blind!"

"And makes intricate designs on a microscopic scale?" I shot back. "Right. That makes perfect sense. It's also done, whether you like it or not."

"And I don't," he snapped before throwing himself back in his chair. "She's going to get all of us killed."

This time I pressed my hands on the desk and leaned closer. "Based on what? Are you judging her because she's blonde? Well, I don't know how to break this to you, but Saveah has skin and hair of almost the same color. You have never even seen the girl, yet you're so ready to condemn her? That, Jerlis, is not how Lorsa works."

"And you're blinded by her because she's in your house," he pointed out.

"Because you put her there!"

"So neither one of us is impartial. We're just looking at her from different sides," he told me. "So sit down, Rymar, because this is still my office."

"It is," I agreed as I reclaimed my chair. "But Ayla has been helping. Over and over, she helps us know the enemy so we can hopefully get ahead of them. She's figured out when they'll be back - "

"Unless that's a lie."

"To what end?" I asked. "So we'll all be ready? So - worst case - we spend an evening waiting and nothing comes? Maybe two? Where's the big plot, Jerlis?"

"We're all looking south and they come from the north," he snaps.

I scoffed. "Right, and how would they know to do that? She hasn't talked to a single person without us around her."

"Except the last time they invaded," he reminded me. "She was alone with the boy. She - the frail little girl you brought here - somehow managed to survive all of that when a dozen Dragons didn't. Make it make sense, Rymar, because the only way it does to me is if she had help."

"She did," I assured him. "At first, it was a kid's crossbow, then a gun. Tamin also stung and bit a man. Zasen helped her with a few others. She was not alone."

"She was for some of it!"

"And you're a paranoid asshole who is obsessed with the fact they killed your little sister!" I snapped.

The room went quiet. Jerlis was breathing hard enough for me to easily see his chest rising and falling. My tail was twitching, right on the verge of lashing. Yet for a long moment, the pair of us simply stared at each other.

"You haven't lost anyone," he finally said.

"They killed my best friend," I countered. "They took his body and ate him. We've been taking care of his widow and children. Don't you dare tell me I haven't lost anyone. Maybe not as many as some, but we've all felt the pain."

Finally, Jerlis nodded. "But Ione was tailless," he said softly. "We thought she'd be safe because they only take the bodies of the tailed, but they took her anyway! They killed her, Rymar, for no reason at all."

"Just like they've killed so many of us in the streets," I agreed. "I know, Jerlis. I do. It hurts, and it sucks, and they need to fucking pay. But here's the thing you can't get your thick head around. Ayla feels the same. She was trapped down there with them. They tortured her, beat her, lied to her, and the only way she could escape was to come to us."

"What if it's a lie?" he asked.

"Then she's a damned good liar," I admitted. "She flinches from things we think are common. She's scared to make a mistake. She believes men are allowed to beat her without her even fighting back. The girl just curls up into a ball and takes it because that makes it end faster!"

"But we can't trust her," he insisted.

"So why would she tell us about their calendar? Why would she tell us about their language, then help Zasen and Kanik understand how the vowels are pronounced? They can understand Moles talking now! She has helped, and she keeps helping, because she wants to stop them from destroying this place."

"And?" he asked. "Why does she care about Lorsa, Rymar? She just got here. This place doesn't matter to her like it does to us."

"This place," I said, "is hope to her. She has friends down there. Friends who are being hurt every day. Friends she wants to get out, or protect, or help in some way. The only option they have for a safe place?" I pointed at the ground. "Right here. Ayla says that if she's a Dragon, then she can prove it's the men - only the men - and that her two friends deserve the same chance she got."

Slowly, he began to nod. "I don't like it."

"Doesn't matter," I reminded him. "It's done. Boris took this into his own hands."

"And if she screws us over, I will hang her for treason."

"Which is fair," I agreed.

So he sighed. "Fine. I'll update the census. You have the forms. Fill them out and mail them back. Just know that if her information ends up getting people killed, it's going to be all on her - and I will prosecute."

"People die every time the Moles come," I reminded him, not wanting that to suddenly end up as murder charges for Ayla.

"And we should be ready!"

"That doesn't mean people won't die," I countered. "Zasen could. Kanik could. Any of the men on the defense militia could be cut down as they try to push the Moles back. They have guns, Jerlis! We're working with bows! Even if we know they're coming, this is still war, and war is fucking bloody."

He slammed his fist down on his desk. "And I'm tired of it!"

"Aren't we all," I agreed. "So stop threatening her, and start listening to her. That girl? Boris picked the perfect sign for her. She's burning down her past, rising from those ashes, and coming out hot. She is a Dragon, and she might just be the answer we've been hoping for, so don't you dare push her away before she has the chance to figure herself out."

"She gets one chance," he told me.

I just smiled. He'd said that before. He would probably say it again. With Jerlis, it was always "one chance," because he knew he intimidated people. Well, too bad for him, I wasn't scared. Not of him, at any rate.

No, what made my blood run cold was the idea of my friends dying in the next raid. Of it being Ayla, or Tamin, or even Saveah! For me, an oversized Dragon with a bad attitude was nothing at all to worry about.

The Moles were a different story, and they were coming soon.

Seventy-OneAyla

Every day, we got closer to the date I'd circled in red. The day the Moles would come back to Lorsa. And yet, life continued on. I knew the men were doing things to prepare, but I wasn't invited to help. Zasen had told me to worry about mastering my bow first. Until I could put an arrow where I wanted every time, I couldn't do more.

And every morning, I drank venom. Two days after Boris had me sign the book to become a Dragon, however, my morning drink did nothing. I was sure they'd forgotten to add the drops, or something. I didn't feel any shortness of breath. My skin didn't even tingle, let alone get warm. When I told Zasen, he smiled.

"How brave are you?" he asked.

I lifted my chin, knowing I was now the Phoenix. "Very."

"Rymar!" he yelled.