"Good," he purred. "Then, as your friend, I'm going to make you a promise. I don't care what happens, or if a man says you 'led him on,' or anything else. If you do not want to get married, or have sex, or do anything else with anyone, then you will never have to. If they try, I will sting them. Even if they are immune to it, it will still hurt. And if I have to, I will keep stinging until they are dead, okay?"
My eyes went wide at the vehemence in his voice, but I nodded. "I don't want to, Rymar. The wives? They said it's horrible."
He reached out and smoothed his hand down the length of my braided hair. "But if you want to hold Kanik's hand - or Zasen's - that's okay. Even if you lead him on, he will not try to do more. He'll just smile."
"I'm sorry," I mumbled.
His hand swept down my hair again. "Don't be sorry, Ayla. This is what friends do. We take care of each other. We make sure it's okay to make mistakes when we try to learn new things. We have your back so you don't need to wonder all the time. You can actually try what you're curious about. And..." He smiled at me kindly. "...friends are the ones who will help you fix things when it all goes wrong. So take a chance, little orin. Be brave."
I looked up and met his pretty turquoise eyes. "Like a Dragon?"
"Like Ayla," he said. "Like the woman who burned down everything she knew and is making herself anew. Yeah, just like that."
Fifty-NineRymar
Ispent the rest of the day thinking about Ayla's reaction. The girl was terrified of marriage. Then again, that made sense. She'd been raised that it wasn't something people did for love. It was simply a way for a man to use her body to produce children. Fucking rape, I'd call it, so of course the idea terrified her.
When Brielle showed up that evening, just before I got off work, I wasn't surprised. "Rymar?" she called to me as she claimed a spot at the bar.
"Beer?" I asked, reaching for a glass.
"No," she said, waving me off. "I'm heading home, but I thought I'd give you a heads-up so you can tell the guys."
"About Ayla," I realized.
She nodded slowly. "Jeera said she was scared to go into the church because she was worried they'd send her back."
"Fuck," I groaned.
"Mhm," Brielle agreed. "But here's something interesting. She saw Drozel kiss Omden and called it loving."
"So she didn't care they were both men?"
"Nope," Brielle said. "She cared that they looked as if they liked it. I mean, the things she said?" Brielle pushed out a heavy breath. "Ry, she's never seen a kiss that was consensual. That girl? Her idea of relationships is nothing but pain and abuse! To her, marriage means pregnancy until she's all used up, because that's all married women are good for."
I pushed a hand across my mouth, thinking about it. "You know..." I said. "Zasen told me Ayla killed men with the straightest face. When the Moles attacked, she didn't hesitate. She didn't cry about it, or puke over it. She just did what had to be done."
"She got revenge," Brielle realized.
I nodded my head slowly. "Kinda sounds like it, huh?"
"Shit," she breathed. "Well, I can also tell you it seems she's straight. The girl admitted to looking at all of your muscles."
"Oh?" I turned and flexed playfully. "I've got a couple."
"Evidently, there was a guy she thought was attractive down there, but he was 'courting' some other girl." She grinned. "Which means she isn't asexual."
"But she might as well be," I countered.
"Mm..." She made a face. "I think this is more a case of trauma making her scared to accept her impulses. I just figured it might help her out if you make it easier. I mean, since Zasen and Kanik aren't going to mention men's muscles."
"Oh, I see where you're going with this," I teased. "Throw me under the cart, hm?"
She laughed. "Would serve you right. But since Ayla's okay with men kissing - and she acts like it's completely normal. No. Normal's the wrong word. She acts like it's nice, a relief. Almost like it changes the balance of relationships in her mind."
"Which makes sense," I pointed out. "To Ayla, marriage is a man owning a woman. To see a pair of men loving each other? To know that a kiss, or a touch, or any affection can be mutual? Regardless of who is doing the kissing, to see it as a sign of affection instead of possession? That would be a whole different concept."
"So tell the guys?" Brielle said as she slid off her stool. "I dunno. Get them on the same page or something?"
"Will do," I promised.
She left, but I thought about that a little more. It seemed leaving our little orin girl alone with Kanik and Zasen wasn't working out quite how I'd expected. She didn't feel more relaxed because of fewer people in the house. She'd been spiraling with no one to talk to. Worse, neither of those men would bring such things up. They'd be too worried it might sound like they were going to "marry her" or something.
So, heading into the kitchen, I found my best employee. "Hey, Ulris?" I called out.
"Yeah?" he replied, looking up from the sink where he was washing dishes.
"Hey..." I made my way to his side. "I think I'm going to take a few days off. You good to handle the place?"
"Sure." He gave me a confused look. "Everything okay?"
"Just going to help out with our little refugee guest," I explained.
He chuckled, then nodded. "Take as much time as you need. Rayvah and I can hold down the fort." Then he paused. "She's not trying to get away, is she?"
"No," I promised. "Ayla's problem is she wants to destroy the Moles, Ulris. Sounds like it's the men who are the monsters. Not the women. They treat their women almost as bad as they do us. I also wouldn't mind if you spread that around a bit."
"Can do," he promised. "Rumors say the girl killed a few of them in the last attack."
