"Exactly," Kanik said, giving me and Zasen warning looks.
Which meant things had been interesting while they were out, and not in the way I'd expected. But Ayla was more than willing to forget all about sex hurting and how embarrassed she'd been earlier. All that seemed to matter to her now was that she'd been made a real Dragon. She'd signed her name and everything.
I'd never seen her like this. Giddy was the best word I had for it. Overjoyed, exuberant, and every other happy word I could think of. She was like a cross between a little kid who'd just gotten a present and a woman who had just gotten engaged.
So many times, she clutched her hands to her chest. Often, she giggled just thinking about it. The girl didn't even have her sign die yet, but that didn't seem to matter. She'd signed the book. She was a real Dragon. She was one of us, and to her it was a dream come true.
Which meant I had to break this to the Mayor. The next morning, I slipped out of the house right after Ayla took her dose of venom. It barely even bothered her anymore, and we were putting three drops in the water. She should be immune. She had to be close. We wouldn't be sure until we saw how she reacted to four drops, but none of us were rushing that.
The walk across town was nice. People called out, waving to me as I passed. My skin was vivid enough and unique enough that even at a distance they recognized me. But I didn't stop until I made it to City Hall.
"Hey, Jerlis," I said as I stepped into his office.
His pen paused, then the man slowly looked up at me. "Seeing you usually means there's a problem. I got the reports back. The work orders are all filed. So what is the problem, Rymar?"
"May I?" I gestured at the chair before his desk.
The massive man growled under his breath, put the cap back on his pen, and leaned back. "So it's bad, hm?"
Well, if he wasn't going to be polite and let me sit, then I'd do it anyway. Easing myself down into the chair, I tried to act like this was no big deal. It was. We all knew it was, but Jerlis would not be pleased with my news.
"So, Ayla met Boris yesterday."
Jerlis's eyes narrowed.
"He is designing the Phoenix for her."
The man's tail lashed so hard it slapped against the floor.
"He says she's already a Dragon - she just needs help hatching - so he had her sign the book."
"That fucking imbecile!" Jerlis roared as he surged to his feet, swiping at his desk. "Does he not realize what a threat she is to Lorsa? Can he not see how dangerous it is to coddle her? If she betrays us, then what? The Moles will finally win! They'll overrun the entire town and no Dragon will ever be safe again!"
Papers slid to the floor. A cup of tea splashed across the top of his desk. Ink ran and items were scattered, but I simply tilted my head. This was why he'd picked me to run for office with him. This was where I excelled and he did not.
"Sit. Down." I lifted a brow. "It's done, Jerlis. You can't change it."
"She's dangerous," he growled, pressing both hands to his messy desk and leaning towards me. "She's a fucking Mole!"
"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.
