"What? Which one?"

"This damsel in distress act could be just that. An act." He paused to clench his jaw, clearly annoyed. "She could be an assassin. She could be a spy."

"Her?" I scoffed.

"Her," he said. "Oh, she's probably not, but she could be one. She could be a weapon they designed to slip inside our defenses." He turned so we were both facing the back of the girl's chair. "Kanik, not all of those bruises on her are from us. Some of the ones on her face were there when she was chained out."

"So they beat her first?"

"Or," he countered, "she's been trained to ignore pain. Trained, Kanik. Exposed to it over and over until she can prevent her own reactions to it. That's what humans used to do to their special forces. They'd push them until they broke, then pick up the pieces and rebuild them into these amazing soldiers. Then they'd use them to slip into the places the main lines couldn't reach."

"Or," I countered, "she's a desperate woman who's lost, alone, and probably scared shitless."

"Yeah. Or that." He sighed. "But since I can't rule out either one, I have to keep both possibilities in mind. You should too."

Twenty-SevenAyla

Once I was dressed and much more comfortable, the Wyvern wrapped my feet. Surprisingly, he did it almost as well as the doctor had. And while he focused on that, the yellow Dragon and Kanik busied themselves in the food preparation room.

But I now knew the brown one's name. Kanik. That had to have been what he was trying to tell me. I just didn't understand why all three of these men were here. Was this really the Wyvern's home, or was it something else?

Soon enough, good smells began to waft in from the other room. There was more clattering from Kanik and the yellow one, and then the Wyvern made his way to my side and offered me a hand up. Confused, I took it, aware I was starting to feel the bottoms of my feet again.

Then, slowly, the blue-tailed Dragon led me into the food preparation room and guided me to a chair at the end of a rectangular table. I was barely sitting before the other two carried over plates heaped with food - most of them things I'd never seen before.

The yellow one carved at the meat, removing a large piece just to place it on the plate before me. Kanik added a ladleful of the orange tuber beside it. Then he gave me the same amount of a green vegetable that was oddly shaped. It wasn't leaves like I was used to. This was small, round, and about half the size of my pinky finger.

And once I was served, the other three men all began to reach for things to put on their own plates. Confused, I looked around, taking in the table. In front of me was a glass filled with clear water. To the side of my plate was a folded napkin made of white cloth. On top of that were utensils almost identical to the ones I was familiar with from the compound.

Once they had what they wanted, the men simply began shoveling it into their mouths. There was no prayer, but they talked as they filled themselves. The tones were light and joking. The smiles were at odds to what I was used to back in the compound. But when I took too long to join them, the yellow one noticed.

"Orin?" he asked, miming using his fork.

So I carefully took a taste of the tuber. That made the yellow one smile and return to his own meal. And it was good! Much better than it had been when raw, even if I couldn't begin to describe how or why.

I ate, sampling the new foods and finding them all delicious - even the meat. There were flavors to them I hadn't expected, but I liked it. Not wanting to let the serving go to waste, I tried to finish it all, but couldn't. There was simply so much of it!

When my bites came slower and slower, Kanik reached over to slide my plate away from me. I glanced up, worried I was about to be punished for the waste, but he just tipped his head at the remaining food, then at me, and lifted a brow.

I grimaced and rubbed my belly, hoping he'd understand I meant there was no more room. He grinned. I wasn't sure if he'd understood or was just being nice, but nothing about his manner seemed upset or offended. Hopefully that was a good thing?

After that, I was guided back to the same chair I'd used before, and then the yellow Dragon pressed the book about Idaho into my hands. While I flipped through it, the three men cleaned the table and food preparation room.

But with a full belly and an aching body, the events of the last few days began to catch up with me. My eyes were closing before they even finished. When the men wandered back in, it seemed the Wyvern noticed my drooping lids. Chuckling softly, he led me to that bedroom one more time, and I was honestly too tired to resist. But when he began to turn down the blankets on the bed? That made me wake up fast and step back warily.

He merely gestured to the exposed sleeping spot, smiled at me, and left the room. Limping on my aching feet, I followed him to the door and locked it. I would not go through all of this just to be forced into bed with a Dragon instead of a Righteous man!

Then I surveyed the space. The room was easily as big, if not bigger, than the room Meri, Callah, and I had shared, but there was only one bed. It was twice as wide as the one I'd had in the compound, and when I pressed on it, I found it to be much softer, so I climbed under the blankets.

But this wasn't my bed. This wasn't my home. My body might be exhausted, but my mind was spinning, replaying everything from Callah's words to Mr. Saunders' kiss, and of course everything that had happened with the Dragons.

It felt like an eternity since I'd been able to relax, and now all the sounds were so strange. I heard steps on the stairs, making their way higher. After that, I could make out footsteps on what must be the level above. In the room with the chairs, someone was talking, but I didn't know the men's voices well enough to tell them apart yet.

But my body finally began to relax.

Once I managed to get to sleep, I slept hard. The bed was wonderfully soft and the blankets amazingly thick. I didn't even have dreams to make me toss or turn. I merely closed my eyes and found oblivion. The next morning, I woke to light streaming into my face. Shifting towards the other side of the bed, I squinted against the pain of it and tried to find the source.

There, on the front wall, was a window. It was made of glass, and cloth hung from a bar above it, but the fabric had been pushed to the side. Curious, I sat up and tried to see through it, surprised to find a section of grass with a street just beyond. There were houses on the other side of that.

And now I was awake. I'd also slept in my clothes, but I needed the facilities. Carefully, I stepped onto the floor, testing my feet before I truly stood up - only to find they hurt. Not just a little, but a lot. I also needed to use them, so I shifted my weight to the sides and heels, doing my best to avoid the worst damage as I hobbled to the door and opened it as quietly as possible.

The house was perfectly silent.

Timidly, I pulled the door wider, listening for the sounds of anyone on either floor. Still silent. Stepping as lightly as I could, I crossed the hall to the bathing room, used the toilet facilities, and then headed towards the part of the house I was familiar with, wanting another glass of that cold water.

The whole time, I found myself wondering what the Dragons would call such things. Even in the compound, some people called the facilities a washroom, a bathroom, or restroom. Was this a kitchen, a pantry, or a food preparation room? Did their language have as many variations as mine? And if so, how would I ever learn them all?

First, I poured a glass of water to moisten my parched throat. I finished off the second glass just to keep my stomach from complaining about the lack of an early meal. When that was done, I went to the sitting room, but no one was there. Considering I'd now been through the first level, did that mean they'd really left me alone?

For a moment, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. On one hand, I was free. If I wanted, I could finally lose myself in the forest. On the other hand, the trip had proven the forest might not be the easiest place to live. Here, the Dragons fed me and gave me clothes to wear. They let me have luxurious baths and extravagant meals. However, they were supposed to be my enemy.

Never mind that I still didn't have shoes and my feet were destroyed. Could that be their method to keep me from running away? Twisting my mother's ring on my pinky, I thought about it. After running through the forest once like this, I knew my bare feet would make a pretty decent leash. I could travel around the house freely, but outside? My tender soles would make me slow and easy to catch.

They'd proven that on the walk here.

Although there was no point in trying to run away yet. I needed to heal first, and it seemed these three men were willing to help me. I just wasn't sure what they'd expect in return. And when they did make those demands? That would be the time to finally flee.

There were only two doors on this level I hadn't looked behind yet this morning, plus the strange section under the stairs. The first door opened to reveal the Wyvern's arsenal, and all the items I'd seen yesterday were still there. Clearly the men weren't out attacking Righteous hunters, then. But with no one here, I paused to look at the weapons a little longer.

The compound had rooms like this, but the Righteous had theirs stocked with guns instead of bows and blades. It was still the same idea. A civilization needed protection, after all. For these Dragons, they had quite the collection of different things. I saw large knives, which might qualify as daggers. There were more of those curved blades like what the Wyvern had held up when the beast had screamed into the night. And then there were the bows.

So many different ones. Big ones, little ones, and some that had handles. Crossbows, I was pretty sure they were called, although I'd never seen a picture of one unstrung before. Like this, it looked more like a big T. And there weren't only blue-fletched arrows in here. I saw brown, grey, and other natural shades as well.

But none of it was going to help me, since I didn't know how to use any of this. So I aimed further up the hall to the decorative wood piece under the stairs. Hooking my fingers in the groove, I tried to swing it open. It rattled but refused.

Next, I pushed. The thing rattled again, but this time it also slid - to the side! Well, I'd never seen a door work like that before, but it made sense. And inside the space? Linens.

There was a small shelf to my left. To the right, towards the lower side of the stairs, was a cabinet. Across the back was more, with just enough space for someone to step inside and select what they wanted.

Impressed, but unsure how this would help me, I closed the door by sliding it back into place. What I really needed was some food. Returning to the kitchen - or whatever it was called - I checked behind the last door.

This time, what I found was a small pantry, but considering it was meant for only a few people instead of hundreds - well, it wouldn't need to be very big. It also had something I now recognized. There, in a basket on the shelf, was the orange tuber I'd grown fond of.

I claimed one of those for myself. If the Dragons didn't approve, I wasn't sure what I'd do, but my stomach was demanding I put something in it. A little water rinsed off the outside, and then I carried it back to the chair that faced the main door. With the tuber in one hand, I stole the chance to simply relax.

The book in English was still lying on that knee-high table before my chair. I picked it up and flipped to the page with plants, wondering if I could identify my meal. I nibbled on the tuber while I read. A few more flips and I finally found it. A sweet potato, it was called.

What would the Dragons call it?