I was smiling even more. "I wanted to be a doctor, but people don't do that anymore in the compound. Especially not women. The men simply make all girls over fifteen learn how to set wounds. I liked it, though. Pulling out the arrows was the best part."

"The arrows?" Saveah asked.

"Mhm," I agreed. "Like the ones Zasen shot the hunters with. We couldn't save most of them, but his arrows were always the hard ones. They have points that cut a lot when pulled out. Sometimes it was easier to push them through." I grimaced and looked at the women around me. "Don't tell, but that was my favorite part."

Which made Brielle lean back and laugh. "Okay, I approve." Then she looked the other way. "Zasen, we have to keep her!"

"Definitely keeping her," Jeera added.

My eyes just jumped over to Saveah. "I'm also very sorry about the other day. I tried not to let Tamin stand in front of me, but the man had punished me, so - "

"He beat the shit out of you!" Saveah snapped.

I looked at her blankly as I replayed those words. "I don't know what shit means," I admitted.

"It means a lot of things," Saveah said around a sigh. "This time, it means 'a lot.' He didn't punish you, girl. He abused you. He beat you up."

"That's what punishment is," I explained, glancing at the two nurses and hoping they'd back me up.

"It shouldn't be," Jeera said. "Ayla, for Dragons, that is called assault. It's a crime."

"Like stabbing my husband with a fork and how that broke the sixth commandment?" I asked.

Jeera paused with her mouth open, so Brielle reached across the table for her hand and answered instead. "Just like that, sweetie. But for Dragons, our laws are a little different from yours. Basically, we want people to be good to each other, but that doesn't always work. Sometimes we have to be hard, or loud, or anything else."

I nodded, showing I was keeping up. "I'll learn it all."

Which made a deep voice chuckle behind me. "And she will too," Zasen said, his eyes on Saveah. "She's trying very hard to get everything right. She also helped set the table today."

"I was going to help Rymar cook too," I said, intending to push back my chair.

Zasen simply placed his hands on my shoulders. "I'm helping. I think you need to entertain our guests, Ayla. They probably have dozens of questions for you."

Saveah grunted in a way that sounded like she was giving in. "Okay, you win, Zasen. I don't hate her."

"She's just orin," he said, rubbing my shoulder lightly before letting me go. "And I've got Tamin with me, Saveah. We're going to let him shoot targets."

Saveah huffed at him. "He can't pull an adult bow!"

"I have a crossbow for him," Zasen promised. "Target arrows too. I want to make sure he knows how to protect himself."

"Okay," Saveah relented.

"You should get Ayla one," Jeera said.

Zasen glanced at her. "I think she needs shoes first. Her feet are almost healed. Mom wants to come look at them soon to see if we can stop bandaging them."

"And pants," Jeera said. "Boots. A bow. I think Ayla is going to need all of it."

"Women aren't supposed to use weapons," I said softly, staring at her in awe.

Jeera just turned her pretty grey eyes on me. "I do. I can even out-shoot my brother with a longbow."

"But not a short one," Zasen countered.

Jeera just scoffed at that. "It's close."

"Not as close as you wish," he teased. Then he looked at me. "But you can't pull a bow yet. You need to eat more to make muscles."

"Which means," Brielle said, leaning across the table towards me, "he doesn't want the competition."

"You should ask Kanik for a bow," Saveah told me.

So, feeling a devious little smile twist my lips, I looked around the yard until I found the brown spotted dragon. "Kanik?" I asked, lifting my voice, but not too much.

"Yeah?" he called back, spinning to smile at me.

"Can I have a bow?"

"Yeah, sure," he said. "Zasen can teach you and Tamin together."

But Jeera just leaned back in her chair and grinned at her brother. "And now," she told him, "you no longer have an excuse."

"Jerlis won't like it," Zasen countered.

Jeera merely scoffed. "So? The one thing every woman needs is a weapon to defend herself. If you won't get her one, I will - and I'll ask Mom to help me."

"That's not even fair," Zasen grumbled.

Jeera shrugged. "I don't really care about fair. I care about making sure my newest friend doesn't need to use a fork on the next man who tries to punish her. Even if that man is you."

"I would never!" I gasped.

"You will if he tries to hurt you," Jeera told me. "That's what Dragon women do, Ayla. They stand up for themselves, and anyone else who needs help. They don't worry about the rules first. They do what is right, because right always trumps the rules."

"Oh," I breathed, liking that. "Just like how Tamin was going to protect me when the man punished me?"

"Just like that," Saveah agreed. "Because up here, we call that abuse, Ayla. And if you fought your way out of the Moles to get away from it, then there's no reason you should have to deal with it here."

All I could do was smile. I couldn't even nod. I'd thought this place was amazing before, but that? I was starting to think I might have found Heaven.

"I promise," I told them all. "I'll learn how to be a good Dragon. You'll see."

Thirty-NineZasen

Iwas a little shocked when Saveah had accepted Ayla so quickly. Then again, Saveah was a very sweet woman. She had a propensity to root for the underdogs, and Ayla was definitely one of those. Which meant - while I hated to admit it - Rymar's idea of a cookout was a good one.

So, grabbing the selection of meats my sister had brought with her, I headed to the fire. The wood had burned down to coals by now, and Rymar was setting the grill over it. Glancing back, I saw Kanik at the target, retrieving Tamin's arrows.