"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.
"Kanik!" I bellowed. "Have him eat some fruit. We're going to need more hands here."
"Can do!" Kanik yelled back before collecting the child-sized crossbow from the child we'd bought it for.
I watched as words were traded, and then Tamin hurried to the table to climb into Ayla's lap. Saveah moved the bowl Brielle had brought, and Tamin immediately reached in. But when he offered the first piece behind him to Ayla? Okay, that was cute.
She was so good with the child. I hadn't expected that from the way she talked about her life with the Moles, but she was. Soft, tender, and she gave him her complete attention. Naturally, Tamin was soaking it up.
"What's up?" Rymar asked, taking the meat from my hand to start laying it out.
Kanik made his way over in time to hear that. "Pretty sure you don't need help putting food over the fire, so yeah. What he said."
I simply turned to the flames, not wanting the women to worry about our conversation. "Jeera thinks I should give Ayla a bow."
"It's not a bad idea," Kanik said. "She seems to know what they are and how they work."
"A weapon, though?" I said.
Crouched beside me, Rymar chuckled. "What are you scared of, Zasen? Worried she might kill you?"
I scoffed at that. "No."
So he glanced up. "Then what?"
"She's a Mole," I reminded him.
Rymar just made a face and tilted his head at Kanik. "I'm with him. She was a Mole. She's no longer a Mole. Now she's a refugee who wants to become a Dragon."
"Just think about it like she was a Reaper," Kanik said. "If she left the nomadic tribes for a more stable life, we wouldn't think it was weird. Plenty of people do that."
"And a few Dragons go to the Reapers," I reminded him.
"True, but that's not what I'm talking about," Kanik insisted. "This isn't about a balance of people emigrating and immigrating. It's about the fact that our community has always accepted those who want to become a part of it."
"He's not wrong," Rymar said.
"And Jerlis was very clear about her," I reminded them. "The Mayor won't even press charges for someone attacking - or killing - her."
"Which is another reason she needs to know how to defend herself," Kanik said. "Zasen, you didn't see how she curled up when Adoet went after her. She didn't fight back. She didn't try to stop him. She fucking apologized and curled up to protect her head and stomach!"
