I nodded slowly, knowing how she felt. That was what had changed my mind about Ayla too. "Lessa, she had no idea what she'd been fed. Still, she didn't eat meat. She refused, even when she was beaten for it." I murmured softly. "Oh, and she's the reason I can now understand Moles. It seems they speak English."
That was enough to make Lessa miss a step. She stumbled, I reached out to grab her arm, steadying her, and she clasped my shoulder for support. Stopping there in the middle of the street, she looked up at me with her wide, amber eyes, and her mouth hung open.
"They actually speak that old language?"
I nodded my head slowly. "I found that out by accident. It's taken me a bit to figure out how to pronounce the words properly, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it - not that it really matters. Ayla's pretty much fluent in Vestrian now."
Lessa murmured and shrugged that off. "Well, spending most of your life learning how to be a doctor would make you pretty good at English."
"Better than I thought," I admitted. "Lessa, just know this girl is nothing like you think."
She shifted her bag on her shoulder, clearly thinking about it. "Okay. So then what is she like? Because I think she's a Mole who sees us as nothing but animals." She turned to look right at me. "What the hell were you thinking, bringing her here, Zasen?"
"I was thinking she's a Mole woman - and the first we'd ever seen - which means she knows what happens in the Mole base," I explained. "I thought that if I could just get her on our side, she would tell me everything she knows. Surprise, surprise - she is. She doesn't know what is useful information and what isn't, but she's more than willing to share it all."
"Does she know you intend to kill everyone in there?" Lessa shot back.
I grumbled under my breath. "Lessa, she wants to kill them too, well, the men at least. Those men abused her. This girl keeps talking about a woman's place and what is proper. She's meek in a way that was clearly beaten into her, because every so often, something else shines through." Then I sighed. "Look. Just be nice to her? Don't scare the poor thing too much?"
"I make no promises," Lessa told me, "but I won't be a complete bitch."
I reached over to rub her shoulder. "That's all I'm asking for."
Thankfully, the walk across town didn't take too long. Soon enough, the pair of us reached my house, but this time I didn't open the door and let Lessa walk in first. Instead, I stepped in before her, surprised to find Ayla in the living room – with a cloth in her hand.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
Behind me, Lessa walked in, almost bumping into me. Ayla saw her and immediately stood up a little straighter, pushing both hands behind her back to hide the cloth she was using. Lessa huffed as if she was unimpressed and moved around me, allowing me to close the door behind us.
"Well, it looks like she fits into that dress well enough," Lessa said.
A split second later, Ayla blurted out, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were expecting company. I was just trying to clean up the house a little. If you would like me to go somewhere else, I'd be happy to, but I don't know which room you're going to need to use."
I lifted my hands, begging both women to give me a second. Then I decided to answer Ayla first.
"This is Lessa; she's a seamstress. I asked her to come and measure you so we can get you some new clothes. Is that okay?"
Ayla nodded her head quickly. "Give me one moment to get cleaned up. I'm sorry, my hands are dirty."
And just like that, she spun and headed towards the bathroom. Reaching up to rub the bridge of my nose, I looked over at Lessa. "See what I mean?"
Lessa gave me a scathing look. "You're making her act like a maid?"
"I am not making her do anything," I assured her as Kanik wandered down the stairs and into the living room.
"Oh, she decided to do this on her own," he explained. "She also took the first dose this morning, Zasen."
"And?" I asked.
One corner of his mouth curled upwards. "Well, she didn't scream. It was touch and go for a bit, but she's okay now."
"Good," I said.
He just jerked his chin at me. "But if you two are going to be doing a fashion show, I'm going to go grab something to eat."
"At Rymar's?" I guessed.
Kanik nodded. "Yeah. Believe it or not, I'm starting to go a little stir crazy, so you can take a day with her."
"Was planning on it," I assured him. "Go. Get out while you can."
Lessa murmured under her breath, then moved over to the closest chair to set her bag down. "Have fun, Kanik." Then she murmured again, turning her attention to me. "Well, I can say the girl's pale coloration will make picking colors easy enough."
"Feminine colors," I told her as I lifted my hand in Kanik's direction, waving to him as he left. "I don't know what colors those would be, but I'm going to guess that's what Ayla would want."
Lessa nodded. "And let me guess, you want her in nothing but dresses?"
"Actually, I want at least two sets of hunting leathers for her. She's also going to need shoes," I pointed out. "Just - everything, Lessa. All she owns is a few dresses my sister begged from people she knows."
That made Lessa laugh. "This one clearly came from Naomi. I remember making it."
Before I could reply, Ayla was back. Not only had the girl lost her rag somewhere and washed her hands, but she'd also put her hair up in a knot at the back of her head. Like this, she looked completely demure and boring. Invisible would be another word. For me, the problem was how it showed off exactly how lean and underfed she was.
"Okay," Lessa said, gesturing for Ayla to come closer. "I'm going to need to measure your body. Have you ever had this done before?"
Ayla looked confused, then shook her head. Her eyes jumped to me. "I don't know what's going on, Zasen."
"Lessa is going to make you clothes," I told her again.
