"And the Reapers want to tear him apart right now," Drozel said. "So what do you want me to do?"
"I can say he died," I told them, only understanding half of what they were saying. "No one will wonder about that because you kill so many of us. And now that I'm late, I won't need to hold the women."
"Hold them for what?" Drozel demanded.
"In line," I said, looking at Ayla in the hopes she could help.
"What women?" she asked.
"The ones from here," I explained. "We came only a few days ago. Not long enough to need to come again, and they made us capture all the women who look like us. They went to quarantine, Ayla."
"Fuck!" she snarled, shoving to her feet. "Sylis? Did you know about this?"
He nodded, still clutching his gut. "We stay at the edges. We don't want to kill Dragons, but we can't do nothing. They'll shoot..." He gasped in pain. "...us."
"He knows everything," I told her. "Save him and he'll tell you. Won't you, Sylis?"
He nodded. "I want to stop it. I want to be free."
The man named Drozel stood and turned in one motion. "Tayle!" he roared, the word one I didn't know.
A woman rushed in. She and Ayla traded words in that other language, and the woman immediately began checking Sylis over. When he tried to keep his hands on his wound, she made a warning sound, but she didn't bother using words. Likely because Sylis wouldn't understand them anyway.
I wanted to help, but Ayla grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet. "She's a medic, and a better one than me." Then she looked at the other man. "Translate for her, and do not let anyone hurt him."
"Can do," the tan Dragon agreed.
Then Ayla dragged me forward. "Enough!" she snapped at the line of angry wild men. She grunted, then yelled another word. When silence fell, she rambled off something else, and I caught a word in there that sounded a lot like "English."
The Wyvern nodded, added a few more things, and finally the wild men began to disperse. That didn't mean they looked pleased, but they still left, and a few of those Dragons pulled closer.
"English," the Wyvern said, switching to my language for a moment. "It's all Tobias knows." Then he continued speaking to the others in the words I couldn't follow.
A smaller, green man moved to me, offering his hand. "Tobias, I am Omden, a friend of Merienne."
"How is she?" I begged.
He smiled, the expression a strange one on his scaled face. "She's healing well, and adapting even better."
"She had the baby," Ayla told me. "Tell Callah she's fine. The baby didn't turn, but it was removed with surgery, and bothare fine. She'll be able to have more children in the future if she wants, but she doesn't have to. Dragons have medicine to prevent pregnancy as well. Meri's happy now. She sews clothes in colors so bright Callah can't even imagine them, and she doesn't have to raise Gideon's child. She gave it to women who want to make sure he grows up like a Dragon. Everyone is happy about it."
"Oh, she'll be so relieved," I told her. "Callah's been worried she was already dead."
"She's fine," Omden told me. "She is my guest."
And I tensed. "Do nothurther. She is a good woman, and she's worth more than simply as a wife!"
"No, no, no," Ayla said. "Tobias, Omden has someone in his life already." And she pointed at the man kneeling by Sylis.
"What?" I asked.
"My partner is Drozel," Omden said.
"Like husbands," Ayla explained, "but two men, not a man and a woman."
My mouth hung open. "He…"
I paused to shake my head as if trying to clear it. This man was married to another man? Was that what Sylis had been hoping for? Not that the elders would allow such a thing, but men still dreamed. But had he kissed me, hoping I'd want the same thing? I didn't, but if this man did, and was allowed to…
