"Supplies," Drozel suggested.
"Food," Rymar clarified. "They can hunt, but that's not going to work long-term. We're going to need to feed the people protecting us. They're living in tents, for god's sake."
I sucked in a little breath at the blasphemy, but then realized he didn't mean it the way the Righteous always had. When Rymar said that, it was more like profanity. Thankfully, none of the men even noticed.
"This is going to burn through our city budget," Jerlis warned.
But Drozel shot back, "And what is that for, if not this? Jerlis, we're finally making progress against them. They're being forced to change!"
"Because Ayla has given us enough information for us to take the upper hand," Rymar said with a slow, devious smile. "Having Tobias's help? That's filled in a lot of holes, but we can't get much from him in the limited time Ayla can pull him aside. If he's caught, he's all but dead. However..."
Drozel groaned. "Well-played, Rymar."
I was lost, not sure what game they were talking about, but Rymar kept going. "Drozel has been flipping a Mole informant to our side."
"I know about him," Jerlis admitted. "What's the boy's name?"
"Sylis Underhill," I said.
"He needs to be registered as an official refugee," Rymar said. "I saw him today, and the guy's already learning Vestrian."
"Meri's teaching him," Drozel said. "I can also say he has been helping. There's a lot of culture shock - "
"He's gay," Rymar broke in. "That's not allowed down there, so Sylis should be treated like we do their women. He's a victim, just like Meri and Ayla were."
"But he's not," Drozel said. "Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for what he went through, but he was ahunter, Rymar. We can't ignore that part, because the people here won't."
"And you think the people here didn't kill anyone?" I asked. "Oh, but that's different, right? It was kill or be killed? That's what Lessa says. Well, for Sylis, it was the same! He wasn't allowed to refuse to be a hunter - or to get married! He could put it off, and he did, but he couldn't get promoted without a wife." I looked over at Jerlis. "He explained all of this to me. See, we always thought the women were the ones abused, but that's not really true. I mean, we were, and we were always at the bottom of things, but the young men? They were abused by those older or higher-ranked. It just kept going and going like that, and only the elders are really happy there."
"I know," Jerlis said.
"You... know?" Rymar asked.
Jerlis chuckled once. "I lost my sister, Rymar. I hated the Moles because they killed her, and then Ayla told me she'd had a son. A boy who's the biggest man down there. One who is riskinghimself to help stop this. It has a way of changing someone's mind."
"And Sylis was Tobias's friend," I said. "Tobias was his only friend. He was stabbed in the belly because a man was aiming for Tobias and he had to save him!"
Jerlis just patted the air. "I'm giving him the status, Meri."
"Oh." A smile took over, but so did confusion. "But Drozel acted like that was a bad idea."
"I think turning him loose like we did with you is a bad idea," Jerlis said. "Drozel, treat that boy more like we did with Ayla. Someone stays with him at all times." He looked at me again. "To protect him." Then over to Rymar. "And I want all the intel you can get." His eyes went back to Drozel. "Everything, you hear me? We're heading into winter, and Zasen wants to take this battle into the forest?"
"Better in the winter than the spring," Drozel said in a way that made me think something was common knowledge. Sadly, it was something I didn't know.
"True, but fewer leaves makes fires easier to see. I want those stoves, Rymar. We'll need to start collecting other supplies as well. Coats, footwear for the tailed, extra blankets and bedding. Never mind something to get them off the ground. We'll need to arrange transport for food out to the camps, and we'll need a regular schedule of checking in."
"I can handle most of that," Drozel said.
Jerlis nodded. "One more thing?" He flicked a finger at me. "Someone take her to see Boris? I'm going to change her status to citizen."
"What?" I asked, looking at Drozel in the hopes of an explanation.
"He's making you a Dragon, Meri."
"But why?" I asked. "I mean, I want to be one, but I don't know what I did!"
"You," Jerlis said, dropping his elbows onto his desk and leaning over them, "healed the wounded, helped where and when you could, and you have not only learned our language, but you've also adapted to our culture well enough to speak up for yourself. From what I hear, that's not an easy thing for you ladies. Besides, you're one of us. To me, that means you might as well get citizenship. So, you need to think about what you want for your sign."
