"That's too close to marriage," I told him, hating this idea.
"Exactly," he agreed. "Because if she's really ready, she'll know this isn't marriage. She'll ask questions, stutter, and probably blush. But if she's ready for a relationship with the three men she'slivingwith, then I want us to get her a token."
"A token means it's serious," Kanik pointed out. "That's a big step for her."
"And she doesn't know that," Zasen said. Then he scrubbed at his mouth with one hand. "And yeah. I think this is serious. I think all three of us are taking thisveryseriously, so why fuck around, right?" And they both looked at me.
I could feel their eyes. I knew what they expected me to say, but I couldn't. Instead, my breath rushed out and I decided to lay it all out there.
"The way I feel about that woman? I've only ever felt like this once before." I had to swallow to keep going. "I'm just scared that if this doesn't work, it's going to hurt too much."
"This," Zasen told me, "is how you fight for someone, Ry. You take the risk. It might hurt, but if it's still worth the risk, then you know it's the right thing."
I heard him. Not just audibly, but those words? They pierced straight through all my insecurities. The same ones I did my best to hide. The ones these two knew anyway, and never rubbed in my face. I had never been a fighter. That wasn't my style, but it didn't mean I couldn't. And Ayla, she was worth risking everything for.
So I nodded. "Get that woman the best token you can, Zasen. She deserves nothing less."
Nine
Zasen
Four days later, we'd all headed out to the forest to meet the Moles head on. Kanik and Rymar had been in charge of the first responders in town. Jeera had come with us to serve as the head medic, but Brielle and the baby had gone to the hospital.
And we'd waited.
Then we'd waited some more.
When night had set, we'd sent scouts out in both directions, waiting a little more, but there were no signs of them. Not even Holly could detect anything, and Demon, Xav's dog, seemed to think the trek was nothing more than a chance to play. So, at midnight, we'd called it good and headed home.
The weather had been fine, though. There was no reason for them to be delayed, but we still braced for the Moles to come the next day only to find nothing again. The day after, we'd sent out scouts - who'd also found nothing.
Ayla kept reminding me how I'd brought her brother back to them in the last fight. My goal had been to try diplomacy. She hoped they may have realized we were real people and might even be reconsidering the attacks on Lorsa. I wasn't as sure, but thathadbeen my goal.
And yet, the lack of an attack when we knew it should be coming? I didn't like it. I felt like I was missing something! Stopping them couldn't be that easy. They'd seen our town. They knew we wore clothes and lived in houses. They had to understand we weren't animals, so the use of English seemed like it was too little.
It had been why I'd tried, though. I'dhopedfor this outcome, but now that it was here, I didn't really know how to handle it. Thankfully, there was one way to distract myself. Rymar, Kanik and I had made an agreement. After the fight, if Ayla was still interested in dating, we'd do this right. Well, last night, Rymar had checked in with her, and she'd said she was doing her best to figure out which of us to ask first.
That was why I had an entire roll of money in my pocket as I headed to the market today: for gold. Kanik was adamant our token needed to be gold. Not beads or steel, but actual gold. Rymar had suggested another ring, but I'd vetoed that. Rings didn't do well in combat or when hunting. I was glad she no longer wore her mother's signet ring, so giving her another didn't make sense.
And when I'd told them my idea, they'd both agreed readily.
This was a big step. It deserved to be treated like one, because I knew Ayla would see it that way. In truth, I did too. A token was a symbol of commitment. Such things came in varying degrees, from wearing someone's shirt, through gifts of affection, and all the way up to actual wedding rings. But a token meant giving one's sign to another.
We'd have to explain the meaning to Ayla, and over the last few days, the three of us had discussed this at length, partially because it kept us from worrying about the attack that hadn't come. A token was something Dragons took for granted. We gave them, accepted them, rejected them, or returned them.Seeing one was common enough, and deciding on one was something everyone thought about at some point in their life.
But to Ayla, this was a gift for a relationship. I wasn't sure how much it would frighten her, but I had a feeling she would have a reaction. For me, this would prove whether she was ready to start something or not. For Kanik, this was a romantic dream come true. He'd saved the damsel in distress, she'd saved him when he was in the same situation, and hopefully they'd fall madly in love.
Rymar? He was hoping, but struggling to believe he could find someone who saw the real him. Ayla did. Not even he could deny it, and that man was very good at convincing himself of things before they had a chance to play out. And yet, the way he'd jumped right in to protect her from us? The way he'd seen right through our feeble excuses before we'd even realized we were attracted to her? I had a feeling it was because he'd been right there with us, enamored by the delicate little lady who refused to give up.
Then there was me. I had no clue what she saw in me, if I was honest. I still could tell she saw something. The way she'd touched me, tracing my scales those first few weeks proved it. Seeing her cower but refuse to back down had been my undoing. Ayla was this mix of fragile and unstoppable that shouldn't go together like that, and yet worked perfectly. I wanted to protect her. I also knew she was strong enough to stand beside me, not behind me - and I liked that a little too much.
Once, Rymar had tried to compare her to a wild animal, saying she'd been trapped in a cage. We'd let her go, and she'd made the decision to keep coming back. I thought he was wrong. She was like that dog of hers, raised to be tame, obedient, and easily controlled. We'd turned her into a weapon, showed her trust, and then had turned her loose.
And she'd saved us all in one way or another.
Thatwas why I'd chosen the style of token we were getting for her. It was symbolic in so many ways. And no, I wasn't going to tell her what image it put in my mind, because she probably wouldn't understand my meaning. She would, however, understand the signs we would stamp on it. Three of them only, waiting for her to add hers in acceptance.
Today, the market was bustling. The vendors had been closed for three days, and this was their first day open again. There was a feeling in the air like everyone wanted to make it home as fast as possible, and I couldn't blame them. The Moles had broken their schedule, but our lives couldn't stop while we hid away forever. Sadly, life didn't work like that.
