Page 120 of Phoenix's Fire

"No," I lied.

"Doyouknow who that is?" he tried next. "Callah used to share a room with her, Tobias! The other woman who was banished? She did too, and you're courting the last one?"

"Callah's pretty," I said, because that had worked for me this far.

But Sylis narrowed his eyes and looked me over again. "They say she stabbed her husband rather than marry him." Then he made a little noise. "What was her name?"

"Ayla," I said. "She was a healer and used to make me hold for her."

"Ayla," the guy repeated to himself. "Do you think she remembers God's language?"

"I wonder if it's why we failed last time," I admitted. "Do you think she can speak to the Dragons?"

"I do," he said. "Well, I mean, they say Dragons are beasts, but I think she communicates with them somehow." He pressed his lips together hard, and turned his eyes to the ground. "I just wonder if maybe she could be reasoned with."

"Probably not. We threw her out and chained her for the beasts."

"And they took her in," he hissed. "But maybe she'd..." He didn't finish the thought.

"We're not supposed to forgive the enemy," I reminded him.

"I'm not worried about forgiving," he snapped, struggling to keep his voice down so the men around us couldn't hear. "Don't you get it? I'm worried about her killing me. Or the Wyvern, but at least with her, I could beg to be let go."

"Do not ever say that again," I warned.

"But we have to do something," he insisted.

I reached over and grabbed his arm, giving the young man a little shake. "Listen to me, boy. We are the Righteous. She is the enemy now. We are fighting for God, and she is a minion of the Devil. If your partner hears you say such things, it won't be an arrow that will kill you."

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking out loud," he assured me.

I nodded once, making it clear I'd heard him. "So you keep those thoughts to yourself, okay?"

"Yes, sir," he hurried to say.

"But if you happen to blurt something out in the frenzy of the moment, you were just scared. You were hoping God would hear you. Never know, He might still have a little hold on her and offer a miracle, right?"

Against my hand, Sylis's body relaxed and the fear began to ease on his face. "Right. And if you do the same, well, a good man prays in the face of death, right?"

"Exactly," I said. "This is God testing us, so a good man will turn to Him. That's all. If a woman hears, that's not something we should worry about."

He nodded, so I let him go. Sylis reached up to rub at his arm, proving I'd grabbed him a little harder than I'd meant to, but he didn't move away. He also didn't speak for a little too long. I figured I'd scared him enough to keep him from making another mistake.

But after much too long, he leaned towards me and whispered, "They say you're dumb, you know."

"I'm not that smart," I agreed.

"Yeah..." He laughed once. "A smart man would've reported me. Sorry. I'm just scared. It was stupid."

"It was."

But he flashed a little smirk at me. "Stupid like you?"

"Yep."

He nodded and kept walking, but for the rest of the night, Sylis didn't leave my side. I'd probably said too much, but I was pretty sure none of it could be usedagainst me. Hopefully, some of it might help this boy, because otherwise, he wouldn't live long enough to cause problems.

Thirty-Seven