Page 140 of Phoenix's Fire

"We have her," I promised.

"Ayla..." Zasen warned. "Don't trust him."

So I held up the paper. "She gave him this, Zasen! Never mind that Meri told me he'd helped her. Callah made a point of making sure Meri told me that!"

"What do you have?" he asked.

So I shoved the paper at him. "My mother drew that. I inherited it when I turned, and left it with Callah. She was going to put it somewhere no one else would find it. If he has it, the only way is if shegaveit to him."

His hands carefully unfolded the paper, and then Zasen's eyes went wide. Slowly, he looked up at me. "This is..."

"The entrance. Yes, I know."

"From when I was a boy!" he hissed.

"When my mother knew it," I agreed. "That's Lorsa, Zasen. That's why Callah had to hide it. I thought it was Heaven - and it kinda is."

"I didn't look at it," Tobias promised. "Callah also gave me the fletching from the arrow that destroyed Jamison's shoulder. He's a fungus farmer now, but she saved his life. She learned to heal, Ayla, and she said it's from the books."

"You know about the library?"

"I know there are books. Not where," he admitted. "Look, Callah doesn't trust me, but we've been walking together - "

"You can't!" I snapped. "Your mother was in quarantine!"

"I am so lost," Zasen muttered.

"I can," Tobias assured me. "Men are allowed to petition for an exception. That's why we get added to lists. I proved myself gathering because I'm big enough to carry more than everyone else. I used that to get permission, because it's the only way I can talk to a woman alone."

"Why do you care?" I demanded.

"Because I want out too!"

I rocked back at the intensity of his words. "What? Why? Why not just leave when you're up here?"

Tobias just thrust his good arm towards the body of his partner. "They pair us with someone we can't stand. If I try to run, he's supposed to shoot me. If he runs, I shoot him. We're rewarded for it, given more privileges, and allowed more items. If we prove ourselves enough, we're put in charge of a squad or a team. If we don't, we're killed and no longer a problem."

"But men are pampered!" I hissed. "You're given everything, and we're the ones who supply it!"

"If we live," he told me. "Ayla, there aren't enough women for all of us. There's not enough food, or clothing, or everything else. The only way the elders can continue to live like they want? Half the men must die. They keep the ones who prove they are loyal to the compound, and anyone who tries to change things?" He jerked his chin at the dead man.

"So tell us how to get in," Zasen demanded.

"There's a door - " Tobias tried.

"I know that!" Zasen hissed. "How do we make it open?"

Tobias just shook his head. "I don't know. They said that if we come back late to pound on it, and they will open it. There's a code, but they don't tell us that."

"Can you find out?" I asked.

"Ayla..." Zasen warned.

"What?"

Zasen sighed. "I wasn't going to let him go back."

"But Callah..."