Page 157 of Phoenix's Fire

"I believe so, yes," said the man who taught children their sermon.

I glanced at Sylis nervously. They wanted to send boys out to fight against Dragons? Did these men even know what was out there on the surface? We weren't allowed to speak of it, so what had they been told? Or did they simply not care?

Sylis shook his head, clearly as confused as me. Neither of us said a word, but as I glanced around, I saw all the hunters bent together as if conferring with each other. The other men? Quite a few were sitting taller, as if they thought this might finally be their chance. How little they knew.

"What about the girls?" Mr. Saunders asked, pulling my eyes back to the front.

Mr. Myers looked down the table at him. "What about them, Reynold?"

"If we're graduating the boys earlier, then why not the girls as well? We need more children, gentlemen. More Righteous! That is the only way we will push back the Devil and his forces of evil. The children born now will not be ready for eighteen years, but the sooner we start..."

"We have widows as well," Mr. White pointed out. "Some of them are avoiding remarrying much longer than necessary."

My breath caught.

"So if we lower the age of graduation," Mr. Saunders said, unconcerned with the way my heart began to slam against my ribs, "then the boys will be able to serve as hunters or gatherers. We can increase the number of boys collecting vegetables as well. At the same time, if we allow only three months of mourning for these wives? Ninety days after they are widowed, they will become available again. We can allow a week for the interested men to seek their hand. At the end of that week, the same system that chooses for young women could be used to match our widows to their next husbands, correct?"

"There's no reason it wouldn't work," replied a man in the crowd. I was pretty sure he was in charge of ancestry. "We already have their list from when they turned. Adjust the options for the men who are now mature and remove any who have been lost? It wouldn't be hard."

"Whoa," Sylis breathed beside me.

But I couldn't pull my eyes away. My heart was now hammering so hard I could feel it in the back of my head. This entire conversation? The elders were rewriting the rules of our society - and they were doing it so easily! Mourning for widows had just been restricted to a mere three months? Never mind pushing the age of maturity down two whole years!

And Callah was nineteen.

We should have two months left to figure out how to get her out. We were supposed to have time, but this? Somehow, I had to get her out of here before she was forced to marry! I was supposed to save her, to prove I deserved to have her speak up for me, because otherwise, Ayla and the Wyvern would never allow me to live.

I'd be dead here. I'd be dead there. Somehow, there had to be a way to make this work, but I couldn't figure it out. The best I could do was try to breathe slowly and keep my face stoic. I was just big and dumb. I was too simple to care about this. If anything, it merely meant I'd get to wed my girl sooner. I wouldn't have to wait. This should be a good thing for me.

It wasn't.

But a man in the crowd thrust his hand up, breaking my spiraling thoughts. "What about the pregnant widows?"

"That's a good point," Mr. Carter said. "It would be unfair to saddle a man with another's child."

Mr. Saunders made an almost dismissive gesture and said, "Six months after the birth of the child, she will be available again. That's about how long it takes a woman to wean an infant, yes? And for those who lose the pregnancy? I think a month after the loss will be fine. Ninety days after her husband's death is enough time for a woman to know if she's with child. If she's not, she'll remarry. If she is, she'll carry and wean the child, unless she loses it."

"And for the ones who refuse to accept a proposal?" Mr. White asked.

"The council will decide for them, just like with the girls," Mr. Morgan decided. "Women are too flighty to understand the need for good, solid marriages - and the children produced from them."

"Our compound needs to replenish the ones we have lost!" Mr. Saunders insisted, pounding his hand just as hard as he had the gavel. "The Devil is winning this battle. God has called upon us to make sacrifices. We, the Righteous, must prove ourselves. We are expected to repopulate the Earth, so our wives should not be without a child in their bellies! Our nurseries should not be empty! For every man the Devil cuts down, we should producetwomore!"

Around the room, dozens of men cheered in agreement. I tried, but my guts were twisting in horror at what they were saying. Beside me, Sylis simply sat stunned, staring at the elders as if he couldn't understand what they were saying, so I nudged him in the side.

A confused expression quickly claimed his face. It was meant to be a smile, but looked more like disgust. Still, he lifted his hands and clapped. He also very pointedly avoided looking at me.

"So, men," Mr. Saunders said as he pushed to his feet, "prepare your homes for this change. The council will discuss the mechanics of how to make this possible. For those who are not currently married, we will give you time to look over the young ladies who will be available soon."

"If you're currently courting someone, make sure there isn't a girl you'd prefer more," Mr. Myers joked.

Sylis grunted, but it was soft enough and ambiguous enough that it could've meant anything.

"Once we have the details worked out, we will make an announcement," Mr. White said. "For some of you, this may mean moving children to the nursery or appropriate wings. For all of you, we will expect you to do your duty just as faithfully as the hunters who gave their lives for this compound. God demands thatwerepopulate this Earth. Each of you has a duty to uphold that. For those who have avoided marriage so far, be aware that we are watching you."

Mr. Saunders picked up the gavel and rapped it again. "This meeting is dismissed. Consider your future, gentlemen, for we all must do the same. The kingdom of God is great, but it will not come easily. We must allsacrifice."

"At least our sacrifice is enjoyable," the man in front of me said around a chuckle.