Page 214 of Phoenix's Fire

"No." Ms. Lawton hummed as if choosing her words carefully. "Men may make it known they're interested in a girl. If that's the case, it could cause problems if another man courted her. If the man who's staked his claim is of high enough rank..." She lifted a brow and looked at all of us.

But Rebekka huffed. "And that's a man's choice!"

"And a woman should be aware of it," Ms. Lawton said gently. "It's of little use to choose carefully when the men have already made someone's choice, is it not?"

"But..." Rebekka huffed. "This is all just gossip, and you're encouraging it, Ms. Lawton! Mr. Cassidy made it clear that if we don't want to be like Ayla Ross, then we should be virtuous. We should hold our tongues and use our hands for the labor of our husbands. We will be rewarded for our piety!"

"You forget that men are only human," Ms. Lawton told her. "Like women, they also have flaws they must atone for. Sadly, that means his wife will often have to suffer with his decisions, even if she feels it is the wrong one."

"And a husband is our lord!" Rebekka snapped. "We should not be trying to manipulate men into obeying us. It's our place to obey them! That's how we get noticed. It's how we get a good husband!"

"Hey!" I snapped, angered by her tone - and stupidity.

She slashed her arm through the air. "No! I will not be silent. I did choose the man I wanted, but what good did that do me? You just wait, Callah. When the elders hear about this, and about how Ms. Lawton is corrupting us?" She whipped her attention back to our matron. "You'll be lucky if they don't throw you out like they did those girls!"

"Try it," I said, smacking my hand down on the metal basin. "Go ahead, Rebekka. You tell the elders about this. But will it be Mr. Saunders, Mr. White, Mr. Myers, Mr. Becker, Mr. Morgan, or Mr. Carter? Maybe you want to talk to Mr. Ross or Mr. Danburn? I'm not sure they'd understand much at their advanced age. Unless you're not brave enough to talk to the actual elders - on the council or retired - and simply tell Mr. Cassidy? And what exactly will you tell them?" I asked.

"That you're all gossips and Ms. Lawton is leading it. Thatshe'swhy Ayla and Meri went bad!"

"Ah," I said, lifting my hand before Ms. Lawton could respond. "So, you're basically going to get everyone else in trouble. But you didn't think that through, did you? Because when they ask the rest of us, and we all say how this was a lesson on the facilities available for wives? How Ms. Lawton was explaining to us that we wouldn't necessarily get the man we set our eyes on because he has a choice as well? How we'll tell them that we discussed the things a young girl needs to know to increase her chances of a good husband - and how I announced I'd accepted Tobias's proposal and you completely lost your mind?"

"She wanted to marry him, you know," someone called out, letting everyone know why Rebekka was acting this way.

I nodded. "Oh, I do know that. And I know you're scared and desperate right now, Rebekka. We all are, but what you haven't yet realized is that we're strongerwhen we work together. When we protect each other, lift each other up, and do whatever is necessary to keepallof us safe!"

"Not," Ms. Lawton finally said, "when we tear each other down for men. I assure you ladies that the men will do that well enough on their own. We are the weaker sex."

"And to hurt your friends like that for men who wouldn't reward you anyway?" I added. "For men who might not even propose, even if you have Ms. Lawton banished to the surface or have all of us thrown into quarantine? For men, Rebekka, who would gladly put you there as well, saying they wouldn't want you as a wife because you've done nothing but prove you'll spread their mistakes and secrets. That you will destroy everyone else in order to lift yourself up."

"No, that's..." she tried.

"But here's what you're forgetting," I said, speaking over her. "If you have to pull everyone else down to do it, then you're not really rising, are you? You're just making everyone else as miserable as you are, which means they won't help you later when you need it." And I turned to glare around the room. "Don't you all see? We can't survive marriage on our own! We need each other, and that means we need to protect each other, help each other, and take risks for each other."

"But lying?" Emalee asked. "It's a sin!"

I nodded. "Yes, even lying if we have to. Because what is the bigger sin? Putting ourselves over our fellow Righteous, or manipulating fear and distress to lift ourselves up?"

"That's not what I'm doing!" Rebekka said.

"No," I assured her. "You're just following the rules. But they changed the rules on a whim.Theycan do that. Us? All women have the power to do is care for each other. So that's what we'll do. It doesn't matter if it's sharing which men are kind, which ones are violent, and which ones are cruel. That, ladies, is not gossip if it's a fact. They cannot silence us. Oh, they're trying, and they hope we'll become isolated and terrified once we're wed. They think they can break us, but this?" I stabbed my finger, pointing down at the basin before me. "This is a woman's space. This is our haven. That means that in here, we have our own rule - just one! Protect each other."

"Well said," Ms. Lawton mumbled softly. "And I think you girls just learned the most important lesson of womanhood: trust each other, because we are the only people we can rely on."

Sixty-Seven

Callah

That evening, Tobias came to my room, asking if I'd walk with him, but when I stepped into the hall, my stomach growled loudly. It was doing that more often, and the water I'd been drinking was no longer silencing it. He ducked his head to hide his smile, proving he'd heard it.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to share a snack with me?" he asked.

"Very much," I admitted, reaching up for his arm. "If you'd like, I can tell you about our lesson today. It seems Ms. Lawton is preparing us all to wed soon."

He grunted at that. "I see."

"And I've learned you have options, Mr. Warren."

That made his steps falter. "I do?"