first light.”
“Thank you. And about the planes?”
She looked at Drav.
“We will help,” he said. “But when the planes are above, they must look for signs of Molev, too.”
Molev, the leader of the fey, had been missing for several weeks. Everyone in Tolerance was concerned about his fate. He’d been amazing when Mom, Zach, and I had first arrived, spending time with Mom and assuring us we were welcome and safe. If he were here, he would have been the first one I would have invited for dinner with Mom.
“Agreed,” Matt said easily. “Perhaps this is a perfect opportunity to continue building better relations between some of the survivors and fey.”
“How do you mean?” Mya asked.
“The fey have far better eyesight than we do. We should pair a pilot with a fey each trip.”
Mya nodded slowly, looking at Drav.
“Many will want to see the world from above,” he said. “You will have no shortage of volunteers.”
“Good. It’s settled.” Matt stood and offered his hand to Drav. “We’ll welcome the help from any human who volunteers and will start looking for Molev and survivors tomorrow.”
After he left, Mya turned to me.
“Sorry for making you wait,” she said.
“I don’t mind.” I glanced around the room at Drav, Ghua, and Eden.
“Did you want to talk alone?” Mya asked.
“No. It’s okay. Nothing I have to say is a secret. Mom’s lonely and interested in some company, so she asked me to invite someone over for conversation and dinner. When I started asking, the fey got weird. I just found out that they all think Thallirin is interested in me and that I was asking them to dinner for myself, which freaked them out because they all thought they were stealing Thallirin’s woman. When I tried to explain that Thallirin has no claim on me, they agreed…but only because I’m not eighteen yet.”
Mya frowned slightly.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to blame the pregnancy on this one, but I’m not following. What’s the problem?”
I focused on three slow breaths before answering.
“No fey should be allowed to call dibs on any female. Ever. Unless we truly don’t have a choice.”
“Ah. I see. I don’t think Thallirin has called dibs.” She looked at Drav.
“Dibs means to choose,” he said. “Are you saying no fey should be able to choose? Only the females can choose?”
“No, I mean it needs to be mutual,” I said. “Just because Thallirin likes me, doesn’t mean I need to like him back. And it doesn’t mean that everyone else needs to stay away from me.”
“They must until you’re eighteen.”
I looked at Mya.
“That’s why I’m here.”
“I understand.” She looked at the others. “Would you mind giving us a few minutes to talk alone?”
Drav grunted and Ghua stood.
“I’d like to stay if it’s okay with you,” Eden said.
I shrugged. She’d been my second pick for help, so why not?
Once the men cleared out, Mya sat up a little straighter.
“They mean well,” she said. “Their way of thinking is often so different from ours it drives me insane.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that she really did understand. She plucked at her blanket a moment, and I could tell she was struggling with something. I hated when people didn’t just say what they wanted to say.
“When my mom first found out she’d be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, it was hard,” I said. “On all of us. It almost tore our family apart because each of us was so worried about sparing everyone else the anguish we were feeling that we kept it all inside. We have a rule now. If you’re feeling something…thinking something…whatever, you just say it. Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t pull punches. Just say it. Because most of the problems in our lives stem from misunderstanding and miscommunication.”
Mya smiled slightly.
“I appreciate that more than you know,” she said.
“Good. I’m here asking you to make it clear to the fey that I’m not interested in anyone. And my lack of interest has nothing to do with my age. Pairing up with someone, if it ever happens, will be on my terms, not someone else’s.”
“I agree,” Eden said. “Not everyone wants to be matched up, Mya.”
“I get that. It’s just hard after seeing where the fey are from and knowing they had nothing before this. A stone slab for a bed, a gourd to carry water, and endless darkness. Seeing their delight in learning there’s more to life than they ever knew…it’s hard to take that hope away. And, that’s what I’d