She wanted to say a definitive 'yes', but she was conscious the man hadn't signed up to fight yet, and if that was a dealbreaker for him, she didn't want to be the one to break the bad news to him.
"Not necessarily," she said circumspectly.
"Really?" he sounded pleasantly surprised. "That's good to hear. I've always thought it's the more natural way of things. Men have higher sex drives than women, so it meets those needs which is good for the man and good for the women. It's also the perfect way to raise children. Many hands make light work."
She couldn't disagree more, based on how she had seen those arrangements play out at the palace, where it was positively dangerous for children in the harem and jealousy lead to all kinds of horrible acts, but she nodded noncommittally.
She definitely got one thing right though; her response secured Baer's commitment to the rebellion.
He decided then and there that he would fight tooth and nail for the chance to marry two of the Emperor's intended brides.
Loveday Becker and Araminta Becker with a tribe of tiny dark haired little girls and big red-headed Viking boys, sounded like the perfect life to him.
-------------------
Now that Delphi and Alton had sealed their blood oath, she leaned across the table and whispered to him.
"I have another secret I'm willing to share with you on two conditions," she raised two fingers.
"I'm listening."
"The first is you have to agree to keep it a secret on a blood oath."
"Hell girl! Why didn't you tell me this secret before we sealed our blood oath just now?"
"Well, sealing that blood oath is the reason I trust you enough to share this secret with you."
He sighed. "Okay, I agree then. What's the second condition?"
"I need to hear directly from you that you're not planning to double cross me, or to try and capture any of us and return to the Island."
"I can categorically state that at this point in time, that is not my plan, and I will not break your trust while we're in your headquarters. I can't vouch for what position all of my men will take, so that's the best I can do for now."
"That's good enough," she nodded with approval.
They each squeezed out another drop of blood from the nick to their ring fingers, and Alton swore a new blood oath to keep Delphi's secret.
She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him after her, heading from the rooftop down into the underground levels.
He was amused at how lightly she took holding his hand, as though it meant nothing. He on the other hand, was acutely aware that she had initiated taking his hand in hers, and that she continued to hold his hand.
She was such a bundle of contradictions this woman. On the one hand, she sacrificed her body to him for her cause, without a moment's hesitation; and she was remarkably free of inhibitions, clearly a product of her communal training and upbringing in the palace. On the other hand, her emotions were closed up tighter than a clam. He could see he was going to have a hell of a time gaining her trust and getting her to be open to caring for him.
He hoped he could break down her walls and that she wasn't too damaged by his Uncle to be able to have a genuine relationship with a man.
To be honest, he was still wavering on the fence about what to do next. He knew there was no way he could, or would, take Delphi back to his Uncle, that much he was clear about. He also knew that that meant he probably couldn't return to the Island, or he'd be executed on the spot. He was clear that that meant he was joining forces with Delphi and her ragtag crew. But the specifics of what that really meant, and how this would all play out, were totally opaque to him at this point.
He was torn about his men. Should he encourage them to join a rebellion at great risk to them and their families? It was one thing for him to make that decision for himself, but putting his men at risk plagued him. Could they even return safely without him? He had been thinking about these topics for days and the 'right' answer still eluded him.
They reached the tunnel and Delphi pushed open the door, ushering Alton through.
A large group of dragons stood poised and waiting on the other side.
"Get back," Alton shouted, jumping in front of Delphi.
He shoved her hard back through the door and closed it behind him, holding it shut and locking himself in with the dragons.
All hell broke loose.
Delphi was screaming faintly on the other side of the door and rattling the handle.
"Alton! Alton! Let me in! Open the door! It's not what you think it is. Let me in Alton!"
"Stay outside Delphi," he called. "You don't have a weapon on you anyway."
"Neither do you," she shouted faintly, banging on the door and rattling the handle with all of her strength.
Alton only had his dagger on him, and he knew that was hopeless against such a large group of tubiàn. He brandished it menacingly as the pack closed in on him.
"Miro, Miro!" came the faint shouts from Delphi. "Let me in! Let me in!"
What was the woman saying? he thought. 'Mirror, mirror, let me in?' Had she gone mad? Did she think she was Snow White?
The lead dragon spat a gob of poison at him, and he ducked. It thudded against the door.
At least six or seven of the creatures had him pinned against the door now. One of them reached its clawed hand towards him and he ducked and rolled.
"Miro, protect him!" Delphi screamed.
She really had lost it, he thought. Did she have a lucky mirror she believed in?
"Get out of there Delphi! Run!" he shouted.
One of the dragons let fly a gob of poison just as the lead dragon opened the door. Delphi stood in the open gap, and it hit her square on the bare arm.
"Delphi!" Alton shouted, his voice cracking.
He turned to run to her, but the lead dragon picked him up from behind by the seat of his pants, dangling him from its front leg, from where he uselessly tried to reach it with his short dagger.