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Damien chose his words carefully. I got the feeling he didn’t want to fight with Basin, but the other family looked furious. He asked them what they wanted to know.
“Everything,” Basin seethed, “we want to know everything.”
Damien turned to Fuji’s owners and asked if they wanted to know or if they wanted to leave. After a mere moment of consideration, Fuji’s owners stayed. They seemed neither upset nor anxious about the events.
Rose was weeping and shivering beside her owner. Despite his anger he pulled her to sit in his lap and soothed her. He told her she was a good and loyal slave.
I chanced a glance up at Evan and did not see the same forgiveness in his eyes. My family was really upset with me. An involuntary shudder coursed down my spine when I thought about what they would do to me.
Damien spoke slowly and thoughtfully. He explained what he knew and what had happened to them, mostly. Things the men in the mountain had explained about the world were openly discussed. The experiences they had personally with Nu-reeh clarified some of the more confusing points. Damien tried to be as clear as he could.
Basin wanted more information. There were things Rose had said Damien had no way of knowing. Most of the things centered around what Hannah had shared with us. Damien was forced to explain Hannah and her relationship with the family.
Hannah had been a rich source of new information. Damien explained a great deal of what he knew about the world came through her. The strange box that had been delivered was pointed out and the letter discussed.
The other family didn’t believe, not entirely. Damien had held too much back for too long. Rose couldn’t lie to them. Basin demanded she read the letter and tell them what was in it.
Rose was forced to read the English in my letter from Hannah, which she did slowly. It had been a long time for her. The words she read matched what Damien had told them. The men were slaves, the women owned them, and my daughter believed it was a flawed system. She finished and handed the letter to Basin.
I watched with horror as he looked at the letter and then at the fire.
“Don’t,” Damien said with authority.
Basin handed him the paper and sat brooding for a moment. His family looked angry and upset. I saw the stress wearing at them. They didn’t try to mask it as they had been the rest of the evening.
“Your family,” Damien said, “has acted oddly for many days. We have seen others broken by this knowledge. We ourselves have experienced the total breaking of our bond. It is not easy to come back from, you mustn’t let it happen.”
Basin’s eyes met Damien’s and the question was in them. The other man asked Damien when the family had been broken. Damien was silent for a moment before he spoke. The break had happened in the mountains, it was very difficult, and they’d barely come back from it Damien repeated.
Damien looked at me and I met his gaze. Certain things I had not shared. Some things were too personal, other things I felt the girls would be jealous of. I’d held back very little, but the things I didn’t say were important to me.
Basin stood suddenly and carried Rose with him. His family followed him out our door without a goodbye. They were gone for a moment before the room moved again.
Fuji’s owners rose and stretched. The head of the family thanked Damien for an interesting evening. They didn’t really seem that bothered. Christof was curious how this didn’t upset them.
“Our slave told us as it happened,” Fuji’s owner said simply. “Slaves from Batra believe anything that may affect us is our right to know. It was an honor to inform us of the happenings. At first we did not believe the story and later it troubled us. You only confirm what we have long considered a possibility. We have had time to adjust.”
Of course Fuji had done that. Her first and only real loyalty was to the men that owned her. She told me good bye politely and smiled. Fuji seemed not in the least bothered by what was going on.
My family rose and I followed their lead. The men walked Fuji’s family to the door and bid them a good rest. The other men reciprocated the greeting and were gone.
I studied my feet as we stood in the anteroom. The men were quietly standing near me, but no one was talking. Christof’s voice broke the silence. He demanded to know the entire story.
It made more sense if told in order, so I started at the beginning. When Christof was broken from the Brothers I talked worriedly with my friends about how to help him. Later, when I was taken to see them at the cabin the first time, I shared my happiness with my friends. The pregnancy got all the women’s attention and then my strange life was no longer a secret.
Slaves were women, Damien’s family knew that, and women knew what pregnancy entailed. When I had started to ‘show’ every slave in the compound knew what had happened. There was no way to hide it.
The rest of the story came out in bits and pieces to the other women. They saw me leave heavy with a child and come back looking abused. I’d shared with the slaves that the women of Pateria had taken me. The slaves all knew I’d birthed a daughter. Other than that the details had been sketchy.
Rose and Fuji knew more than most anyone. I’d told the truth as I knew it. Almost nothing about the secrets of this world was held back from them.
Christof wanted a complete list of the things I had not said. He was talking so calmly and asking so politely, I was scared. The serene look on his face did nothing to ease me.
“You kept secrets from them,” Damien said stepping closer. “The other men did not know we had been broken. What else did you hide from your friends?”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
My bond with my family and how Hannah learned the world, for one. It was too personal. The men’s bond was sacred. Their lives were private. Admitting I had access for a little while had seemed crude to discuss.
Damien pushed for more and stepped closer. My desperation grew and I sought to tell them things I had not told the other girls. No one knew they had said I was family, it might make them jealous. Damien came closer and I backed into the door.
“No one knows you trained me to fight,” I panted and grimaced, “except the General. His Brother asked and they demanded I answer…”
The men were deep in thought. I jumped when Damien spoke again. He told me to go relieve myself of fluid. My instincts told me to be wary and I stood and stared at him a moment too long.
“You ate and drank with us,” Damien informed me. “Go relieve yourself of any excess fluid.”
Damien’s face was dark and he looked dangerous, but calm. The other Brothers mimicked his look with terrifying effect. They parted and gestured to the bathing room.
I ran in and didn’t know what to do. Finally I did what Damien had asked. It took a moment of concentration, but I relieved my bladder.
There weren’t enough words in two languages to put together enough apologies. I stood in the bathroom for a moment trying to think of the correct thing to say. Nothing came to me, so I gathered my courage and stepped out.
The men stood patiently in the sitting area talking. Damien raised an arm and pointed to the bedroom. Now, I was nervous. They only talked by themselves when something really bad happened.
I paced in the dark by the bed and didn’t know what to do. This was a big problem. I jumped when I heard them walking this way.
“How many more times,” Damien asked stepping into the room, “do you think we will have a repeat of tonight?”
My mouth opened and closed as I thought about how many slaves knew far too much.