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The written words accompanying the drawing was too technical for me to fully understand. It resembled a scientific journal article written for specialists. I read what I could to Rose of the introduction. The information was very detailed.
“Read the whole thing,” she requested politely. “Our story might be made better if we had more information.”
I smiled and nodded. The light in Rose’s eyes was like nothing I had seen from her before. A teacher, starved of all education, finally able to learn again. She looked radiant.
As I stumbled through the complicated passages, it struck me again. Rose’s talents were wasted here. Slavery was a waste of her mind. Hannah was right. The way this world ran was stupid, stupid, stupid…
After we read the article, we wrote a simple story about how to disable and cook a Scar. Fuji looked at the pictures and determined she could draw it. The article described how to kill it and she depicted her men doing just that.
A sound got our attention and Rose and Fuji leapt up. I watched as a woman strode into the room with her female companion. My eyes misted as I recognized Hannah and Ra.
I flung myself at my daughter and hugged her tight. Hannah gripped me and pulled me against her massive frame. We cried and hugged for several moments. When I was done with Hannah I gave Ra the same affection. From our first short meeting I realized it was expected.
“That is a strange way to greet,” Fuji finally said from behind me. “My men did not instruct me to greet Mistress Nu-reeh this way. They told me not to touch her at all, in fact.”
I laughed and turned to face my friends.
“This,” I said with flourish, “is Hannah and her Sister, Ra. I would most certainly not greet Mistress Nu-reeh in such a fashion.”
Rose looked stunned and Fuji just cocked her head at the new arrivals. They encouraged me to talk to Hannah and went back to what they had been doing. I got the feeling my daughter frightened Rose terribly.
I sat with Hannah and her Sister for a while and talked. Rose obviously was afraid, so we moved on the far side of the pool. The girls told me where they had been and where they were going. Hannah congratulated me on my pregnancy and Ra offered a blessing. They were happy it was a girl again.
“We will help her when she needs us,” Hannah said smiling. “She may choose not to join us, but we will be here for her.”
I was pleased Hannah would help her family out and told her so. Ra said they would stay and help me with the pregnancy now, but they could not. The girls were in the middle of a thing they told me, so they couldn’t stay long. I didn’t ask what the thing was, but I wished it didn’t have to take them away.
“Nu-reeh’s a little… agitated,” Hannah finally said. “She’ll get an attitude if we stay right now.”
I caught the look and the sly smile the girls had. They knew something. I wanted to ask, but was stopped.
“I made you a devotional, Mama,” Hannah said suddenly handing me a slip of what felt like folded paper. “Just like on Earth you can read it and then burn it. I’m sure God will listen if you say the prayer like you did on Earth.”
That was bizarre and made no sense, but I took the paper.
“Read it now, do the devotion while we are here, Mama. I think we will be blessed to see you burn it,” Ra instructed politely.
I smiled lightly and looked between them. They must have confused something Ra remembered from Earth with something Hannah remembered. It was sweet they had thought about this strange religious thing. I would do whatever made them happy, even if it wasn’t my culture they recalled.
Opening the letter the first words in English said: Do not read out loud.
There is a resistance and we are part of it.
Daddy and his Brothers must learn to think for themselves.
The control the women like Nu-reeh have over the men can be broken. Daddy and his Brothers must concentrate and they can be free of Nu-reeh’s control. You have seen how she does it. They will notice it if they pay attention. They can ignore the suggestions, but don’t let her see them do it.
Men are being saved from the compounds and freed. We are helping. Ra and I are young, so we aren’t permitted to do much now, except reconnaissance. As non breeding, young ones we travel freely almost everywhere.
We work for a powerful female. She and her Sisters wish freedom for all beings on the planet.
Slavery is wrong, Mama, and we will help end it.
Love,
Hannah and Ra
I looked up at my daughter stunned. The men were in my head. They had been walking, but stopped as the words from the letter flowed through the bond. I wasn’t crazy.
“Say the devotional and burn it, Mama,” Hannah said pointedly.
Nu-reeh could not see this simple piece of paper. It would endanger Hannah’s very life I feared. I threw the message into the middle of the fire pit and didn’t breath until it was burned away.
“The devotional, Mama, don’t forget,” Hannah reminded pointedly.
This was a game to Hannah and Ra, one they were winning. I could not be the weakest link. In whispered English I recited the pledge of allegiance to the flag. It was the only thing I could think to say. I saw Hannah fighting not to laugh.
Hannah hugged me and so did Ra.
“Tell Daddy I love him,” Hannah said as she headed out the door. “We’ll be through here as we travel. I love you, Mama.”
I roused from my stunned state to call out my love for both girls, just before their wings disappeared.
I walked slowly back to Rose and Fuji on the other side of the pool, who both looked relieved.
“Are you sure,” Rose asked hesitantly, “that is your daughter?”
I laughed hard. I couldn’t help it. This day was so bizarre.
“Yes, that is my daughter and her Sister,” I assured them squeezing Rose’s hand.
Fuji spoke confidently. She told me Hannah resembled me in bone structure. Beneath the fur she could see her human features.This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.
It was nearly impossible to pay attention to Fuji’s commentary. The men were coming this way and they were shocked. The closer they got the louder their internal conversation was.
Ciara had not been wrong or delusional. Nu-reeh could control them. How dare she do that! This bond, this family, belonged to them not her.
My men marched into our area with fire in their eyes. I’d gotten used to the lines on their skin, usually it was just a subtle variation. Now it was easy to see they were darker and more pronounced. They were furious. I had never seen them this quite this angry before.
I stood and faced them feeling the aggression pouring into me. It concerned me on several levels. Before the desire to start striking something took over, I thought quickly.
Hannah must think we were being watched. If the men acted odd, Nu-reeh may not let her visit. Since we wanted to continue to get the information Hannah provided, we should calm down.
The men were masters of control. They’d trained their whole lives to use their emotions to strengthen and not weaken them. The shift was nearly instantaneous. We weren’t angry anymore, we were in charge of ourselves.