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After a kiss from each man they left me to go back to the sorting room. Kein had settled me at a kneeling chair and instructed me to learn well.
Rose came out of her apartment and so did Fuji once everyone was gone. They’d seen the interaction with Nu-reeh and it had scared them both.
“She is anxious,” Rose diagnosed correctly sitting beside me. “Her temper is short. You must do as she asks, although I fear even that will not save you from punishment.”
I agreed with Rose and tried to read quickly. My friend sat beside me knitting a blanket. Fuji wandered back into her suites to continue cleaning.
Fuji had said her men had made a mess of the bedroom the night prior. She had fought them like they liked and they’d torn the room apart. Rose and I both laughed at how much Stayne and his Brothers liked Fuji’s fake resistance.
Damien and his Brothers were loud in my head. Once they had time to process what Nu-reeh had said they understood better. The men that the bandits took belonged to Nu-reeh. Their disappearance upset her greatly. That may explain why she was treating us so oddly.
Evan talked casually to the men in the sorting room. He wandered family to family gathering information. They told him that Nu-reeh had been getting a shorter and shorter temper over the last several moons. The loss of the families under her care had angered her greatly. She was tasked with protecting men, their loss hurt the whole planet.
Breeding was difficult and women did not conceive easily. The women were desperate to conserve the population that was left. Losing men was inexcusable.
“Ciara,” Rose called in quiet, sing song voice, “you do not appear to be concentrating,” she commented.
I had not been. The conversation with the men was in my head and distracting me. It was very difficult to be in several different places at once. Looking at her I smiled and resolved to pay attention to what I was doing.
“Read to me,” she offered shyly, “I will help you focus.”
I did as Rose asked and she was accurate. While I was busy reading and speaking, I was less distracted by Damien and his Brothers.
Today’s reading was on the mountains we were currently in. For some odd reason the women had different names for things. While the men referred to this range as the blue mountains, the women called them the T’aran Mountains.
Soon I understood why the women had different names. The men’s term harkened back to the way the hills reflected blue in certain light. That could happen to many different ranges, though. The men only knew the one range, the women knew the whole planet.
Rose knitted and I read. Every so often she stopped me and quizzed me on the information. When I didn’t know the answers we went back and I found them.
Some of the information was complex and hard to understand. Other parts were difficult for me to remember. Rose made up mnemonics with me and helped me use the tool to get more out of the reading. She was a very good teacher.
We barely noticed as clattering talons announced Tosu’s appearance. Fuji, Rose and I stood silently to greet her. She took in the surroundings and walked toward us slowly.
“You have been reading out loud,” she said when she reached us. “Why is that?”
“I was not concentrating well, Mistress,” I told her honestly. “Reading to Rose forces me to concentrate and not be… distracted. She has been helping me learn.”
They must have been watching the monitors, I thought or they had the pad’s listening function turned on. Either way it was creepy to be observed like that.
Compared to Nu-reeh this woman seemed so calm. I just did not trust her to stay that way. The men were glad it was her, though. Although they’d seen her angry, it was much less frequent than they’d seen Nu-reeh that way.
“Tell me about what you learned,” she finally said settling before us.
I repeated what I remembered to her as calmly as I could. In my mind was Christof’s presence encouraging me. Allowing the stress of this situation to master me would be dishonorable to the family. I had learned well. My instructions were to maintain decorum and do as I was asked.
Tosu listened carefully and when I was done she coached me. I had missed things she wanted me to know and concentrated on things she found irrelevant. She was stern, but I believed more forgiving than Nu-reeh would have been.
As we finished a second large woman entered and Rose reached out gripping my hand. It wasn’t Nu-reeh or Dinah and I had no idea who it was. Tosu greeted the new woman and told her Rose had be assisting me. Apparently, my human friend helped me learn.
“Do not upset my men when you learn things,” she barked out focusing on Rose. “It is your job to make sure that one,” she pointed to me, “learns.”
“Yes, Mistress Canta,” Rose said in a trembling voice.
It made sense to me now. The tall sinewy woman must own Basin and his Brothers. She reminded me of Nu-reeh in a lot of ways.
“Swim your laps after the midday meal, humans,” Tosu said indicating the pool.
“Yes, Mistress,” we all answered.
The women left with the one named Canta complaining about what a ridiculous way to breed this was. She seemed like she was trying to convince Tosu that Nu-reeh’s numbers would go up without me. I was such a waste.
“Oh my,” Rose sighed putting a hand over her heart and keeping a death grip on my fingers, “that woman terrifies me. How do you stand it, Ciara? You stay so calm when you speak to them. I cannot even make a sentence.”
“I was here before,” I said evasively. “I suppose I am just used to them.”Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.
“Well,” Rose said gathering her wits, “at least we know what she wants you to focus on now. It should make the reading go quicker.”
The men came to pick us up for lunch and they were in an interesting mood. Evan was more bothered by the plug than he had been this morning. He was restless and agitated. Most of the lunch he spent pacing behind our table.
“It has to come out,” I whispered to Damien and he disagreed.
The men wouldn’t listen. Evan had acted badly and would pay for it. The decision was made, still I fought them on it.
“He’s not human and he’s not totally Paterian,” I reasoned looking over at Christof, “that may be really bad for him. We don’t know.”
Interesting argument, was the consensus, but the answer was no. Evan had to learn. I would not always listen and he couldn’t lose his temper like he had. The discomfort would not kill him.
“And you have done it for us,” Evan said standing behind me for a moment. “You never complained. I am not weaker than you are.”
We argued the difference between weakness and different physiology all the way back to our dwelling.
“Doesn’t matter what you want anyway,” Kein finally grinned. “Five against one and you are not strong enough to best us in a battle. We will do as we wish.”
My eyes narrowed and I looked at his triumphant face.
“How’d you like to be kept awake all night with questions, questions, questions?” I threatened. “It’s a choice to keep her amused,” I hissed out maliciously.
My cheeks were flushed and I felt ready to fight. It just wasn’t right to do this to Evan. I’d hated it when they did it to me at first. If they gave me my sword right now I’d have a go at them.