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    I think they bathed me after they were finished. Since I passed out once Master Damien was done


    with me, I wasn''t sure. Considering how sticky I felt the next morning, they might not have, though.


    I woke before anyone else and wandered out toward the bathroom. It was one of those mornings


    where I would have drunk coffee back home. I felt like a zombie. I was sitting on the pot before I


    realized there wasn''t anyone to wipe me. As I reached for the rag on the counter, I was stopped.


    Master Christofid his hand over mine and looked pissed.


    "What are you doing?" he asked. He towered over me the way Master Damien did when he was


    angry.


    "I''m sorry, Christof... Master Christof. I forgot to get someone toe with me," I stuttered.


    He''d never been so harsh with me. As he picked up the rag and cleaned me, it finally hit me.


    "Your bond with your brothers is fixed isn''t it, Master Christof?"


    "We are bonded again, yes. It will take time to be as strong as it was, but it is fixed," he


    answered cleaning me.


    It was my own private horror. My friend was gone, lost into the chasm that was their collective mind.


    All that trouble to save him and I''d helped to send him away permanently. A single tear ran down my


    cheek as I stood up.


    "Why are you making tears, Ciara?" he asked curiously taking it off my face.


    "Sometimes humans make tears when we are happy about something. I''m really happy for you


    Master Christof," I lied.


    I don''t think he believed me, but he let it slide.


    I was so depressed. The one person here that didn''t insist I act like a mindless ve was now a


    mindless ve. I barely noticed when Master Damien let me choose between two different pieces of


    ornamentation to wear to the Keepers today. They''d never done that before, but I was too upset to


    give it much thought.


    The men were still in phenomenally fabulous states of mind. They didn''t seem to notice my mood,


    which was a good thing. It would have been impossible to exin.


    After all the exertionst night I was really thirsty. They had set me between Master Bane and


    Master Kein and I kept asking for a little more water during the morning meal. Master Kein must


    have gotten sick of me, he handed me a full cup and went back to the conversation.


    I just stared at him. Nobody else even looked at me. Tentatively I took a sip and looked up. They


    were still talking about a new sword someone had gotten. I drank the whole cup and handed it back


    to Master Kein, he filled it and asked if I wanted more.


    I shook my head ''no'' and heughed tousling my hair. It struck me to wonder if they could just stick


    to their own stupid rules. That would make my life so much easier.


    I was still down when we got to the Keeperspound. They weren''t though. Master Damien


    kissed my cheek and told me to have fun. He said we would go for a fitting in the next couple of


    days. I needed to describe to the tailors how the outfit I danced in was made. They were all acting


    so off, I couldn''t figure it out.


    The girls were sympathetic to my problem when I told them about it. They didn''t really understand


    though. Even Rose had forgotten what it was like to have a special rtionship with just one


    person. They tried to cheer me up, but it didn''t really work. I was in a funk.


    Master Christof came to feed me for lunch, in the lunch room, of course. I ate what he gave me and


    didn''tin. He talked with the other Warriors about the campaign and who was going for a


    coupling next. They gave each other pointers on how to best subdue the women. He didn''t seem at


    all upset to be lying out his ass.


    I missed him, the real him. I missed talking to him about how he was raised and what it was like to


    use a sword, all the stupid stuff we used to talk about at mid day. At some point during the meal I


    started to cry again. He brushed the tears away and looked at me questioningly.


    Recovering quickly I told him I was thinking of my family again. He said the same thing Master


    Damien had, I wasn''t permitted to think about them. They had not done a good job protecting me. In


    truth, I had to agree with him about that.


    After lunch I swam out my little hole. I surfaced and saw the Keepers were busy with the girls on the


    beach. I was d for the way they obsessed on us. It made it easier to disappear in the afternoons.


    They were always helping someone undress or walking them to the bathroom. It was stupid the way


    they acted like we were all little kids.


    I took a breath a dived deep. There were all these little yellow fish that hung out at the edge of the


    rock wall by the inlet. I chased them sometimes. I saw a cluster of them now. Swimming toward


    them, they scattered and then all went left. Weirdly enough, they all kept going and didn''t go back to


    the wall, neither did I.


    I was caught in the current. I''d forgotten it was higher up now. The undertow sucked me along at a


    rapid pace. Back at home, I''d been taught never to fight an undertow, but I''d never been in one thisContent rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.


    strong or fast. I remembered an old lifeguard telling me to rx and use my hands to guide me to


    the surface.


    My lungs were burning for air and I couldn''t tell which way was up. I let out a little bubble and


    watched it as I flew past it. I tilted my hands so they took me that direction. Slowly the light started


    to get brighter. I was going the right direction. Just a few more seconds, I told myself. Just hang


    onto your air just few more seconds.


    Gasping for breath I broke the water''s surface and continued to be dragged along. I couldn''t get out


    of the current and I watched the shore and the rocky inlet getting smaller and smaller. I screamed


    for the Keepers, but I was already so far out. Much to my dismay, I was being dragged out to sea.


    It took forever to get out of the current. Finally, I was dumped unceremoniously on what was


    essentially arge sand bar in the middle of the ocean. I looked around and realized I was in the


    middle of nowhere.


    I couldn''t seend in any direction. If I could tell which way home was I could swim toward it. The


    current had twisted me around for so long I wasn''t even sure of that anymore. Not that I could fight


    the current to get back there anyway.


    My eyes started to tear up, I was going to die here. No one would ever find me. I fought for control


    of myself and it was a losing battle.


    As the sun set, the water started to rise. I had no idea how big the change in tide would be. By the


    time that awesome ringed moon rose into the sky the tide had risen significantly. There wasn''t sand


    underneath my feet anymore, just deep dark water. I drifted aimlessly in the ocean trying not to


    panic.


    I was thirsty, so thirsty. Televisions shows back home had taught me you can''t drink salt water. This


    water tasted like the ocean on earth. I doubted drinking it would help me feel better. I''d seen some


    shows where drinking the ocean killed you faster.