Instead, Christof would awaken with me in the middle of the night and “take his time’ as he said. He


    was so sweet and gentle; it was like he was my boyfriend. We spent hours on the chaise cuddling,


    talking, and sometimes making love. What we did was always my choice and I loved Christof deeply for


    giving me that. My time with him at night was my favorite time.


    Lunch was my second favorite time of the day. Most afternoons Christof came to feed me. We had


    completely given up eating in the Lunchroom and instead walked in the forest. It had be so


    common the Keepers left my Kneeling pad in the courtyard and I waited for him just inside the wall.


    Just like at home, Christof didn’t treat me Like a ve, but like an equal he could talk to. When we were


    alone together, we were just friends. I fed myself from the bowl and usually chose what direction to


    walk in. He just apanied me as I explored different ces in the forest. Christof just seemed to


    need someone he could rx around.


    I gotfortable with Christof. He encouraged me to talk about home and listened curiously to all of it.


    Stories about my prior Life intrigued him. How humans lived together, males and females in the same


    ce, it amazed him.


    Christof never minded my questions and told me all about this world.


    One day he showed me how to hold a sword. I had to use a branch, I couldn’t even lift his sword off the


    ground. We yed ‘warrior’ with the branches frequently.


    “Who do you fight with?” I asked swinging my branch the way he had taught me to.


    “Lighten your grip,” he instructed before answering. “Too tight a hold and you lose maneuverability.”


    Once I had fixed my hands and released my death grip he answered my question.


    A N G E L A ‘s L I B R A R Y


    “Men from the other viges close by. Sometimes there are raids and mene to take things from the


    shopkeepers. It is our job to protect them,” he told me. “We patrol around the surrounding area to keep


    the raiders out.”


    “Sounds stressful,” Imented wrinkling my nose.


    “It’s fun!” Christofughed. “I love it when the other mene. We train hard to best them. The


    skirmishes are exciting. My brothers also look forward to them.” His face darkened and he looked


    different suddenly, “We enjoy fair battles we can win with skill and strength.


    ‘They’ are not all Like that.”


    I tried to ask about the Lastment, but Christof distracted me. It was an oddment and I wasn’t


    sure who ‘they’ were. He didn’t want to talk about it, though. Instead, Christof asked about my mother.


    He knew he could distract me by asking about her


    N?velDrama.Org owns this.


    I rarely spoke to him long about my mom. The subject made me too sad and I would cry. I could never


    resist talking about her, so despite the tears that came, I spoke freely.


    As I talked, I remembered the good and the bad times. That still confused Christof greatly. He had


    never understood family the way I described it.


    His family was his brothers and they got along perfectly. I told him how my family kicked me out of my


    bed and sometimes ate all the food. I exined the unkind remarks and the many beatings they had


    given me.


    The idea of having a family that hurt you or couldn’t be trusted baffled Christof.


    I talked a lot about my mother and her struggles with alcohol. He didn’t really understand that either,


    but he listened. Even with all her failings she was still my mother. The more I talked about mom, the


    more I missed her.


    Christof didn’t understand missing a mother, the mothers here dropped the sons off after they were


    very small. The men that raised them were called Child Keepers. He did say he knew what it was like


    to miss someone. He often spent so long consoling me we were Late back to thepound.


    We agreed about other things and that was kind of cool. When it was just us he was sympathetic to my


    argument that I wasn’t an it. If my sex didn’t matter they would have bought a male earthling.


    “I have female parts,” I said stubbornly making him Laugh. “Your inability to put a child in me doesn’t


    mean I’m not female.”


    He said he didn’t care if I said that around him, but it would make his brothers upset. I grumbled a Little,


    but agreed with him. It would have to be our Little secret.