I was shoved into a small room with my back flush to the wall. My arms were held out to the sides and


    my legs were separated. My strange restraints consisted of a strong wind I couldn’t resist. It reminded


    me of the auction. A wall in front of me slid up and blocked my view of anything in front of me.


    The girl from before was still screaming at me. Just before the partition moved past my face I had seen


    her. She was held just like I was on the opposite wall.


    “ves are not permitted to fight,” one of the Keepers said as he walked out and I heard a door close.


    “You had no right to repeat what they told you!” she screamed at me. know,” I told her Laying my head


    against the wall.


    Did you think it would make you a better ve than the rest of us?


    Did you think you would get a reward?” she screamed.


    “You are right,” I answered her.


    “Then why did you tell on them?” she asked.


    Not like it was going to make any difference, but I told her the truth.


    “My owners put a calming cream on me, because I panicked about something. It made me feel crazy


    and I talked too much. I don’t even remember what I said to them,” I told her.


    Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    “I have Loyalty to my friends,” she told me. “Everyday they spend in the vige, you will spend in here.”


    We stood like that for hours. The girl asionally cussed me, but I didn’t say anything to her. My arms


    were sore and my feet hurt. I regretted having said anything, but in a way I felt I had gotten what I


    deserved. Standing here with this angry girl in this boring room was my punishment for talking.


    The partition dropped and Rose’s owner was standing in front of me. Heid a kneeling pad on the


    floor and released me. Once I could move enough I knelt down and he fed me without saying anything.


    Afterward, I was allowed to relieve myself and then reattached to the wall.


    Ang’s Library


    The day passed very slowly, but I imagined it passed slower for the girls in the vige. Mypanion


    reminded me of that frequently. She was right, the vige probably was worse. I certainly hadn’t


    enjoyed it.


    Rose’s owners came at got me at night. She didn’t say anything to me, but held my hand on the


    transport pad. The look on her face said everything for her.


    In the bathhouse that night we finally had a chance to talk. Her owners left us sitting in the water and


    were discussing strategy with some other men.


    “Don’tin to the Warriors,” she said. “Their solution to any problem with ves is to whip both the


    trouble makers until they stop the behavior.”


    I nodded and she kept talking, “Fuji and I have a n,” she told me just before her Warriors came back.


    During dinner one of Rose’s owners turned to me and asked, “How was your day ve?”


    I couldn’t lie, because they would know, so I answered honestly. “I stood in a room, Keeper.”


    “I asked you how the day was ve, not what you did,” he said pleasantly.


    “The air wasfortable, Keeper. I had food and drink. I have had worse days and I have had better


    days, sir,” I replied.


    I hoped he didn’t push me any farther. Comining would get me whipped, at least ording to Rose.


    I would be lying if I said the day was fine or good. Both answers would get me in trouble and I knew


    that.