“They would win,” Kein agreed watching me. “The other men in the mountains, I talked to them. There


    have been uprisings before, the men involved are killed if they cannot be broken. You have all seen the


    women, how they outnumber us.”


    Evan snorted and stared at me as he spoke, “It is weakness not to fight, whether we are outnumbered


    or not. We should fight them to our deaths, it is the only honorable way to end this.”


    I shuddered in fear and gripped his hand. “Evan, I have seen the women fight. Their weapons are


    terrible. Don’t choose to die Like that. There must be…”


    “There is only this and death, Ciara,” he said looking over at me.


    Ang’s Library


    “Those are the only choices.”


    I could not lose them, so I bargained.


    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    “Perhaps you are spending time doing reconnaissance work now. Perhaps you learn things so you can


    find a way to escape them,” I said almost pleading.


    Christof huffed loudly and stared at the ceiling. “We are learning they are more powerful than we will


    ever be,” he said solemnly. “They have weapons we cannot best.”


    “Ah, yes, the venom,” Bane said looking contemtive, “Remember when we saw the man as he


    angered his Mistress and she dropped a bit of her venom on him?”


    “The man that died screaming before the moon shifted?” Evan asked. “I remember. We had to hear the


    misery of his family as they died one by one. It was awful.” hey have venom?” I whispered.


    “In their teeth,” Damien exined. “Nu-reeh told us they do not waste it on men, it kills us every time.


    They use it when they fight one another.”


    “Why?” Christof asked, “Why raise us free and then take us and tell us we are ves? It makes no


    sense.”


    “You know why, Christof,” Damien scoffed. “They like us to have spirit.


    Have you seen the women when theye back from the couplings with the free Warriors? They love


    it. Theye to us now for specific reasons, but do you see the same joy on their faces when they are


    done?”


    The men murmured agreement. The women Liked to go to the couplings with the free men. It was a


    pleasurable experience. The men they kept in the mountains didn’t bring out the same fire in them.


    “I wonder why they don’t send you back to thepound?” I asked out loud.


    “Nu-reeh promised us a certain number of times as payment to a group of women,” Damien said and


    continued to exin. “She owns us. Our owner mines the mountains and she wanted to mine a certain


    tract. We are valuable to her when we are avable for sale every day.”


    It made sense when they exined it. They were being trained so Damien would be a General,


    eventually. For now they split their time between learning and satisfying their owner’s debt.


    “Do you have free time to enjoy yourselves?” I asked.


    I knew how much they loved chuke. If they couldn’t y that confusing game, I’m sure it would upset


    them.


    “The evenings are ours,” Bane told me. “Sometimes we go to the arena.


    Other times we stay in our rooms or walk in the mines.”


    They talked about their quarters. It was much Like thepound, but the rooms were cut into the old


    mines. There was almost limitless space, so much of it wasn’t used. Damien and his Brothers spent


    hours wandering the forgotten shafts.