Bane and Kein agreed with him. This did not count and it wasn’t the same thing.


    “I will not vomit,” Iughed taking a big swig of the fizzy drink they’d had prepared; it was oddly settling.


    I focused on my stomach and didn’t feel nauseated at all. They concentrated on me for a moment


    before they got back to eating. It would still be dishonorable to have me vomit my meal all over the


    floor.


    “Told you the root would work,” Kein said emptying his te a second time.


    After dinner we took a Long, meandering walk to our rooms. The men were looking all over very


    surreptitiously. It became a game to find thecamerasnestled in the walls.


    Kein was good and hard to beat. His sharp eyes could easily pick out the aberrations in the solid stone


    walls. It was Christof that determined the pattern, though.


    Thecameraswatched entrances and exits to the mountains. One pointed to watch women Leaving and


    one pointed to watch theming in. During the long stretches of closed in caves, there was no one


    watching. Once you moved deep into the mountain a single camera would asionally watch ces


    where men would congregate. Essentially thecameraswere on the women, though.


    Damien understood defense and he understood what thecameraswere for. The women didn’t really


    care what the men did, butings and goings were monitored. The threat here was other women.


    Evan imagined this mountain home had to be hard to defend. There were too many entrances and


    exits. If there were an attack you’d waste valuable fighters guarding superfluous openings in your


    defense.


    They should limit ess in order to Limit the number of defenders necessary to hold off an invasion.


    The way it stood now all your fighters would be busy watching openings that may or may not be


    attacked and none would be in reserve. The danger woulde at you from all sides. The attackers


    should be funneled to a few key ess points. The men were surprised the women had not thought


    this through.


    “It wasn’t designed, though,” I argued as we walked down a corridor heading for our own lodging.


    “The women mined here and then used it once the mining was done. This is a secondary use for this


    space.”


    Bane grunted his displeasure at such obvious ignorance of defensive strategy. If the women were just


    passing through, camping here would be fine. The women knew they would stay. They should have


    built a mountain stronghold and ignored the hunt for the ore in this area.


    Ccontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    “Wasteful,” I chided knowing how much had probably been pulled from these walls.


    Ang’s Library


    “Strategically foolish,” Bane argued as we entered the short hallway to our rooms.


    My mind was bombarded with what they knew about defending your territory. It was crash course in


    military tactics. Bane was right, from his perspective. The women had left themselves wide open to


    attack.


    Basin’s family and Stayne’s family were both lounging in the pool as we entered. They called a greeting


    to Damien and we responded. I was stripped of my outfit and we all got into therge, warm pool.


    “They told you your ve would clean your dwelling for you?” Basin asked pulling Rose onto hisp.


    Damien responded that’s what I‘d donest time. The admission did nothing to lessen the anger on


    Basin’s face.


    “And the swimming?” Basin asked sshing the water with an angry hand. No one had said anything


    to us about swimming.


    “The human ves are required to swim back and forth,” Basin indicated the longest Length of the


    pool, “thirty-seven times per day.”


    Damien was surprised and so was I, but Basin continued to talk.