Damien and his Brothers apologized for lying to me during Lunch. It had never been their intention to


    cause me pain; they only wanted to protect me.


    “The sadness the breeding caused you was too strong and we feared you would break again,” Christof


    said solemnly.


    “We wanted to protect you.”


    I shook my head and picked at my te absently.


    “The truth is important between us,” I told him. “You can’t tell me I’m free and still make all my decisions


    for me.”


    They didn’t understand and I knew the root of their confusion. In their hearts they didn’t believe I was


    strong enough to be free the way they were. My family still had my position caught somewhere


    between ve and free, but not entirely either.


    A N G E L A ‘s L I B R A R Y


    After Lunch they left me to go talk to Tyle and his Brothers. When they got back they told me the young


    men were upset their mentors had to leave for a time, but Damien had promised to return. He asked


    the young men to continue to do extra work and gain strength. We would return and expected them to


    be ready when we did.


    We’d trusted Tyle’s family with a lot of knowledge about the outside world. Nothing we ever said to


    them leaked out. They were Loyal and discrete. Damien told me that’s what made him decide to trust


    them with our greatest secret.


    In hushed tones outside the view of the cameras in the Children’s area Damien had told them some


    women could be trusted. The boys had been right and the world was not what it seemed. He’d told


    them if a young woman named “Hannah” or “Kennedy” wanted them to go somewhere, they should go.


    There was a life beyond these walls and it was better than what we had here. The boys had solemnly


    swore to keep the secret and heed the advice if they ever had need of it.


    There were boots the men preferred and other things they Liked to have. Those things were packed up


    to take with us to the mountains. We decided to risk taking Kennedy’s pad with us


    “No one can see this,” Christof told me seriously. “We will hide it in the sleeping area of our lodgings.


    Your friends cannot be told about this.”


    N?velDrama.Org (C) content.


    Damien made me swear I understood that the pad could be dangerous. He knew it could burn and


    made me swear to throw it in the fire if anyone got too close. No one could find this secret.


    “I understand now,” I told them. “Some things must be kept in the family. I would not endanger you all


    or my daughters.”


    It was the truth. I’d learned a Lot about how to keep a secret. There were just things I could not go


    bbing about. The family came before everything else. This secret protected Hannah, Kennedy, and


    all of us; there was no way I would not keep it.


    The men were satisfied and continued to pack while I sat and watched. I was upset about this


    unexpected pregnancy, but I knew my family had done this out of love. It was a misguided attempt to


    protect me from the pain of a forced conception. I mourned therger problem and wrestled internally


    with how to handle it. They still did not see me as an equal.


    Still, for all their faults, Damien and his Brothers cared deeply for me. I cared for them, too. I wished


    that one day we could love one another equally. It seemed that time was a long while off.


    We yed a card game in the evening and went to bed early. The next morning as we ate our morning


    meal there was a knocking at the door.


    I was surprised by a guest this early. Fredrick and his Brothers greeted Damien and strode in. It was


    evident the men did not know why Fredrick was here either. Damien and his Brothers were polite, but


    indicated they had ordered nothing recently.


    “It was a rush job, but Mistress Nu-reeh wanted this done,” Fredrick said pulling one of those brown


    covers from his bag, a Large bulky one. Gloves of the same material were handed to Christof as two


    long boots were pulled out.


    It looked like a brown leather coat that would go to my feet, but Fredrick Looked expectantly at Damien.


    Evidently it was something more.


    “Try to cut it,” he said proudly. Christof handed over a small knife and Damien slid it along the coat


    sleeve.


    “Harder, man!” Fredrick said taking the knife and stabbing repeatedly at the coat.