Breakfast was a quick affair. I had my fizzy drink again, apparently it was going to be given twice a day. After the meal I was deposited with Rose and Fuji back in our section of cave.


    “We clean in the morning,” Rose told me softly before she scurried behind the leather drape of her owners rooms.


    I found the supplies and had the apartment in order in no time. The men had not really used it enough for anything to be that messy, so it was a quick job. I decided to wait for Rose and Fuji out front, so I took the pad and continued to read at a table in the morning sunshine.


    The readings about the other mountains was fascinating, so much so that I missed the arrival of Nu-reeh. She was standing beside me when I noticed her presence and bounced up.


    “What are you reading?” she asked brusquely.


    Suddenly I realized I’d never requested permission to use this pad like I had been. Like a fool I had just assumed because it worked that way, I was allowed. If she didn’t like it, I wondered what my punishment would be.


    “Mountains, Mistress, the T’vailk Mountains,” I said politely.


    “Too wet,” shemented looking up at the skylight. “The windes off the water and leaves thend drenched day and night. The twisting air currents also make for horrendous storms. There are entire seasons women dare not fly near there and walk wherever we go.”


    Evidently we were to have a conversation. If it made her happy, I would dly do that.


    “That sounds unpleasant, Mistress.”


    She continued to speak as she examined the outer room. “The women that mine there coat themselves in an oil. It keeps the water from soaking into their fur. The women from that area originally had no fur. They all just had thick striped hides and did not mind the water. I cannot tolerate the weatherbined with the oil; I find it oppressive,” she said turning back to me. “I only travelled there briefly. The men cannot be kept there due to the storms and that is what I wanted from life.”


    Dipping her talons in the pool of warm water she came to rest in front of me again.


    “You do an excellent job of caring for your men, Mistress,” I told her.Content provided by N?velDrama.Org.


    She grunted. “Do I?” she asked rhetorically. “How do I exin their disappearance to their female breeders, then? I have merely lost their sons in a ce that nothing can escape from. An excellent job, indeed,” she growled looking away from me.


    I stood silent and watched the y of emotions across her terrifying face. The men were in my mind. Christof’s quiet voice told me the predominant emotion that yed across Nu-reeh’s face was worry.


    “They can’t have gone far-” I started to say and stopped as her eyes zed into mine.


    She bent forward until her face was in mine. The hint of glitter on her fangs told me the venom was close to seeping out. Inadvertently, I had enraged her.


    “Do you imply I cannot find them in my ownnd?” she asked. “They are not there!” she roared. “They are not in the barren stretch. They are not in the mountains. Are they lost and lying broken in the field we built to contain them? No one knows. I allow too much freedom and they have wandered too far. I will not fail again!”


    I shook like a leaf standing before her. Nu-reeh was more powerful than anything I’d evere across. My eyes were locked on her form and my mouth was dry. This was how I always thought a ve on this would die.


    Damien’s voice broke the silence and Nu-reeh turned to him.


    “Mistress, how may we serve you?” he asked humbly striding toward us with purpose.


    The rest of the family followed taking on the shape of a regimented unit.


    “You may go back to the sorting room and take care of my ore,” she stated drolly.


    The men didn’t slow down until they had pushed me behind Bane and stood staring at Nu-reeh.


    “ves are difficult to speak to, Mistress. We did not wish to subject you to one such as this,” Damien said politely. “We will return to our duty immediately, but first: How can the female ve serve you?”


    Nu-reeh’s face was stoic for a moment appraising the grouping of men in front of her. They hadyered themselves, so I rested behind all of them. She took it all in, obviously understanding the defensive posture.


    Nu-reeh ran a casual w across Damien’s cheek. It was a contained threat and one she wielded well. We all knew what she could do with her ws.


    “This is all I needed,” she murmured, “to win your devotion?”


    The question hung in the air and we couldn’t decide what the appropriate answer was. Nu-reeh shook herself from her reverie and answered Damien’s question instead.


    “The ve will read from a list of topics I provide,” she said bing more businesslike. “My Sisters and I will test the ve’s knowledge of the subjects. If we find itcking, your family will suffer.”


    “Yes, Mistress.”


    “The topics are listed on the pad. The ve only needs to enter the word ‘list’. It will know what she needs. Study them well,” she ordered.


    Nu-reeh’s wings spread and she took off, bounding straight up. I watched in amazement as she soared through the skylight above. For being asrge as she was, the woman was unnervingly fast.


    The curses were in my head. Most were about Nu-reeh, some were directed at me. The men wondered what possessed me to speak to Nu-reeh.


    “Yes, Mistress,” Kein said harshly, “is all you need to say to her.”


    “Not even that,” Evan argued, “watch her and do what she wants. You are not to converse with her.”


    I was an idiot and lucky to be alive. No one talked to Nu-reeh. It was unheard of to have a conversation like I had been having with therge woman.


    Christof shushed his Brothers’ conversation and looked into my eyes.


    “Some women,” he said gently, “you can have a conversation with, just not Nu-reeh. With her it is better to just answer simply. She can be very intolerant. Tosu maye and speak to you. She will easily talk to you and enjoys those interactions. Nu-reeh is not like that.”


    I nodded and looked at him mutely. Nu-reeh had scared the hell out of me and I was still recovering.


    Damien stalked over and grabbed the pad from the table before thrusting it at me. “Find the list,” he ordered.


    My fingers trembled as I drew the symbol on the pad. An enormous list appeared before me. The pad instructed me it would teach me each subject until it was done.


    The first topic to pop us was a mountain range.