The tion I saw on those young faces was like being told they were going to Disney World. Tyle’s family had never been asked to be Kept by Warriors before. The boys were ecstatic.


    “We will train you some, if you would like,” Bane promised staring down at his son.


    “Yes, sir, we would enjoy that,” Tyle answered politely grinning ear to ear.


    It wasn’t until our shower that night I had a horrible thought.


    “Are we breeding at the cabin,” I asked panicked. “That would be very odd to do with five young boys watching. Please, tell me this isn’t a breeding time.”


    “Of course not,” Evan said cleaning my hair.


    “Nu-reeh has put off your breeding time,” Damien informed me. “She does not want… more family for us right now. Our Mistress will not schedule that until she has time. You do not need to worry, we know this talk upsets you.”


    He sounded a little irritated for some reason. I just shrugged and let them pamper me in the shower. They knew I was working hard and my baths were half massage at this point. It was hard to stay stressed during this time.


    My mind wandered during the bath, perhaps Nu-reeh was giving me something in my drink to prevent conception. It was the sweet tasting one, so I wasn’t sure. I had not gotten the shot, either. We should probably talk about it, because otherwise the inevitable would happen.N?velDrama.Org holds this content.


    I knew the men weren’t trying to get me pregnant, but they adored sex. We still had plenty of it. Damien considered the nightly distraction part of my therapy. Although I rolled my eyes at his logic frequently, I couldn’t dispute how good they made me feel.


    As Evan rinsed my hair my internal musing was interrupted when Bane got all our attention. The big man mmed his fist into the wall of the shower. The water shuddered with the force of his blow. Christof jerked me away and ced my damp body behind Damien.


    “Calm, big Brother,” Kein soothed inching closer to Bane, “you will know the boy. We will see to it. We will treat him as family now that we know.”


    “How much more family do we have?” Bane asked harshly. “How many others have been kept from us? We should have known them. I should have guided him…”


    Damien spoke low and forcefully. He reminded Bane he was the best trainer in the ranks of the Warriors. Bane had been taking care of that young man for most of his life. The lessons he taught him wouldst all his days.


    Bane was furious. I could see his Brothers working hard to calm him down. If they didn’t rx him, the rage would be infectious.


    “How have we never seen the mark?” he asked slumping his shoulders.


    The water was turned off as Damien touched one shoulder and Evan the other.


    “They kept us a distance from the young ones most of the time. We only trained them inrge groups of many families,” Kein said. “We were never encouraged to pay them much attention. None of us ever looked at another man’s mark. There was never a reason to.”


    I dried myself with a towel as the men spoke to Bane. Wrapping the fabric around my body I settled on a bench and watched them. Christof had obviously wanted me away, so I stayed away.


    Bane noticed me sitting on the other side of the room and walked to sit beside me. His Brothers hovered, but allowed us to be near one another. Bane sat and put his elbows on his knees. Cocking his head to the side he smiled sadly.


    “I understand now,” he said simply. “They disappear from you. You cannot protect them or know them. The sadness makes sense to me now.”


    My hand reached out to soothe down his wet back. It felt like a reconnection of sorts. Evan handed me a towel and I rubbed Bane’s back dry. His angry outburst had forced his Brothers to separate us. Prior experience told me that would upset him. Family gained strength when they were together.


    “You know this boy,” I soothed. “I know you train all of them. We will know him better now.”


    “We will not just know him,” Bane said staring at the floor. “We will free him. He should not be kept this way.”


    Kein answered before I had a chance to say anything. “Hannah will take him away. She will help him.”


    Damien agreed and so did Christof. Hannah had said she’d take my men if it wasn’t for me. Certainly she’d take young Warriors.


    The conversation concerned me. Those boys were just that, boys. They were children. Yes, they had trained, but they were very inexperienced. They barely knew how to fight and they knew nothing of the world. This would be a dangerous endeavor for them.


    “Do they practice with sharpened des?” I asked quietly.


    The men looked ufortable and Bane spoke quietly. They would not qualify to use the sharpened des for another three turns of the ringed moon. The men waited and watched me. I knew they expected me to tell them, no. Not that my opinion could stop them, but I knew it mattered. The family had to agree.


    “You must train them in the dangers they will face,” I said instead. “While we have them at the cabin you can start their real education. Ry the stories Hannah has given you.”


    Bane looked up at me and smiled. We were in ord. Damien’s family would save Bane’s son.


    Just as Damien promised, three dayster we prepared for a trip. I was dressed in one of the long blue dresses like I wore in the mountains. Two brown outeryers ensured I’d befortable on the way out. Bags were packed and loaded before we picked up our charges.


    It was just after sunrise when we flew off on a transport being followed by the young family. Bane chose to ride with Tyle’s family. He knew they had never been this far from thepound before. There would be loads of new things to see and he wanted to be there to exin.


    We’d packed a fair amount of stuff that went with us. The men had quietly brought the swords they had learned with. The weapons were smaller than what they had now and more worn. They nned to give Tyle’s family a chance to use a de for the first time.


    “We’ll teach them to use these well,” Damien promised Bane. “Hannah will take them if they can take care of themselves.”


    I rode with the men and smiled at their excitement. I tried not to think negatively, but I hoped Hannah would agree to this. She had been very resistant to taking me, because of my weakness. I hoped these children would not be judged too young.


    When we got a good distance from thepound my brown hood was removed. The men liked to see me talk to them and I preferred not to be cloistered away. We talked andughed the entire trip.


    Halfway to our destination we stopped for a snack. Bane showed Aryn everything around us. The boys had learned about nts from the Child Keepers, but some of these things they’d never seen in real life before. Everything was new and different.


    Bane talked about the nts on the ground and the tracks in the dirt. He also told the boys about some of the strange nts Hannah had told us about that existed beyond the mountains. The boys were enthralled by all of it.


    “He’s a good father,” I said watching Bane patiently teach the five young ones. “It is a shame he was kept from it.”