“We fought for him and his Brothersst night,” Aryn said proudly. “We chose family over the camp and stood watch for a time while they slept. Arnold’s family also took a turn. The other men told us we were wrong. They want us to hate Damien and his Brothers. We disagreed with them.”


    “Fighting is wrong, violence is wrong,” I said, jolted, remembering what Hassar and Reed had told Damien.


    “The men that attacked us were sanctioned,” Aryn said simply. “We won’t let them harm our family or friends, though.”


    The nket and my nudity didn’t matter anymore. I slipped off the bed onto my knees and hugged Aryn tightly.


    “Thank you,” I whispered kissing the rough stubble on his cheek.


    When I pulled away from him the look of shock on his face was indescribable. He pointed quietly to his Brother and I knew what they wanted.


    I thanked each boy the same way, with a hug and a kiss. They’d seen this affection at the cabin, but I was sure they thought they’d never experience it.


    The young family found the activity novel. They were tentative in hugging me back at first, but by the fourth one theyy their hands firmly on my skin and squeezed. They murmured to me how they liked this type of thanks.


    “They told us you are a Sister, not a ve,” Aryn said seriously. “Damien and his Brothers assured us they have no love for very and we believe them. In thepound, I know they trained you like one would a Brother.”


    “Yes,” I said quietly as I pulled my outfit off the shelf and put it on. When I was no longer under the covers with Rose it was quite chilly in here. “I wish I could talk to them.”


    “Basin and his Brothers,” Rose cut in looking beseechingly at the young boys, “who helps them? They have no friends here,” she said looking ready to cry.


    “We stand together,” Tyle said proudly. “Damien’s family, Basin’s family, Stayne’s family, Arnold’s family, and ours stand as friends. We protect one another and will not allow the others to be hurt. Poor choices were made, but those mistakes have been corrected.”


    I remembered Arnold. The tough man and his family Damien and his Brothers had helped Hannah rescue from thepound. They must have ended up here.


    Rose was such a graceful creature. She somehow managed to get out of bed and stay wrapped in a single bed sheet. Much like I had done she hugged and kissed each boy. Suddenly, she looked at me appearing terrified.


    “Do you think I can touch them?” she asked trembling. “Will Basin be…?”


    I shook my head and took her hand.


    “You are free and not a ve,” I stressed. “You can touch anyone you want.”


    The boys seemed taken aback with Rose’s concern and made sure they understand Basin’s rtionship to her.


    “No, no,” she said looking ufortable, “I am not a ve, but it has been so long… I have not touched anyone except Basin and his family or Keepers they left me with. This is all so strange…”


    The young men watched Rose closely before seeming to ept her answer. It seemed to help that she cautiously hadid a hand on Tyle’s arm as she spoke.


    “We need to go,” Tyle said and handed us each a small folded piece of paper. “This is an old fashioned way to pass a message, but it will have to do. We wille again when we can.”


    I rushed forward and put a tentative hand on his arm.


    “Tell Damien and his Brothers I love them. Please tell them that I won’t stop trying to be with them,” I begged.


    Tyle didn’t seem to mind the strange job and epted it without argument. Rose asked for the same thing and the boys agreed to take our messages to the men.


    The boys took their leave as Rose and I sat on the bed next to one another.


    The strange paper like substance opened to reveal a long hand written note. Rose and I each had one. It appeared the Brothers must have each taken a turn writing.


    They loved me, the note said, and missed me terribly. Damien had talked to Hannah. He had told her she should have been honest. We would have stille, but we would have been prepared. My men knew I couldn’t stay in thepound, the task Nu-reeh demanded was too much for all of us. He was sad we weren’t together, but felt sure he could earn the right soon.


    Evan was incredibly depressed about his son. Nothing else that had been done or saidpared to the pain of having to leave Jonathan where he was. Evan wanted me to know that he felt our boy still. Even as far away as we probably were, our family was still connected.


    Bane’s part of the note was cheery. He and Aryn were finally able to be together. He mourned with Evan, but tried to use his own son to alleviate the pain. So far the young family had been invaluable. When no one else would speak to my men, Aryn and his Brothers stepped forward and helped them. It had been a stroke of good luck that we had sent them ahead of us.


    Kein missed me, but he was fascinated with this ce. He had hidden his excitement when the other men told them not toe to the dining hall. If my family wanted to eat, they would have to catch it themselves. Going outside and tracking the animal they’d eatenst night had been wonderful. My men nned to spend as much time as they could exploring.


    Christof apologized to me again. He knew what they had done had hurt me. They had abused me even after they’d called me Sister. I’d forgiven them on many asions, but it had not fully abated the guilt my best friend felt. Last night Kennedy had talked to them a long time. The men had all struggled with the things she had told them. Some of it had seemed too impossible, but they would continue to try.


    I sat for a long time staring at the paper. Rose was beside me doing the same thing.


    “We should get ready,” she finally said. “The boys were up and dressed, we probably should be also.”


    I stood and sniffed myself. Rose raised an eyebrow and nodded at me.


    “We both need a bath, but I don’t know how long it would take to fill that pot in our main room,” she said pulling on her skirt.


    Taking a big breath, I made a decision.


    “Let’s try to find the bathing hall ourselves,” I said firmly. “They keep telling us not to act like ves. The free men use the hall, we can, too. I say we walk around until we find it.”N?velDrama.Org holds this content.


    Rose and I each took our towel from inside our bedrooms. We peeked out the drape and saw the hall was deserted. Since we wanted to explore, that was probably a good thing.


    The central fire pits were all burning very low and casting almost no warmth. I shivered in the cool air in the massive cave.


    “We should have brought our coats,” Rose whispered to me and I agreed.


    We’d have to think about these things now. No one was going to dress us or make sure we were prepared. These really were our own bodies again.


    It was so easy to miss, we almost did. Right in the middle of all the little different shops was a tunnel. I touched the wall and it was damp.


    “This way,” I grinned at Rose.


    This had to be the correct direction, I kept thinking. The hall was wide and obviously well used. There were many torches lighting the way, but most of them were burned out at this time of day. The air itself was wet and muggy, definitely a good sign.


    The hall ended and I was shocked. We were in an enormous cave. The ceiling was low, but the “room” went on forever it seemed. I couldn’t see the other side, it was swallowed in darkness. Steps had been carved into the rock and went directly into the massive pool of steaming, swirling water. Therge pool was mostly unlighted, but it was awe inspiring.


    Rose walked to the right and I followed her. Men’s shirts and pants were drying on a line. The wall behind them was billowing heat from a low fire. It appeared fans pushed the warmth over the clothing to dry them.


    Past that area was a stream running down into the main body of water. Neatly stacked to the side were what I would have called washboards in English. Rose remembered the Paterian word and we practiced it as we inspected them. There was arge tub of stuff that felt slick and little bars that smelled like soap.


    Well, we guessed we knew where we washed our clothing now.


    Rose and I walked back to the main area and stripped. We found a bucket of more bars of soap and ragsid out neatly. We each took one of each and ventured into the water.


    The steps were slimy, so we were careful, but once we were in the water it was heavenly.


    “It’s so warm!” Rose said as she stood staring at me.


    It moved against my legs and seemed to be traveling through this area. It was a natural widening of what must be a stream. I assumed the warmth was from the rocks underneath.


    I started to wash myself. Rose just stood in the waist deep water and stared at me.


    “Well?” I askedughing at her. “Do you want to wash or not?”


    Her concerned look made me stop and I realized this was a serious step for her.


    “I have not touched my own body since…” she trailed off. “Even after they freed me Basin and his Brothers always did it. It feels like I should not touch myself.”


    This must have been what they meant by retraining. I’d been a ve for only a short time and had already regained bits of my independence on my own. Rose and Fuji had never done the things I did. My friends still followed the old directives unfailingly.


    “Perhaps,” I said seriously, “you start with your hands and arms.”


    It took a long time for Rose to wash herself. She cried when she had to wash between her legs. She had not touched herself there in a very long time. I suddenly realized she probably had not even wiped herself in the bathroom.


    “We’ll wash your underthings before we leave,” I promised her once she was done.