Hannah shook her head and Raughed. “The men are inrge part still responding to the Great Harmonious Spirit,” Ra said. “They forget we don’t interact that way. While the men are this way you have to remind them to tell you what they want. Be very direct with them and they will answer you. They will all expect that you already know what their n is.”


    I was about to exin that did me no good now when a group of men approached us. Ratru and his Brothers, along with several other families walked up and looked expectantly at me.


    “Are you here to help us?” I asked inly.


    The men seemed stunned by the question and Ratru answered. Of course, they were here to help. They were surprised I had not known they wereing to assist.


    Our day was nned in detail already. First, we’d be going to get the freed women clothing from the shop and anywhere else we could find clothes that fit them. Next, we would be taking them to the Administrators to remove those horrid bands and exin things. Rooms had been assigned to them and a guard would be posted to protect them from their former owners. There was an organized n and the men couldn’t understand how I wasn’t already aware of it.


    After all, this had been decided many day cycles in advance.


    With a sigh, I encouraged the girls off the transports. I had the shock of my life when one girl pulled away from me and bowed her head. It took a moment to recognize her, Vesa.


    Vesa held her right arm close to her body and slid away from me. I heard a mumbledment from her mouth. It was repeated instructions not to touch Ciara, not to look at Ciara, and not to approach Ciara. My old nemesis appeared like a broken shell of the brave girl she’d been.


    “What did they do to you?” I asked sadly as I watched her.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.


    Her friends stayed with her and refused to look at me. When I caught one girl’s eyes the terror was undeniable. Whoever had done this had made sure these girls would never interact with me again.


    “There are no owners here to hurt you,” Rose said softly stepping forward. “You can talk to us without fear. It will be okay…”


    Rose tried to approach and they backed off the other side of the transport. Vesa stumbled off and let out a soft cry as she looked up. I got a good look at her face and saw the zed look in her eyes and the sweat on her face. She was pale and trembling, but different from the rest.


    “She’s hurt,” I told Rose simply. “Something happened and she’s been injured.”


    It took us only a short time to figure it out. Molly had to be the one to talk to her, though. Vesa’s arm was broken and had been for days. The wall of the room she’d been in had been hit with a beam while she’d been standing near it.


    The Keepers didn’t notice the injury when they moved the girls. Things had been too frantic and confused. The free men didn’t know enough about humans to recognize it, because she refused to speak to them. Vesa had just been holding her arm and suffering as they traveled.


    The rest of the day was an awful mess. Taking Vesa to our Healers resulted in her having a full blown panic attack. They fixed her arm, but her reaction sent the other girls into a tizzy. Just as we got them calmed down, Reed and Hassar came and took their ve bands.


    The removal of the horrid ve bands was a disaster. The bands had ensured protection in a dangerous and uncertain world. All the women disyed some level of terror when they were removed. They screamed, begged, and cried; several even tried to run from us. I was sorely tempted to ask Hassar for calming cream for the women, but I knew that would not be eptable. All we could do was offer them support as we tried to reassure them.


    I could see why their prior guardians on the transport had disappeared so quickly.


    A few girls started to understand as the day wore on. Molly embraced her freedom and started to help us. A couple began to recognize that the Paterians surrounding them had no desire to control or hurt them. It was just a very slow process.


    Ratru and his Brothers, as well as the other men left with us, were unfailingly polite and friendly. They encouraged healthy behavior and started to get some minimal response. It helped even more when one girl’s prior owners attempted to approach her. They wanted her back. My campmates literally formed a wall between them and the object of their desire. Freed ves were not at anyone’s mercy in the camp.


    Still every little moment seemed to be a drama. The midday meal had been a trial in and of itself. Food was brought to where we were and everyone got a te and a cup. The girls cried when we asked them to feed themselves. I realized many had refused food and drink on the way here.


    They were terrified that we’d give them poisoned food or somehow make them sick. Some thought it was a test by the men who had bought them. Only their owners would know what they could eat. All of them were sure of that. A simple midday meal took forever.


    A few times when things seemed quiet for a moment, I would touch the ring on my finger and think of my family. My men and my boys were here in the camp and safe. Despite the stress it was the best day I’d had in a long time.


    When I saw several young beaded Paterian women arrive in the early evening, I was surprised. We had the girls sequestered in a secluded room with its own set ofcquered pots. They’d be safe here and we could start to sort out what they wanted to do. Those of us that had dealt with them all day were just exhausted, but I hadn’t been sure when reinforcements would arrive.


    It had never struck me how dependent ves were made to feel. The girls were ufortable doing anything for themselves. They were used to being absolutely controlled and cared for.


    “We take the next shift,” one of the beaded women announced as she strode in. She introduced herself as Yahn of the T’aran Mountains and gave us a fanged smile.


    I looked back at my charges and then at the Paterian women being sent to tend them. These new faces would terrify the freed ves. Chewing on my lip I looked back at the beaded woman who had spoken.


    “They are very scared,” I said hesitantly. “They’ve always been told women would hurt them. This may frighten them too much.”


    Yahn didn’t seem put off by my statement and looked at the girls now staring at her.


    “I owe these females the truth, Ciara,” she exined. “In the past, it was my line of breeders that encouraged the horrible ve trade on this world. We havee to understand how wrong we were. Let me help make this right.”