A Slave to the Servants Ch. 24-2

"Come, Ciara," Damien said, "walk with us. We...missed you and did not finish what we intended to do."

I heard Rose beside me. How sweet and loving Damien sounded. She sighed and patted my arm.

I walked with my men out of our quarters. They were intent on finding Hannah before she left. She had probably gone to the main exit for the women. The men usually stayed away from there.

Our rooms were close to the women's area, so it wasn't a long walk. We made it swiftly to the exit the men were looking for. Hannah and Ra stood talking to a burly woman. From where we stood we could hear the woman warning them against harming Basin and his Brothers.

"I only wished to see my female breeder," Hannah said politely. "We are much too young to breed and your men are in no danger around us. They are friends of my male breeder. I would not harm those close to him; it would anger my female breeder."

The woman noticed us then. She turned and looked at us sharply and asked why we were here.

Damien spoke calmly, "I wished to see this female, Mistress. It is a custom on Earth that I should be concerned with my offspring's well-being. If my female offspring expects this, I felt it would be appropriate. Hannah's happiness is my only concern."

The woman Hannah had been talking to seemed surprised. Damien's logic was flawless. He was only here for the good of a female. That was a very acceptable reason for his visit.

"This is the custom?" the woman asked Hannah.

"Yes, on Earth a male would have helped to raise me. It is not expected here, but my male breeder understands this strange custom through his slave. It fills a need within me to know him," Hannah said politically.

The large female considered us all for a moment before she spoke.

"Visit when you are here," she told Hannah, "but do not harm my men. Do not let your Earth heritage hinder you, but this is not objectionable to me."

The woman took off out of the mountain and we stood facing Hannah and Ra silently.

"Daddy," Hannah said lightly, "it is good to see you."

She opened her arms, inviting affection from Damien. He strode toward her andhuggedher, evenkissingher cheek. The greeting was warmer than I would have expected, but Damien trusted Hannah. She was family.

"This place," Hannah said gesturing, "reminds me ofRadio Shack."

The men looked puzzled for a moment at the Earth word, but I understood it. The meaning sunk in quickly. There were recording devices here.

Damien and his Brothers had seen devices that could transmit sound and picture, and knew they existed. It was somehow not surprising the women used those sorts of things.

"We should sit and talk somewhere," Damien offered. "YourMamaand I have not seen you in a long time."

"A place in the sun would be good forMama," Hannah said leading us away, "I know the perfect spot."

We followed Hannah and Ra around the inside of the mountains. She went down into a deserted place and we came to a wall. A part of the mountain side had fallen in and the sunshine spilled into the old cavern. It was just barely a large enough hole for Hannah and Ra to get through, a full grown woman would not fit.

Ra spoke loudly and clearly, "Mamawill be warm and we can sit and talk. It is a shame the other Earth female fears us or we could go to your rooms."

"She does," I agreed. "Poor Rose seems quite afraid of you two."

The girls nodded and smiled leading us out on a wide ledge.

Once we were all outside Ra looked around casually. I saw her sharp eyes scanning the area around us. Hannah did the same thing.

"The things they use," Hannah said softly, "glitter in the light...like acamera lens. I did not see any here when we looked at this area."

I understood the word and I remembered how a piece of curved glass would catch the light. Bane clucked his tongue and leaned back on a piece of rock. Kein made a similar sound and nudged Bane's shoulder.

"Told you they weren't just pieces of the wall," Kein said feeling vindicated.

As children there had been these shiny pieces to the walls of the training grounds. Kein had noticed them and Christof had asked. The Child Keepers said they were just how a wall was made and to leave them alone.

"Nu-reeh and your female breeders have always watched you," Hannah said gently. "They are a way of sending images from place to place."

"They watch you still," Ra said cautiously, "we saw two in the main room with the pool in the area where you all stay. They seemed aimed at the entranceway."

"We doubt they are in your living quarters," Hannah said to Damien. "They would want to make sureMamawas safe. They would use them to monitor any men entering or leaving the main area with the pool."

We would check once we were home. Damien wanted to know what to call them. The word Hannah used was roughly equivalent tocamerainEnglish. In my mind, that's what they were.

Christof wished fervently that I knew more aboutcameras. Even though my knowledge was limited he was glad for the comparison, so they could understand.

"YourMama," Christof said hesitantly, "knows this word. On Earth she remembers them transmitting sound also sometimes."

It shouldn't have surprised me Christof would have picked up on that detail. I never would have thought to ask.

"They cannot," Ra said, "the ore in the mountains disrupts their ability to transmit sound well. You need a pad to do that and it would need to be close to the originator of the sound."

"Even then it doesn't always come in clearly," Hannah finished.

The men thought for a moment about what the girls had told us. There was a more pressing issue here, though and Damien got to it.

"She can control us," he said getting right to the point. "How does she do it?"

Ra explained, because she understood it better. The women could connect to their men. In the past the connection had gone both ways. The women were actually bonded to the men they kept. The families connected deeply to one another.

"Families of women kept as many men as they safely could. They shared a sacred bond with each family. The bonds took time to grow, but often they were as strong as the bonds you share with your Brothers," Ra calmly explained. "Once the women decided to keep the men separate from them, the bonds withered away. Soon the women learned they could force a bond, but they didn't like giving the men access to themselves."

Hannah interrupted and finished the story sounding angry, "Now there is a chip. Women that own men attune it to the families they keep. You cannot connect to her and she can't fully integrate into your bond, but she has access to you. She can implant a thought or a summons into you. The idea is placed so deeply that you all believe it originated there."

We were shocked, every one of us surprised to our core. The men never evaluated where an idea originated. If it was agreeable to the majority, it was just accepted. Of course some ideas were so strong from one of us, we just allowed those things to happen. That must be what Nu-reeh was using, our desire to make the most opinionated Brother happy.

"If she finds you know this," Ra warned, "it will mean your death. The other women are protective of this information."

Kein chuckled, "The men already know, at least some of the Administrators," he said.

The Brothers all remembered my outburst at the Administrator's threat. At the time they had not understood. Now all the pieces fit. The Administrators, at least a few of them, understood what the women did for control.

"We will watch for it, but we will not act oddly," Damien assured Hannah. "I believe Nu-reeh would punish us for this knowledge."

"Men aren't supposed to know," Ra mused. "I am surprised the Administrators know..."

Bane chuckled and eyed Ra with some humor, "Men are not all ignorant, young one, we can think just as you can. The Administrators know things about the world, I'm sure they noticed at some point."

"It is a limited bond," Hannah continued to explain. "Nu-reeh would have to be close to you all to do it."

We stay away from her for good reason then, the men decided.

Abruptly the conversation changed and Damien was asking Hannah how her travels were. He even asked her what land she enjoyed best. It would have seemed odd if I wasn't listening to the internal conversation.

Christof had heard someone coming. Whoever it was in the area was being quite sneaky and avoiding making themselves known. They were coming at us from just above; Christof had noted the rustle of wings and slight change in the shadows.

Hannah quirked a brow at Damien and he nodded to her. The subtle human gesture would not be noticed by anyone but us. Hannah and Ra nodded back and continued with the light conversation for several moments with us. I noted the girls looked around now, intent on finding what Damien had.

There were warring sensations in my head suddenly. The impression we were being watched was replaced with the idea we were alone with Hannah and Ra. The men noticed the aberrant thought and realized it had not come from any one of us.

Nu-reeh was here and close. We hoped she had not heard us speaking. Probably not or she'd already know all she needed to.

"We don't wish to hold you longer than we should," Damien said cordially to Hannah. "YourMamaexplained you are in the middle of something."

"Yes," Hannah sighed signaling 'up' silently with her eyes as Damien nodded, "so much travel to do and so much to learn. Ra and I are expected in her female breeders mountain in three nights. She has generously agreed to let us train in her mines for a few days. It is a test really, to see if we are worthy of being claimed by her later."

"Fly safe, Hannah," Damien said clasping her arm and pulling her into ahug, "and best of luck to both of you. You also Ra, fly safe."

HannahhuggedDamien and then me tightly.

"Come visit when you can," I saidhuggingthe girls and keeping a steady voice.

Hannah and Ra flew off and Damien lounged against the rock wall. Inside my head was the idea we should talk about what Hannah had just said. It would feel good to relive the conversation. The hair on my neck prickled with fear. This compulsion came from outside of us.

"So the girl likes to travel," Kein said throwing rocks likebaseballstoward another cliff. "Didn't we tell her she would?"

"Wish she'd bring more tami leaf," Evan said. "You should have asked her, Brother. She said she'd been in that area," he addressed Damien.

Damien talked to his Brothers about the places Hannah had mentioned to him. He admitted he was glad for my sake she was doing well. I could be so flighty when it came to my child. I should gain confidence in my ability to breed strong children with them.

We all felt Nu-reeh leave. She had been sitting above us, watching and listening, but the conversation we had was intentionally boring. She'd obviously flown away when nothing interesting was being said.

Damn that woman, was the general opinion. My personal thoughts were fearful. I would have to be very careful. Hannah should be very careful, too. Nu-reeh already suspected my girl was up to something.

We went inside and wound our way toward the eating hall. I was worried about Hannah and Damien scoffed at me. She was strong and smart, wily even. She learned fast and had his memories. Our daughter would be fine.

Evan even thought after a couple more moons Hannah might be able to physically take on Nu-reeh. Bane would bet on her. He'd certainly bet on that Sister she had. Hell, the whole family would bet on those girls. My concern was ridiculous and embarrassing.

"I would not allow you to tell Hannah you felt that way," Damien told me frowning and looking back at me. "She will not disgrace her family. To imply you think she would be weak is...unfathomable. I won't listen to another word of it."

The men were settled and I better be ready for a fight if I wanted to keep up this line of thinking. Hannah was one tough female and honest to a fault. There was nothing this world could dish out she couldn't handle.

"Let it go, little Sister," Bane said reaching out and squeezing the back of my neck lightly.

"Our way is better," Christof soothed from my other side.

It was like a physical weight lifted off when I released the worry. Their assurance flooded my mind and I believed them. They did know about the women here and Hannah had the makings of a fine, strong female. By the time we made it to the dining hall I was completely relaxed.

Damien and his Brothers greeted several men as we walked through the hall. They knew most of these guys and were tough enough to be well respected. We walked with smooth confidence through the crowds until our way was blocked by another family.

"You breed female offspring," the lead Brother stated coldly.

Damien appraised the family in front of him completely before he spoke, "We all breed, but yes I've bred two females."

"Your slave only produces females we have heard," he said looking over Damien's shoulder to eye me.

Damien didn't answer the other man, but he didn't like him looking at me like that. Damien stepped toward him and caught the other man's eyes as they stood toe to toe.

"If you want to fight, keep at what you're doing," he threatened. "The breeder is not your concern."

The room we were in was quiet. Everyone was waiting, hoping to watch what was probably going to be an epic battle. Tension rose and Damien's fists clenched as he held the other man's gaze.

The clattering of talons came from my left and right. Several women entered the room and the suspense just melted away. Fighting would be worthless; it was time to eat.

Damien watched as the other man's face took on a slightly slack expression. He and his Brothers turned without another word and went back to their table. It was like they forgot what they were doing.

We felt the pull, too. Hunger was suddenly the most important priority and we really wanted to see what was for the evening meal. My group started to walk to our table before we realized what we were doing.

Nu-reeh was at it again. The compulsion had been almost undeniable. Kein cursed under his breath and ran an angry hand in his hair. Bane threw an arm around his Brother and shook him in warning.

"I know you are hungry, little Brother. We have not eaten well for days, but try to control yourself," he said with a pointedly casual air.

Kein relaxed as soon as he realized how obvious he was being.

"Of course," he smiled, forcing a calm demeanor, "been too long since we ate well. My stomach is weak like a shopkeeper's."

Bane grunted a response and released the smaller man.

It had them all bothered, though. The implanted ideas weren't even subtle. Damien and his Brothers were furious they'd never noticed before. Now it was the most obvious thing in the world. Honestly, I should have told them before.

Christof pointed to my chair and settled me in it as Damien and Evan went to get food.

"You could have told me," he said under his breath while sitting beside me. "You noticed when it happened last time and yet kept it to yourself."

"Naughty, little Sister," Bane whispered from my other side.

He did like punishing me. There was so much they had not gotten to try yet, much of it he thought would excite me terribly. This was a good excuse to try some of Damien's skill with the flogger.

For a split second I felt intense fear. I remembered the intimate pain they had inflicted on me and my breathing amped up. I did not want that again. The pain and loss of control were awful. Wide eyes met Bane's and I saw the displeasure in his.

They had expected to teach and train with pain, not cause permanent fear. This was not the result they had wanted. I was just supposed to learn an important lesson and move on. It did not work that way with me, though.

Jumbled memories showed them flashbulbs of nightmares and many nights of lost sleep. Since they'd beaten me I'd feared them and buried my distrust for them. I had felt lost and very alone.

They stopped, all of them, and looked at me. Even Damien and Evan stopped and looked in my direction. I was family and this way I felt was wrong. It was not what they wanted.

"Ahh, you see what we did, Brothers," Christof said.

It was like the other men in their compound had taught them. The men from the red mountains had it all wrong. Pain would bring fear. Humans could not be taught that way.

Bane's urges cooled down and he smiled at me trying to comfort. My agreement and willingness had been cherished. Family was important and never distrusted. They would earn my trust back. It would be only pleasure between us.

I did not like the conflicting feelings between us, so I tried to release my fear and anger. The bond did not work well if those types of things interfered. My little girl needed this family to grow wise and strong.

I leaned over and touched my lips to Bane's in forgiveness. He moaned low in his throat at the simple gesture. My family wanted me and was grateful for the pardon. With the matter done and decided we waited for our meal.

Damien set down platters of food and Christof poured us all a cup of drink. We were all about to dig in when Evan grunted.

"Left Ciara's drink," he said rising and walking back toward the food service area.

My eyebrows raised looking at the cup Christof had put in front of me.

"This isn't good enough for me?" I joked lightly.

No, it wasn't. The drink Evan was bringing me would keep my stomach settled. They'd planned to start giving it to me as soon as they knew. Nu-reeh had interrupted their plans by putting us all in that cave. They would have preferred I was taking it days ago.

My mind was bombarded suddenly with information about nausea and vomiting. Damien and his Brothers were sure this idea would work.

"No new bets, though," Bane explained stoically. "You sided with Christof. We're keeping the original wager."

I grinned at Bane's sense of right and wrong when it came to betting. You couldn't change your side just because new information came up. That just wasn't how it worked.

Bets were so far off my radar, I'd forgotten the wager we made outside the cabin. Christof and I had said I'd have morning sickness. The other Brothers had said I would not. They'd been working on it since then.

Evan approached the table with a confident swagger. He was sure he'd be on the winning side of this.

"Taste it," he commanded, handing me the cup, "it should be very palatable for you."

Grinning up at him I took a sip of the frothy liquid. It was not objectionable. I felt like I should know the flavor, but I just couldn't place it.

"It's the root," Kein said grinning, "concentrated and made into a drink. We think it will stop the vomiting."

Bane tore a chunk of meat and laid it on my plate. Kein handed me what resembled warm, heavy bread. They encouraged me to eat and the Brothers dug in.

The men were ravenously hungry. They'd been kept near starved for days. During our time in the cave they'd kept tight reign on their hunger. Conversation was ignored as they satisfied their stomachs.

Basin and his Brothers came in with Rose after the men had all downed one plate of food. Their bellies were closer to appeased, so they watched as their friends entered and settled at a table. Damien put a fresh helping on both our plates as the internal discussion got strange.

Rose's head bowed so submissively was ridiculous. Men on this planet were strong and everyone knew that. Damien didn't see the point in forcing someone to stare at the floor. It was not a threat to anyone if a human female looked around.