Damien spoke slowly and calmly. He told the other men they like to see me fight. Training me at swordplay had been fun. It was a sport the whole family enjoyed.

Basin reached over and pulled the covering off Rose's head. She kept her eyes down until Basin demanded she Look up.

"Our Rose was not meant to fight," he said simply.

She reached her gloved hand out and stroked his arm. His face softened as he looked at her. When he turned back to Damien his face was hard.

“Who is our Mistress?" Basin asked.

“To what woman do we owe our existence?"

Damien didn't know. It might be Nu-reeh and her Sisters, they seemed to have a lot of families. None of us could be sure.

Basin went from Looking forlorn to looking angry. One of his Brothers already looked furious. Christof told me to go back inside. After a moment, Basin told Rose to do the same thing.

As soon as the door closed, Basin started to yell at Damien. The stone and wood of the place we were in muffled the loud conversation, but we could still hear it. Basin accused Damien's family of being the lowest of all men.

We stripped Rose of her brown outfit and undid her kneeling place from her waist. A clingy wrap of fabric wound over her breasts and around her hips. As usual she looked lovely and delicate.

Rose laid the kneeling place on the floor by the fire and stoically took her spot. The men had not brought me a kneeling place, so I sat on the floor next to Rose. We rested quietly for a moment.

My friend looked awful. Her features were pale and drawn. The stress of Basin's family was weighing heavily on her.

Outside I could hear the sounds of fighting. The disagreement was no longer just verbal. I didn't hear clashing metal which made me feel better. The walls occasionally shook as a body was tossed into it though.

Rose and I sat close on the floor quietly listening.

“They won't send us back to our Keepers," she said suddenly, "or Fuji." Uncertainty stabbed at me as I gripped her hand.

“We will all go to the Keepers for the Administrators. The slaves there...are permitted to understand things. The Administrators speak freely in front of their slaves," she told me.

“I've never met the slaves the Administrators keep...I hope they will like us," she finished in a whisper.

I couldn't believe the insecurity I was getting from Rose. However, I remembered how long her life had been like it was. Any change at this point must be terrifying.

The sounds of fighting died down as I reassured Rose. We'd do fine at the new Keepers. The three of us were friendly. Besides that there was three of us, it wasn't Like we'd be alone.

"You will leave us if it is a girl," she said quietly. "You told us they would take you back to the mountains quickly if it is female."

We sat and listened as the men spoke harshly to one another. The fight seemed to be revving back up.

“How will they know if it is female?" she asked looking into my eyes. "I don't know," I lied. "They somehow knew last time and they were right. I would assume they will know again," I shrugged.