Bane stood in the kitchen area pouring himself a generous portion of the steaming drink that was served at special occasions. He saw me standing and staring and motioned me closer.

“Come," he demanded, “take a drink and see what has been left for us."

In the kitchen area there was a platter full of orange wedges and twelve strawberries. I touched the fruit in wonder. I had no idea how they'd gotten this here. Picking up a ripe, red berry by it's green stem I inhaled the familiar scent.

Strawberries were expensive. We only got them fresh Like this when Mom had extra money. I remembered the special times we'd stood in our kitchen together making strawberry shortcake

I had no idea how they'd gotten this here.

“What is it?" Christof asked appearing behind me. He picked up a berry and smelled it, Like I had been doing.

“Straw-berry," I pronounced slowly, “it is food and you eat the red part.”

Christof picked up a note beside the tray of fruit. It said the men could eat these things with me if they wished. This food would not make them ill.

This was a reward, the note continued, for me being good this morning. If we all continued to do well, Nu-reeh would continue to leave us gifts. There were many things she knew we would like, we only had to earn them.

I set the berry down as Christof Laid the note back down. It was quite evident from the energy in the room; I did not deserve a reward.

“Eat one," Damien said harshly from behind me.

“If Nu-reeh finds you did not appreciate her gift she may become angry. We must be able to tell her you enjoyed this."

I nodded and picked the berry back up. At home I would have shoved the entire thing in my mouth and been eating the next one before I'd swallowed. That kind of gluttony would be a waste now. I wanted to savor this bit of Earth.

Nibbling the fruit slowly I enjoyed everything about it. The texture, the flavor and the scent brought back vivid memories of home and summer. It was a wonderful treat.

I caught Christof smiling at me as I ate and sucked the Last bit of red from the stem.

"You are expressive," he said softly.

"So expressive it seems odd you would keep a secret from us," Evan said moving beside me on the other side.

He picked up a berry and licked it. Evan seemed unaffected by the fruit.

"Bite into it," I said softly, "the juice is what tastes good."

Evan took a small bite and chewed it slowly. He handed the bitten berry to Christof, who also tasted it.

“I like it," Christof said sounding surprised and then taking a larger bite.

Evan made a face. "We will leave it for you and Ciara then," he said wiping his hands. "This food does not appeal to the rest of us."