"Tomorrow," Gunth said, “you will go to work with Armant. He and his Brothers have been desperate for help. The men in the camp are forever ruining their clothing. We patch what we can, but often must replace things."

A short noise sounded in the distance and Gunth smiled brightly.

“Feed time," he said happily and stood up. "Come and share a midday meal with the camp."

We stood and walked out the leather drape following Gunth. My mind was whirring with so much new information.

Gunth pointed to a large entrance on this floor several doors further down. That was the room with many lacquered pots. When we needed we could go there. Kennedy had even asked that two be set off private for us. The camp was honored to have its first freed slaves and had agreed readily with the request.

“How did you get to be an Administrator?" I asked as we walked down the steps to the first floor.

Men were coming down the walkway in groups talking and laughing. Several stared at us and others pointed, they all seemed amazed. Gunth ignored them as he answered.

“It is put to a vote," he said seriously.

“Every family has a vote. We take three groups of females and three groups of males each time. The vote is held every third cycle of the sun."

Gunth walked in the direction of the dining room and we followed.

Rose gripped my hand as we moved down the wide passageway inside the mountain. The men were all around us and I felt fear being out here without Damien and his Brothers. Men in the mountains had always been more dangerous than men in the compound. I was terrified of what they would do. Out of habit I cast my eyes on Gunth's boots and followed them.

I noticed the Little things, like the way Gunth's left heel dragged a little. The Limp was well concealed, but he must have had some injury to that leg. He'd obviously been around a long time and we'd heard free life was hard. It probably wasn't unusual to have a limp as an older man.

“Little humans," a deep voice intoned from beside us, “look up. My cousins and I mean you no harm. You don't need to watch the Administrator's feet."

I cringed closer to Rose and she to me. Gunth stopped and turned around, causing a minor traffic jam. My eyes lifted to his and I saw the deep displeasure in our guide's face.

"You must stop acting like slaves," he said abruptly with a sour Look.

“I fail to understand your persistence in the matter. There are no slaves here. You are free women and must start to behave that way."

The man that had spoken had stopped when we did. He spoke again and I looked over at him.

“Come now, Gunth, relax a bit. You know how hard it is for the men to be retrained. These poor creatures are surrounded by men, men who Look like those that have tormented them. It will take Longer," he finished in an almost pleading voice.

I Looked up at the man and he offered a lopsided grin. Light brown hair was cut short of his head. Seeing his purple eyes, I had to smile. He reminded me of Christof.

Ratru rescued from the Youly compound,” he said politely.

“Ciara," I said in a shaking voice, "and I am from Earth".

After Rose introduced herself, Ratru proceeded to introduce his brothers. They were all young from what I could tell. Their strong builds told me they would have been Warriors in the compound.