Gunth and his Brothers appeared beside Reed and their faces were all held in a scowl. All the men eating seemed to be surreptitiously watching their Administrators. I took my lead from Arik and kept eating, but paid attention.

“She is choosing her own food," Reed said happily, “and she's talking to the cooks."

Gunth made an unhappy sound and crossed his arms. His Brothers all did the same thing with unnerving effect.

“You told her to do those things," he groused. "She is not behaving like a free creature-"

Hassar approached our table and interrupted Gunth mid-sentence.

"She will find she likes to make decisions eventually," she said pulling up a stool to sit beside her Sister. "Creatures Like that have never been told they could do what she is doing. We will allow her more and more choices until she realizes she is taking care of herself."

Gunth and his Brothers weren't convinced. This decision had not been made through the Administrators. Reed and Hassar had done it themselves without anyone's input. Gunth and his family were offended.

"We sincerely apologize," Hassar said Laying her left arm across her chest and bowing her head to Gunth and his family. Reed was doing the same thing.

“We had only theorized between the two of us it would be an issue. Our thoughts and studies should have been shared with our friends and cousins. In no way do we intend to keep this creature a slave. She will learn freedom with us."

I was openly staring at the interaction between the groups. We'd been told they worked together and respected one another, but I knew the importance of that simple gesture. In my mind a Paterian woman would never apologize to a man like that.

The apology seemed to soften Gunth and his Brothers.

“You are thinkers," Gunth's Brother said addressing the women and pulling a chair up so he sat next to me, his Brothers settled beside him.

“We should have asked your opinion on these matters. My Brother had thought you had more information than we did."

The morning meal was pleasant. Evidently it wasn't unusual for the Administrators to come down and sit with a family. This is how it was always done. They Liked to make themselves very accessible.

During the meal I watched Gunth move his leg several times. He would rub it every time he did that. I even noted his Brother rubbed his leg. If the pain bothered the family, it must be horrible. These men rarely noticed physical pain.

The talk at the table soon turned to Rose and me. Men retrained other men and taught them the world. Gunth and Hassar both trusted their camp to do the same for us. Men from the compounds were as uneducated as we were. Our Lessons would be taught the same way.

Our other issue was that as former slaves we had to learn to be more independent. Hannah had told them that was really what we needed. My friends and I had had our autonomy totally stripped. We had to relearn to take care of ourselves and trust in our ability to do it.

"Perhaps," I said quietly, “we could start working as you discussed with us yesterday. We both enjoy being productive. We had small jobs at the compound and we enjoyed them..."

Gunth and his Brothers liked that solution. Hard work that produced something for the camp would make us feel part of it. We could stitch cloths then switch jobs in the afternoon, so we could learn different things. They were all for it.

"They could do that in the morning," Arik said hopefully, “and in the afternoon we take the women to the fields. They could help us tend the crops. It may help them understand the food better. We could teach them about the plants outside, as we do the men.”

Reed and Hassar thought that was a brilliant plan. They had been offended that Rose and I weren't even taught what to eat by our past "Masters". One of the first steps to being more self sufficient would be to know about food. While we were out there the men could teach us other things as well.

Gunth and his Brothers delivered us to Armant and his family after the morning meal. The Little clothing shop was already bustling as Rose and me were given a seat. Men were dropping off things for repair or picking up completed orders. Most were in a hurry, but they made a point to quickly introduce themselves before they left.