“Family likes to be together," Mund said quietly as we were all finishing up.

“We enjoy our quiet time at night with one another.”

It was a strange comment, but all Mund's Brothers agreed. They Liked quiet evenings by the fire. I smiled wistfully remembering quiet nights with Damien and his Brothers.

“We have had your families’ lodgings moved near ours. It was many of our friends that saw what happened today," Mund said quietly. "Come visit us tonight and we will not notice where you go when you Leave our company."

“It is a private alcove," Mund's Brother said under his breath. "Our friends and I enjoy peace and quiet in the evenings. No one bothers us once we have retired there."

I blinked stupidly at Mund until Rose thanked him. She got directions to the place he lived just before the men got up and left. Understanding dawned on me and I was shocked.

“He's going to let us-" I started to say and Rose cut me off.

“Visit him tonight, Ciara. We will visit with our new friends," she said firmly, “Now come, we both smell and we should bathe before we visit with...Mund and his family."

Rose and I bustled out of the dining hall and stopped short when we ran into Fuji coming in. It had been many days since we had seen her. On Earth I would have saidweeks. Fuji's hunting kept her outside, so she was rarely at meals.

Fuji looked amazing. Her skin glittered brilliantly and her bright red hair was thick and lush. That strange wicked tail was out moving powerfully behind her. She walked with confidence and poise.

We greeted each other and that tail flicked forward trailing down my front and then Rose's front. Fuji's eyes narrowed and she stepped right into my face. Her aggressive stance was not lost on me.

“You were with them!" she accused angrily Looking between Rose and I. "I sense them on you. The rules must be followed. They are for your own good!"

Fuji's tail was sensitive as well as deadly. I assumed she "smelled" our male family members on our clothing. Rose and I had freshened in our rooms, but not changed our attire.

Rose and I rushed to explain how we had leapt onto the transports and ended up with our respective families. It had not been intentional and there was no reason to worry. It had happened in the middle of a mass scar attack.

“Slavery is wrong," Fuji said firmly.

“What those men did is wrong. The way they think is wrong. You cannot go back to the way you were. I will never go back!”

Rose and I both sought to shush Fuji. Luckily the dining hall was a slightly chaotic place and no one was watching us.

"Fuji," I explained patiently, “if you remember my men tried to stop being slave owners long ago, so did Rose's family. I know Stayne and his Brothers—"

“Have never respected me," Fuji growled. "They continued a lie I was told my whole Life. I was born to live free. Your men never respected you, either."

The argument continued and got slightly heated. Fuji didn’t seem to be listening at all. She was adamant in her beliefs about slavers. Eventually Rose and I had to say good-bye and left Fuji. She refused to listen to us. There was no use arguing with her, so we ended the conversation as politely as we could.

Rose and I scrubbed ourselves in the warm water of the communal bath after washing our clothes and leaving them to dry. Tonight was the first time we would see our men in a place we could freely be together. Neither of us said it, but we both expected to be intimate with them. We wanted to be clean.

Rose and I walked slowly to the place Mund said he and his Brothers stayed. It wasn't on the main corridor Like our room. Some men disliked the busy thoroughfare and wanted a place to be close to their friends, but away from others.