“You are carrying a child," Thom said bluntly once we were inside. "The other women in your circumstance are staying in safe places, you must do the same. Do not leave this room. I will Let you know when the danger has passed."

Kana had followed us in and she watched Thom with the oddest expression on her face.

"Your eye is not well enough to send you out, but you can help us defend the injured in here, should it come to that," he said bluntly.

Thom spoke with an authority I'd only ever heard from Gunth. He Looked as firm and resolute as the old man usually did, too. His decisiveness seemed to surprise Kana.

She agreed to stay and Thom was gone. The men at the entrance to our hall stood attentively, ready to fend off an attack. They seemed oblivious to the activity in the infirmary, their attention was focused outward.

The Sister that had lost her wing walked slowly over to stand next to Kana. The men had wrapped and dressed the stump on her left side. They had tied it so she would not inadvertently move it while they tried to heal the flesh.

"It is The Great Harmonious Spirit. They are answering to The Spirit," Kana said simply and the other women seemed taken aback.

“That does not exist anymore," she said gruffly.

“I have seen it," Kana said quietly.

“The Great Harmonious Spirit is here. It is real and the men have embraced it again. It was not permanently lost to us when we put them on the compounds. They have found their essence again. This is where they belong.”

The woman with one wing made a bitter sound and Kana ignored her. She settled behind the men at the doorway awaiting attack. I'd never seen a woman without beads take orders from a man, but that's certainly what she was doing.

Rose got my attention and I went to help the Healers. We worked relentlessly for the longest time. When we had a moment to rest, Rose and I watched the men in the room.

The Healers seemed as tuned in as the men in the hall had been. They worked with seamless efficiency on the wounded. None of the beaded women seemed the least surprised, but I saw the eyes of the unbeaded follow the men.

Kana's sister sat on a warm stone as I carried dirty towels by. She called out softly and I stepped closer to her. I watched her war with herself before she bent her head to speak quietly to me.

“Have you seen them this way before, human? Are they like this all the time?"

It was easy to see what she meant. The concentration the men seemed to have was amazing. Their focus was unbreakable. Even the injured seemed to be following the internal commands and accepted whatever needed to be done.

“No,” I answered looking around, “never like this."

The woman looked down at me and I sensed she just wanted to talk to someone about what she saw. Kana was busy and her Sister with the stomach wound was too gravely injured to talk much. Evidently, I was a suitable set of ears.

"The men used to become this way in times of great stress," she said slowly. "We called it The Great Harmonious Spirit. It bound them together and they became one. Their strength was in their perfect cooperation and numbers. My female breeder and her Line have not seen this since we put them on the compounds.”

I could connect faintly to Damien and his Brothers and I felt the calm buzz of their thoughts. It didn't feel markedly different from usual, but then to the men, I guessed it wouldn't. This organization would feel right.

“It must be a defensive instinct," I said watching the woman. "When the men are free, happy, and connected; it seems they can help each other.”

The woman settled on her stone and Looked around. "It used to be their strength, but it was not enough. They died and they made choices we did not..."