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Inflicting slight pain on me had really aroused Damien. The other men wanted to try it, especially if it was fun. Discipline was secondary to the desire to experience what Damien did.
I spent all morning apologizing, but no one listened. They were too busy fretting.
Christof came at lunch. I was so glad to see him. He seemed to feel bad the other slaves were upset. Although primarily, he was confused.
“They prefer the posts and the General’s whip?” he asked as we settled in the forest.
“Of course not, they prefer not to be punished at all. They say the men will punish them more now because it is easier,” I explained.
“You enjoy it,” Christof told me matter-of-factly. “Did you tell them how much pleasure it brings you?”
I flushed hot at the statement as Christof handed me the bowl. My reaction to the punishment was not right. I wished he hadn’t noticed.
Christof didn’t seem to pay attention to my embarrassment. He went on to discuss how they had been assigned the road again. As per normal, they spent half the time goofing off.
“Men asked Damien to teach them how to train their slaves. We spent all morning teaching them the right amount of force to use,” Christof assured me. “Damien taught them well, so they will not truly hurt your friends.”
He informed me there were different techniques. Depending on how it was done and what was used, the punishment may arouse. The harsher techniques would only cause pain, Damien taught them less of that. The idea of actually hurting slaves had galled him. The men had been eager to try the new ways though.
We didn’t go back immediately. Christof got two sticks and we practiced fighting for a few minutes.NôvelDrama.Org is the owner.
“You learned well in your time bonded to us,” Christof said jabbing and parrying with me. “Training you will be fun,” he grinned.
That afternoon I sat for a while with Rose and Fuji on the beach. I told them about Hannah’s letter and Rose was very happy for me. Fuji wasn’t sure what to think. Children on her world didn’t have contact with their breeders after a while. However, we all thought Hannah’s plan to send me a message had been a good one.
I was obsessed with Hannah’s message. Once I was home, I sat and read it again before we went to the bathing hall, as well as, before bed. Imagining my girl carefully planning this message for me warmed my heart.
I was so excited about the letter I almost forgot to be excited about my nightdress. The men had delivered it during the day and Damien made a big show of putting it on me. It was the first normal piece of clothing I had worn in a long time. Although it almost felt restrictive, I enjoyed the sensation of being covered.
As usual I woke in the middle of the night to use the restroom. Once I was done I wandered over to the fire and picked up Hannah’s letter. Sitting down on the chaise I traced the marks with my fingers. The large symbols were beautifully done. Hannah wrote very well.
A movement surprised me as Damien added fuel to the fire and came to sit beside me. The room got lighter and warmer with the addition. I smiled at him and stared back down at the letter.
“Does it say something different this time?” he asked sprawling on the furniture beside me.
“No,” I chuckled looking over at him.
He knew I just liked to think about Hannah.
Damien had laid his head back and shut his eyes. The men didn’t understand alone time. I was used to it. I turned my attention back to the letter and held it up.
A flash of something else caught my eye in the thick paper. Subtle, cursive writing appeared when I held the letter so the bright fire was behind it. There it was again, but I couldn’t read it.
I stood and moved closer to the fire, but it wasn’t readable like that. There were layers of cursive writing, one on top of the other. My hands shook as I examined the letter. It was a message inside a message. That’s why it was to sit by the fire, so I would see this.
I picked at the missive along the edges and it started to separate. In my frantic hurry I almost tore it and that got Damien’s attention.
“What are you doing?” he asked watching me pick at the edge of the letter.
I paused a moment too long and his face got hard.
“No secrets,” he said simply.
Begrudgingly, I showed him. He looked at it and the rest of my men soon joined us.
“I think,” I told them, “there are layers to the message. At home a letter was on something called paper and it was very thin. This is thick. I think she wrapped a secret message behind one the General could read.”
Hannah’s letter was handed to Kein as we lighted the lamps in the apartment. He carefully examined it and started to pick the edges apart. Eventually he used a small sharp knife to separate layers.
It was hard, detailed work. I would have ripped the thing to shreds doing this. Kein worked slowly and methodically. He didn’t get frustrated or tear anything. Finally he pulled the last binding and had it separated.
There was a stack of paper behind the soft wood the original message was on. I laughed and my eyes filled with tears at the first line written in clear English.
Hi, Mama, tell Daddy,” I said trying not to cry, that I’m sorry this is in English, but I didn’t want it to fall in the wrong hands. Read him the entire thing and leave nothing out. You all deserve the truth, even if it’s painful. We are family and secrets are not tolerated in the family.
I looked up at Damien and he looked pleased, so I continued.
She loved and missed me, she said. Every day she thought of me and worried about my safety. Traveling had made her feel a little better about that. The women protected their men absolutely. I was never safer than when I was in the compound.
Hannah politely spoke to Damien in the letter. She wished him interesting days and a strong bond. It wasn’t a greeting I was familiar with, but the men said it was a customary thing to say.
Our daughter was doing well, very well. She had found a Sister, Ra, and they travelled together.
The girls had even bonded like Damien and his Brothers did.
It isn’t normal anymore for women to bond like that, Hannah wrote. Women now have a tiny implant that prevents them from bonding to Sisters. The women say the freedom to live and think alone is healthy. Ra and I do not agree. I know how strong Daddy’s family is and we want that feeling back.
I looked up at Damien and saw the pride in his features. His girl was strong and striving to be like him. I don’t imagine it was an emotion he ever thought he’d feel.
Ra’s female breeder many generations back had been from Earth, so they had that in common. Before the bond with Hannah Ra hadn’t recognized English. She had distant memories of an Earth language, but it wasn’t one I had known. The sounds weren’t even like English.
Hannah assumed Ra’s Earth breeder had been from the place I would have called Egypt. Ra remembered a dry, desert world where pyramids stood unfinished. I agreed, it was most likely Egypt.
Looking up at the men I smiled with tears in my eyes. They looked interested and encouraged me to continue.
The girls had flown across the great ocean, Saval, together. She described where we lived and said it was located on a smaller sea that bordered the great ocean. Christof found the discussion fascinating.