The letters unnerved me. If we did what the girls asked us to do and the men reported to the General, there was no telling how we would suffer. I begged Damien not to do it. Perhaps he could just save Tyle's family and then be done with this.
"We will protect you," Damien assured me, "and we will be careful. This is something we must do, though."
"You don't understand," I begged in a plaintive voice. "I saw a man like Evan. He was a free man. They had cut-his-hair. It was awful and I think he was almost broken. I couldn't bear it if that happened to you all."
Damien stopped and stared at me for a few moments. I'd never discussed with them the horrors I'd seen inflicted on the men I'd freed. He was obviously surprised the women would go to those lengths.
"We are careful men. They will not catch us," he said with conviction.
I begged and pleaded, even arguing I'd be sick to my stomach with worry. My men weren't listening to me. I was fed the root and told to be quiet. Warriors were fighters and these men were fighting back. They were done being obedient slaves.
"Come," Damien finally commanded, "I wish to clean myself before bed. I will wash you and you will wash me, we both find that relaxing."
I nodded and smiled up at him. He was right. Having him rub me down was immensely pleasurable. It might give me the chance to keep begging him as well. Although it seemed his mind was already made up.
In the bath I whispered pleas to Damien, he looked critically at me. Pulling me onto his lap he spoke into my ear.
"Did you like being a slave?" he asked. "Would you have run from us if there was somewhere to go?"
The first days on this planet had been so strange. There was never a way out. Walls were everywhere and I was surrounded by five powerful men. Much later, when I learned my second duty on this planet, even death looked like a viable escape.
No, I had never liked being a slave.
Admitting that to Damien seemed wrong. I loved him now. Looking up into his gray eyes, I realized he already knew the answer.
"Help us fight back," he requested quietly, "support us while we do this."
The family had to agree. It was important to him that I thought like they did. Swallowing my dread and fear, I nodded to him.
"Use caution, my love," I warned taking his face in my hands, "I could not bear to lose you."
Murmured promises came from all five of them and I felt soothing hands stroking my back. Whether I liked it or not the family was agreed to this now.
We spent six days at the cabin. My family talked to Tyle's family about the creatures Hannah had told us about. They discussed the dangers that existed beyond the mountains. The boys loved the stories and never asked why they were getting this information.
Everyday we trained outside the cabin. Tyle's young family learned to fight with their mentors' first swords. It was an honor and the boys treated it as such. Quite quickly it became obvious they had trained well with the wooden staffs.
I knew and my men knew. It would not take long for Hannah to feel safe taking this family. They were fast and strong, lacking only the opportunity to test their skills.
I was fed bits of the root three times a day. It kept my stomach settled, but I was still so anxious. Damien and his Brothers truly planned to mount a coup from inside the compound. Despite my grudging acceptance, it pushed my nerves to near breaking.
Christof tried to console me on the transport ride back to the compound.
"Evan has talked to every man in the compound," he said. "He's made friends with many men. We can invite men to dine with us and pick the family that would be best suited to escape."
"If the women catch you," I said miserably, "they will torture you. If they can't control you, they will kill you."
Christof wasn't concerned. He and his Brothers would be careful. They'd not tell anyone anything until they were sure. This wasn't going to be something they did recklessly.
I wasn't happy about it, but I knew that withholding my acceptance only hurt them. They would still be driven to do this.
"You had your chance to fight back and you took it, little Sister," Bane said, "give us our chance."
Looking into his earnest face, I understood. They'd been raised to believe they were protectors. No matter what the women told them, they still felt that way. Freedom was something worth fighting for. The lack of resistance they had been displaying had become unbearable.
"Be careful and wise about this," I warned looking up into his serious eyes.
They certainly needed that encouragement. Evan would have liked to stand on the compound walls and call for a revolt. It was only his Brothers' calm that soothed him.
********
Damien promptly took control of the situation. The men spent long nights discussing which family to send first to Hannah. While they stealthily interviewed the other men, we continued to train Bane's son and his family. Our own eventual escape was also prepared for in mind and body. It was a busy time, but Damien kept us organized.
The pad Kennedy had sent was truly like she had said, an encyclopedia. I sat and read to the men and we learned about the world beyond the mountains. When we left this compound for good we would know what dangers we faced.
It was important we all be strong. When we weren't reading, we were in the stadium practicing with Bane's son and his family. My skill with the wooden staffs grew as Bane's son and that family graduated to a metal blade on schedule three cycles of the large moon after we left the cabin.
The boys knew something was afoot, but seemed to accept Damien's insistence they could not know right now. They trusted their new family and just allowed us to push them to be powerful. The young men worked as hard as Damien wanted and the fruit of their labor was telling.
The boys were strong and fierce. We soon determined they were loyal to us as well. The stories Damien's family told them never left their mouths. They were as honorable as men should be.
In the midst of our training the men finally decided on a group of men to free. Damien invited them to dinner one night having decided it was time to really talk with them. The men filed in and greeted Damien politely. Everyone was becoming used to my looking around, so there were no comments about that.
We sat and had our meal as Evan asked the men what they thought about things. At first they were quiet and kept to themselves, but Evan's persistence got to them. The men weren't happy, the way they were forced with the women irritated them. These men had often thought of escape.
Evan knew that. He remembered these men saying things, wondering if the world beyond the mountains was dominated by the women. In the past the General had harshly rebuked them for their complaints and questions.