Chains Released

“Yes, this tu

“That explanation makes a lot of sense,” Tain agreed. “If everyone who knew about the tu

“Which made life a whole lot easier for us,” Risdin said with another smile. “If they’d knocked down the walls of the room above us they would have found the tu

“How did your people find this?” Tain asked, a point she hadn’t tried to guess about. “With the release lever so far under the bottom of the cabinet, I can’t quite picture someone stumbling across it by accident.”

“It was the other end one of ours found,” Risdin supplied, no longer smiling. “The poor woman was an escaped slave with her owner not far behind her, which made her frantic for a place to hide. She literally tripped over part of the exit door in the woods, a rock door that looked like it was part of a very big boulder. She fell close enough to the door to see that the boulder wasn’t solid, and one touch showed her a handhold carved into the bottom of the door. She pulled on the handhold and the door opened right up, although it did stick a little after that. She managed to get into the tu

“It was obviously a stroke of pure luck, good luck for you and bad for the men,” Tain said after taking another swallow of her coffee. “How soon do you expect the other women to get here? We can’t move until well after dark tonight, but I’d rather have things arranged early than at the last minute. And do you know if E

“As I said, the women should be here at any time unless there were men in the area of the hidden entrance and they had to wait for the men to leave,” Risdin answered. “As far as that girl is concerned, though, Areen said she and Celene were going to try to make her stay at the hideout. The girl is hurt on the inside, and that’s never easy to heal.”

“The healing will hopefully be easier once we get her back where she belongs,” Tain said, making no effort to explain what was really bothering E

“Let’s take a walk and see if we can meet the newcomers half way,” Risdin suddenly suggested as she got to her feet. “Just sitting around here is making me edgy, and I hate feeling edgy. And if you like, I have another smock you can wear.”

“I wish I could take you up on both your suggestions, but I’ll have to settle for just one,” Tain said as she also stood. “Going to meet your friends is fine, but I might as well stay in this outfit because I have to wear it when I go out tonight. People pay less attention to a slave or ignore her completely, and that attitude will make my job a lot easier.

Besides, if I put on a smock instead of this stuff, I probably won’t want to get into these things again.“

“That I can understand,” Risdin said, shaking her head as she looked at the costume Tain wore. “I wasn’t considered pretty enough to be put into an outfit like that, which made me pity the pretty ones instead of envying them… Well, let’s go meet our company.”

Risdin stopped outside the alcove to take a lamp and light it, and then she and Tain headed into the dark. A glance showed Tain that the men were dressed and moving around in their alcove, and then the living area was left behind. The lamp pushed the darkness away a bit, but there was still a heaviness and weight to the dimness that wasn’t often found aboveground.

If the walls and floor and ceiling all around her hadn’t been made of stone, Tain knew that she would be feeling extremely uncomfortable in their very necessary hideaway.

Tain was prepared for a long hike, but no more than five minutes after she and Risdin started to walk they saw the faint light of another lamp coming out of the darkness toward them. Risdin made a sound of satisfaction, but Tain didn’t relax until the approaching smudge of light showed that it was women who also approached. The fact that Risdin had apparently spent not a single moment wondering if the secret of the tu

“Risdin, what’s wrong?” one of the suspicious ones called as soon as they all got a bit closer. “Why did you come to meet us?”

“Nothing’s wrong, Char,” Risdin answered with a small laugh. “Tain and I got tired of waiting for all of you, so we decided to come and meet you. What time of day is it outside?”

“When we entered the tu

The closer the group got, the easier it was for Tain to see individuals. Char was a fairly tall, very beautiful woman, her outline under the smock she wore suggesting that her body was as attractive as her face. The only thing that didn’t fit with the rest was the look in Char’s eyes, a look of hatred and distrust that promised never to ease back or fade even a little.

“Tain doesn’t want a smock, not when she’ll have to get back into the tease again later,” Risdin explained, her tone filled with calm patience. “I know how much you hate to see one of us dressed in the tease, Char, but this time it’s necessary.”

“We’ll talk about it and see how necessary it really is,” Char returned, the small growl in her voice suggesting she meant to argue Tain’s decision. “First, though, I want to hear from your own lips that you actually brought men down into the tu

“But she didn’t bring men down into the tu

“Don’t you play with me!” Char snarled as she stepped closer to Tain, her face suddenly livid with rage. “Do you have any idea what I went through as a slave, what we all went through? It was men who did that to us, and I’ll die before I help any of them in any way at all!” “Then how about helping yourself?” Tain countered at once, knowing immediately that sympathy would be worse than slapping the woman. “As long as it’s possible for anyone to be enslaved, you and these others will have to hide out for the rest of your lives. If we can give the men a damned good reason for outlawing slavery completely, then all of you will be able to lead normal lives. Isn’t that end worth compromising your dedication just a little?”