Chains Released

Tain had followed the other women back to the cooking alcove, and by the time E

“Why are some of the women looking like they just inherited a fortune while a couple of the others look like they were written out of the will?” E

“Seeing a man being treated the way you treated Tandro has apparently made Char’s day,” Tain answered just as softly. “The utter delight she got chased away enough of her fear to let her relax a little, so it looks like I’ll be able to let her stay. Risdin, on the other hand, isn’t happy with what you did, because she said the men were hurt by the slaver for being against slavery. Taking advantage of their helplessness strikes Risdin as being wrong, but possibly that’s because she wasn’t Tandro’s slave before he became a slave himself.”

“What do you mean, they were hurt by the slaver?” E

“The slaver did to both of them what you did to Tandro, but his men weren’t quite as gentle as you were,” Tain said, now watching the girl’s reactions carefully. “By the time I got them out they were having a lot of trouble walking, and not just from the switchings they were given. But I

have to tell you… One of the first things Tandro said when he was allowed to speak again was to ask if you were all right. He kept saying during the trip that he didn’t want to be blamed by our people if anything really horrible happened to you, so maybe that’s why he asked.“

“After going through all that himself he took the trouble to ask about me?” E

“After talking to the women I went with, it suddenly came to me that they were in a worse position than I ever was. I might not have had anyone who really cared about me, but I still wasn’t enslaved and beaten and raped and hurt all the way down to my soul. I felt like an ungrateful idiot for complaining about my life when theirs were so much worse, and now you tell me that Tandro asked about me? But what I did to him…”

E

E

After a while Risdin made lunch for everyone with Areen helping her, and

Tain ate slowly to fill in as much of the waiting time as possible. After lunch she spoke to the women and told them most of her plan, and then they wasted a bit more time discussing what they’d heard. Most of the women liked Tain’s idea, but they were also more than a little afraid. The fear didn’t cause them to refuse to help out, though; it just made them wish they could refuse.

Once the meeting was over, Tain took a walk to see how E

Killen were doing. Peeking inside the men’s alcove showed E

Sleeping in the middle of the day did manage to throw off Tain’s i

Risdin had made a plain vegetable stew for everyone, and after the food had been put into bowls with wooden spoons added she helped Tain carry the four bowls to the men’s alcove. Areen and the woman whose name Tain didn’t know followed with two cups of coffee each, and once all the food and drink had been distributed the three native women left the alcove. Since Killen, Tandro, and E

“We’ll be leaving here as soon as we finish eating, so if you have any questions on what I’m about to tell you don’t hold back,” Tain said to the two men after sitting down on the stone floor. “E

“Where will we be going?” Killen asked at once while Tandro looked deeply relieved. “Since E

“Tonight we’ll be going out to do some kidnapping,” Tain said, noticing that Killen wasn’t diving into the food any faster than she herself.

“We’re going to start with Gordi, and once we have him we’ll move on to the names he gives us. I intend to get Gordi himself, the two next most powerful leaders who support him, and his most powerful … opponent tonight. Once we have them we’ll get them to understand just how bad slavery is, and once that’s done we’ll then head home.”

“You expect us to convince Gordi and the others just like that in one night?” Killen said, the words not quite mocking. “I consider myself a fairly good talker, Tain, but unless you’re better than fairly good you might want to try another plan.”

“I said we’ll be getting the men tonight, not that we’ll convince them that quickly,” Tain corrected mildly. “It will probably take the entire following day or even a bit longer before they really get the message, but this is important work. Heading home will have to wait until the work is done, so I need to ask: are you two in good enough shape to help, or will it be smarter to leave you behind along with E

Tain had actually addressed her question to Tandro, and the native smiled in that calm way he had.

“I’m perfectly fine, so staying behind won’t be necessary,” Tandro stated, speaking just as mildly as Tain had. “Killen, I think, is doing even better than I am.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely doing better than fine,” Killen agreed, but not with anything like enthusiasm. “And is that all we’ll be doing tonight?

Kidnapping men and then sitting down to talk to them?“

“Actually, the talking won’t take place until those women in the next alcove show the men just what it’s like to be a slave,” Tain answered, ignoring the urge to tell Killen that the rest of the plan was none of his business. “We happen to have some doses of the slave drug at our disposal, which make my plan more than just wishful thinking. Risdin found a package with a dozen doses that some slaver lost, and I mean to double up on each of the men.”

“To compensate for their greater size and body weight,” Killen said with a startled nod, his distant stare saying he was thinking about what he’d been told. “That’s probably what was done with us… And you believe that Gordi and the others will be convinced by being enslaved themselves? What if they react the other way after being treated badly by women and decide to hold their slaves even tighter than before?”