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household, and given nearly the same education as their favored sisters. Then, when they grew to
manhood, they would find themselves noticed by a young woman and bartered off to her as her chosen
husband, earning their families an agreed-upon spousal-price. But if the fates were not kind, if they were
not part of a small family or the offspring of a "marriage," they would find themselves sent off to a
nursery until the age of five, with one slave to simply tend to the needs of thirty small boys and boy-
babies. Then they would be appraised and tested, their aptitudes determined-and sent off to be trained.
Once trained, at the age of fifteen or thereabouts, they went on the auction-block. There would be little
chance for a family or to better their lot. They were, simply, property. No different from a horse or a
mule.
And even if the fates were kind at first, that did not mean they would continue to turn a smiling face.
Kyle had learned that, being discarded for the sake of a younger, handsomer man. There was another of
Kyle's ilk with them, a man called Marie, who marched just behind Ware.
The other men of this expedition were of the second class, the sons of harem slaves with little or no
chance at a better fate. They felt, for the most part, that they were at least fortunate that they had not
been sold off as common laborers. Such a mind-numbing fate was the worst thing that could happen to a
slave. Save, perhaps, being condemned to the arena as a gladiator. All of them looked up to Faro as a
survivor of that experience. And she had the feeling that her act of inadvertent mercy in saving him from
death had also begun the work of earning their respect.
When they halted at noon for a quick meal, she felt that she had a good start on her goal, to make herself
their leader by loyalty rather than by default.
It was in the late afternoon that the first of the monsters appeared.
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These were singularly peaceful "monsters," and they seemed to take no notice of the humans on the road
below them.
The first of them appeared floating through the leaves, pushing them apart, and gliding between them.
The entire caravan froze in place, as the creature's snout appeared above them, shoving the fronds aside.
Xylina's heart was in her throat, and the men around her grew pale with fear. The thing was about the
size of one of the wagons, patterned in brilliant scarlet and gold chevrons, and shaped roughly like a
teardrop. It floated majestically above them, about halfway between them and the tops of the leaves,
with no sign of anything supporting it.
And no sign that it noticed them.
As they watched it drifting above them, they held their breaths, hoping that it would continue to ignore
them. Its round black eyes remained fixed on the fronds around it, however; it stopped once or twice to
nibble off a nodule-like growth on the ribs of one of the leaves, but otherwise paid no attention to
anything about it.
After a long wait, it drifted further off into the leaves, and was lost to sight.
Xylina let out her breath, and color returned to the faces around her. After a moment to be sure that the
monster was not going to return, the caravan started off again. They had not gone very far, however,
when several more of these floating creatures appeared. All were brightly colored, patterned regularly in
blue and green, red and yellow, orange and black. They varied in shape from long, pipe-like forms to
round, ball-like creatures. They did not seem to have heads as such; their faces were built into one end
of their bodies, with their eyes so positioned that they could not look directly at something but could see
only what one or the other eye was aimed at. They had no kind of a nose that Xylina could see, and their
mouths varied from a slit that could readily have encompassed one of the mules to tiny round holes
hardly larger than her fist. None of them paid any attention at all to the figures so far below them.
The troupe had frozen in place again, but they still did not seem to attract the attention of the monsters.
The creatures continued to drift lazily above. Several of them, however, were capable of very quick
movement. When one of the mules brayed loudly out of sheer nervousness, the three turquoise-blue
monsters currently above the road suddenly sprang into startled life and darted into the protection of the
leaves so quickly Xylina could not believe it.
After more than a dozen of these monsters had passed by with no incident, Xylina relaxed. She was not
surprised when, shortly after that, Ware started the column moving again.
The monsters continued to appear above them, and now that they were in motion, these strange creatures
began to pay them a little more attention. It seemed to be completely benign, simply curious attention.
The beasts drifted downward to hover over the road for a few moments, twisting to one side or another
to peer down at them with a bright eye. After a time, their curiosity seemed to be satisfied, and they
moved up and away again.
Perhaps the party did not look edible, Xylina thought. That was encouraging, actually.
More variations appeared: round creatures covered with spines, slender ones with huge, gauzy draperies
trailing from them, flat ones with appendages like fans. All of them were brilliantly colored, and all of
them showed either simple curiosity or complete indifference to the travelers.
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