So I am back after a very long time away from my keyboard. Sorry I do not have a regular schedule to post my chapters but I assure you I am very determined to keep this story going. This chapter is more so about Victoria learning to trust Scalnora and forming a bond with her. You also start seeing a little bit of what Skaylsis real attitude and personality is like towards the end.

Chapter 4

Victoria did not have much time to grieve after she woke up from her deep fitful slumber. Scalnora would be keeping a close watchful eye on her at all times and was determined to keep her busy by teaching her about life in the caves. Being a noble lady, Scalnora did not have to prepare the meals herself or clean house for that matter, but she decided the best way for Victoria to learn and for her to gain Victoria's trust was to teach her herself.

She had let Victoria sleep for as long as she wanted to that first terrible night. Victoria had slept till it was almost midday. Tyalk and Skaylsis were out on patrol since early that morning. On this first day the confusion was bad. Since Victoria couldn't understand Fallen language and the Fallen couldn't understand her, she was scared that at any moment someone would be here to get her and take her back to Draksis. She didn't really ever want to see him again. She didn't even know if she could trust Scalnora, even though at the moment she seemed to really care.

Scalnora started off by chattering away at what seemed to sound like questions when Victoria had crept out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where Scalnora was waiting. When Victoria didn't answer she sighed while casting a glance at her servant who pulled out a seat from the table and patted the seat, saying something that Victoria could only figure was akin to the word sit. Deciding it would be best to obey, she sat down in the seat which was adjacent to Scalnora.

As a cup of some sort of hot drink was placed in front of her, Scalnora gently grabbed the servant females arm and said, "Nahl."

Victoria was currently staring at the cup of hot liquid and when she pointed at the cup and repeated Scalnora she was fascinated to hear her and the servant laughing. Looking at both of them, she noticed why they were laughing. She then saw that Scalnora had meant to introduce the servant female whose name was Nahl. Modest mistake she thought as she nodded at Nahl and repeated the name before looking to Scalnora for approval. Scalnora seemed to have a light smile and she gave a nod before pushing the cup of hot liquid toward her.

Victoria gave it a sniff and dipped her finger into the liquid to find it soothingly hot but not scalding. The smell wasn't bad at all. The aroma was actually faintly sweet. Coming to the conclusion that drink and food was probably not going to be the same here in the Fallen world, Victoria sighed and took a small sip of the liquid. The taste was pleasant and soothing. It tasted as though it was some sort of tea, but her bigger question was of what kind of vegetation was it made from. Scalnora smiled at her and continued to speak Fallen as the next thing that was placed in front of her was a plate of sliced raw Venusian vegetables and fruit. These were definitely palatable for a human and so Victoria, being hungry, started right away on eating this delicious meal. Scalnora seemed pleased.

Once Victoria was finished Scalnora then stood up and motioned for Victoria to follow her as Nahl began to clean up the kitchen area. Scalnora brought Victoria to what she assumed was the graceful Fallen female's room. It was definitely bigger than the one she was put in last night and the decor was beautiful in deep blue and silver tones. Scalnora walked over to her closet and began going through clothes while Victoria looked around the elegant cave room. There were various different decorations about the room which included intricately detailed sculptures and paintings. She was stunned when her eyes fell upon what looked like a vanity with a large mirror. She was fascinated by the object. She realized she was probably the first human to ever see this side of the Fallen. They definitely had a culture that went further than just warfare.

Suddenly Scalnora said something just as Nahl joined them in the room. Victoria looked at her and was astonished at the beautiful dress that she was displaying to her. It was a simple, yet elegant dress. It was long and flowing with straps that were drawn together at the top with elegant embroidering and tapered underneath the waistline which was also wrapped with the same simple elegant embroidering. The long flowing tapering skirt was long enough that it could nearly cover her feet. It was beautiful. It was all jet gray and the embroidering around the waistline and the straps were a beautiful turquoise.

Nahl pushed Victoria towards Scalnora who then held the beautiful elegant dress up to her shoulders and then it struck Victoria that Scalnora was looking for a dress for her to wear. The dress was amazing. It was so simple and yet so elegant. Scalnora looked Victoria in the eyes and then held the dress out for her to take. Victoria's eyes widened at this gesture. Why was this seemingly noble Fallen female so concerned with treating her this way when she was from enemy lines? It didn't really make much sense to her and she continued to ponder why she was here alive. Scalnora only nodded and pointed to a changing blind as Victoria took the dress in her hands. Nahl followed Victoria over to the blinds in case she needed help which Victoria obviously didn't need. Scalnora continued to talk in the foreign Fallen language while Victoria changed out of her dress and into the elegant flowing Fallen dress that reminded her a lot of old Greek dresses from Earths history.

Scalnora stopped talking once Victoria came out from behind the blind and gasped in awe as so did Nahl. Victoria was human but dressed in the Fallen gown she was definitely beautiful. Victoria's eyes met Scalnora's as she nodded in approval and then held up a pair of simple grey flats for Victoria to try on. The shoes fit and when Victoria viewed herself in the vanity mirror, she herself gasped at her own reflection in the mirror. Scalnora walked around Victoria studying the beautiful sight before her, still speaking Fallen and seemed to smile at her work as she then walked back to her closet.

Nahl motioned for Victoria to sit in the vanity seat as Scalnora got herself dressed from behind the changing blind. She listened closely to Scalnora speaking the Fallen language and begin to hear repeated words every once in a while. It then dawned on Victoria that Scalnora might actually be trying to teach her to talk. This peaked Victoria's interest. She would definitely pay attention to the strange words from now on since she didn't know how long she would here. Scalnora finally emerged from behind the changing blind and Victoria saw just how elegant and beautiful the noble female really was. Her royal blue gown was definitely just as Greek looking as Victoria's gown but it had a couple of differences. The dress had only one strap that came up over Scalnora's right shoulder and draped down her back was a long train that touched the floor.

Paying attention to everything that was going on around her, Victoria nearly forgot about her grief and stressful situation. Scalnora and Nahl took her outside of the cave mansion and out into the cave city. Victoria was a little nervous at first. Scalnora and Nahl seemed to care about her, but there were no armed guards with them. Would she be in any danger at all from other Fallen who might be against her presence in their world? She soon learned that the answer was no. When it came to Scalnora, she definitely had a following of her own and commanded high respect from loyals.

Victoria stayed right behind her as they entered into the city. Her heart raced as several Fallen looked up from what they were currently doing to see the strange human that Tyalk and Skaylsis had brought through the city the day before. Word had definitely spread that there was a human in Scalnora's house. A large armored male walked forward and began to speak with Scalnora. The two spoke while casting glances in Victoria's way, making her very curious. Suddenly the large armored male turned and called out what Victoria could only guess were two names and two more large armored males joined them. Scalnora began to walk again and Victoria noticed the three large Fallen males fell in behind to follow them. Victoria realized they were here to guard them and she instantly felt better about the whole situation. Everywhere Scalnora took Victoria to in the city that day, hundreds of Fallen watched curiously and chattered amongst themselves. Victoria figured some of them probably had never seen a human before.

Scalnora had taken Victoria clothes shopping. This gave Victoria the assumption that she was going to be with the Fallen for a very long time. She wondered why and for how long she would be here in the caves and more importantly she wondered if she would be staying with Scalnora for the duration of this stay. She was comfortable with Scalnora and now felt safe with her. It seemed Scalnora was not about to let anything happen to her.

Victoria could tell they had been out in the city for a few hours when they began to head back to the mansion. They had been gone long enough for Victoria to start having hunger pangs. She noticed the slight commotion about the city bazaar as they went on their way. It seemed that some of the shops were closing up. Perhaps it was evening already. Did she really sleep that long? Victoria wondered as she paid very close attention to all the activities that were going on. She also began to wonder if the Fallen meal times were different than human meal times. Did they even snack? Victoria would find out soon enough when Tyalk and Skaylsis would be back home to sleep. This was the first night Victoria would see what was considered a prime meal for the Fallen.

Scalnora kept the rest of Victoria's evening busy by showing her physically how to operate different areas of the house such as the kitchen cook stove and what Victoria figured was a bathing room. She found that where the Fallen eliminated bodily waste was a different room than the bathing room. She felt strange calling it a bathroom since she associated bathrooms with toilets so she called it a bathing room. There were actual water faucets and she found an actual water fountain inside the mansion which absolutely took her by surprise. The water was very cold, which she figured was due to the fact that it was cave water deep under the ground. Lastly Scalnora showed Victoria where her new clothes belonged, which was no surprise to her as they belonged in the closet.

The one thing Victoria could see was definitely different was scant cloth that Scalnora showed her that she shoved into a dresser drawer. Victoria took the cloth out while Scalnora was still standing in front of her and examined it curiously. It was mostly made of thin strings and only had a small piece of cloth attached to it that was about the size of her hand. It was confusing to look at and didn't seem to make much sense as to how it fit into clothing. It didn't dawn on her exactly what it was until Scalnora took it from her and arranged it a certain way before holding the side strings against Victoria's hips. Victoria's cheeks flushed red as she realized it was the Fallen version of panties! Scalnora noticed Victoria's embarrassment and seemed to look very amused as Victoria grabbed the panties to examine them further for herself. They were definitely all string except for the piece of cloth with was so small that it wouldn't cover the rear of the wearer. As a matter of fact nothing covered up the rear. Two strings were meant to wrap around the inner thigh where it would connect with the scant cloth. The top string was meant to wrap around the waist where it was tied on the sides. Victoria didn't realize her mouth was wide open in surprise before she felt Scalnora touch her chin with the same amused look on her face. Victoria put the panties back inside the dresser drawer before placing her own hand over her mouth. Scalnora obviously found all of this very funny as so did Nahl as both females began laughing. Victoria couldn't help but smile. This would definitely take some getting used to.

A familiar male voice echoed through the mansion and Scalnora perked up as she grabbed Victoria's hand and led her to the main room. Tyalk and Skaylsis were home from their patrols. Victoria was still a little leery about Tyalk. Skaylsis did not seem so threatening but Tyalk was tall and, although she knew she was exaggerating to herself, strong enough to snap her in two. Tyalk greeted Scalnora with the same gesture that she figured was showing respect or even affection, maybe even both by touching the back of her hand to his forehead. Scalnora once again gently touched her hand to his cheek before moving to Skaylsis to greet her younger son.

Scalnora had left Victoria to stand and wait by the bottom of the stairs. She unintentionally met Tyalk's glowing blue eyes which softened upon catching sight of her. Maybe he really wasn't so scary after all, Victoria decided. He seemed as if he felt pity for her, which upon this thought made her feel a sharp pang in her chest returning from last night's episode. She looked down at the ground and away from Tyalk.

Tyalk did feel pity towards the lone female human. He also felt a little annoyed by her presence. It wasn't that she was a human, just more so an uninvited guest that was forced upon his household. He might have been annoyed but upon meeting her gaze he could not hold his natural stone cold face. Normally he would not care, yet when it came to this human female, for some reason he really couldn't look upon her with such coldness and intimidation. It was true what his mother had told him about having compassion for the human while she would be staying in their house, which they all knew depended upon what Draksis wanted. He had even argued with her but in the end he would always succumb to his mother's will. It was in his nature to be the difficult child, whereas his younger brother had always been the first to obey mother without question. Even though he would show the human female compassion out of obedience and respect for mother's wishes, still something tugged at him deep inside that truly felt sorry for her. Perhaps it was the thought that he had watched his own father die at the hands of Draksis, or even the fact that thoughts crossed his mind as to what would happen to his family if he wasn't around to care for them. He did not know the answer and it bothered him badly.

Tyalk noticed her sudden distress and watched as she turned her gaze away from him. She was obviously trying to hide her emotional distress. He then noticed that she was wearing Fallen garments. He recognized the dress from his mother's own closet. It was among her favorites. Amazing that she would choose to give a human female one of her favorite gowns. He then knew his mother was very serious about how well they treated her while she was here. This gesture was one of fondness. He actually found that she was actually sort of beautiful for not being a Fallen female. The dress fit her form in the same way it fit a Fallen female. Maybe they were not so different from the humans than they thought.

Scalnora commanded her sons to wash up for dinner as she ushered Victoria into the kitchen. Scalnora sat down at the table while Victoria looked after both Fallen males as they ascended the stairs. As they neared the top Skaylsis turned and gave a wave back at Victoria in what seemed to be a very cool attitude. He seemed like a teenager who was carefree and a rebel to boot. Tyalk's pity had made her feel a bit bad yet Skaylsis had the opposite effect. His little carefree attitude and the way he waved at her cheered her up a tad. She could tell he would be no problem at all. She really began to wonder what Tyalk's problem was. To Victoria he seemed to be very conflicted. One minute he was wearing an unending cold look on his face and the next minute he was casting looks of pity her way. This was all very confusing and not being able to understand their language made the whole situation worse.

It didn't take long for Tyalk and Skaylsis to come down and join Scalnora and Victoria who were already seated at the table. Their armor was completely gone and instead they both wore loosely fitted, long sleeved shirts that were buttoned up, and pants that resembled comfy pajama bottoms. The look was very comfy compared to the armor they were normally observed wearing on the surface of Venus and on Earth. Victoria just sat and listened to Scalnora, Tyalk and Skaylsis talking back and forth across the table as Nahl prepared what she assumed was their dinner. When the bowl was placed in front of her she was very surprised and a little disgusted.

Inside the bowl was hunks of raw meat that resembled steak. It was blue in color as so was the liquid that it was sitting in that Victoria assumed was the blood from whatever animal the meat came from. At least she had hoped it was from an animal and not another sentient being like the humans or the Fallen. Oh the horrific thoughts that crossed her mind on the subject of cannibalism. She hoped for her own sake that the blue meat sitting before her was definitely from a good source of animal and more specifically, an animal meant for food. The fact that it was raw was the part that disgusted her about it. She was relieved when Nahl set out a delicious looking salad and a tray of fruit in front of each of them. Nahl served them the same tea that Victoria had the pleasure of sampling earlier that day and then sat down next to Victoria.

Victoria watched as Scalnora said something that sounded like a dinner blessing and then they all began to eat. They seemed to be enjoying the blue meat which Victoria avoided and instead focused on the salad and fruit. She quietly ate while she listened to the dinner chatter that erupted between all four Fallen. Nahl didn't speak a whole lot but every once in a bit she would say something and usually it was when she seemed to be asked a question. Sometimes gestures and eyes would fall on Victoria which made her feel a little self-conscious. She also listened in and began trying to pinpoint certain Fallen words that seemed to pop out frequently. Once she had finished her salad, she sat patiently listening to them talk and sipped on her tea. As she listened to them her mind wondered to thoughts about her life and family back on Earth. She thought about her friends which included thoughts about Joseph which left her drifting back into her sadness.

After dinner was over with, both Tyalk and Skaylsis had retired to their rooms for the night, meanwhile as Nahl cleaned up the kitchen, Scalnora led Victoria upstairs to the bathing room. She turned on the faucet and left the room temporarily leaving Victoria to swish a hand through the delightfully steamy water. This peaked an interest in her as to how the water got so hot. Scalnora returned with a large cloth that Victoria assumed was a towel, a dainty one that she figured was a wash cloth, and a beautiful soft blue robe that seemed to be made from silk. Scalnora laid the items down on the counter top and then turned her attention to the large stone bathtub which was still filling with hot water. Victoria watched her grab a tall dark bottle from the cabinet beside the sink and pour a small amount of its contents into the water. No sooner than she did the room instantly smelled of a very relaxing and sweet aroma. The smell of the bath instantly relaxed Victoria and gave her a sense of serenity. Just as Scalnora turned off the faucet, Nahl had joined them after having cleaned up the kitchen.

Scalnora motioned toward the tub and Victoria knew she was going to have to strip down for it. This made her hesitate for a second but she then figured that since they were all female that it wouldn't matter. She wondered what physical differences female Fallen had from human women, despite the obvious clawed hands, mohawk hair, sharp teeth and vastly different facial features. As she briefly stood in all her naked glory in front of Scalnora and Nahl, she noticed their exchange in glances were ones of familiarity. As she stepped into the tub she figured that there must not be too much of a difference between what was underneath both dresses and armor for both Fallen and humans.

The hot water felt refreshing and the aroma nearly made Victoria feel as if she could sleep in the bath throughout the night. She had forgotten about her worries as she closed her eyes and leaned back against the tub. Her eyes popped open again as she felt hands running through her now wet hair and she realized that Nahl was actually washing her hair. Scalnora handed her the wash cloth and Victoria caught on to what was going on. Scalnora was treating her as an honored guest. Victoria nodded in appreciation to her before she began to submerge the cloth in the wonderful hot water. Scalnora said a few last words to Nahl before leaving the room. Nahl only nodded in respect and stayed sitting on the chair next to the tub, continuing to wash Victoria's hair in some sort of oil that smelled very much like coconut. She wondered how the heck the House of Winter could even acquire a coconut and what the heck smelled like coconut if it wasn't coconut. Whatever it was from, the smell of the oil definitely made her feel completely immersed in relaxation.

Nahl had made sure that Victoria was alright and pointed toward the plug in the bottom of the tub, while saying something that Victoria could only figure was Nahl instructing her to drain the tub before she left the bathing room. Victoria had nodded and continued soaking in her bath for a while, letting all her worries and stress wash away into the hot water. She nearly fell asleep before she realized she had been in the tub much longer than she had intended. Hastily she stood up and pulled the plug on the tub so it would drain while she dried off with the towel that Scalnora had left for her. The blue silk robe that had been left for her was beautiful yet simple and very comfy as she tied it around her waist with a sash. It was slightly different than a human robe. She noticed the robe was the only garment that was left for her to adorn and so she figured that undergarments and night clothes were often adorned in the bedroom, or Fallen tended to sleep in the nude. The latter idea gave her fair skinned cheeks a rosy hue as she blushed from the thought. Maybe they even slept in the silken robes for that matter.

As Victoria opened the door she was still slightly blushing from her previous thoughts and only looked toward the stairs while turning toward her bedroom at full stride and running right into a hard muscled chest. The force of the impact threw her to the floor and a very ominous 'Oomph!' came bursting from her as she hit the floor on her rear, catching herself with her hands before she could roll onto her back. Victoria felt a little silly for not looking the other way before she just started heading down the hall, but felt even worse when she looked up. There in the hallway, practically blocking her way stood Tyalk, tall and imposing. He just stood there and stared at her while she sat there on the floor suddenly feeling embarrassed. Her embarrassment this time was not because she had run into him stupidly, but because Tyalk's shirt was unbuttoned and in the dim lights she could very easily see that he was definitely well sculpted. Tyalk was definitely built well body wise and she could clearly see that there wasn't much of a difference from a human males chiseled chest and core. Victoria realized her eyes and mouth were wide open and hastily glanced down, closing both of them and holding her breath. Opening them a second later her dread only worsened as she then realized that her robe very easily revealed a good deal of cleavage for Tyalk's viewing pleasure and quickly she grabbed her robe with her right hand and sighed deeply in despair.

Looking off to the side of the stairs she saw Skaylsis down on the first floor of the house staring up at both of them with one arm crossed while he propped his tilted head onto the other hand as though deep in thought. Suddenly he burst out snickering and was snickering so hard in his attempt to keep quiet for the sake that his mother didn't wake up, that he was bent over and on one knee. He definitely reminded her then of a teenage human boy. The thought was interrupted by Tyalk sharply addressing him in a hushed tone while he pointed with one hand. When he was done scolding/threatening and pointing at his little brother who continued to snicker quietly and chatter to himself, Tyalk turned back to Victoria who was still watching Skaylsis in all his gleeful mischief. Victoria glanced back up at Tyalk slowly. He could tell the human female was embarrassed. Any Fallen female would feel the same way should she find herself in such a predicament.

Tyalk held out his hand and as she hesitantly looked at it Tyalk said, "I am sorry about my brother."

Victoria looked Tyalk in the eyes as she took his hand and allowed him to help her up off the floor. She could not understand a word of what he was saying but she did get the feeling he was being apologetic very much like a gentleman.

"I'm ok." Victoria replied as she moved off to the side in attempt to signal she was ready to head back down the hall in the direction she was originally going.

Tyalk moved over as far as he could without nearly taking a tumble over the edge of the railing and Victoria didn't hesitate getting past him to get to her room. She had repeated the same words she had said when she had first saw the city. He remembered it was like a reassurance that she was ok after first gasping at the city and confusing both Skaylsis and himself. He looked after her as she continued down the hallway and disappeared into her room, never once looking back out of deep humiliation. Once she was out of sight Tyalk turned around so he could proceed downstairs and "quietly" pummel mischievous Skaylsis for being so annoying.