"How have they been tonight, Rian?" Trophy asked him as he entered the room, angling the double stroller inside, which had turned out to be the easiest way to bring them to her.

"A handful as usual." he replied as he unbuckled Yunan first, handing him to her before doing the same for Saudade. "What's going on? You don't look too good."

"Nothing I want to talk about right now. I'm sure you'll hear all the gossip." Trophy said, eagerly cuddling her children. "Could you bring their crib in here too? No, wait, their portable playpen would be easier to move. And plenty of diapers. Oh, and their favorite toys! They'll be sleeping in here with me tonight. Once you do that, you can take the rest of the night off."

Solace knocked on the door just as Rian was leaving to get the things from the nursery. "Oh, hello Rian." she said, surprised to see him.

"Do I smell my dinner?" Trophy asked.

"Yes, it's not much, but it should fill you up. I thought we could talk, but you're busy obviously., We'll see you in the morning when we come to pick her up?"

"Sure, that's fine. Just put the plate on the nightstand, please." Trophy offhandedly agreed as she took turns bouncing the twins up and down on the bed while her dinner was left on the nightstand. "That's your Auntie Solace, you two. Can you say hello?" She smiled fondly at their happy drooling faces. "I wonder when they will be able to talk."

"Probably too soon and not soon enough. Good night." Solace said before closing the door behind her.

Trophy was playing peek-a-boo with them when Rian returned with the playpen and overflowing diaper bag. "Thanks, Rian. Would you mind setting up the pen and putting them in it, so I can eat?" she asked. The energy boost she had from being with her children had vanished, and she was exhausted again. Hopefully some food would help.

"No problem. You sure you want me to take the rest of the night off?" he asked, double-checking her offer as he quickly got the playpen ready for the twins and put them in it with their favorite toys and blankets.

"Yes." she answered almost harshly, then decided to tease him so he wouldn't ask more questions. "Don't you have some hot stud locked in your basement who's pining away for you?"

"Not this week." he countered as he headed towards the door. "See you tomorrow night."

Trophy forced herself to start eating, her appetite having vanished as well, now that she was alone again. Her parting shot to Rian didn't help either, it really wasn't very funny to her, since she had just been locked up in someone's basement. Trying to shake it off, she watched her twins play as she ate. "I'm not alone, not as long as I have my family." she reminded herself.

Nooj and Solace drove the first few minutes back to their own home in silence, until they came to the first stop light. "What did you mean about getting our house ready for her?" he asked.

"I would like to give our cook and butler six weeks' paid vacation, so we can have the house to ourselves while we help her adjust to being back in civilization. She can do their work for them, and that way she can still feel that she's a slave, but without the sexual aspects." she quietly explained. "But…" Solace paused instead of finishing her sentence.

"You want me to have sex with her, don't you?" Nooj could tell by her phrasing and demeanor that she was back in her role as his slave wife.

"No, I really don't." she replied emphatically. "I would prefer that she became a nun if the Yevon priesthood was still around. But I don't see how else we can learn the full extent of the damage done to her. I tried questioning her to find out what sexual lies he had beaten into her, but she only repeated what he had taught her to say when she was introducing herself. She couldn't understand what I was asking her. Her behavior during sex will speak volumes and help us to help her more. And Baralai wouldn't agree to have sex with her, he's made it clear he's not interested. If he won't, it has to be you. The fewer people who know about her, the better."

"I don't want to have sex with her either, but if you're sure…I want you to know I'm only agreeing because I pity her. We should help her however we can. But in return, you've got to do something for me." he told her.

"What?" Solace asked, though it was more for him to repeat his feelings towards Alase than to find out what he wanted. She had never expected him to say he pitied anyone.

"What did you say she said her name was?" he answered with another question.

"Whore." Solace said distastefully.

"She kept begging for mercy, make up a background story for her where that's her name, and tomorrow I'll have some of my less ethical employees come up with paperwork to prove it." he informed her.

"Mercy? That's a wonderful name for her!" Solace exclaimed. "After we get home and have dinner, I'll start on her new identity. What's going to happen to…Arrass?"

"I'm sure it will be too good for him, whatever the judge decides." was all Nooj would say on that subject.

Knowing him well enough to change the topic, she turned the conversation back to Alase. "I don't want him finding out about her though, if we're going through with this, I think we should also have a funeral for Alase. And minor plastic surgery so no one will recognize her."

"My humble wife never asks for much." he said sardonically ."So we get rid of our servants, let her be our new one, fake her identity and appearance, fake her funeral, anything else?"

Also knowing that he was just acting up to cover his real feelings about the situation, she responded in a similar vein. "I'm thinking she should stay in the suite next to ours. It will make the necessary booty call that much more convenient, won't it?"

Nooj merely frowned and half-grunted at his older wife's rare use of contemporary slang as he kept driving.