Seven smiling faces greeted Vanessa at the Tamber clan's slave quarters. All dressed similarly to herself, all with smaller versions of the cuffs she wore.

Her wrist cuffs were stuck together by a small magnet, but her ankle cuffs were separate. She was worn out from the journey, the situation, and the long walk to the Tamber district of the settlement. Shoved forward, she was within the quarters, and the door slid shut behind her with a click.

"Oh, locked in, locked in," a man nearby whined. He was middle-aged, but spoke with a high-pitched, child-like voice. Clearly, the man had disabilities; his left hand was underdeveloped, and he didn't seem the only mentally challenged one in the place.

"Fought them, you stupid, you aren't supposed to fight!" another disabled slave cried out, finger pointed accusingly. She was young, probably in her twenties. "Stupid, stupid!"

Two other young men, and the middle-aged fellow, began to chant 'stupid, stupid, stupid.' Two older women hushed them, and a younger woman just out of her teens went to Vanessa apologetically. "Sorry about that, miss, they get antsy with the lock. Ain't locked hardly ever! Wow, look at you, you're positively a MESS! What's your name, dear, you're safe now."

Vanessa tugged at her wrists – they were still stuck by the magnet. She sighed. "Vanessa," she murmured, looking around, taking in her surroundings to the sounds of shushing and 'stupid, stupid.'

The disabled slaves quieted into giggles and motioned to seat themselves on the floor. The rest seated as well, and Vanessa sat – or rather, crumpled.

"This is Vanessa, everybody," the young girl cheerily announced, absentmindedly tugging at her long, black hair. "Are you scared, still, Ness? May I call you Ness?"

"Learned your lesson, then, no need for violence," an older woman whispered to Vanessa, nodding knowingly. The disabled four nodded along with her.

"I'm Yola," the young girl offered, smiling, and began to list off everyone's names. "This is Troy, Merle, Dax, Ar-"

She stopped and twirled as the door clicked and slid open, letting bright rays into the musty hut. "New girl," a young boy's voice commanded, as his thin frame silhouetted in the light. "You're called to the main house."

The slaves beamed, as though that was a wonderful thing.

Vanessa didn't care to feel the same. Nevertheless, she stood and stepped out into the sun once more as the other slaves waved to her. She followed the lad, a mere 13 by the look of it, with skin like ochre and shiny black hair. He led her to a large building, that hardly looked like a 'main house,' not like the somewhat-cleaner and nicer stone buildings she'd passed. Inside, she knew this was a barn.

The boy motioned for her to sit in the dust, which she reluctantly did. "The name's Tamber Luke. 'Sir' to you. My dad's the clan head, so you'll do what I tell you to, got it?" he demanded, standing over her as menacingly as a 13-year-old gangly kid could. "Where did you come from?"

She thought, smiling slightly. "I'm a nomad."

With a hard slap to her face, the boy grimaced. "Where?"

Vanessa's head remained to the side, cheek tingling. She was a bit shocked. "Nowhere-"

Slap!

Moving to stand, the boy shoved her back to the ground, and slapped her again.

She glared up at him. A bead of sweat ran into her bad eye.

Slap! "You're going to tell me!" Slap!

Lips pursed, she saw him gear up for a left hook, and dodged. The boy pulled back, and she fell onto her side, the weight of the cuffs at her back off-setting her balance when she avoided his blow.

Luke laughed, an eerily young laugh, and walked over to kneel over her. His smile became a frown as he saw her expression not of fear or reverence, but of pure anger. Slaves know their place; he'd have to teach her! Pinning her thighs with his knees, he crawled atop her, and reached to untie her clothing.

With a low growl, she head-butted him, and kicked him in the back to fell him. Scrambling away, she rushed to the nearest tomas, unhooked its reins from its cell with her teeth, and used a stool in the cell to climb atop it. The tomas sauntered to the door and nudged it open, startling several farmhands outside. Unable to grip the reins, Vanessa kicked the tomas' sides to break it into a run.

Instead, it threw her, and she landed hard on her back.