“What?” I asked Aris, “Why can't you stay with me?”  “I need to lead.  I can not do that and focus on you at the same time,” Aris answered, “this way I am assured that you are safe so that I can do what I need to do.”  You will be fine.  Trust your skin and if things go bad, just ask for help.  “Okay,” I agreed, not as sure as I tried to let on.  “You will be fine.  I trust Ripley with you,” he assured me.  I nodded my head yes in acceptance.  He took my hand to reassure me.  It had that familiar calming affect.

They started discussing strategy.  Lia and Max would accompany Ripley and I.  The others would all be stationed at various points on the compound.  More men arrived as we were eating lunch, so we would outnumber the Drakes enough that they shouldn't cause any trouble.  We are planning just in case.  There was more talk about strategy, but I didn't understand so I quickly lost interest.  My attention went to Ripley.  He was watching me.  I smiled at him.  He smiled back reassuringly, We will be fine.  I can handle it.  Wait a minute.  Ripley?  Yes.  You can speak to me like this?  Yes.  Yaris opened up the communication line for us.  Can he hear us?  If he wants to, but he will not unless we invite him or if there is an emergency.  I don't understand most of what they are talking about.  We could go smoke.  We can do that?  “Yaris,” Ripley interrupted, “Jade and I are going for a break.” Aris nodded, “we will join you shortly.”

Ripley and I got up from the table and left the room.  We went to Ripley's room so that he could put on his winter wear.  I changed into mine.  “How do you do that, anyway?” he asked.  “I don't know.  I just do,” I told him.  He nodded accepting the answer.  There must be things about him that he can't explain too.  “There are,” he answered.  I looked at him.  “How do I make it to where you can't hear everything I think?”  “I can not explain that because it will be different for you.  Yaris needs to do that,” he answered.  “Okay,” I acknowledged, “Would you like to see something cool?”  “Sure,” he agreed.  I turned my back to him, then told the skin to braid my hair, slowed down.  “So you think a command and it just happens?” he asked.  “Yes.”  “That is the coolest thing that I have ever seen.”

He held the door open for me.  We went out into the hallway and met up with Antony and Kale.  They had just gone out.  I heard them whispering after, but couldn't understand what they were saying.  We went out to the front porch instead of the back porch.  “Why the front porch?” I asked.  “Because that back porch is going to be packed all of the time right now,” he answered, “I do not want to have to introduce you every time we go out.”  “Yeah, I don't want that either,” I smiled.

He lit me a cigarette, then one for himself.  I took a long draw off of mine, held it for a second, then exhaled, “I wouldn't mind having some of his good wine again.”  Ripley smiled, “He said that he will bring some out if we wait for him.”  “Okay,” I agreed.  A few minutes later Aris came out with a bottle of wine and handed it to me.  “How do I make it to where Ripley doesn't hear everything I think?” I asked him, then took a drink.  “Here, look into my eyes and watch until I release you,” he answered.  I got close to him and stared into his eyes.  I watched the colors and pictures swirl around in his eyes until he kissed me, then moved back away from me.  “Now he will only hear your thoughts when you want him to,” Aris stated.

“Are you still talking strategy?” I asked.  “Yes.  I am sorry.  I know that it is boring to you,” he answered.  “Not boring.  I just don't understand a lot of it,” I commented.  “We are almost done.  Then it will be time for dinner.  You could go see if Lia would like help in the kitchen,” he suggested.  “Okay,” I agreed, happy to be useful.

“Jade, can I hear your thoughts for a little while just so I can grow accustomed to it?” Ripley asked.  “How do I give him permission?” I asked Aris.  “You just think it like you do when you change clothes,” Aris answered.  “Okay, does that work on you?”  He smiled and shook his head no, “It's different for us.  But I will not be listening as much.  I will be too busy.”  “But you will hear me if I need you?”  “Yes, always.”  We finished our cigarettes.

“Now I need to take you to the back porch to introduce you,” Aris told me.  “Do we have to?” I asked, my anxiety level increasing, “I don't like to be in the spotlight.”  He took my hand and started to rub small circles on my palm, instantly relaxing me.  “It is something you will have to get used to,” he told me, “The troops really want to meet you.  You give them something to fight for.”  “Okay,” I agreed reluctantly.  What if they don't like me.  They are going to love you, they both answered in unison.  I giggled, that's just weird.  They both smiled.

We went inside and walked through the cabin to the back door.  Aris turned to look at me, “Are you ready?”  I nodded my head “yes.”  Aris opened the door and we walked out.  There were so many people gathered.  Men and women, but no children.  They almost immediately went silent and stood looking at us.  They all saluted.  Aris and Ripley saluted back.  “I would like to introduce to you Jade,” Aris looked at me, “These are our people.”  I smiled then saluted at them.  They all started cheering.  You are not marked, so stay with me.  Some of them have been drinking.  Okay.  Ripley will stay close too.  Aris took a hold of my hand.

A man stepped forward, “My name is Matt.  It is an honor to meet you Jade.  It is an honor to serve you.”  “It is an honor to meet you too,” I offered my hand for a handshake.  He took my hand and kissed it.

A woman showed her way through to the front and shoved Matt to the side.  “So this is the little tramp that has brought charges against my Toby,” she spat at me.  I side-stepped and it went past me and on to the ground.  “Would you like to try again?” I asked, “If it hits me this time I will have you brought up on assault charges.  I guess I just saved you didn't I?”  She just humphed.  “My Toby is innocent.  He could not hurt a fly,” she protested, “why are you lying about him?”  “I’m not lying about him.  I have witnesses,” I told her.  “Who are the witnesses?  They are lying too.  It is a conspiracy.”  “I witnessed it,” Aris told her, “It is time for you to move on, Mrs. Drake, before I have you detained.”  She got shoved aside by the next man and woman that came forward.

“Jade look,” Ripley directed my attention away from the crowd.  My igloo stood finished.  I brought my hand to my mouth, my eyes wide.  “Who finished my igloo?” I asked.  “We did,” several of them answered.  “Thank you so much,” I looked at each of them, “it's perfect.”  “Can we go look at it?” I asked Aris.  “Yes,” he answered.  We made our way through the crowd.  The crowd actually parted for us.

When we got to the igloo, I circled it, taking it in, in awe.  “Can I go inside?” I asked Aris.  “I will go in with you,” he replied.  We got down on our hands and knees at the entrance and crawled inside.  Now I know why there were no children.  The igloo was full of them.  About twenty children were seated around a teenager in the middle reading a story by flashlight.  When we got all of the way inside, we just sat along the edge waiting for the story to finish.  A little girl, of about three or four, with curly black hair, big green eyes and an olive complexion, crawled into my lap and curled up.  “We need a bigger igloo,” I whispered to Aris.  “Cold,” the little girl told me.  She seemed content on my lap though.

We waited for the story to finish then the girl, in the middle, who was reading, looked up at me.  “Are you Jade?” she asked.  They all turned to look at me.  “Yes,” I answered.  “Would you like to read us a story?” a boy of about ten asked.  I looked at Aris who smiled and nodded yes.  “I would,” I answered.  I crawled to the center of the igloo and sat with my legs crossed, “What would you like for me to read?” The girl handed me the same book that she had just read.  “Is this the only one that you have?”  “Yes.”  The book is ‘Beauty and the Beast.’  I opened it and started to read.  That same little girl crawled into my lap again.  I stopped for her to get comfortable, “your warm.”  I began reading again.  Surprisingly that was the only interruption.

When the story ended, I closed the book.  The little girl, in my lap, had fallen asleep.  “Do you want to read it again?” another little girl of about five asked.  “Isn't it about dinner time?” I asked.  “We do not have any dinner tonight,” the older girl, who had been reading stated.  “You don't?” I asked, “Why not?”  “We just do not,” the ten year old boy stated.  “Well would you like to eat dinner with me?” I asked.  “We do not take handouts,” another little boy spoke up.  “Well it wouldn't be a handout,” I told him, “somebody worked hard to finish this igloo and you all let me read this excellent story.  After all of that work you have got to be hungry.”  “We are Miss Jade,” a little girl spoke up.  “So it's settled then,” I stated, “you'll have dinner with me.  Let's go.”

We all crawled out of the igloo.  The girl who was reading tugged on my sleeve as we were walking back, “Jade, my mother will not let me.”  “Let me handle that,” Aris spoke up.  He picked up and carried the little girl that had fallen asleep in my lap.  She laid her head on his shoulder, completely at ease with him.  As we neared the adults, the little girl started to stir, “no, do not take me back,” she wined.  Aris stopped, “what's wrong?  Do you not want to see your mom and dad?”  “Her mom is dead.  Her dad is Tobias Drake,” the older girl told us, “he is not nice to her.  Neither is her grandmother.  None of them are good to her.”  Uh oh.  “Do not worry little one.  I will take care of you,” Aris told her, rubbing her back.  She relaxed.

A silence came over the crowd as we neared.  “We thank you all for completing our igloo,” Aris spoke aloud, “We do not accept charity.  So as payment, we would like to feed all of you for fighting with us.  As a special thanks, Jade has invited all of your children to eat with us for dinner as payment for the finish of the igloo.  Please do not deny us.  It would be an insult and I know that you are all hungry.”

“How are we going to feed all of these people?” I asked Aris.  “Just wait, you will see,” he answered.

The crowd parted and we started walking toward the house, the children following us.  “Wait! Give me that child!” Mrs. Drake stepped out into our way.  The little girl put her arms around Aris' neck, “please do not,” she whispered, “ she will hurt me.”  “Why does she hurt you?” Aris asked.  “I am the reason my mommy died,” the girl answered.  I was taken aback.  What does that mean?  “What does she mean?” Aris asked the woman.  “Her mother died giving birth to her.  She has been nothing but a trouble maker since,” Mrs. Drake answered, “she does not deserve any special treat.  Give her to me!”  She grabbed a hold of the girl and pulled her out of Aris arms.  The girl cried out and tried to get away from her.  The woman reared back and smacked the girl hard on the face.  The girl crumbled to the ground, crying.  “Stop your whining or I will do it again!”  “No!  You will not!” Aris yelled.  He picked the girl up and growled, “she is eating with us and she will stay with us.  You will not harm this child again.”  Aris put his hand on the girls face, healing it.