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profanity he knew.
    They let him out of the hole for ten minutes each week so he could remove the pile of excrement from the
    corner. But he could not remove the stink. Not from the earth that surrounded him on all sides. Not from
    his skin. It was humiliating, degrading, to be forced to squat in that fetid hole like some sort of dung
    beast, blind and dumb and helpless. He prayed for his freedom, for a weapon, for vengeance. Always for
    vengeance. And the hatred grew within him, taking root deep in his heart, choking the life from his soul.
    There was no peace for him now, save in his dreams, vivid dreams haunted by a silver-haired maiden
    with soft, creamy skin and luminous green eyes. Ashlynne… "It was awful, Magny. I've never seen
    anything so terrible in my whole life." Magny nodded, her brown eyes sympathetic, yet alight with
    interest. "I heard Dain talking to my father about it. Were you scared?" "Terrified. He looked so… so
    dangerous." "Number Four. He's…" A flush tinged Magny's cheeks. "He's handsome, isn't he, Lynnie?"
    "What difference does that make?" Ashlynne exclaimed, horrified to hear her own thoughts put into
    words. "He's a slave." "But handsome, don't you think?" "Well, yes," Ashlynne admitted. "He is that." "I
    saw him the other day." Magny fell back on the bed, her arms spread wide. "My oh my, what a man."
    Ashlynne shook her head. Magny was her best friend, but sometimes she just didn't understand her. Of
    course, Magny led a much freer life than Ashlynne. Magny had been to Enjine Base Nine several times;
    she had once confided to Ashlynne that she'd had an affair with a sky pilot from Riga Twelve, and that
    she still saw him whenever he came to Tierde. Sometimes Ashlynne envied her friend her freedom, but
    then she would think how awful it would be to have to live in the mine compound, surrounded by ugliness
    and condemned men. Magny's mother had left Tierde when Magny was only five, declaring she could no
    longer abide living there. She had promised to send for Magny when she found a place to live, but she
    never had. It was a subject she and Ashlynne never discussed. Ashlynne picked up a comb and ran it
    through her hair. "What did they do to him? For attacking Dain?" "He's in solitary." Magny sat up and ran
    a hand through her own hair, wishing it was long and thick and silver-blond like Ashlynne's, instead of
    short and impossibly curly. "Oh. What is that, exactly?" Ashlynne asked, thinking it was probably like
    being locked in a closet or something. But as Magny began to describe it, Ashlynne realized it was far
    worse than anything she had imagined. What would it be like, to be confined to a hole in the ground,
    unable to stand up? "And he has to stay down there, naked, in that hole, for a whole month." Magny
    wrinkled her nose. "It's awful. You can't imagine the smell. They let him out for a few minutes every week
    so he can muck out the hole." Magny shuddered as she grabbed an apple from the bowl beside
    Ashlynne's bed. "He's all right, though?" Magny lifted a knowing brow. "Worried about him, are you,
    Lynnie dear?" "Of course not," Ashlynne said quickly. "Uh huh. Then I guess you won't care that Dain
    beat him again." "He did? Oh, Magny, why?" "You know Dain. He doesn't need a reason. Let's talk
    about something more pleasant, shall we? I hear you're meeting Niklaus soon." Ashlynne nodded. "Yes. I
    have to go to Trellis this summer. To meet him and his family, and discuss the wedding." "Are your
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    parents going?" "No. Father said he can't leave the mine that long." "Well, why doesn't Niklaus come
    here?" "For the same reason. He can't leave. And since he can't come to me, I have to go to him." She
    pointed at the picture of Niklaus on her dressing table. "How can I marry a man I don't even know?"
    "Well, isn't that why you're going to Trellis? To get to know him?" "Well, yes. But do you think