..there were no people. During the lastthree years that I had been coming here every week, I'd met othervisitors just four times, exchanging nods wit...h them in passing.It was a remarkably sunny day of spring, the Wednesday before Easter.Birds flitted among the trees and bushes announcing new birth. The snowhad withdrawn almost completely, just on some northern scarps and slopeswere left the last reminders of departed winter. I walked up a lightincline on a trail enjoying every sound, every. She was then instantly sorry, her eyes widening as she found herself copying one of Sasami's little gestures. Slapping a hand over her offending mouth while Ryoko waited for some kind of rebuttal. Mental, verbal or what passed for ether in her current circumstance. None however seemed to be forth coming.It still required several seconds before she found the nerve to glance up directly into a pair of amused emerald eyes."What I mean is..." Ryoko stammered. "Well its just that ... your," A royal. I needed something else; something slightly less dramatic but something that would leave her feeling like an abused animal rather that the human being she had been just a day earlier. That’s when I remembered I needed to piss.“Fine, you want to be tested let’s see just how ready you are.” I untied her quickly, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her into the bathroom. I have to give her credit; she didn’t flinch at the abuse to her scalp.“You need to piss, don’t you?”“Yes Master” was the. After all, it was only recently that you've learned that the man who lived with your mother was not your true father, that I was the one who had given you life." You know about that?" I asked."Gianna, I've known exactly where you and Kathia have been all along. It was foolish of her to think that I would not have kept track of my own daughter. I could have taken you and her at any time, but I decided to let her have you for a while. I let you have your childhood with her before you would take.