Mary Jane called at two-thirty on my cell to tell me that Juniper had phoned to let her know she was staying over with a friend -- a former co-worker ...rom the Johns Hopkins Library -- and that she was all right. She was taking over-the-counter medication, Juniper had told her mother, for her as-yet undisclosed illness.The message to Juniper to call me had been relayed, Mary Jane assured me. "I thought she would have already called you by now," she said."How long since you talked to her?" It was. I knelt down, with a straight back, hands behind my back and looking at the floor. Red lifted my head up "always look us into the eyes. We want to see what is going on in your head. We know that you will submit to our will at all times, be proud of your gift to us. There may be times when one of us tells you to look at the floor or our feet but the norm is to focus on our eyes." Yes Goddess." I almost added "thank you" but remembered what happened the last time and stopped myself just in time.. Or revolt, as the Emirate Navy will not interfere in planetary matters. Hence their Viziers tend to try and keep a lid on the worst of the abusers.”“Guess I’m the lucky one,” I shrugged.“I’ll be the first to admit the Empire is not perfect,” Amantil admitted. “But there are a few Realms out there that are really unpleasant for the people living in them if they get out of line with what their rulers want.”The following day I was in Medical Resource talking with Ashlann and Jerrin over a. All the parties, all the booze, all the drugs and yes, all the men.“‘Sam didn’t say anything,’ Lisa told me, ‘then when I was finished ... I was crying ... he picked me up and kissed me even deeper than ever before ... and said he didn’t care WHO I had slept with in the past ... the only thing he cared about was WHO I was going to be sleeping with in the future ... and he hoped it was with him.’“Once Lisa realized Sam actually meant it, that was when SHE dropped down on her knees and asked him.