Time passed. For one hundred and fifty five days Zahra spent every other day in the torture devices and the other recovering. Then she spent one hundred and fifty five days working in the hall of Klartius. 

Valna'a, on the other hand was often at a lose end. Since having to resign from the military, she had lost a major part of her being. Time spent with training or just socialising with her troops was now just dead time.

It wasn't as though she could find another career. With the expected shortened life span caused by the Rite of Soul Fusing. Instead of being able to spend hundreds of years honing her skills in he current field, she was expected to have less than a hundred years left. And that was even if nothing happened to the human she was tied to.

She spent some time with her sister but lacked the aptitude to be a natural healer nor the time to learn the skills. Yslana's boss had also made it clear that Valna'a, and her stigma, was not welcome.

A sentiment shared by many of her people. As daughter of the most powerful member of the clan she had been someone to be seen with. Now she was a social pariah. Even her own father didn't want here at events.

So she found herself walking the streets of Cas'Mak'l, getting to know the city that was at the heart of her father's realm. It turned out to be nothing like what she had grown up with. There was homelessness, hopelessness and helplessness in abundance. Initially this shocked her, a bit, until she realised it was unsurprising considering her culture's encouragement of personal advancement at the expense of someone weaker.

On one of her walks she neared the Hall Of Klartius, where she felt the urge to go and check up on Zahra, her human. Calculating that she should be there by now Valna'a gave into her urges. Smiling at her sentimentality she walked into the hall.

As she crossed the threshold she heard the sound of a slave darting into one of the hidden rooms and attempting to quietly close the door. Making her way over to the sound she opened the door and walked in, ready to surprise Zahra. She was taken aback when the terrified creature in front of her was not only not her human, but was not even a human.

"Sorry, I was looking for someone else." She mumbled, leaving the room quickly. It was only as she left the hall proper that she realised she had apologised to a slave.

Walking back to her quarters she vowed never to put herself in that situation again. It was embarrassing enough for her own kind to see her as weak, but for slaves? That was unacceptable.

She also realised that if Zahra was not cleaning the hall she must now be back in rotation for the feeding machines. This genuinely upset her. She did not want her human to be going through that. Not just because of the risk of death. She actually wanted her to not suffer.

Returning to the palace she went to the study and powered up one of the family's computers. She didn't want to use her own computer to check up on Zahra for two reasons. First she didn't want it traced back to her, and second, because she wasn't sure just how much security clearance she still had.

By rights the computers should require her to log in with her personal ID, that would be able to check her clearance , but Korsephan was too lazy to want to log in any time he wanted to use a computer, so had insisted they just be set up with full access by default. This was a massive security issue as it gave the servants, and even the slaves, full access to the clan's secret information. They just had to be brave enough to risk being caught.

With the computer up and connected to information grid she began her search for 06ADH1072. As she had suspected, Zahra had another three days in the rotation. However, this did mean that her herd of humans would now be on the recovery stage of the rotation - locked in their cell, but no longer taken for torture. In two more days they would be taken to their rest assignments. A few more taps on the screen showed that she would indeed be assigned back to the Hall of Klartius. Again, at the request of Principae Kal'Va.

With two days to spare she decided that the next day she would scout out Zahra's homeworld. Double checking her armour and equipment were in top form she suited up and went to get some rations from the food store before signing out a jetbike from the family's garage.

Previously she would let her commanding officer know where she was going and why, but now she was her own boss, so she would just leave a note in the study and took off.

As she still had her personal gate controller, from her days as a scout, she could use any of the gate facilities to get to the human world. Opting to avoid the security checks required at one of the prisons she opted for a smaller civilian gate on the outskirts of the city, that normally led to a small beach resort.

Early the next morning she, again, checked her gear and vehicle - mistrusting her brother was a good idea for anyone, especially her. Satisfied that no one had touched any of it she set out for the selected gate.

The ride through the city was unusually pleasant. For once she was not merely travelling from point A to point B, but on the first leg of a bit of an adventure. As she left the royal compound the planet's sun was just creeping over the horizon to her left and bathed the city in a pleasant pink glow. Wondering if her appreciation for the dawn came from her association with Zahra, she eventually came to the conclusion that it must be as she hadn't been enamoured of the view in any of the previous years of her life here.

While physically the same size as the military gates the fact that they were hardly used in comparison to the military gates have give the civilian gates the reputation of being the lesser/smaller gates.

Cruising up she was pleased to see that there was no queue, so pulled up next to the controls ready to temporally reset them for her journey. As she was programming her co-ordinates an officious looking guard approached her. Dispensing with any formalities he simply drew his pistol and challenged her.

He had barely started forming the first word when Valna'a cut him off

"Slaves are not allowed to talk to citizens without permission."

"I am not a slave. I am Assistant Guard Commander Ratur Deathdealer. "

"How much do you want to bet on that? You are threatening a member of the royal family with a pistol."

The guard quickly pointed the gun in a different direction, though it was still in his hand.

"I assume you can prove that, your highness." A more differential tone in his voice.

Valna'a showed the man her ID. She might be a pariah, but she was still a princess. And someone lowly enough to be a mere assistant guard commander on a civilian gate would have to be brave indeed to challenge her.

"You may reset the controls when I'm gone. I have my own way back."

"Yes, your highness." Relief now, that he wasn't going to get in trouble.

She made the final adjustments and turned the gate on, then got back on her jetcycle ready to go through. Pulling up to the gate she congratulated the guard for doing his duty in challenging her and rode through.

Back on the human world of Cestus IV, Valna'a quickly stopped the bike and got off, ready to dive for cover if anyone was watching.

Seeing no-one she got out her scanner and searched for radio signals, electronic devices and, using Infra-red, humans. Satisfied she knew where all the scanners were, and where they were covering, she prepared to move out.

Unlike the hunting parties she had no intention of using the valley to exit the hills. After all she had a vehicle that could fly and didn't want to be seen. So she got back on her bike, activated the stealth mode of both it and her armour and headed off in the direction of the city.

Cruising over the landscape she could see the evidence of her people's previous visits. Where the initial attacks had been against the nearby farmers, no humans lived out this far anymore. The old settlements now abandoned, though any livestock had been taken.

Stopping at one to check she found the place just as the elves had left it. Minus the bodies of the dead, and the living animals. The buildings were intact, the beds still made, even the remains of their last meal still on the table. In a small  bedroom she found a stuffed rabbit laying discarded one the floor. Picking that up she absentmindedly stuffed it into an equipment pouch. On the dresser was a picture of a little human girl holding the rabbit, and she took that too. Making a note that this would make a good hideout over night, if she didn't find anywhere better, she carried on her journey.

Approaching the human city she slowed the bike down. While it might be invisible to human sight and technology any effect it had on the landscape would not be. An alert guard seeing an unexpected dust cloud had alerted their prey before.

Stopping, and parking, atop a tall office block she took her time to get a feel for the city. Like, probably, every city ever it had it's zones. Over there were the big houses in large grounds that defined the area as being for the wealthy and/or powerful. There was the medium class housing and the lower class zones. A leisure park was on the outskirts, along with other entertainment venues.

A number of industrial zones were spread around the city, one of which caught her eye. A few warehouses were gathered together along with a couple of other buildings that didn't mean anything to the elvan scout. Much like similar areas around the city, but this one looked abandoned. No vehicles in the yards, no lights on in the buildings and no sign of humans going about their business.

Judging by the sun's position in the sky it was mid afternoon, which gave her plenty of time to scout out the abandoned area and decide if it was good enough for tonight, or if she should go back to the abandoned farm.

Making a note of the height that the human's drove their vehicles she made her way over to the complex 30 metres higher. Once there she parked her bike in a shadowy corner and had a look around.

The buildings were in fairly good condition, even if some of the windows had been smashed in. Valna'a wasn't sure why the humans would do that to their own property and resolved to add it to the list of questions for Zahra when she got back home. The doors, on the other hand, were mostly in good condition and showed no signs of damage. Each secured by a key coded entry system.

Unperturbed she got back on her bike and rode to the top of one of the warehouse buildings to have a look up there. Here she found a roof access door that appeared to be merely to keep the elements out, not intruders. The lock was weak and easily succumbed to a bit of gentle persuasion.

Inside was a set of stairs leading down to a first floor gantry that ran round the outside of the warehouse she was in, except for the back wall where a row of offices seemed to butt up to the wall and the walkway went in front of them. Along the sides of the building, about a quarter of the way from the ends was four sets of stairs down to the ground floor, with a fifth set in between two of the offices, in the middle of the walkway.

The light in here wasn't great, the ceiling skylights needing a good clean, but there was sufficient illumination for her to scout around. Leaving the offices to last she checked out the rest of the first floor, though was unsurprised at not finding anything.

The offices, on the other hand, were a treasure trove of abandoned human detritus. The previous occupiers hadn't bothered to take their office equipment with them. The desks, chairs and even computer systems were still in place. As were note boards and calendars. One desk even had a picture of a middle aged woman still in a frame on it.

One office, was better equipped than the others with a larger desk, a bigger chair and thicker carpet.

"These humans are really not very different to us." She thought, noting that their more powerful obviously liked the trappings of their power.

Looking through the desk she found a bottle of amber liquid, half empty, some small plastic cards and a piece of paper with words and numbers on it. Reading through, she realised these were the combinations for the door locks for the site. This manager couldn't be bothered to remember them, so had them written down for convenience. In the corner of this room were also the only windows in the building.

Taking a copy of the codes she left the first floor and went to search the ground level. Here were abandoned packing crates and boxes. Mostly empty, though a few looked like they had been filled and sealed.

Under the offices were some toilets and a small kitchen area. Dotted around the walls were a few fire exits and at the opposite end to the offices was the main door. This constituted two large sliding doors and a smaller man sized one. The larger doors were only secured by a bolt in the floor and catch while the smaller door was secured only by the lock.

Opening the smaller door she stepped out side and tried the relevant combination on the lock. Sure enough the catch unlocked and the door would have opened, had it been shut.

Just in case, she returned to the roof and brought her bike down to ground level before actually closing the door and trying the combination. Again, the catch unlocked and the door opened.

Satisfied she could get back into the warehouse she toured the complex checking the codes on all the doors. Each door succumbing to its code and opening.

Comfortable she could now enter each building she went through each of them looking at the waste the humans had not bothered to take with them.

In one office block was a rest room still complete with water boiler and entertainment system. In the cupboards there was still plates, mugs and even coffee pods. Though there was no machine to put them in.

In the offices there were still computers, diaries and even paperwork, along wiht the furniture and computers. There was even a paper bag in one room with groceries in it.

Ideally she would use one of the office buildings to set up in, however there was no easy way to get her bike in, and she didn't want to be separated from her transport.

In the end, she decided to set up in the warehouse office nearest the roof access and store her bike on the roof for an easy get away, if needed.

Returning to that building, she set about securing it as much as possible, while not looking like it was now fortified. Moving some of the crates around she set the entrance up as a maze, designed to slow down any intruders and allow her time to escape. With this completed, she settled down for a few hours rest before reconnoitring the nearby area.

After a fitful and not very refreshing sleep she set out to explore the local area.  Her plan was to explore the local area extensively today and ensure there were no threats close to her base. After that she would explore the city proper in a less exhaustive manner, just to get a feel for the city.  During later cycles when she could not be with Zahra, she would come back and explore more completely.

The first night went well and there was nothing local to cause her any concern about the safety of her temporary base. This allowed her a slightly better sleep, but she was still deep in enemy territory with no support, so she did not rest that well.

The next night she went for a tour of the upper middle class areas of the city. Not a logical place to start, either commercial or lower class would have been better, but Zahra was from the middle classes and Valna'a wanted to find her parents' house.

It took her a few hours to find her way to correct street and the house in question. Even knowing what a despicable human being Zahra's father was she still felt an unpleasant aura from the house. Even coming from a world as unpleasant as hers this was not a place she wanted to go enter.

Giving the area a wide berth, she tried to find other places of importance in Zahra's life. Without clear instructions as to the location she couldn't decide which house was Tia's. Though, she realised, that enough time has passed that Tia would have probably got her own place by now and probably not living in the area.

She did find other important places though. Zahra's schools and the religious facility she had attended. Surprisingly she got another bad feeling at the temple and kept away from that as well. 

Over the next few days she visited the other parts of the city, making notes as to where she would want to explore more extensively in later visits. Zahra might never get to visit this planet again, but if she did, she would be staying here and Valna'a would be staying here with her.

With a final check of her base, to ensure she hadn't left any clues as to who had been here she collected the items of interest that she wanted to take back with her and made her way back to the gate.

A journey as uneventful as the trip out here she still kept her vigilance up, especially as she neared the portal. Stopping the other side of the hill to the cave she crept forward to again scan the environment to ensure there were no new sensors she could trip. Satisfied she retrieved her bike and entered the cave, powering up the gate as she did so and allowing her to glide into the gate room on the other side without having to stop.

A startled guard was halfway through lowering his weapon at the intrusion when she disabled her stealth package allowing him to identify her as a scout in his own clan.

Returning the jetcycle to the family's vehicle pool Valna'a made her way back to her quarters at the palace to get cleaned up and changed out of her armour. She also needed to charge up her equipment, for while it still had more than half its charge, she preferred to keep it at full power.

Once back in her room she stripped off her gear, placing on charge her armour and other powered equipment and plugging her suit into the waste reclamation system, before getting in a much anticipated shower.

The shower, however, wasn't the paradise she expected. It felt like something was missing, but all her toiletries were there. When she got out, after a much shorter than usual time, her towels were in the right place, and correctly folded, her clothes were all correct and her quarters neat and tidy. Yet it still felt like something was missing.

Putting the thought from her mind she went back to the end of mission routine: stripping and cleaning all her equipment, including weapons. Technically the family had servants for that sort of thing, but Valna'a had been trained to do it herself. After all it was her life that depended on her equipment not a random servant's. That and it was much easier doing field repairs if you were an expert on your gear.

With everything sorted she went to get something to eat. As she chewed her way through an elvan meal she again reflected on the multitude of types of food the humans seemed to eat.

Sated, she cleaned up after herself. A feat she knew she wouldn't have done a year ago. That was why the family had servants. Now however, it just seemed the right thing to do. She wasn't physically incapable of doing it and the servants had enough other things to do that they didn't need the extra work.

With that out of the way she returned to her quarters to write up a report of what she had seen and done on the human world. It probably wouldn't be read, after all she went to the humans' population centre which would be far too far from the gate to raid. And far too well defended.