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turf fights. Is that understood? They will keep their distance until I allow the integration.”
    “As the master says,” Ruar said with another bow.
    Halehl flicked his fingers in dismissal, and Ruar gestured at Ampris.
    “Come, come,” he said.
    She followed him beneath an arched overhang leading to a flight of stairs, but before they could climb them, a door slammed from above and footsteps came thudding down the stairs toward them.
    An enormous female Aaroun, spotted in shades of brown and fawn, blocked their path. Garbed in loose, quilted trousers and a sleeveless vest, she was the biggest female Ampris had ever seen, with exaggerated muscle development that rippled beneath her glossy fur. Her neck and shoulders were massive, adding to the impression of sheer physical power. Despite that, her face was feminine, almost dainty, with long-lashed eyes tilted ever so slightly. Her ears were rounded and fringed with cream-colored fur on the tips. She flicked them back now, setting the ownership cartouche in her ear jingling.
    Ampris noticed she wore much additional jewelry as well. Multiple necklaces hung around her neck. Rings glittered on every finger. Her claws were painted carmine, and she wore matching wrist cuffs of heavy gold.
    Ampris could not help but stare at this creature. She had never seen a slave wear so much adornment before.
    “Ruar,” the Aaroun said in a silky, dangerous voice, “what kind of ruvt you bringing to our quarters?”
    The word she spoke was an insult, very dirty. The fur bristled around Ampris’s neck, and her lips curled back from her teeth.
    Ruar glanced between them nervously, coiling and uncoiling his long tail as he did so. “Now, Ylea,” he said in a placating voice, “don’t cause trouble. The master says to stay away from this one for a while. You know the rules.”
    Ylea gripped Ruar’s scrawny shoulder with her red-tipped fingers and moved him aside. Then she stepped right up in Ampris’s face and sniffed the air.
    This additional insult was worse than the word she’d called Ampris. Angered, Ampris fought to keep still, to keep from snarling openly. But now the hair was standing erect along her spine. She narrowed her eyes to slits and growled a low warning in her throat.
    “Stop it. Stop it,” Ruar said in alarm. He fumbled for the transmitter at his belt and pushed it, sending a jolt into Ampris’s throat.
    She coughed and took an involuntary step back, furious with him for overreacting. This giantess wore a restraint collar too. Why wasn’t he punishing her ?
    Ylea advanced on Ampris, crowding her again, giving her little pushes back into the courtyard. “You think you can just come here like princess, one of us from day first? You think you so golden, so pretty, we like you? You think you any kind of match for our team? Hah! You half our size, puny ruvt. You like weed, get snapped in half, in first combat.”
    Ampris felt dwarfed by Ylea’s muscular bulk, but also sized her up in seconds and realized she was slow, almost ponderous, in the way she moved. Ampris could run rings around this behemoth, but she wasn’t ready to betray that yet.
    “I’ve already drawn my first blood,” Ampris said proudly, refusing to back up again. She stood with Ylea towering over her, and held her ground. “I haven’t been snapped in half yet.”
    Ylea’s tilted eyes closed to slits. “First blood?” she repeated, then roared out a laugh. “First? One combat and you dare speak to me? Be silent—”
    As she spoke, she raked her claws at Ampris’s face, but Ampris moved in swift reflex to grip Ylea’s wrist and hold it.
    Surprise darted through Ylea’s eyes before her face contorted with fury. She bared her teeth, roaring a challenge, and yanked her wrist free.
    Ruar darted up and stepped between them. “Ylea, stop it!”
    Ylea slapped him aside, sending him tumbling to the pavement, and leaped at Ampris in a body tackle that took her down.
    It was like being landed on