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The next few weeks passed in a happy blur. Jasmine and Keilor’s romance progressed, Wiley became better at fending off her mother and Jayems found endless ways to make love to her. Wiley was even starting to make some friends among her peers, though she gravitated to the ladies her mother found less than suitable.

Oh, they were ladies all right, but they were into sports and highly physical, or else had a wicked sense of humor. Worse, they had little rank. Two of her favorites were Shanra, daughter of a preeminent musician, and Kayless, whose mother designed many of the dresses for women of status.

In their middle twenties, the women still lived with their parents as was the custom. When they weren’t hanging out at Wiley’s suite, they visited at each