Mike sighed as though she were pestering him, "Amanda, you are restricted by more orders and my rules. If I haven't bothered giving an order yet, then you have a choice until I take it away. Just I or me works for now. Now, please talk about your old life according to instructions. Remember, just one slip up means that tongue is gone. Then you won't have to worry about how to refer to yourself."

Don ran his hair idly through Abigail's dark curls, gentler now that she was branded. "You are allowed to talk, girl."