At dusk the Amazon returned to camp, hung up her bow and quiver and was immediately pulled to one side by what appeared to be her command unit of four for a conference. After several minutes, she joined Dani with two deep bowls in hand and sat down crossing her legs. A young man followed her and released Dani from her bonds and quickly retreated. The Amazon allowed Dani a moment to shake circulation back into her hands before handing her a bowl and a long handled deep bowled spoon.

She introduced herself as Maddie; no middle name, no surname, not title, just Maddie.

Dani did not return the favor, but she accepted the bowl and dug in. She was famished. It was a chunky stew with tiny yellow flowers floating on top. The flowers added a bright tangy flavor, the perfect counterpoint to the rich flavor of the meaty stew.

Almost the moment they put the bowls down the boy materialized to take them away.

“I want another, if you please.” Dani instructed the boy, and then she looked pointedly at Maddie. “For my friend.”

It had not escaped her notice that Theo had been denied food as well – another serious human rights infraction, and in Dani’s mind, another black mark against Maddie and her people., If this was the way the Orphan King and his kind treated prisoners … well, the invectives kept piling up.

“You are going to be a handful.” Maddie observed in a dry voice after she dismissed the boy.

“I will not sit idly by while you and your people abuse Theo.”

“There are two things I will not tolerate: tantrums and bullying and so far today you have transgressed on both counts. I am willing to give latitude because you are unfamiliar with our customs and because my father has spoken highly of you, but I will not allow you to abuse my people, especially not for the sake of Dreyden’s Disciple.”

Dani saw the steel in Maddie’s eyes, she heard it in her voice. Dani nursed no delusion that she could match her – she had been born to authority, it was in her blood. Dani could only infringe upon it, she could only mimic it. Her first language teacher in the third grade had called her a natural mimic. Yet, Dani would not abandon Theo.

“Keep your people from abusing Theo and I will leave them alone.”

“You are in no position to bargain; and your relationship to the queen will not sway me Danielle. I will have order and I will have it on my terms.”

Dani tried another, gentler tact,

“My country has laws protecting the accused; the accused is first considered innocent until proven guilty and while waiting for trial prisoners are not denied basic human needs (Dani knew better than to use the word, right.) such as food, water, shelter from the elements and medical care. All I ask is that Theo be afforded better treatment until it can be determined whether or not he is the criminal you seek.”

“Sillie has positively identified him as the criminal; the verification is there on his arm. There is no doubt he is Dreyden’s Disciple.”

“Perhaps she is mistaken.”

“Father said you were stubborn – he considered it your most endearing quality.” Her tone left no doubt that she did not agree; the stubbornness in a precocious twelve-year-old takes on a whole new meaning in a defiant young adult.

“So, you are the King’s daughter.” Dani said without trying to buffer the disdain she felt. “I expected you would be younger.”

“And I thought you would be older.”

They studied each other for a few moments in silence until Maddie returned to the subject of Theo’s predicament.

“Our law is fair and just.” Maddie said. “Now that the disciple is identified all that remains is to sort out the depth of his involvement in the crime and mete out the appropriate punishment. Your friend’s crimes are such that he has offended not only our law, but the King’s law as well. Under the king’s law an orphan who victimizes orphans is to be dealt the severest punishment. You must prepare yourself: Dreyden’s Disciple faces severe retribution.”

Dani could not imagine Theo victimizing anyone.

“He has a name: it’s Theo.” Dani retorted.

“His name is scourge.”

“No.”

“His name is terror, brute, villain…” Maddie persisted. “You will do well to remember it.”

“I will not listen to another word.” Dani stood up. And discovered how hours tied up and a light diet and emotional turmoil could turn your muscles into jelly. She swayed on her feet. Maddie stood with her and gripped her elbow. Dani shook her off. After a few minutes she went into the tent and looked around until she found her pack and Theo’s stuff. She collected her first aid kit, a bottle of water, Theo’s bowl and cup, his fur because it was the larger of the two and last of all located a bucket of clean water and requisitioned it for her purposes.

“What do you think you are doing?” Maddie stood in her way as she turned to return to the open air.

“I am going to take care of my friend; do not try to stop me. If you will not do the decent thing do not expect me to sit idly by and do nothing.”

“Decency?” Maddie’s composure slipped a little. “Three years ago my people suffered an assualt of unprecedented evil at the hands of Dreyden’s Disciple and the men under his command. At last we have in our hands not merely the culprit, but very possibly the mastermind behind the attack. I will not deny my people the opportunity to vent their frustration. They will not kill him. We want him alive to stand trial; we want satisfaction. I can assure you we will see him in one piece to his punishment.

“Listen to reason. I can send you by escort to the Queen first thing tomorrow. In several days you can be with people who love you.”

“Do you think I would abandon my friend in his hour of darkest need? What do you think I am?”

“Stubborn and obstinate.” Maddie shook her head. “Your loyalty is commendable but wasted. Will I have to keep you bound all night?”

Dani had nothing more to say; she used silence to express her defiance.

“Very well. I will let you learn the hard way. You may go to him, but you will leave everything here. It is necessary to deny him “basic needs,” as you say, it disrupts his equilibrium and lessens the chance that he will escape.”

“Escape? You have him bound to that log and hobbled like an animal. How far do you think he will get without his boots, not to mention making it through the sentries you have posted in the woods around camp?”

“Do not underestimate him, Danielle.” She softened her tone a little. “Do not worry. His body is designed to withstand great hardship. He will survive.”

Dani was tired of the conversation and she was physically exhausted.

“Stop calling me Danielle; only my friends get to call me that.”

Maddie stared at her with a bemused expression. “As you wish, Little Sister.”

Dani had no more knelt beside Theo than he scolded her in a low forceful voice conveying his displeasure with her for taking on the angry abusive Lowlandian – the pugilist named Georg. She would have even thought his voice seethed if she did not know him better. She supposed he called the man Lowlandian because these people occupied the lowlands, the hill country east of the Diamond River (Dani’s designation) but the term, the way Theo expressed it, did not sound complimentary.

“I am going to take care of you.” She whispered in his ear, cutting off his tirade.”I am going to save you.”

He scowled. “And how do you propose to do it?”

“I’m working on it.”

She had managed to slide a roll of fish jerky up her sleeve that Maddie had not detected and she broke off a bit and pushed it at Theo’s mouth. His lips parted and she pushed it into his mouth. Because Maddie was nearby, conferring with the posted guard, she pulled another two pieces free and then tucked the roll inside the cuff of her shirt for safe keeping.

“I only wish I could give you more.”

“You are going to get into trouble. I want you to stay out of trouble.”

“No worries.” She edged a little closer.

“You are trembling.” He hissed in a voice full of objection.

“It’s just adrenalin. I’m okay. At this point you should be thinking about how to get out of this mess and stop worrying about me. They’ve already got you tried and convicted, Theo, all based on whatever Sillie found on your arm.”

“Drop it.”

“Just tell me what she saw. Is it a tattoo, a birthmark, some other identifying mark?”

“I do not wish to discuss it.”

“Please tell me Theo.”

He was silent for several minutes, his eyes brooding while chewing covertly on a second bit of fish. Dani was about to give up on an answer when he told her.

“A scar.”

“How did Sillie know you have a scar on your arm?” There were any number of reasonable explanations but the explanation Theo gave cut Dani to the heart.

“She put it there when she bit me.”

Dani needed a moment to absorb his admission – and admission it was, of perfidy, of guilt, collusion in the so called evil attack Maddie had spoken of with quiet ferocity – a moment to absorb the implications. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to elucidate her on the particulars, but her feelings were too confused. She tried to superimpose a criminal version of Theo over the steadfast Theo she had been living and traveling with so far. The Theo who had taught her how to tan a hide, who had helped her catch a large fish with only a sinew line and a bone hook, who had prevented her from wandering stupidly into the Verminudice, who had nursed her back to health and continued to care for her with a singular forbearance could not be a brutal criminal. Villain, Maddie had called him. What sort of circumstance had Theo been in with the golden-haired Sillie, that mitigated a bite on his arm deep enough to leave a lasting scar?

The moment suggested that she should retreat with her tail between her legs to Maddie’s tent and admit her bad judgment, and she could see in Theo’s eyes that he expected her to do just that. Instead she put her arms around his waist and leaned against him. More than ever she knew she had to defend him.

If she lost Theo, she thought irrationally, she would be lost forever and she could not let that happen. There had to be a reasonable explanation for his admission. He had participated in an evil act three years ago when he would have been about her age. Whatever his culpability, he certainly was not the mastermind behind it. Perhaps he had been forced against his will. Maddie was on a witch hunt. The Lowlandians were so desperate for justice that they would turn their rage on the first culprit to fall into their hands.

As if following her thoughts, Theo said in a rough unfriendly voice, “The sooner you accept the truth, Danielle, the better off you will be.”

"What truth? What did you do?"

"You will learn soon enough."

"I have a right to know."

Theo had a look of pity in his eyes and that was just too much to bear.

“Who is Dreyden?”

“A very bad man.” Theo said.

“Why do they call you his disciple?”

“Because I was.”

“What will happen to you?” Dani asked.

“Danielle.” There was a warning in his voice.

“Please?”

He nudged his face close pressed his mouth to her ear.

“There will be a trial where they will present their witnesses and I will in turn be allowed to explain myself. The court will make a judgment: guilty. Then they will present three punishments in keeping with the nature of the crime and will allow me to choose one.”

What was fair or just about asking Theo to choose his own punishment? The prospect was cruel like sending a boy for the switch that will be used to mete out punishment for an infraction of the rules.

“If I survive the punishment, they will likely set me free.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Face facts Danielle.” This time it was said with greater roughness.

“What facts? I still know next to nothing.”

“You must promise me, whatever the outcome, that you will remain calm. Promise me, ready or not, like it or not, you will join your mother.”

“I hate her.”

“She is the reason you came here, remember?”

Dani drew her knees up, turned and curled against him as tightly as she could. “I don’t ever want to see her.”

“You do not mean that. Look how far you have come to find her. No matter what you want or do not want, our journey together will end soon.”

“No.”

“Do not make me an excuse to avoid the inevitable. Promise me.”

Tears blurred her vision but she blinked rapidly and struggled to calm herself.

“Okay. I promise.” But she knew it was promise she would not keep.

She fell asleep in the open with Theo but woke in the morning in the tent.

Maddie snored lightly beside her. They were in a tent within the larger tent where a table and collapsible chairs were backed up against the billowing outer panels of the tent while soft vaporous curtains fell in colorful layers on three sides providing privacy for the sleeping leader and her troublesome guest. The minute Dani sat up, fully intending to go back to Theo, Maddie spoke from her bedding.

“Get dressed. I have assigned you to a work detail. Go get your breakfast. Do not think of disobeying me. Januise will find you; she will look after you.”

Dani spent the morning digging root vegetables, wandering along behind the crew to which she had been assigned. Dani followed the basic rules for identifying the plants that were mature enough to produce roots large enough to harvest. They were early tubers the woman, Januise (pronounced Sheh-nyu-eeze) explained, small, tender and delicious and great care was taken to harvest the best selection of tubers without damaging the parent plant which had to be dug up first the small pale blue finger-shaped tubers plucked from the root and the plant replaced with great care. It was a two person effort. Dani worked with Januise until each burlap sack they had slung over their shoulders was heavy with the cornflower blue fruit crusted with amber soil and they, with the rest of the crew returned to camp.

The tubers were left in the tent and the crew as one removed to the creek where they stripped naked and plunged into the cold water to cool down and clean off the dirt. It seemed the proclivity for public full frontal nudity was a practice shared among all the peoples of Haven and was not a habit peculiar to Theo. Dani stripped to her second skin and went into the water. The suit at least saved her modesty, though its tight fit left little to the imagination and in spite of its covering, she noticed a few of the men checking her out. None of the women showed any interest. Had they, Dani would have ignored them out of principle because these people had declared themselves Theo’s enemies. No matter how attractive or how likable, the Hill People were not to be trusted until it was proved that Theo was innocent.

Dani kept to herself and swam laps slicing her way back and forth across the deep pool weaving around the vigorous playful swimmers of the work crew. A couple of times she stopped in the middle at the high end and on her back drifted on the current watching the tangle of branches beneath the larger cluster of the canopy slip past. She stayed in the water until her fingertips wrinkled. She stayed even after most of the crew had departed with their soaked cloaks to find shade in which to nap, until Januise – who had stayed close by – collected her and settled her in the tent for midday sleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 15