Miinhart Forest, Desmond, 10416 P.C.

"Restrain them," Sergeant Josiah ordered when Stephanie had surrendered her weapon. She stayed silent, clenching her teeth together tightly as one of the other soldiers pried the terrified child off her back. Chains were clasped on their wrists, and together they were hauled back to the town centre. Zaman was there with Astrid, who was being tended to on a stretcher. When Zaman saw Stephanie, he rose to his feet, his face twisted in anger. Before anyone could stop him, he punched her. She saw it coming too late and found herself on the ground, the metallic taste of blood in her mouth as her cheek throbbed. Her young companion screamed.

"How dare you, Stephanie?" Zaman yelled at her as someone pushed him back. "Astrid could've been killed!"

Like the woman you so cruelly killed? she wanted to yell at him, but she bit her tongue, only glaring at him as she was lifted back to her feet. Blood trickled freely from her nose, and she tried rubbing it off on her shoulder. She only ended up smearing it across her cheek.

"Keep searching the houses!" Sergeant Josiah bellowed at the soldiers standing around watching the scene. They quickly dispersed. Zaman took some convincing, but he finally left Astrid's side, giving Stephanie a devilish glare as he stalked off with a new group. Stephanie was shoved down at the base of a fountain, her arms trapped behind her as her nose still bled. The little girl huddled next to her, trembling. Stephanie fought to calm her breathing. Feet away, Sergeant Josiah paced back and forth, glancing at them every once in awhile before shaking his head and returning to his pacing.

Stephanie was finally given time to realize what she had done. Her stomach twisted and ached as her nose throbbed. She had actually done it. She had betrayed King Motch himself. She had become a rogue, an enemy of the crown, and all because of her grief and anger. Yasmin had told her many times that her emotions would get the best of her if she didn't learn to control them. Well, she had really done it this time. And there'd be no second time. Deserters were executed. Immediately.

So why wasn't she dead?

Sergeant Leah strode into the town centre, the look on her face grim and hard and her hand on her sword. "Trouble, I hear?" she barked at Sergeant Josiah.

"A deserter and an Illegal." He motioned to Stephanie and her companion.

"So soon," Sergeant Leah mused, glancing at Stephanie briefly. "And the top graduate too."

"Should we deal with it?" Stephanie knew the man's implication: deal with, as in kill her. She closed her eyes.

Sergeant Leah paused for a moment, as if hesitant to share the information she was about to give. "No. She's an Oddity. They'll fix her. Let the others finish their rounds and then retreat to the muster point. I'll take these two there now."

Stephanie opened her eyes when she felt the strong hand gripping her arm, pulling her to her feet. With a firm hand on Stephanie's upper arm and the little girl's wrists, Sergeant Leah led them out of the town centre and soon the town itself, walking down the road for at least a half a mile before stopping. She pushed Stephanie to the ground on her knees, her attention on the child. Kneeling before the girl, she asked, "What's your name, little one?"

Stephanie found the child looking at her as if confirming it was alright to give this woman her name. She gave a small nod, wondering if the girl knew that Stephanie didn't even know her name.

"Bethany," the child whispered.

"Bethany," Sergeant Leah repeated. "I know you're scared, but there's no need to be. We will not hurt you."

That was easy to say for someone who had never gone through and experienced the life of a Trainee. Stephanie stared at the ground, recounting the numberless times she'd been hurt. People liked to pretend that the TS, or the Trainee System, was the safest and best place for the children of Desmond, but only those within truly knew the horror of it. If Stephanie had her way, she'd make sure Bethany never saw the inside of the Trainee Campus.

Bethany had tears glistening in her eyes. "You hurt my mama," she whispered accusingly. "You hurt her, too."

Sergeant Leah followed the child's pointing finger to Stephanie, who couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at the woman as if to say she's not wrong.

"If you behave," the woman replied, her steely eyes fixed on Stephanie, "then you have no reason to be afraid." She straightened up, looking down at the child.

Bethany shrunk away from her, knuckling away tears and shuffling around the Sergeant to huddle on the ground beside Stephanie. The Sergeant gave Stephanie one more pointed look before she turned her back on them.

Stephanie's nosebleed wasn't stopping. She rubbed it on her shoulder again, but it didn't help any. She pulled on the handcuffs, watching the Sergeant carefully. Oh, if only she could escape these cuffs! Or at least have her hands in front of her instead of behind, like Bethany's were. Keeping an eye on the Sergeant, Stephanie moved from her knees, fighting to pull her hands under her, her legs through her arms. It took a bit of twisting, but thanks to her short legs, she was able to pull it off. When she sat up, the Sergeant's sword was out, pointed at her.

"Don't try anything."

Stephanie gave the woman a glare before pinching the bridge of her nose. She used her sleeves to wipe at the blood that had been trickling into her mouth from her upper lip. She hated the taste of blood.

It took a while before the rest of the soldiers rejoined them. The Sergeants talked quietly, and Stephanie wished she knew what they were saying. Were they talking about her, or about something else? She could feel the eyes of the others on her, some glaring while others just glanced and then turned away, unable to make eye contact. She had grown up with these people and they could barely look at her. Zaman, however, looked quite ready to march over and make her nose bleed again. One of the other boys held him back. Stephanie ignored him.

Finally, Sergeant Leah spoke to the group: "Congratulations Graduates on your first mission. We uncovered a lot of important information, the greatest being that this village, Sarum, has secretly been consulting with both Illegals and enemies of the crown. I will indulge you with the fact that the Princess of the South herself was spotted here just this morning. She managed to escape, but we have reason to believe that she could come back. Therefore, we are staking out for the night. First, however, I want to show you something." The woman accepted something from her partner and held it up for them all to see. "Sarum and its people have been judged guilty of treason. The High King Motch orders that we make an example of them." She lifted what looked like a small box above her head. "Remember this day! For the Dragon!"

Stephanie heard the rumble, felt the ground itself shudder. Through the trees and above them, a fiery explosion shot black smoke into the air, blasting debris in every direction. Stephanie wasn't surprised, but the weight of what had just happened felt like a boulder in her chest. The entire village was gone in a moment. There weren't even screams. How they had planted the bombs, she didn't know. All she knew was that hundreds of innocent lives had just suddenly ended. Just like that.

Not one person in the crowd of soldiers stirred. They only watched, silent, knowing their solemn duty and few finding joy in it. Bethany hid her face in Stephanie's lap, trembling and shaking. Stephanie felt a twisting sensation in her gut; anger roared through her. She took a deep breath, remaining still and calm while inside she trembled. Gently, she put her hand on Bethany's back, rubbing circles with her thumb in a way very similar to what Marcie had always done to comfort her. It wouldn't help, but Stephanie could try.

Watching the smoke drift through the air, Stephanie vowed to have her revenge. Somehow.