Page 27 (2/2)

Not yet

"I pledgehimself

The silence that followed felt like a free fall Wells cocked his head, confused He’d said it The whole sentence And Oak was still just running beside hilanced at Oak The olddown the forest track back to the barracks His mouth was still set in a surly line, but there was the faintest glint of a sress

When they reached the outer courtyard of the Stone, Wells stopped abruptly, as he’d been trained to do, hands behind his back awaiting next orders

"Break for lunch," Oak barked "Be back here in an hour"

"Yes, sir," Wells said Oak stalked off toward the field and Wells watched him onder For the first time since they’d arrived, he was allowed to be on his own He wasn’t beingwatched by his trainer He wasn’t being watched by anyone at all

Was this his reward for doing well today? For pledging hi no one looking, spat into the dirt, as close to a rebellion as he couldtold hi to press his luck a little further, he went inside the Stone to do a little exploring

The outer roads were bustling with carts today Another raiding party ons full of ceraetables, cured h he kept his expression schooled, anger burned brightly inside hi his ca, deeper into the structure, taking in as iven A plume of steam came from a wide inner room He ducked his head inside to see a laundry facility, clothes being dropped into a vat over a fire, red-cheeked girls stirring it, sweat pooling in dark puddles on the backs of their white dresses He scanned the room, but none of the faces were familiar

The buzz of furtive whispers drew his attention down the road The as blocked by a wall of white fabric dangling fro He could see two figures outlined behind one sheet by the afternoon sun, their heads close together

The two figures stepped back, and one of their heads poked out froht a flash of black hair and red ribbon, glanced behind him for onlookers, and hurried over

"Octavia," he said, pulling the sheet back, blinded for a second by the sudden flash of sun

He heard a gasp, then felt so painfully into his neck

"Wells… oh god, I’m sorry" The object dreay and Wells peered down at a startled Octavia She winced in apology, pocketing the ht you were one of them"

"And what if I had been, O?" Wells whispered "You would have been caught, just like that"

"I don’t care" She raised her chin, and for a hed But when he saw the fury in her eyes, his a their gahtened, but underneath it, they’re rotten to the core" Octavia reached out and took the hand of the girl standing next to her She had dark curly hair and looked vaguely fa to let anyone hurt you," Octavia told her