Page 63 of Dawn of Hope

“Don’t tell me she tricked you!”

“Tie her back up!”

“Did she give them up that quickly already?”

The outburst is just as loud as it was before, everyone speaking over each other, and by the sounds of it, I’m sure this happens often.

“Enough,” Dane says. He doesn’t yell, but it is clear he is not joking. “Who is responsible for this?”

“I am.” The boy from before, who was giving the orders, steps forward and clasps his hands behind his back. “Did she give you any information about the Castaways?”

Dane ignores the question. “Did you find out who she was?”

“I didn’t need to. None of us know her, so I knew she wasn’t one of us.”

“You didn’t ask her?” Dane crosses his arms over his chest, his muscles tensing as if he is holding himself back.

“She said you brought her here,” Mara says from her spot in the group.

“Typical lie from one of those brainwashing spawn,” the boy spits. “We couldn’t trust anything she said.”

Dane’s jaw ticks. “Did you check her for weapons?”

“Ye—” He starts before cutting himself off. He snaps his mouth shut, and the realization hits his eyes.

“Did you?” Dane pushes again, taking an intimidating step closer to the boy.

“No. We didn’t.”

“So, you mean to tell me, you were so caught up in having caught someone you assumed was a Castaway that you didn’t check her for any weapons, and then sent me in there alone? Without knowing whether or not she would attack me within the cage?”

“I— I—” He stammers, his eyes widening as he realizes his mistake.

“Stop.” Dane raises a hand, then turns to face me. “Lennox, can you show them, please?”

I reach behind me, into my waistband, and pull out my dagger, holding it up so they can see the glint of the weapon that they didn’t even attempt to take off of me.

Multiple faces drop. Some look angry, some surprised. Some even look like they want to take my dagger away and keep it for themselves.

“She’s not a fucking Castaway,” Dane says, his voice a loud growl. “I brought her here last night. She’s only met Storm.”

“That’s why she knew my name,” I hear Mara mumble.

Glad to see she finally figured out I wasn’t lying or manipulating her.

“You were the leader in this?” Dane says as he directs his attention back to the boy.

“Yes.”

“You’re on watch duty for the next two weeks.”

His face breaks as he responds with shock and dismay. “But Dane! That’s not fair! How was I supposed to know who she was? I thought she was lying!”

The arrogance and authority he displayed earlier today is gone with Dane’s command, and I’m glad. From the way he behaved with me earlier, he needed to learn a lesson.

“You took a captive without checking to see if she had a weapon. You let one of us go into a cage with an armed prisoner. You didn’t question her yourself. And you harmed one of our own. We don’t harm our own. We’re better than they are!” Dane is almost yelling now, and I can feel his anger rippling through him. “I could keep going on with all the ways you endangered your family, but I think that’s enough.”

The boy’s head hangs as he accepts Dane’s wrath.