A man's face came into focus beside Jadin's. "Lord Carrull hit her. She was about to kill Madam Cawrocc."
She remembered.
"I've got to go!" She tried to jump from the cart. The man pushed her back, then jumped into the cart and wrapped steely arms around her. She fell back against him, dizzy and nauseous.
"You don't go. You do as you're told," Jadin said.
"My sister, my sister!" She'd tried to yell, but it came out more like a croak. "I need to warn my sister. Please!"
"Warn her about what?" Jadin's voice was steady like the voice the midwife would use to calm a fussy babe.
"Madam Cawrocc is going to kill her."
"She's going to do no such thing."
"She is. She told me." Repentance squirmed weakly against the man, her head throbbing as if it would split open.
Jadin's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"
"Please."
"You tell me right now what you did to pull that threat out of Cawrocc, or I swear I'll get your sister and both brothers and kill them right here in front of you."
Repentance sagged back against the man. "I ran," she whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." She looked up at Jadin. "Please help my sister."
"Your sister is fine," Jadin said. "At present. It's up to you if she's to stay that way."
"I killed her. She's dead already."
"Oh for the love of Providence," Jadin said. "What good is she to me in this condition?" She looked at the man. "I paid for perfection and Cawrocc's given me a lunatic."
"You can hardly blame Cawrocc. The girl was crazy from the start. Refused a buttoning, and chose the slave cart."
"I don't want to live," Repentance said.
"I want you to tell Cawrocc I hold her responsible for this. First she lost control, so the girl needed to be hit on the head, and then she obviously chose to withhold any healing powder or potion. She thought she'd make the girl suffer, no doubt. Only she has no business deciding how to punish my slave."
"I killed my sister," Repentance said, tears coursing down her cheeks. "Give me a dragon stick. I'll do it myself. I don't want to live anymore."
"You stop talking," Jadin said, sternly.
"Kill me now!" Repentance screamed.
Jadin slapped her. Hard.
Her head exploded in pain and her face went numb.
She put one hand to her cheek, wondering what had just happened.
Jadin got right up close to her. "Now you listen. Your sister is fine. Madam Cawrocc will not harm her. I know this because when I bought you, I bought rights to your family. They are mine if you misbehave. Cawrocc doesn't own them, I do. Do you understand?'
"Comfort is alive?"
"I am going to have this trooper let you go in a minute," Jadin said. "Do you know where you are?"
She looked past Jadin. The healing house stood behind her. She was back in Hot Springs. Back in the gray. Back in the swamp. But Comfort was alive. Maybe.
The trooper released her, and she scrambled down from the cart. Her legs buckled. She landed in a heap at Jadin's feet, the foggy world spinning crazily before her eyes. And darkness fell.
She woke next on a comfortable settee with her head on a soft pillow. Gray light filtered into the room through wide windows. She was in the healing house, she supposed. In all her years, she'd never been in the building. The villagers were not allowed to use the hot springs. That privilege was for overlords only.
"You live," Jadin said, entering the room like a cool breeze.
Repentance nodded. And winced. Her head ached with a dull pounding.
Jadin handed her a small cup. "Drink this. It will help your head."
"How long have I been asleep?"
"An hour."
"My sister?"
"Is still fine."
"May I see her?"
Jadin examined her for a long moment. "I suppose you are no good to me unless I can convince you she's alive."
"If she's alive I'll do whatever you want."
Jadin considered. "I'll let you see that she's alive. And I'll give you my promise that if you give me any trouble after that, she won't be alive long."
Repentance pushed herself off the settee, and Jadin put out a hand to steady her. "First you need to get cleaned up and give that healing potion time to work. I'll have the cook make you some food while you bathe."
Two hours later she stood, fed and bathed and dressed in light-weight britches and blouse, in front of the healing house with Jadin and a big overlord man called Lok, who carried a dragon stick. A dull ache pounded at the base of her skull, but she could walk without feeling like she needed to throw up, and she desperately wanted to see Comfort, so she said nothing about the pain.
"The girls will be picking their nets in another half hour. Take this one and hide in the bushes by her family's set-net site." Jadin pulled a burlap sack over her head. "Just in case you run into anyone."
Repentance could see through the burlap. And she could breathe, though the sack was dusty and made her sneeze.
Jadin poked her with a slender finger. "No noise. No one is to know you're here. If they find out, your family will suffer."
Lok laid a giant hand on Repentance's arm to lead her into the woods. He kept Repentance off the main paths, stopping and cocking his head often, listening for villagers.
Each time he stopped, the musty, marshy smell of home came in through the burlap bag which covered Repentance's face. And the sounds of the woods filled her ears. The small animals digging, the bugs buzzing, the constant drip, drip, dripping from the trees. But she heard no villagers
