It was on the evening of the second day, while Alyx was just a few feet from Raine’s side, that a man suddenly grabbed her and began searching her. Before Alyx could even cry out, the man yelled in triumph and held aloft a knife Alyx had never seen before.
“The boy took it,” the man yelled. “We have proof.”
Instantly, Raine was beside Alyx, pulling her behind him. “What does this mean?” he demanded.
The men grinned at the crowd gathering around them. “Your high-nosed little boy can’t deny this,” he said, holding the knife out for examination. “I found this in his pocket. I’ve had me suspicions for some time, but now we’re all sure.” He pushed his face close to Alyx’s and his breath was foul. “Now you won’t be thumin’ your nose at us.”
In seconds, he was picking himself up from the ground where Raine had tossed him. “Get back to work!” Raine ordered.
The people, the crowd growing larger by the moment, refused to move. “He’s a thief,” someone said stubbornly. “Beat him.”
“Tear the flesh off his back and then see how proud he is.”
Alyx, eyes wide, moved behind Raine.
“The boy is no thief,” Raine said stubbornly.
“You nobles talk about fair treatment,” someone in the back yelled. “This boy steals from us and is allowed to go unpunished.”
“No!” yelled at least five people.
Raine drew his sword, pointed it at them. “Get away, all of you. The boy is no thief. Now, who will be the first to lose his life over this lie?”
“We’ll punish the boy,” someone yelled before the crowd began to disperse.
Chapter Eleven
IT WAS Avery long while before Alyx could move away from the protection of Raine’s solid form. Her knees were trembling and she clung to his arm.
“I didn’t steal the knife,” she finally managed to whisper.
“Of course not,” Raine snapped, but she could tell from his expression that he wasn’t dismissing the incident.
“What will happen now?”
“They will work to get what they want.”
“And what is that?”
“A trial and your banishment. Before you came I promised them justice. I swore that all wrongdoers would be punished.”
“But I have done no wrong,” she said, on the verge of crying.
“Would you like to put that before a group of them? They would find you guilty even if you were the Holy Mother.”
“Buy why, Raine? I have done nothing to them. Last night I even tried to sing for them, but they turned away.”
He was serious when he looked down at her. “Has your music always been enough for people? Has no one ever asked more of you than to sing prettily?”
She had no answer for him. For her there’d been no life except her music. To the people of her town all they’d expected of her was music, and it was enough for them as well as for herself.
“Come,” Raine said. “We must make some plans.”
Glumly, she followed him, her head down, not meeting an eye of anyone they passed. This anger directed toward her was something so new to her.
Once they were in the tent, Raine spoke quietly. “Tomorrow we will leave the forest.”
“Leave? We? I don’t understand.”
