Chapter Twenty-Seven Faith

Fighting the urge to pound up the stairs to the library and demand to know what Noah thought he was doing, Faith retreated to Blake's room instead. Met with a vision of Sophia vomiting violently into a bowl, her face pale and distorted, she felt a sinking sensation settle over her.

She'd felt so positive the previous night. But everything she had thought was going well had come crashing down around her in a matter of hours. The leaflet run had led to Laura's capture. Noah's appearance was marred by the knowledge that he too would soon be put in grave danger when he posed as a drudge, of all things. And Sophia was no better.

Her only comfort was that the leaflets were out there. Surely, once the women of Bellator realised how many lies they had been fed, things would change?

But for now, she felt totally helpless.

The door banged open and she hid her face, wiping a tear from her eye. When she turned, expecting to see Blake, she was surprised to see Madeleine and Robyn. As Blake moved to her usual station and began twisting dials and tapping buttons, Madeleine took a seat and Robyn closed the door.

Their expressions grim, they settled around Blake's main datadev. Faith wondered whether she should leave, but as she opened her mouth to ask, she heard a familiar crackling. They were listening to the bug in Anderson's office. But why were all three of them there?

Faith's interest sharpened. Whoever the meeting was between, it had to be important.

A conversation was already in progress. Unlike the conversation Faith had listened in to, this meeting was taking place in person.

"…you're claiming you managed to escape their clutches?" The first voice was Anderson's. "How exactly did you do that?"

There was a pause. A shifting. And then, another familiar voice.

"I told you. I observed their movements the whole time I was held captive."

Faith's heartrate increased at the sound of Kemp's voice. She had made it back to the academy! But it didn't sound like her story was going down too well.

"…permitted me to visit a local lake to bathe once a week. I was blindfolded, of course."

Faith marvelled at the story. No one in Bellator knew about the bathing cave. They would swallow a lie about people washing at Swallow Lake because they knew very little about Eremus. And if Kemp had been blindfolded, she wouldn't be able to tell them anything about Eremus' location. It was a clever ruse.

"I knew the lake was my best chance of escape," Kemp continued, "so when they took me there yesterday, I took my chances and ran."

"How did you get away from them?"

Faith shivered at the cold voice. Danforth was there! No wonder Madeleine and Robyn wanted to hear the outcome.

"I had a knife… concealed it after a meal…"Faith marvelled at how calm Kemp's tone remained. "I used it to stab the male who was supposed to be guarding me."

"You expect us to believe that you overcame an Eremus male with an eating implement?"

"He was only a teen," Kemp continued, offering a plausible response for every question. "Same age as the academy girls. He didn't expect me to attack him."

"Is he dead?"

"I very much doubt it." Faith imagined Kemp shaking her head. "I didn't wait to find out. I just ran."

Faith almost clapped her hands. The story was perfect. Covering all bases, and performed with just the right amount of plausibility. She glanced at Robyn and Madeleine, whose faces were less pleased.

"Do you think she–" Robyn began.

"Shh!" Madeleine held up a hand, gesturing to the speaker. "I don't think so."

There was a lengthy pause. Inside the principal's office, there was the sound of rustling, as though someone was moving across the room. Faith heard a creak as the door opened. Muffled voices. And the sound of the door being closed.

By the time Danforth spoke again, Faith's body ached with tension.

"That's a very… convincing story, Charlotte." A chill ran up Faith's spine at Danforth's tone. "But I'm afraid it does sound like a story. A very carefully constructed story, which permits you to return to us with no useful knowledge of your captors, no route with which you can show us the Eremus location, no evidence at allthat you were kidnapped and held hostage in the forest."

"I assure you, Chancellor–"Kemp began.

"I'm afraid," Danforth paused, "that I will need a little more convincing before I accept this as the truth. You understand my suspicion, of course. The Eremus males have tried to dupe us in the past." Once again, Kemp started to speak, but was cut off by Danforth. "You might recognise the commander of my guards, Lieutenant Hammond."

With a shudder, Faith remembered the woman from the incident in the Eremus woods. The other occupants of the room were similarly disturbed: they knew Danforth's attack dog too. Trembling as one, they waited for Danforth's next words.

"The lieutenant is here to find out if what you are telling us is, in fact, the truth." Danforth sounded like she was enjoying the conversation. "If it is, you have nothing to worry about. And we will, of course, accept you back in your old position. But if not…" she let the thought dangle, "an alternative course of action will be necessary."

Faith leaned closer to the speaker, waiting for something to happen. For a moment, there was silence.

And then, a sharp crack. For a moment, Faith was confused. And then, as the sound reverberated around the room for a second time, she knew.

Kemp was being beaten. Tortured for information.

Faith's face creased in horror as a succession of ever-more-violent sounds continued. Kemp was strong. She was loyal. But was she strong enough to withstand this?

When Kemp let out a piercing scream, Faith covered her ears and began to pray.