Episode 4

"I have made up my mind, Alicia. We need to get rid of that stranger. I believe he is a spy from another pack, and he's here to sabotage us," Lord Cage said to her. He had sent Alicia to go check on him at the cell earlier. "Find out who he is and who he works for," he had instructed her.

She had returned looking less suspicious about him. "I don't think he is someone we should be worried about, father," she had said to him. Even though she was not completely convinced about that, she felt he was just a harmless prisoner, a victim of circumstance. Somehow, she felt connected to his story without even knowing what it was.

"Did you find out from him?," he had asked her, surprised that she had been too quick to judge him in such a manner.

"No, father, I was busy attending to his wound that I forgot, but he seems harmless and…"

"I can't believe you're saying this, Alicia!," he said, disappointed.

"I'm sorry, father," she said.

Ignoring her, he went on: "Here is my judgment: The prisoner will be executed tonight. We cannot keep enemies with us."

"Father!," a discontented Alicia began.

"I have spoken!"

"Please listen to me. I don't think the prisoner is a threat to us. He is not the one we should be worried about. Please, let him live." She was just so desperate to have him change his mind about Damon. Even though faces don't tell the story, somewhat, his look, as she thought, didn't give him away as an enemy. "He's not the one we should be worried about, please," she repeated the words.

"What do you mean?," Lord Cage said to her, curious.

"I mean that he's not here to hurt us. Think about it, father: It was Fidelis and his friends who captured him. He didn't come here on his own; he didn't ask to be brought here. He is…"

"What has come over you, Alicia!? For God's sake, Fidelis, who is always a mistake away, could have just fallen into a trap, right into his hands. Can't you see!?."

"He doesn't wanna be here," she just said, unmoved by his reaction. "He wants to be let go of," she added.

"But how can you be so sure? What if he's lying to you?."

"I'm not asking you to trust him, father; I'm not even asking you to believe me."

"Then what do you want?," he asked, curiously fixing his gaze at her.

"We can't kill him without proof of what you accuse him of. I just don't want us to spill the blood of the innocent. You are the custodian of the code, and you know better than I do," she reminded him.

"I'll think about it, but I'm not making any promises. We need to be careful, Alicia. I cannot afford to lose anyone because of a stranger. I cannot trust him!"

She didn't say a word to him after, rather, she looked stunned. That seemed to frustrate him even more.

"Fine!" he continued, throwing his hands up in the air. "A fortnight, that's all you've got to convince me that he's not what and who I think he is. If nothing comes out after that, I will kill him myself."

"I will prove that, father," she said, her countenance having taken another twist.

"I wanna be left alone," he said.

She departed from him, determined to prove that the prisoner, whoever he was, was a different breed.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

She found them enjoying the spoils from their hunting adventure the previous night.

"You guys couldn't even wait for me," she said, playfully hitting Zed, one of Fidelis' friends, on his shoulder.

"Oh, our sword's lord is here!," he said to the others, heralding her presence, as if they had not seen her. Zed always liked to tease the others about her, to remind them about their failure to master the use of the sword… "something our lady does without even breaking a sweat," he would say to them. He liked Alicia, and had dreamt of them being married several times, but he was always scared to tell her.

"You should tell her," Lucas, their other friend, had tried to persuade him, but it was obvious his physical strength was a cover-up for his lack of mental courage.

"I can't afford to lose her because of a dream I'm not even sure about," he would say. He would rather keep giving her the signs than say a word about it to her. "Maybe one day, just maybe, she would read and understand the signs," he said to him, in consolation.

"Hey, Zed, you should consider being a hype lord," she smiled at him.

How he savored the moment!

"You couldn't even wait for me, guys!," she continued, feigning anger. She always enjoyed being found in the company of Fidelis and his 'gang of handsome rebels,' as she sarcastically referred to them. She felt more comfortable around them than she was with her female friends. Anita, one of her friends, had complained about it.

"Are we now playing second fiddle to them?," she asked, sounding jealous.

"Come on, Anita, you should know better!," she quickly said, sounding dismissive. "I can't trade you or any of the girls for them."

"But your actions don't align with what you say!," she said, not convinced. "You barely even give us the same attention you give them. Maybe there's something you're not telling us."

"They are my friends, just as you girls are. Come on, we are all a pack, that's what's most important. Don't get jealous over nothing, my friend."

"If you say," she said and walked away, still not convinced. But that didn't deter Alicia from spending time with the guys. "They are just a breath of fresh air; they just seem to know what to say and how to say them," she said to Fidelis, when confessing to him that she liked to be found in the company of his friends.

"Is there something I'm missing here, little sister?," he said, half comic, half curious.

"Maybe you should tell me," she said, not sure she understood what he meant.

"Have you not seen the way Zed looks at you? I know you can't deny you feel the same way about him, too. You both would make a perfect match," he said, smiling.

"Zed looks at me in a way?," she asked, surprised. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She didn't find it funny. She had not noticed Zed looking at her in the manner he had spoken of. All she knew was that, just like the others, he was drawn to her. Besides, he had not given her a reason to believe that he had something else in mind other than their friendship.

"Come on, Alicia, don't give me that look! You can't pretend not to know what I'm talking about."

"I know nothing of what you speak of!," she protested, getting edgy.

"Okay, if you insist," he said, not interested in dragging on the issue.

"If you know something, you should tell me," she said.

"Forget it, it's not important," he said and walked away.

From that day, she had her eyes on Zed, trying to find out herself the things Fidelis had said about him. But the more she looked, the less she saw. Convinced that there was nothing going on, she took her eyes off him.

"Oh, we should have waited for the sword's lady, guys!," Tony, one of the guys, said to them, laughing.

"It's not funny, Tony," she said, giving him the hard stare. "You were supposed to wait for me, that was the deal. Where's my portion of the spoils?," she asked, looking around.

"What do they say about the patient dog?," Lucas said to her, trying not to laugh.

"There's no dog here, Lucas," Zed said, trying to stay on side with her.

"Hey, lover boy, easy! I understand the need to protect what's yours, but take it easy. The patient dog will always win," he said, laughing at him. The others joined him, as they laughed their hearts out.

"Just give it to her!," he said, unruffled. He felt like it was him against them, but he didn't give a fuck about it.

"Here," Dwayne, the most reserved amongst them, said, handing her a bowl of roasted meat and green leaves that was sprinkled on it. "I kept it for you," he added, briefly smiling at her.

"Thank you, Dwayne," she said, returning the favor. To the others, she said, "I owe you one."

"Come on, Alicia," Zed said, "it was just a joke, and you know that. We're sorry we couldn't wait for you. Fidelis said you were with the alpha. We didn't know when you were going to return, and we couldn't wait anymore, that's why we kept yours."

Ignoring him, she turned to Dwayne: "Have you seen Fidelis anywhere around?," she asked him.

"Yeah, he was with us, but he left before you came. I thought you saw him on your way in," Zed said, trying to get her attention.

"Thanks, Zed, but I was talking to Dwayne," she said to him, briefly turning to look at him. Mate, everyone, including Dwayne, burst into an uncontrollable laughter. She had thrown him a sucker punch.

"Mate, she just taught you a classic lesson on how to not jump ship when it's not your turn," Lucas said, laughing the hardest. He was always the one who courted trouble more than the rest, but there was no doubt he loved Zed and wanted him to tell Alicia how he felt about her.

"Where's my brother?," she asked Dwayne again.

"He's right," he replied, looking towards Zed.

"Do you know where I can find him?."

"He didn't tell us where he was headed; he only said he would be right back."

"Thank you," she said as she turned to leave. Just then, Fidelis appeared, looking excited.

"Hey," she said to him.

"Hey," he responded. He was surprised to find everyone quiet, which was unlike the guys, especially whenever Alicia was around. "Guys are you okay?," he asked, trying to catch a glimpse of their eyes.

"Oh, yes, we are," Tony responded, managing a fake smile.

"She just served us breakfast, especially him," Lucas said, looking at Zed, who had looked sober since Alicia said the words to him.

"What did you do to them?," he whispered to her.

"Nothing that should make you look worried," she said. "I only came for two things: This," she said, showing him the bowl containing the meat, "and you," she added.

"Father needs me?."

"No, but I do."

"What is it about?," he asked, curious.

"We can't talk here," she said.

"Let's take a walk then," he suggested. "I'll be right back," he said to the guys. "Hey, you better look like Zed," he sarcastically said to Zed.

They walked a short distance, finally making their stop right in front of an old tree that served as a shade from the sun.

"We're here now. So tell me, what is this that you desperately want us to talk about?," he began.

"It's about the prisoner," she said.

"Damon?," he asked, surprised that she had brought it up. That was the least topic he expected her to bring up.

"That's his name?."