The Forsaken

eyes. “When I got found by your hunters, I thought I was being rescued. All I want is to come and be part of your tribe, or whatever it is. I never wanted to go with the drones to begin with. They forced me to. Alenna and her friend—the girl with the blue hair—can clear all this up for you.”
    “Not if you’re secretly a spy!” an onlooker hisses.
    The assembled crowd is growing larger, and they’re muttering ominously among themselves. Someone throws a clod of dirt. It barely misses David’s face.
    “What are you gonna do with me, then?” David asks. “I’m not the enemy, and I’m definitely not a spy.”
    Liam steps forward. “He’s probably telling the truth about that part, at least. We found him one mile east of here, hiding up in a tree. If he’s a spy, he’s a pretty bad one.”
    Veidman sighs. Then stands up, still looking at David. “Until I can talk to Gadya and get some truth serum into you, I’m gonna have to lock you up for a little while, unfortunately. In one of our prison kennels. It’s our policy to do this to anyone who turns up looking like a drone.”
    “Great,” David mutters. “Guilty until proven innocent. Just like in the UNA.”
    “If our hunters hadn’t found you, would you really have joined our village of your own free will?” Veidman asks. “I can’t be sure of that yet.”
    David’s shoulders slump. “Fine, then. Just hurry up with your truth serum.”
    Behind Veidman, I see a couple hunters make slicing motions across their throats, like they want David dead. Veidman doesn’t notice, but Liam does.
    Concerned, Liam moves closer to David, stepping down into the fire pit. “I can take him to the kennels if you want, Vei. Might be safest for him until we get this straightened out.”
    “Fine,” Veidman murmurs. “Meira and I will meet you there.”
    Liam grabs David and helps him out of the pit.
    “It’s gonna be okay!” I call out to David, wanting to help him like he helped me.
    Assassin Elite steps from the front of the crowd and takes David’s other arm. Slowly, he and Liam lead David away up one of the trails.
    The group begins to disperse. Gadya walks up beside me, appearing from out of nowhere.
    “Where were you?” I ask, startled.
    “Watching from the back.”
    “Why didn’t you say anything? You recognize him, right? Just talk to Veidman.”
    Gadya holds up her hand. “I’m not saying anything to Veidman yet. David’s been out of our sight for most of a day. We don’t know what happened to him when we weren’t watching.”
    “It just seems really paranoid to treat him like a full-fledged drone, when we know he isn’t.”
    Gadya looks irritated. “Hey, if you don’t like how we do things, then go back into the forest and stumble around alone. See how long you last!”
    The force of her words backs me off a step. “Look, I’m just trying to learn the ropes here. Don’t get mad at me.”
    “I’m not.” She takes a deep breath and then exhales slowly. Finally she says, “All right. Maybe you touched a nerve.”
    I nod, trying to understand.
    “When I first got here, I didn’t find Veidman and the village right away.” She grimaces in disgust. “I got found by two drones instead. I didn’t know who, or what, they were. They said they’d just arrived on the wheel themselves, so I trusted them. I was green. I let myself get taken advantage of.” Her eyes go distant. “Every day I think about getting revenge for what those bastards did to me.”
    I touch her arm gently.
    She looks down at my hand. “The Monk’s people don’t live by any rules,” she continues. “Their society’s based on his crazy religious teachings and his desire for power. His drones are drunk on fermented berries half the time, and always planning trouble and destruction. The Monk tells them the first step to getting off the wheel is conquering all the other sectors—at any cost. So even though I don’t agree with some of Veidman and Meira’s decisions, their rules keep us safe. And they keep us human.”
    I picture lizard boy, dancing like a lunatic in the spray of fireworks last night. Completely out of his mind, like an animal. Gadya’s right. Those kids are nothing like us. But I also know that David isn’t one of them.
    “Where are the kennels? Can I go visit him?”
    “Maybe later. It’ll take a while for Veidman and Meira to interrogate him.” Then, deliberately changing the subject, Gadya asks, “Wanna help me and Rika