“I think it’s better than I was expecting,” Mave said, blushing as she realized she said it aloud.
Jonah laughed as the others headed down, Mary jumping into a gruff, bearded man’s arms.
“Daddy!” she squealed. The man twirled her around several times before putting her down and patting her head.
“Hail, Jonah! So this young lady the one?”
“Hail, Luke. Yes, this is she.”
“Seems luck is on our side, this time.”
“Might be. She hasn’t broken out in tears, yet. Not once,” said Jonah. Mave’s brow furrowed. Was that some sort of accomplishment?
“Well, we’ll see. She’s still new. Anyway, get her settled and we can get to business.”
Jonah seemed caught by surprise.
“Now? Generally we do the feast, first. A proper Arcadian welcome –“
“There’ve been some changes since the last one came through,” Luke, said. His expression was dark.
Jonah sighed but nodded, relenting.
“Come on, Mave. Let me show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
“Goddamn council,” Jonah spat under his breath as they walked away.
“Jonah, what’s going on?” Mave asked.
Jonah sighed and turned to her.
“The council generally welcomes new travelers with a feast. But the last person we had come through was in hysterics the whole time. I wasn’t in the away group that picked them up, but I hear they did everything they could to get themselves and the rest of the group killed on the way back.”
“That’s awful.”
“It gets better. When he saw the camp, he fell to his knees and cried. I did see that part from down here. He was rude, drank too much at the feast, and attempted to force himself on a council member’s daughter. Several times. Then, when some of our guards tried to restrain him, he pulled out a blaster, stole a week’s rations, and left.”
“So what does that have to do with me?” Mave asked, as she followed Jonah to a lone tent just outside the residential area.
“Nothing, but that’s not how the council sees it. Especially some of its new members. It’s complicated. Essentially, you’re going to be put on trial tonight.”
“What?”
“Shhh,” he said, looking around. “They probably wouldn’t want me telling you all of this. It’s not a trial exactly. It used to be an informal process. The day after the feast, council members would sit with the traveler and attempt to make arrangements.”
“What sort of arrangements?”
Jonah looked both ways again before holding the tent flap open. “It’s better if we talk in here.”
Once inside he peered out for several moments to make sure the coast was clear.
“There isn’t enough time for me to go into detail. The only thing you need to be concerned about is the fact that they’ll be taking a hard look at you, trying to decide if you’re someone we want in our village.
They’re going to ask a lot of questions, Mave. Some of them might be a little… invasive. Again, it used to be really informal. They’d meet with the traveler the day after the feast, and the council members, along with all who attended, would vote on whether they liked it or not.”
“The last person to come through changed all that?”
“Yes and no. That was officially the reason but, honestly, I think one of the councilmen was waiting for the opportunity to make the rules stricter.” Jonah whispered the last bit, as if ears could be just outside the tent listening.
“Which one?”
Just as Jonah opened his mouth to speak the tent flap flew open.
“Jonah, there you are. Ah, good. The traveler is here, too. You’re requested by the council. Now.”
It was a girl around Jonah’s age. Her eyes were intense. As Mave left the tent behind Jonah, the girl squinted over her shoulder as she entered what was supposed to be Mave’s private space.
“Hey!”
“Leave it be, Mave. Searching a traveler’s things is now protocol. You don’t have anything you shouldn’t, do you?”
Mave tried to remember everything she’d packed, but hadn’t really had a chance or reason to go through her things since she had left Haven.
“You didn’t think to mention that, earlier?”
Jonah shook his head as Mave followed him toward a central pavilion. “I was thrown off by the character trial. The first day. Ridiculous. How are we supposed to convince travelers to stay if this is how we treat them?”
He stopped just a few paces out from the pavilion were, people milled about speaking, some looking in her direction.
“The important thing to realize is that there are a lot of political things going on. You had better learn to read between the lines, and quickly. The one thing you need to know is that transporting materials to and from the Weald is illegal. Extremely illegal.”
“Jonah, what happens if I don’t pass the trial, if they decide that they don’t want me?”
Jonah looked at her, pity in his eyes. And fear.
“Mave, is it?” A kindly voice said. When Mave turned it was to see a kindly-looking older man with surprisingly well-kept hair and a brilliant red robe with gold trim. “Thank you, Jonah, I’ll take it from here.”
He extended a hand as Jonah flashed a weak smile and nodded. He left without looking at Mave.
“This way, traveler.”
In the middle of the pavilion was an amphitheater cut into the slope and lined with stone. In the pit of the theater were two wooden stumps. The man sat on one and gestured for Mave to sit in the other.
“The man looked at Mave a long time, smiling gently.
“Mave, did Jonah tell you who I am?”
“No. He only mentioned that I was going to be on some sort of character trial.”
“That’s correct.”
“How can you judge my character when you don’t know me?”
The man nodded thoughtfully, giving this consideration. “I know this can’t be easy. Nevertheless, this is how every judicial system that has ever existed has, at its essence, worked. Some with more success than others. We’re hoping to make this a success.”
“What’s going to happen to me?” Mave asked, beginning to consider her options. There were other people in robes, whom she assumed were other council members. There were people dressed in tunics and relatively normal clothes, plain versions of things she might see at home in Haven.
“Well, that depends. Each of the council members is going to meet with you individually and relatively privately - within view but out of earshot so as to ensure fair play. Then, we’ll gather as a group and pose a few simple questions to you. Since the last incident we’re being careful, but based on my first impressions I see no reason why you won’t be welcome here.”
“I have a question for you.”
“I would expect that you have many,” he said, chuckling.
“What is it that you want with travelers and deselects?”
He grimaced at the word ‘deselect’, but quickly recovered his kindly demeanor.
“We don’t use that word here, my dear,” he said. “Everyone here who is not a traveler is the decendent of a deselect or runaway, after all.”
Runaway? There were people who had left their sectors willingly? How? Mave had been sure that a special pass or deselect status were the only ways.
“As to your question: People that can travel between cities and have permission to go through the Weald are rare. They can get things from the city that we can’t for ourselves. But that’s only if you volunteer and are chosen for away missions. Don’t worry about it, for now.”
The man eyed her carefully, watching her process what he was saying.
Read between the lines, Mave.
It all clicked into place. Why they were so generous to outsiders. Why there was generally a feast honoring newcomers and why they were so desperate for them to stay.
They want me to be a trafficker for them.
Which then begged the question. What had happened to all of the other travelers that had come through Arcadia?
