What she did was slip out of the house early, before her parents had even gotten out of bed. This way, they didn't have to talk. Ruth was already sorry for her behavior last night, but not quite ready to take full blame. Her mother and father hadn't acted normally since their arrival in Trillagla. They had so many secrets. Ruth didn't know where they went while she was at school, for instance. She could never get them to talk about that. She could never get them to talk about anything. The only time they ever wanted to talk was to boss her around. Other than that, they treated her like she didn't exist, like they didn't want her around.

Of course, Ruth's guilty conscience pointed out, they didn't want her around. They'd never invited her along to Trillagla. She was supposed to be home with her sisters, in Gatsba. Ruth felt a pang of homesickness. She didn't even know if Issie and Annaless were okay.

Reaching the schoolyard, Ruth caught sight of little Lena. She hadn't really thought about how much the little girl looked like her sisters before. In the classroom, with all the other girls so much older, Lena looked grown up. Here in the yard, clutching her mother's hand, Lena looked like the child she was.

"... not coming to school anymore." Lena's mother was in the process of telling Miss Lisette.

The headmistress frowned. "You mustn't be afraid of them, dearie. We'll find them and then they won't throw fruit anymore and you'll be safe."

"She'll be safe at home, too." the child's mother insisted. "Her nanny can teach her what she needs to know."

Miss Lisette opened her mouth to say something else, then noticed her audience. "Ruth, go inside."

"Yes, ma'am." Ruth tried to give Lena an encouraging smile as she passed. But nothing changed the skittish expression in the little girl's wide eyes.

Lena's mother must have won the argument, because the child didn't enter the classroom. Miss Barbara said nothing about the situation and made the girls get right to work. They were in the middle of a vigorous math exercise when the door swung open.

"Get your coats, girls." Miss Lisette announced, grimly. "They've found the slave who instigated the assault yesterday. We're going to town to see the court proceedings."

In two lines, they marched through the streets of Trillagla. Ruth had never seen the justice hall before and fairly gaped at its magnitude. People swirled about the entrance, but the crowd parted to let Miss Lisette and her students through. In fact, they'd even left front seats available for the girls. Ruth sat between Samantha and Ananda on the hard courtroom pew.

A moment later, the doors opened and two guards led their prisoner inside. The slave was tightly bound, with chains on her ankles and wrists. She moved stiffly and Ruth soon saw the reason. The slave's small white dress couldn't hide the welts covering her back and shoulders. Someone had already taken it upon himself to punish her. But the young woman didn't flinch as the guards shoved her to the center of the stage. She lifted her eyes calmly, to survey the crowd come to gawk at her. As she glanced towards the row of schoolgirls, Ruth suddenly knew who she was.

"Cinna!" a judge demanded the slave's attention. He sat on an elevated chair, viewing the prisoner with pity and derision. "You have been brought here on charges of inciting a riot and assaulting these poor young ladies. What do you plead?"

"Not guilty, sir." Cinna replied, softly.

"Your Honor," Miss Lisette leapt to her feet. "I saw her lurking around the schoolyard that very afternoon!"

"And what do you say to that?" the judge asked.

"I was in the market place that day, sir. I purchased vegetables for my master and returned to the palace with them."

"Do you accuse this freewoman of lying, then, slave girl?" the judge's voice darkened.

Cinna paused. "I... I think she might be mistaken, sir."

"You think?" On that, the judge pounced. "You're not sure? So you could have been at the schoolyard?"

"No, sir." the slave shook her head. "I know I wasn't there."

"So you accuse Miss Lisette of lying?"

"No, sir." Defeated, Cinna spoke in a calm, quiet voice. "I accuse her of nothing. I know only that I wasn't there."

"Well, I know that she was." said Miss Lisette, stubbornly.

"Is there any freeman or freewoman out there who can verify Cinna's claim?" the judge surveyed the crowd.

No one said a word.

"Cinna, since there is no one trustworthy to testify in your defense, I am forced to find you guilty of all charges. I hereby sentence you to a public whipping, to be completed immediately following this trial, and then to prison until a freeperson chooses to pay your court fees and damages." the judge nodded. "That is all."

"Wait!" a familiar voice interrupted the calm courtroom. "I've something to say."

Ruth turned towards the speaker and gasped. She was facing her mother.