Separation

Markos nodded and regained his seat. “I suspect that I have some notion of your business. And it will be no hardship to stay in such a presence.”

Mildred frowned slightly. He had been speaking in response to Sineta, but all the while his eyes had been fixed on her. More to the point, although she knew he would soon be objecting to what he would hear, she wasn’t upset that he had been studying her as he spoke.

Barras looked up at his daughter and the ghost of a smile played across his lips. “I have known you since before you were born, as you have always been like your mother. I know that whatever you are about to say, I probably shall not like it.”

“Perhaps not, but it is something that I would wish you to give some thought. Since I have known Mildred, although it is but a few days, I have come to trust what she says. She is truthful and glad to find our society, but…” Sineta paused, trying to find a way to phrase her request so that Markos couldn’t explode with anger before her father had a chance to speak. “The whitelanders who arrived with Mildred are not her masters, are not her enemy. They are her friends, and she wishes you to grant them their freedom, for which they undertake to help and work in the ville until such time as they can leave.”

This wasn’t exactly what Mildred and Sineta had discussed, but there were reasons for the baron’s daughter to deceive her father in such a manner.

Sineta continued, holding up her hand to silence Markos who had risen angrily to his feet, eyes flashing fire at Mildred as though she had betrayed him in some way. “I know that the albino—Jak—led Markos to believe that he was their slave in order to attain freedom, a deception the one-eyed man encouraged and reinforced. But this was so that at least one more of them may go free. It was a small untruth, nothing more.”

“Nothing more, woman?” Markos roared. “By the Lord, the albino lied to myself, to my brother and to the whole island. He could have made any amount of sabotage while he was free—”

“And has he?” Mildred asked calmly.

Markos stared at her, fury tightening the muscles on his face, eyes narrowing. “No, he has not. But that is not the issue—”

“Then what is? That a man should tell an untruth to attain freedom? That his companions should collaborate to grant him this even at their own expense? Surely that speaks of a greater nobility?” Sineta queried.

Barras chuckled. “The girl has you there, my friend. Your hot temper lets you lead with your mouth rather than your brain. You have learned over the years to control this, but intense feeling lets you down, as ever. What makes you feel so strongly this time?”

Markos shook his head. “Nothing…it is nothing.”

But the old man was still sharp in mind and noticed the quick glance his sec boss gave Mildred. Barras appraised her, then spoke.

“Why did you not mention this before?”

“I needed time to recover from my own injuries,” Mildred replied. “I also needed time to gain the trust of your daughter. I had to explain things to her, try to show her how I am. I couldn’t expect her to take me on face value.”

Barras nodded thoughtfully. “My daughter is a fair woman, and a good judge of character. But,” he added shrewdly, “why now and not tomorrow, or even yesterday?”

Mildred looked at Sineta. How could she tell him the truth? That they had chosen today because they had only struck their bargain in the morning?

SINCE THAT FIRST NIGHT, when the baron’s daughter had told Mildred about the island and her position, and how she wished to be free of the obligations of marriage and be the baron herself, Mildred had wondered if the woman was reaching out to her to be an ally. In return, once she had decided that she had to try to strike a balance between her companions and the almost idyllic society in which she found herself, and get them released, Mildred knew that she would need the assistance of Sineta in trying to persuade her father to authorize this release in the face of the strong opposition she expected from Markos.