"Where did you get this name?" Sylvian's words were less a question and more an accusation. He thrust the watch into Kira's face, so close the words on the screen became nothing more than a blur. Even if Kira could read the name, she would have said nothing.

"We know who you are," he continued, sending Kira into a panic. She went light-headed, the world seemed like a dream, no, a nightmare. There was surely not enough information on that watch to explain about the resistance, about who Du Puteron really was. Her heartbeat lowered considerably as Sylvian carried on, "we know you are a slave." Still Kira did not speak.

"Look," Sylvian's mood changed drastically, he became calm, pleading almost, "we know you have escaped, that you are looking for Clarence Debrosse, but Lord Du Puteron will come looking. I can't imagine the horrors you have experienced, but if Princips or Du Puteron find you here, it is the end of our village, the end of our way of life."

Kira felt pity for them, she wished she had grown up in a place like this, everyone looking out for each other, putting the community in front of individual needs. But could she trust them? Telling them the truth might grant her freedom, then again they had captured her, held her against her will. Kira did not even think about how the revolution would affect them, if she had she may have stayed her mouth. There was just something about them, something that made her want to trust them.

With a heavy sigh she opened up, "Lord Du Puteron is not who you think he is. He is not a slave owner, he is a great leader." For the first time in a while there was passion in her voice, but not a passion for hatred, a passion for change, a change for the better. "He buys people as slaves but sets them free, trains them up ready to fight for the cause."

"What cause?" Sylvian interjected.

"To rid the world of Princips." She felt a pang of emotion overcome her, the beauty of that statement almost making her cry.

"And when is this going to happen?" sarcasm dripped over every word as Sylvian continued to move through every emotion, looking for the one that would get results.

"I don't know," Kira's enthusiasm burst like a bubble. "We were getting ready."

"That doesn't explain why you are here."

"I am searching for my mother," anger built, "I already told you that."

"So you are a runaway slave."

"No," Kira accidentally shouted. "No," she repeated in a more subdued tone, "he let me go, but if you ask him, he will say I escaped, to cover his identity."

All Sylvian could do was laugh. Once he controlled himself he managed, "you are full of lies. You ran away, you got captured and now you are trying to talk your way out of the situation."

"You don't know anything," Kira shouted. She closed her eyes, practiced her calming techniques. One word popped into her head, a word Eliana had uttered back in the van, 'truth.' Sylvian was saying something but all Kira saw was Eliana, her beautiful long black hair, her pale skin and bright eyes. Kira could not workout if she wanted to be her or be with her. Still the word truth came to the front of her head, these people in front of her had distanced themselves from Princips, they lived a simple life, but it was not freedom, they did not know how to be free because they did not know the truth.

Kira waited till Sylvian's voice died down, only then did she open her eyes. Now calmer, she said, "you don't know the truth because you don't know who to listen to." It sounded profound, it sound cryptic in some way, but all Kira had done was say what she thought. She would not have been able to make it sound more philosophical if she had tried, largely because she did not know what philosophy was.

Sylvian was stunned, unsure what to say next. He shook his head in anger, "what I know is that we will get credit for handing you over, and anything that keeps Princips off our backs is something I am willing to do." He did not wait for Kira's angry reply, he was already outside.