'I'll go explain to Zar'gno why he can't use that tree to rub his back on if you talk to the Frago about our rules for territorial marking within the camp.' Nume's voice was to be heard very clearly so Tarlequin figured she must be standing right outside the tent.

'Again?' Kran replied with a sigh.

'Yes, again, the dwarves keep complaining about the smell...'

'Alright, I'll do it, but you also have to introduce the next newcomers to all our rules!' He insisted.

'Do I still have to talk to Zar'gno then?'

'Yes.'

'Alright.' Nume replied. 'If you figure out where Feyn has gone to. I need to talk to her.'

Then it was silent again. Well, not exactly, the tent didn't block out the everyday sounds from the camp outside. Tarlequin lay still, knowing that he wasn't allowed to do anything anyway. At least they had ended the shifts to look after him after he'd promised not to leave the tent anymore. But now his curiosity and impatience grew with every passing heartbeat. He had had enough time to think, enough time to mourn and certainly enough time to rest so he couldn't wait for Nume to bring him his food later on.

She had put herself in charge over his welfare and told everybody to make sure he stayed in his tent until she announced the end of that rule. So now she visited him once or twice a day but she was often too busy to stay for more than a short chat. And so far, he had not had a chance to talk to her about what he'd suddenly remembered when she'd once brought along the young boy whose mother had died. He didn't want to discuss that in a place where half the camp could be listening.

Over the past few days, the boy had started showing up on his own, he didn't talk much, he mostly just watched over Tarlequin with curious eyes. Once he'd begged the Faun to play for him, but halfway through the first song, Nume had rushed into the tent and taken Tarlequin's flute away from the bard, which he was rather furious about. He'd asked why he wasn't allowed to play and she'd come up with some excuse, it seemed to him she just wanted him to bore himself back to health.

So far, Tarlequin had only got a few things out of the boy, including his name, Mersha, the fact that he'd kept screaming until the women who'd tried to keep him away from Nume and Kran had finally left him alone and that he'd been living in captivity for most of his life. Mersha couldn't remember where he'd been born, he just said his mother had always described it as a dull and lonely place. When Tarlequin had asked him whether he missed his mother very much, the boy had only said that he knew it wasn't the Outcast's fault. Then he'd continued his silent behaviour until he'd left again.

'Who does he think he is?' an angry voice brought Tarlequin back to the real world.

'He's the Outcast.' A younger voice cheerfully replied.

'I know that, still he has no right to tell me what to do! It's in my nature to mark my territory...' the first voice snapped.

'But if it bothers the others...' the younger voice started, but it was interrupted.

'I don't care about the others!'

'Oh really?' Now that was Feyn's voice, Tarlequin could tell. 'Then why exactly are you here with us? Remember, you're free to leave any time, if you go somewhere else, you're free to mark whatever and whenever you like...' Her voice was calm and soothing but there lay a threatening tone in it.

'But...' the previously angry voice stammered.

'There is no but, you know the rules, anybody hindering anybody else from living happily in our tribe must adapt or leave.' Feyn said.

'What if I need the marking to live happily?' The other voice asked.

'Then you are free to do that just outside the camp where the smell won't make people throw up.' Feyn hissed now. At that, the voice didn't say anything anymore. Rushed steps could be heard, moving away, then Kran called for the Harpyie.

'Feyn, here you are, I've been looking for you, well, Nume has.'

'Same thing.'

'What?' he asked.

'You and her, same thing.' She replied.

'How...? Oh well, never mind, she wanted to talk to you.'

'What about?' the Harpyie asked.

'I don't know, you'll have to ask her.' Kran sighed.

'How do you not know that?' Feyn asked, by her voice, Tarlequin could tell that she was smiling. He could very well imagine Kran rolling his eyes at that.

'She should still be with Zar'gno unless there have been any newcomers.' Kran explained patiently.

'I haven't seen any but we'll get some tomorrow, I've found a herd of Fauns in the woods, they were hiding at first, fearing I'd attack them... Silly, don't you think? I'd only eat their children anyway...' Feyn was joking, still the comment made Tarlequin swallow and feel sick. 'Anyway, I've told them how to get here if they want protection from the Phraio, they were very glad about that, they said they'd been passed by an army the other day and they'd only just dared to come back out of their hiding places.'

'An army? A Phraio one, I assume. Unless it's one of the others, that would have to be the third we know of, where exactly was that?' Kran asked, leaving together with Feyn so they were outside of earshot.

Tarlequin sighed, he wasn't sure what he should think about other Fauns joining the tribe, he hadn't met any in a while and there were reasons for that. Basically, just one reason, they hated him for his talent which they knew was mostly due to magic. Most Fauns preferred living on their own somewhere hidden to communicating with other creatures, especially when it came to magic ones, wherefore his relationship with Sethara had never been regarded too kindly.

The Faun stared sadly up at the ceiling of his tent. He knew there were only two, one had been reserved for him and he'd only been joined a few times by others who had been told to rest as well. The second tent was where newcomers were welcomed and from what Tarlequin had overheard, he knew that there was some kind of a map in it which people used to mark where they'd seen what kind of other species. There were small troops that were sent out to find others and tell them about the tribe as well as warn them from the dangerous armies now marching K'haren. According to the stories that were told in the camp, no Phraio had joined the tribe so far except for those that had been travelling with Tarlequin and a few who'd previously left that group.

As time passed slowly, Tarlequin doze away once again. By the time Nume entered the tent, he was already fast asleep so he jumped when her hand touched his forehead to take his temperature.

'Calm down, it's just me.' She said with a smile. 'How are you feeling?'

'Terrible, my bones hurt because I'm always just laying around and I'm sure my boredom will kill me soon.' He replied, also smiling. 'But really, I'm feeling much better, can I please finally do something? Anything?'

She eyed him up, told him to sit up and eat and then watched in silence for a while. 'There isn't really much work to be done...' she started, but he interrupted her between two bites.

'Don't lie to me, I can hear you all the time, you're all loaded with stuff that needs doing.' There was a slight hint of accuse in his voice but he knew she only wanted him to get well so he wasn't actually angry with her. 'Where's Mersha today? He didn't show up yet.'

'I'd love to say he were playing with other children but he's actually just found a book and now he won't put it down anymore. I didn't even know he could read, somebody must have taught him...'

'What book?' Tarlequin asked, trying not to sound as worried as he was. Feeding a child like Mersha with the wrong kind of information might be a huge mistake.

'I don't know, some old thing Profaen and Toma brought along.'

'Isn't Profaen the dwarf who brought you to the tavern?' Tarlequin remembered.

'Yes, he is, and Toma is his wife.'

'But aren't we really far away from there? How did they even find us?'

'Well, back at the tavern, we told everybody to spread the prophecy, and so they did. They travelled eastwards and were already in this region when they ran into one of our troops telling them about the camp. Of course they immediately came here once they heard our names. Now Profaen is responsible for the meals and supplies and Toma makes sure all newcomers have somewhere to stay. Though her love for details really does slow the process down a bit...'

'I'd really like to have a look at that book...' Tarlequin said, looking at Nume with big eyes.

'Alright.' She sighed. 'Eat up first, I've got to go now, you'll probably find Mersha sitting in a corner of the other tent, that's where he usually is.'

// Thank you for reading, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a vote and a comment, telling me what you thought about the chapter or the book in general so far!