Zephaniah wakes up in the dark, unable to move, with a splitting headache. Through the fog of his pain, the prince tries to make sense of his situation: he's in a sitting position; his limbs seem to be bound; and now that he thinks about it, he starts to notice that his vision is actually being blocked by a cloth over his head that he didn't even realize was there.

So what happened? His blinking had more to do with habit than sight. Oh, yeah, I remember, I was hurt and lost in the woods. I came across a woman who looked to have fallen and was unconscious. Then … nothing. I don't remember anything else. If only I could see. That is when his captors choose to remove the improvise blindfold and Zephaniah regrets his previous wish being granted. Why? Because the first thing he notices is that he's ringed by lit torches, like a witch at the stake. The next thing he observes is the rough looking men behind the torches. Finally, when his eyes adjust enough, a hooded shadow is seen sitting on a raised chair.

“You are prisoner to the Robin; for your crimes, you will be judged.” The stony voice comes from his left, one of the torchbearers. The Robin?! How did I get into this mess? What do they want of me? And what did he mean my “crimes”?

“The Robin does not speak with outsiders, so I shall be acting as the voice of the Robin.” The speaker, a fragile child in appearance, appears from behind the throne in front of Zephaniah. The boy sits on a stool to the left of the throned shadow, who Zephaniah assumes is the Robin in the flesh. The Robin leans over and whispers too quietly for anyone else to hear. The boy nods and turns back to the prisoner. “You were found over the unconscious body of the Robin's personal assistant, Sarah. Thus you are charged with attacking her. Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

Zephaniah can't speak. The feeling is new to him; it's not from fear that his voice is lost; he doesn't know what's causing it, this inability to declare his innocence. He wants to tell them what happened, that he saw her falling but his own injury made him too slow to help; he wants them to know, but it won't come out.

His silence tells a lie instead. The men start murmuring: “only the guilty wouldn't speak the truth,” “he picked the wrong girl,” “no one messes with us, or our family.” This leads to how to punish such a criminal: flogging, hanging, or “how about a bonfire?” Now Zephaniah isn't just scared, he's terrified.

“Men,” the Voice of the Robin commands, “those are all good points, but for a nobleman of his status, such punishments on him will bring worse on our people. The punishment will take much effort to come up with, so as to not invite more trouble.” At Zephaniah's look of shock, the Robin leans over and whispers something else to the boy. “Are you surprised that your identity is known to us, Crown Prince Zephaniah? We are some of the best at what we do; knowing who's who is required.” The Robin then tells the boy one last thing before silently getting up and leaving through a doorway to the right of the chair.

“The Robin has gone to check on Sarah, and to think of a solution. The prisoner is to be given food and drink; do not untie him, but instead feed him. And remember, as the Robin’s prisoner, anything done to him without authorization will be paid back to the offender. It's enough of a delicate situation already.” With this, the boy leaves to follow their leader.

Not ten minutes later he comes rushing back in, bumping into a man who had been bringing in some food. The boy has this wild look of pure fright on his face. “Release him! Release him now,” he howls. Panicked, one of the men cuts his ropes. “Carry him up to the Robin’s quarters. NOW!” At this Zephaniah notices confusion and fear becoming evident through the panic on the men’s faces.

“If it is the Robin’s orders…” One of the stronger men picks the prince up, but seems reluctant to do so.

“It is. And please try to be gentle with him. On top of being a noble, it seems he didn’t hurt Sarah, so he might just be a good guy after all.” Zephaniah sees looks of surprise at this along with many of remorse.

After being carried through a labyrinth of tunnels, they arrive at a lavishly furnished cave where he is placed at a desk and given some parchment and a quill. “You are sure to have people who’ll worry about you being missin’ for so long, maybe even think you’re dead. It would be best to let them know you’re okay, don’t you think? It’s too dangerous a journey back for you to travel while injured so, on account of us accusin’ you of hurtin’ our Sarah, the Robin decided to let you recover here. You might want to mention somethin’ about that in your letter. Just be careful about what you say. We wouldn’t want to worry anyone without cause.” The boy’s threat as he hands over the writing materials is not lost to Zephaniah.

Zephaniah writes two letters; a formal one to his parents and a comforting one for his sisters. After finishing the letters and handing them to the waiting boy, who swiftly leaves, he is helped to one of two beds in an adjoining room. There he is introduced to David, a youth of 15, who he is told will be caring for him during his stay.

“My Mum’s a healer and I’m use ta helpin’ her out. She don’t like me getting’ inta danger but with my Pa dead, her work ain’t enough ta live on, ‘specially since most folks ‘round these parts can’t pay her much. That’s why I’m tryin’ for de Robin’s gang – it’s less rough and dangerous than de others. Plus Sarah and de Robin gives their men an ed-u-ca-tion. Most them can read and write. De Robin wants ta give us de chance ta better ourselves. My Mum, she approves of that so she agreed ta lettin’ me try gettin’ in. That’s what this is – a chance ta proves myself ta de Robin.” Zephaniah listens to David’s ramblings while he bandages him up, wondering if the lad is talking so much because he’s nervous or if he’s just trying to distract the prince from the pain. Either way, he enjoys the boy’s endless talking as exhaustion takes over his body and he closes his eyes. Just as he is falling asleep, he catches a “she” within the constant chatter that confuses him, but when he awakes the next morning, he has no memory of hearing the word nor why it had bugged him.

***

Arai reads over the letters before sealing both and sending them with a messenger she is sure will deliver them safely. “There doesn’t seem to be any secret messages or ways to trace it back to here. What really worries me is how such an overprotected prince ended up alone in these woods in the first place. Something just doesn’t add up.”