Soul of the Fire

"Really? I think you just don't want to admit to yourself how disgusting Haken men are. You just wish you didn't have such a depraved soul. You wish it wasn't true what Haken men did to those women long ago, and what Haken men did to Claudine Winthrop."

Fitch swiped his hair back from his forehead. "Beata, think about it. How could Master Spink know what was done to each of those women?"

"From books, you dolt. In case you've forgotten, Anders can read. The estate is full of books that-"

"And you think those men who were raping all those women stopped to keep records? You think they asked the women their names and all and then wrote it all down just right so there would be books listing everything they did?"

"Yes. That's exactly what they did. Just like all Haken men, they liked what they did to those women. They wrote it down. It's known. It's in books."

"And what about Claudine Winthrop? You tell me where the book is what tells about her being raped by the men who killed her."

"Well, she was. It's obvious. Hakens did it, and that's what Haken men do. You ought to know what Haken men are like, you little-"

"Claudine Winthrop made an accusation against the Minister. She was always yearning over him and acting interested in him. Then, after she caught his eye and she willingly gave herself to him, she decided to change her mind. She started saying he forced himself on her against her will. Just like what really happened to you. Then, after she started telling people such vicious lies that he raped her, she ended up dead."

Beata fell silent. Fitch knew Claudine was only trying to make trouble for the Minister-Dalton Campbell told him so. What happened to Beata, on the other hand, wasn't willing, but even so, Beata wasn't trying to make trouble over it.

Crickets chirred on as she stood in the darkness staring at him. Fitch glanced around again to make sure no one was close. He could see through the brush that people were strolling along the street. No one was paying any attention to the dark bushes where the two of them were.

Finally she spoke, but her voice didn't have the heat in it anymore. "Inger doesn't know anything, and I've no intention of telling him."

"It's too late for that. He already went to the estate and got people stirred up that you was raped there. Got important people stirred up. He made demands. He wants justice. Inger is going to make you tell who hurt you." "He can't."

"He's Ander. You're Haken. He can. Even if he changed his mind and didn't, because of the hornets' nest he swatted, the people at the estate might decide to haul you before the Magistrate and have him put an order on you to name the person."

"I'll just deny it all." She hesitated. "They couldn't make me tell."

"No? Well it would sure make you a criminal, if you refused to tell them what happened. They think it's Haken men who did it and so they want the names. Inger is an Ander and he said it happened. If you didn't tell them what they ask they'd likely put you in chains until you changed your mind. Even if they didn't, at the least, you'd lose your work. You'd be an outcast.

"You said you wanted to join the army, someday-that it's your dream. Criminals can't join the army. That dream would be gone. You'd be a beggar."

"I'd find work. I work hard."

"You're Haken. Refusing to cooperate with a Magistrate would get you named a criminal. No one would hire you. You'd end up a prostitute."

"I would not!"

"Yes you would. When you got hungry and cold enough, you would. You'd have to sell yourself to men. Old men. Master Campbell told me the prostitutes get horrible diseases and die. You'd die like that, from being with old men who-"

"I would not! Fitch, I wouldn't. I wouldn't."

"Then how you going to live? If you get named a Haken criminal for refusing to answer a magistrate's questions, how you going to live?

"And if you did tell, who would believe you? You'd be called a liar and that would make you a criminal for lying about an Ander official. That's a crime, too, you know- lying about Ander officials by making false accusations."

She searched his eyes for a moment. "But it's not false. You could vouch for the truth of what I say.

"You said you wanted to be the Seeker of Truth, remember? That's your dream. My dream is joining the army, and yours is being a Seeker of Truth. As someone who wants to be a Seeker, you'd have to stand up and say it was true."

"See? You said you'd never tell, and now you're already talking about telling."

"But you could stand up with me and tell the truth of it."

"I'm a Haken. You think they're going to believe two Hakens against the Minister of Culture himself? Are you crazy?

"Beata, no one believed Claudine Winthrop, and she was Ander and she was important besides. She made the accusation to try to hurt the Minister, and now she's dead."

"But, if it's the truth-"