"She can't have gotten that far. They should be back by now," Diana snapped. She paced in front of the window. There was no way that two of her best slaves would run away in such a short period of time. She refused to believe it.
"Did you really expect them to both return?" Longinus asked.
She whirled around to face him. "Of course I did! I gave Moira an order. She wouldn't try to run. She's been with me since she was five, Longinus! Where would she go?"
"Does it really matter to them? I'm quite sure they would prefer homelessness to slavery."
"They're not going to get away. I'll sending someone else after them," Diana immediately decided. She was not going to let this go until she had her way.
Longinus nodded. "If you were an escaped slave, where would you go?"
"Longinus, I'm not a sla ... wait. You don't think that prince ..." Her words faltered for a moment as anger took over. "Who should I send? I will find them!" she shouted.
At the Sanctuary, while Conor and the others were discussing Marika and Moira's plight, the two were left alone to wander as they saw fit. They sat out in the open, near the tent where they'd be sleeping for the night since Marika wasn't feeling up to walking around just yet and Moira wasn't going out alone.
"What do you think you're doing? Your brother? Marika! What were you thinking?" Moira hissed, barely maintaining a low tone.
Marika softly sighed. "Don't you see? They'll never throw us out now! This is our way to stay here – safe."
"Do you honestly think Queen Diana is going to let us go without a fight?"
"You can go back if you want to."
"Without you? No thank you. The hag would take my head!"
"I thought you weren't afraid of her."
"You know I'm not. It's that sorcerer of hers. He terrifies me," Moira said with a little shiver. "Marika, I admit that I'd love to stay. But did you have to lie to them? If they find out the truth, they may throw us out anyway!"
"Hush, Moira!" Marika said. She was worried that someone might hear them now and figure it out too soon. "It'll be all right. Just calm down."
