Chapter Six

"You can do better."

Melody wiped her sweaty face with her sleeve. "But that's my fastest time for running around the city!" she protested.

"You can do better," Zale repeated.

"But…"

Zale set down the book he was reading on the bench and walked over to her. Before she could react he shoved her. She stumbled back a few steps, bewildered. He shoved her again, but this time her heels were planted more firmly into the ground so she only stumbled two steps back. He shoved her for a third time, but she didn't budge an inch.

"Every time I pushed you, you did better at holding your ground. If I say you can do better, you can do better." He sat down. "Do it again."

She sighed softly before jogging away. She had heard "you can do better" and "do it again" more times than she could count since her family had left three weeks ago. That was all he ever said to her.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the rope lying on the ground. The rope tightened at the last second. She cried out in surprise as she tripped over it. She landed on her hands and knees, skinning them.

"That's right peasant, bow down before me."

She sat up, glaring at Steven. "What do you want?"

He inspected his nails. "I broke a nail while pulling that rope."

"Serves you right!"

His gaze returned to her. "I'll make this plain and simple for you peasant. I want you to fail."

"Why? Are you still blaming me for the death of your cousin? That was three years ago and it wasn't like it was my fault. Accidents happen. Besides, it was more your fault than mine."

Steven kicked her in the side. "Shut up peasant!"

She knew that she had hit a soft spot. This was her one chance to get back and him for everything he had down to her over the years. She was torn between making the right and wrong decision. Anger made her choice for her. She rose to her feet. "Andrew died because of you! Not me!"

"Liar!" he growled as he lunged for her.

The next thing she knew they were both flat on their backs with Zale standing over them. "Obviously neither of you learned your lesson from last time."

Melody sat up, staring at the ground. She could feel her face burning with shame.

"Who do you think you are?" Steven rose to his feet.

Zale pushed him back down. "I didn't say you could get up yet." He pulled a small coil of rope out of his cloak and proceeded to tie Melody's right leg and Steven's left leg together. "People who don't get along usually don't understand each other. I think you two need to spend more time together."

"What?!" they both exclaimed in outrage.

"You heard me." He started to walk away. "Trust me on this, you will not be able to untie yourselves."

As soon as he disappeared from view Steven and Melody glared at each other. Melody was too upset to say anything and she guessed that Steven was too, for he didn't say anything. He started trying to untie the rope, but somehow only managed to make it tighter. He finally gave up in disgust and tried to rise to his feet, but was pulled back down.

He glared at her for several seconds. "Up," he commanded.

She folded her arms. "No. Not as long as you talk to me like that."

An hour slowly passed as they sat there in silence, neither one looking at the other. Melody's stomach grumbled. She hadn't eaten breakfast yet and it was growing close to lunchtime. Her stomach complained again, louder. She could tell from the smirk on Steven's face that he had heard it too. She tapped the road with her finger, trying to ignore her hunger.

As the time passed more and more people walked by. They glanced at the two of them curiously, but they made didn't make any comments.

Dong!

The clock tower rang out the hour, one. They had been sitting there for nearly four hours. Melody's anger had been replaced by hunger.

"We need to work together to get up," Melody finally said through gritted teeth.

Steven was silent.

"Look, if you're expecting an apology you're not gonna get it," she continued. "Now are we going to get up or are we not?"

Steven tried to rise to his feet, still not saying a word. Melody tried to climb to her own, but she lost her balance. They both yelped as they cracked heads.

"Watch it, oaf!" Steven said as he rubbed his head.

"You watch it!" she snapped, rubbing her own head.

After several more attempts they were finally on their feet. Melody tried to go to the right while Steven tried to go to the left. Once again they found themselves on the ground. This time they managed to get to their feet on the second try.

"We need to agree on a place to go," Melody said.

"We are going to The Sands of Time. That is the only place I eat aside from my home."

"Only if you're paying."

"I'm only paying for myself."

Melody shook her head. "I can't afford any fancy restaurants. Let's go to The Mirage."

"I'm not going within ten feet of that disgusting place."

Melody sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

Twilight was just beginning to fall when Zale found them sitting on a bench in the park. He knew they hadn't learned a thing from the way they weren't speaking or even looking at each other. He sighed softly before walking over to them. He bent and untied the rope.

"About time," Steven said, walking off.

"How did it go?"

"Horrible!" Melody exclaimed.

"Did you learn anything?"

"Yes!" she snapped. "I learned he's even brattier than I thought!"

He put his arm over her shoulder as they started towards the inn. "Melody, everybody reacts to events in a certain way. Steven has had a hard life. You know that his mother died when he was three, right?"

She nodded. "She died from a fever."

"That's what most people think. She actually was beaten to death, right before Steven's eyes. Steven has been abused too. To hide the bruises he always wears a long-sleeved shirt and pants."

Melody's eyes widened in shock. "I never knew…" She looked up at Zale. "Who's doing it? We haft to put a stop to it."

"I cannot tell you. Promise me that you won't say a word about this conversation to anyone. And don't worry about Steven. I've been watching over him for a long time."

"I promise."

This chapter has a little more dialogue than I wanted, but bear with me. I had serious writer's block with this chapter. I'm almost done with Chapter Seven. It's basically writing itself. So you won't have too long of a wait for it.