Free The Exiles by Sven Grams Page B

once.
    â€˜Has Sharlee had any contact with Sara’s parents at all lately?’ asked Captain Felx, referring to Trex’s aunt Sharlee, and her former close relationship with Sara’s family.
    â€˜Not as far as I know,’ said Trex, feeling sorry for his Aunt.
    â€˜Not since just after Zea was born… she hasn’t talked about them much.’
    Captain Felx frowned solemnly; genuinely sorry to hear the family problems had persisted.
    Trex’s mind came to a sudden connection, and he couldn’t help but to suddenly blurt out, ‘Sara’s not the thief is she?’
    â€˜The thief?’ countered Captain Felx, raising an eyebrow, ‘now I know news gets around fast in this town…’
    Trex recoiled slightly, knowing he had just made a mistake.
    â€˜What exactly are you doing out here anyway?’ asked Felx, turning to face the youngster. The Captains voice had quickly developed an edge
    â€˜Um, I was just buying personal stuff, you know… just for me,’ offered Trex lamely, rubbing the back of his neck.
    He was trying to think of the most basic lie in the hope it wouldn’t get him caught out.
    â€˜And how is it you ended up out here?’ pressed Captain Felx, his voice becoming flat.
    â€˜Well…’ started Trex.
    His mind was in overdrive.
    â€˜I was just in the outer city, waiting for the markets to open and was sort of travelling via the rooftops. I saw a figure jump down from the inner city walls,’ he said, gaining in confidence now that he had returned to the truth… well mostly.
    â€˜And I thought I would just see what was going on,’ he finished, smiling at having come up with a convincing story on the fly.
    The smile quickly disappeared under the stern gaze of the Captain. Trex had once before been caught trespassing in the inner city, and let off with a stern warning.
    â€˜Indeed,’ said the Captain, obviously not too happy with the young lion’s story. Slowly, Captain Felx returned his gaze to the horizon.
    â€˜Sara is not the thief,’ he said more steadily.
    â€˜She just chose a very bad time to take an unofficial tour of the inner city.’
    Trex thought about Sara for a second, remembering back to when they were just cubs, playing on her family’s farm when his family came to visit, hide and seek, mock battles with sticks or ganging up to play a trick on her older sister. It seemed like such a long time ago.
    â€˜She could be in a lot of trouble,’ said Felx, interrupting Trex’s train of thought.
    â€˜You know yourself that there are elements in the council that would love to make an example of a wolf. Particularly at the moment,’ said Felx solemnly, the issue was obviously a sore point for the veteran soldier.
    RefugeCross had a complex history. Originally founded almost four hundred years ago by the lions, it had been captured by the wolves in the first lion-wolf war just over a century ago. Only to be retaken by the lions in the second lion-wolf war seventy five years later. Due to these different occupations there was a complex mix of wolves and lions that now lived there. Two long wars had resulted in simmering resentment and hostility between the two races. This was not an easy place to keep the peace.
    Captain Felx looked back towards his young companion.
    â€˜Do you want to take this any further?’
    â€˜No, no way,’ said Trex instantly.
    â€˜And Fera?’ asked Captain Felx.
    Trex thought back to some of the pranks Sara and he had played on the older girl. He probably deserved that smack on the back of the head from things he had done in the past.
    â€˜No, I don’t want either of them to get into trouble,’ Trex said solemnly.
    â€˜Good,’ said Felx getting up, ‘then we are agreed that you couldn’t identify the wolves that assaulted you.’
    â€˜Yes,’ confirmed Trex, leaning back.
    â€˜Wonderful,’ said Felx,