Stones flew and the two gremlins were as far back in their cages as they could get. Some stones still entered the cages. They weren’t just any stones. They were sharpened. Nick was crying openly from a wound on his leg. Darion looked at his fellow gremlin and weighed his options.

He could stay silent and be stoned to death. Grandpa Thinker wasn’t doing anything to stop his employees. Or he could confess, become broke, and slink back to Theanore. But what if the nymph refuses to have him?

It was a possibility, a grim one. He had done an evil thing and the nymph was full of echo chamber kindergarten goodness. She would send him away and then Darion would be homeless. But being stoned to death was worse than that.

Darion screamed at the top of his lungs.

“I’ll confess! I did it. It wasn’t Nick.”

The stones stopped flying and Nick’s hiccupping receded.

“I will find a better home after this.” Said Nick, clutching his wounded leg close to himself.

A gremlin came to Darion’s cage and spat in the old overseer’s face.

“You lorded over us for 400 years and just as we got more rights you decided to ruin it for us. You are the scum of the earth, Darion.”

Another gremlin took his place and also spat.

“I have only bad things to tell you, but they will land me on the bad list. I just hope one of my stones got you.” Said the gremlin. This continued until grandpa Thinker came.

Darion looked up. His face was moist from both crying and from some of the gremlins hitting his face with spit. He reached out and took out his bank account card.

“Take all the money and just let me go back to Thea. I did bad, but I’ll do good. From now on.” Said Darion. Grandpa Thinker pointed at Nick, who was still sobbing.

“It is him I’ll send there. He deserves a better home. He has been cleaning your messes ever since he started as an overseer. It is the fairy pen for you.” Said grandpa Thinker as he pocketed the card.

The gremlins, including Nick, began chanting fairy pens.

“This is murder!” Protested Darion as his cage was lifted in the air and carried in the direction of the fairy enclosure.

“You nearly got an innocent killed!” Hissed one of the gremlins that were carrying the cage. “The fairy pen is too quick for you. Grandpa Thinker, can’t we finish stoning him to death?” Finished the gremlin and Darion panicked.

He didn’t want to die. He paid back the supreme…no! He was not deserving of the title overlord. He was not Darion’s overlord anymore. He was just a Thinker! Darion wouldn’t even call him grandpa in his mind.

Thinking quickly, Darion checked if he still had access to the 40000 mana that Theanore gave him. Finding he did he used it all to teleport away in a flash of light. He was alone on a cliff. Only his torn clothes on his back and littered with cuts and bruises from the stoning.

He didn’t know where he was but that was good. Then Thinker wouldn’t know either. What Darion needed was to get back to Thea and tell her of what happened and what nearly happened. He wouldn’t lie to her. He would admit that he did bad things. But he would also say he paid back the damages. Thea would understand. Thea would forgive.

Back at Alerion, the gremlins were disappointed when Darion disappeared. Grandpa Thinker patted his huge belly and smiled viciously. The hunt was on. He needed his merry hounds to get on Darion’s scent. It would be a little hard, what with the way the gremlin teleported with borrowed mana, but it was still doable.

“We will get him, mark my words.” Said, grandpa Thinker. Darion wouldn’t make it back to Theanore. Even if he did, what was she going to do about it but hand the gremlin over? She was just a toddler, no, a baby. She couldn’t stand against the might of Alerion.

Not that grandpa Thinker would harm her. She was dear to him and he got together with grandma Thinker because of her. But the last time he had a traitor he had him torn to shreds by angry deers. He was not going to spare Darion or even give him a trial.

Theanore was studying a thick tome with laws and former cases that looked like they could be used to defend Darion. She was in the library and a crowd of orphans was helping her.

“Thea, how about this. It is about a worker who fell asleep while on the job and that led to a fire.” Said Diana and Theanore became thoughtful.

“If it was something like that then Dari would have said so. What about cases where the workers forgot what to do? Dari could be embarrassed to say that. I mean, he was an overseer for quite some time. Odd jobs are probably things he forgot.”

Said Theanore and Diana pointed at another orphan who read about a similar case out loud.

“I didn’t tell you about this, Thea, because the accused lost his job, his property, and savings, and he was imprisoned for 200 years. He died in prison too.” Said Diana and Theanore huffed.

“Why is that everything we find has such large prison sentences? What is the prison time for a stolen loaf of bread? 1000 years?”

“That would be around 10 years, depending on the type of bread. For white bread, it is 14 years. For black bread, it is 8.” Said a boy, righting his glasses.

“Well, we can’t have that. That means that even if Darion has made a mistake then he will spend the rest of his life in prison. We are speaking of three factories.” Said Theanore.

“And ones owned by grandpa Thinker.” Said Diana. “There is a possibility that he will deal with this by himself. I have never heard about him letting one of his employees go on trial.” Finished Diana, placing a hand on Theanore’s shoulder.

“If grandpa Thinker said that there is going to be a trial then there is going to be one.” Said Theanore, sure in the truthfulness of grandpa Thinker’s words. But just as it happens with everyone, she would soon face her first disappointment. A betrayal by the one who she thought she has redeemed.