daylight

chapter ten. . . the hanging tree

PEACEKEEPER'S STORMED THE BAKERY EARLY IN THE MORNING. They tore the place apart, ripping sheets of beds, yanking drawers out and emptying them. Eyeing the floorboards cautiously, Thalia's gaze flickered back to the peacekeepers ransacking her room. Her parents watched on from the doorway, unsure of what to say or do—they just watched mournfully. Dorcas was in the other room, shaking uncontrollably as the very men interviewed her she'd grown to fear. She willed herself to be fearless like she always promised herself she'd be, but the minute they entered her bedroom, where her sisters' were sleeping, she turned into a blubbering mess.

Thalia held Dawn tightly—her younger sister tucked safely into her chest—while glaring at Coriolanus. He avoided her eyes, focusing on the floor or watching his fellow comrades destroy the room all three sisters shared. Tears collected in her waterline, as she pressed her forehead against the top of her sister's head, trying not to sob in front of the scary peacekeepers.

An unfortunate hollow stomp by Coriolanus had her head snap up. She cursed mentally, watching as he gave another tentative stomp. His eyes fearfully flickered up to her, wondering what she could be hiding—if it could incriminate him for the previous night's events—when he was shoved out of the way by another peacekeeper who wrenched the floorboards up mercilessly. "Found something," he called out, inspecting her diary. Thalia squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that if she pretended it wasn't happening, they'd leave and never come back. But things hardly ever worked out the way she wanted them.

He scanned the content of the pages, snorting at the song she'd written and her descriptions of the various days she'd spent with Sejanus and Lucy Gray. His eyes widened, looking up at Thalia and standing up, "What do you know about Officer Stone?" he snapped, throwing the book at her. She flinched, before looking at the open page. She bit her bottom lip, shaking her head profusely. "You said he'd hurt your sister, and know he's found dead outside the compound? If you don't tell me everything you know, you and your sister will be hung," he threatened menacingly.

"I don't know anything, that's all she told me," Thalia replied fearfully, grazing her finger against the pages. Her eyes locked with Coriolanus', begging him to convince them to leave. She knew how lucky they both were, because, had the officer in charge of the search read even one more page, he would have quickly found out about what really happened to Mayfair Lipp.

He seemed to understand, nodding swiftly before gruffly informing his fellow comrade that, "She's just a stupid girl who's writing about things she doesn't understand," Thalia bit her lip so hard, that she drew blood. It enraged her that he was so blasé about insulting her, but she knew that if she wanted the peacekeepers out of her house, she'd have to nod along and agree with whatever Coriolanus was saying.

Once the peacekeepers finally left, the Mellarks stood in silence in the bakery. They watched through the windows as the authoritarians marched off to the next house, wondering if they'd found enough evidence to put someone away—or worse, found proof that would have them hanged.

"Why were they here?" Thalia's mother asked, turning to face Dorcas.

Dorcas' eyes flickered nervously to her sister's, before sighing deeply, "The mayor's daughter was found dead this mornin'—right next to her lover. . . They think it's the same rebels that killed an officer a few days back," she replied shakily.

"I should go talk to Amara, she'll know all about it," Thalia announced, grabbing her shoes, and putting them on. She was really planning on running to warn Lucy Gray about the peacekeepers' ransacking everyone's houses and that they knew about Mayfair's death, but her parents would never allow her to leave if they knew the truth. The way they exchanged glances told Thalia everything she needed to know—they thought Lucy Gray had done it. And if they thought that. . . well it wasn't long until the rest of the district thought the same.