Alice reasons with Tarena

Alice went into Tarena's cell where she was recovering from her torture session. She gave the elf some water.

"What is your name?"

Tarena drank the water.

"Tarena"

"You weren't previously owned by King Pendragon by any chance?"

"I was" said Tarena, "the queen sold me to the Order"

"Its me, Alice"

"Your mother told me you didn't want me anymore"

Tarena cried.

"That wasn't true" said Alice, "I had no idea my mother said that. She never approved of us"

--

Fred and Taria were outside the cell.

"Is this some elaborate good cop/bad cop technique?" Fred asked.

"What's a cop?" asked Taria.

It took a while for Fred to explain about the police back on Earth in a way that Taria would understand.

"I'm sorry about what happened" said Taria, "they just went over my head. First the rebellion and now this"

"Why did they torture Tarena?"

"She's an elf. The amazons despise elves. They also don't respect you because you're a man and they don't respect me because of my former slave status"

"I don't think they respect anyone who would be a decent ruler. I think the reason they preferred Hippolyta was because she was an ugly inbred who didn't make them feel insecure like we do"

--

Tarena cried into Alice's arms. Alice was also crying.

"I missed you" cried Tarena.

"You deserve better than that nasty Order"

"I can't betray Princess Jeanne. She was nice to me, she protected me as best as she could. She even trusted me with Sword of Light ritual"

Alice was familiar with the ritual. On her eighteenth birthday, the princess would be publicly flogged naked by someone she personally selected before she could wield the Sword of Light. Most princesses would have chosen a relative.

Jeanne must have been close to Tarena to chose her to carry out the whipping.

"But Jeanne has to remain a virgin to keep her power" said Alice.

"Yes, that is how it works"

"Do you think that is what is best for Jeanne? She's as much a victim to the Order as anyone else"