When Daniel meets Joel and Thacia at the beginning of the book, Joel becomes enamored with his outlaw life, and takes a message back to Simon, one of Daniel's old friends and fellow slave at the forge. Simon, instead of being reassured by the message, comes up to the outlaw camp to find Daniel, telling him that he can come back to the village.

"Today I came only to find you. Amalek died a fortnight ago, Daniel. You could come back to the village if you like."

Old Amalek dead! Should he feel something -- pleasure? remorse? pity? It was too far away. He had not thought about going back for a long long time.
(Speare, The Bronze Bow, Google Books)

Amalek dies without leaving relatives or a will, and so Daniel is free and clear of his bond. However, Daniel doesn't want to go; he feels that he has found a purpose and a cause here on the hill, and thinks of his old life and family only in negative ways. Simon, knowing how different this life is, insists that Daniel come home and visit his sister and grandmother, both of whom have been fending for themselves for years, and have been very sad and worried about Daniel's disappearance. In the end, Simon convinces Daniel to visit, and that along with meeting Joel and Thacia is the start of Daniel's return to normal emotional health, rather than revenge-driven blind anger.