I force an awkward smile. “My home village was several miles from the desert. My family were herbalists.”
A redhead cheers. “Close enough! I win.”
“Yes, yes.” Helena waves her off. “Keep going, Lina.”
“When I was still very young, the desert grew closer to the farmlands than we’d ever thought possible, and… well, things got very hard. My village is now under the sands.”
A few girls gasp. Several quiet down entirely.
“See, she’s from the desert! I win.”
They begin arguing anew.
“That must have been many years ago,” a freckled woman says softly. “Where have you been since?”
The girls in the corner continue their chatter, ignoring the question and my answer.
“Many places,” I admit. “There are other villages nearby that I frequented. Some friends I met along the way, but they all perished in one way or another. I was in the process of traveling south when…”
“When the Drak saved her and gave her new hope!” Helena says for me.
The women murmur in agreement. A few smiles slip, and I wonder if those are the women who were also taken against their will.
Many come here begging for aid. But certainly not all.
“What a blessing,” the freckled woman says, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand. “You will live a full life here,” she says intently, like she knows I won’t fully believe her just yet, but she wants me to know she believes it for me.
A strange emotion wells up in my chest. My bottom lip trembles. I wish I did believe her.
“Did you ever make it to Hudgeson?” a girl asks. “My cousin was from there. I always hope she’d be okay in all that chaos.”
My lips part. “No,” I say softly. I don’t have the heart to tell her Hudgeson was even farther east than my village and is undoubtedly under the sands.
“Did you ever travel into the desert? I’ve heard such awful tales.”
“No,” I answer quickly. “I believe that is why I am still alive.”
Murmurs of agreement surround me.
“A wise girl.” Someone pats my shoulder.
“What about the forest? I heard the villages on the edge of the northern part of the desert were trapped between the cursed sands and the cursed woods!”
“Oh! Yes, did you see any scelps?”
“Those are not real, Birdy. You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
“Oh, they’re real,” I blurt out before I think better of it.
Suddenly, all attention is intently focused on me again. All other side conversations and laughter has faded, waiting for my tale.
I take in a long breath. “We lived on the edge of the forest, my family and I. It wasn’t so bad, really, but you did have to be careful. The shadowscelp only ever comes out at night, or when called, so you can travel when the sun is up with no real worry.”
“That’s so scary.”
I shrug.
“It could still be just a legend. You’ve never seen it, surely? Otherwise, you’d be one.”
