At the sound of running feet, Suthe straightened her spine and instinctively clutched the recipe book to the front of her beige tunic—as if the binding and paper would somehow protect her against whatever came barging through the door, she thought bitterly.

Other sounds were audible as well, in the form of distant shouting, too far away to be coherent. Suthe's worries soon resurfaced just as strong as before.

The door to the bakery slammed open with a bang, and Suthe jumped, more at the sound than the person who had made it. It was only her mother.

Granted, it was her mother looking like she had just been chased by a pack of giant sand serpents across the desert, but still—it was her mother. That was the important part.

Suthe let out a breath. "What is it?" she asked. Everything would be all right now, she reassured herself—too soon.

A scream rent the air, echoing from somewhere down the street. Wide-eyed, Suthe looked from the window to her mother, who swiftly strode over to her daughter's spot behind the counter and grabbed her by the arm.

"Wh-what's going on?" Suthe asked. The heat from the bakery oven suddenly felt much hotter than before, and the air was thick and hard to breathe. Suthe could feel beads of perspiration as they gathered on her forehead.

"You have to leave, now," Dossa answered, pulling Suthe from behind the counter. Another pleading cry outside made Suthe dig in her heels and pull away.

"Why are people screaming outside? What's happening?" Suthe demanded, twisting out of her mother's grasp.

"Suthe, please—"

"Tell me what's going on!"

Her mother stared at her from a moment, debating, before she finally gave in.

"Chairman Montindele and the Board of Advisors have passed a decree against all druiths in the region," she began softly, and Suthe gasped. "Anyone exhibiting traits of druith craft are to be arrested and sent up north to the capital at once."

Suthe inhaled a shaky breath. "To Isendorn? But why? What have we done?"

Her mother shook her head. "I don't know why they've made such a sudden decision, but it doesn't matter now. You're not safe here."

Suthe took a step back. "We don't know that," she protested. "No one's seen me use my talents before. No one knows about them except you."

"They might not know, but I'm sure there are more than a few already who at least suspect you to have them," her mother shot back. The words stung, even though Suthe knew it was only out of concern for her safety. "This decree has only put fear into the city. Punishment for obstruction of the law, arrest for harboring a fugitive—the consequences go on and on. If anyone even has the slightest doubt that you're a druith, they'll tell the forces who have come to arrest you. I'm not willing to risk it. Already they've gotten Ms. Montiewo, and I'm sure the worst thing she's done is argued with Mrs. Montbade over the price of beans in the marketplace."

"But where am I supposed to go?" Suthe cried. Fear was prickling at her skin and making her mouth as dry as sand. "Someone will see me trying to escape! I can't just run off into the desert!"

A pair of soldiers marched past the front window at that moment, their pointed black helmets gleaming wickedly in the sunlight. Suthe found herself yanked down behind the counter, out of sight.

"Listen to me," her mother said. "Do you remember the time you accidently transported yourself across the city, and ended up in the backyard of one of the mansions on Telengor Street? You need to do that again, only go farther this time, out of Crestdune. That is the only way for you to escape unseen."

Suthe's stumbled back at the memory. "No," she said, shaking her head firmly. "No. I can't. I won't do it." The experience had been terrifying in how unintentionally it had happened, and it was only sheer coincidence that no one had seen her appear out of thin air.

"It's the only way!" her mother argued, pulling Suthe closer and forcing her to meet her gaze. "You won't be safe just hiding somewhere and hoping they don't find you. There will always be eyes watching now, and the soldiers will come back. This decree extends not just to Crestdune, but throughout the country. Montmyth isn't safe for you anymore."

"So you want me to just leave?" Suthe protested. "I've never transported myself outside the city borders, let alone outside the country! I'm not leaving you."

Dossa's eyes searched Suthe's with a fierce intensity.  "I know you've been practicing since then."

Suthe's breath caught in her throat.  Apparently, she hadn't been careful enough the handful of times she'd dared to test out her abilities in her room, long after nightfall when she thought everyone else was asleep.

"That was only –"

Someone knocked on the door with enough force to make the frame shake, and Suthe jumped at the unexpected sound. "Montese Armed Forces, open up!"

"Coming!" Dossa called over the counter, before ducking back down again to face her daughter. "Go, Suthe," she urged. "There's no time. You must do this."

"But I don't even know how to—"

"Go out the back," her mother instructed. "It will give you a bit more time."

Suthe cast an anxious glance at the door to the alley that ran behind their bakery.

"Go!"

The soldiers at the front of the store pounded on the door again. "Open up!" one of them called out. "Last chance, or we break the door down!" Suthe could see some of them peering through the latticed window, trying to catch a glimpse inside.

"Coming!" Suthe's mother called again, this time standing up. "Go," she repeated, voice breaking. "I'll buy you some time."

With tears in her eyes, Suthe crept towards the back door, breaking into a run once she stepped outside. Behind her, she could hear the front door to the bakery open and her mother's voice as she greeted the soldiers. What would the soldiers do once they found out that she had run away?  Would her mother be okay?

Suthe ran to the mouth of the alleyway, peering around the corner only to see four more soldiers marching her way.

Right. And are you going to be okay?

Suthe ducked back behind the corner, out of sight. It was only then that she realized Regional Recipes was still gripped tightly in her hand. She had shut the book too quickly when her mother had returned to the bakery, and the page on Sylterran salted twists had become horribly wrinkled in the process.

As the soldiers walked past the alley, Suthe raised the book and all but stuck her head in it. To anyone passing by, it would hopefully seem that she was so unconcerned with potential arrest that she had decided to read instead. She was just a harmless bystander, not a druith with ill intent. The ruse worked, and the soldiers passed by without a second glance in her direction. But Suthe knew her luck wouldn't hold out forever.

After the soldiers were gone, Suthe scrunched her eyes shut, willing herself to appear somewhere else.

Nothing happened.

Panic grew, and Suthe clenched her jaw, willing her druith traits to suddenly show up somehow. It was more difficult to concentrate when faced with the possibility of arrest.  And it had been so easy that first time!  She hadn't even focused on her abilities. It had just...happened.

"Check the alley! Make sure she hasn't escaped out the back!"

And those were the soldiers from the bakery, Suthe assumed. There was no time to practice here. She had to move.

Suthe turned out onto the main street, sticking close to the shade of the palm trees as she tried to distance herself from the voices of the soldiers behind her. Up ahead, she could already see more soldiers approaching, going from door to door as they searched the houses for any suspicious individuals. One older gentleman was dragged out of his home and clapped in irons while his wife looked on tearfully from the doorway. Across the street, a group of children were being consoled by their father as the mother was taken away. Suthe clutched the recipe book closer to her chest as her heart leapt into her throat. She was trapped.

"Dear ancestor whose abilities I inherited," Suthe muttered, "please help me out here."

She had no choice but to keep walking ahead—if she turned around now, the soldiers in front of her would know she was running away. Maybe she could just pretend to read her book, like earlier...

As casually as her shaking fingers would allow, Suthe flipped back open to the page on salted twists. All the while, she was still searching for a spark, a tingle—anything—that would indicate her druith abilities were starting to work. Yet, like a bad dream, Suthe remained on the street, slowly heading towards the soldiers.

"She can't have gone far! There—that might be her!"

Suthe jumped and spun around, only to find that the soldiers from the bakery had emerged from the alleyway and were heading right for her. She whirled to head the other direction, only to see that the shouting had now attracted the attention of the other soldiers.

Time to run.

Suthe shoved past a man standing on his front step and barged through the half-open door of his home, ignoring his protests. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkened interior of the living room, and she scanned the cushioned wicker furniture and the flickering oil lamps on the walls. There!  Another door was located on the far side of the room, and Suthe hurried towards it. Behind her, she could hear the resident of the house calling for the soldiers outside.

The door Suthe had spotted led to a cramped office, and after making sure the door was securely locked, Suthe turned to the desk.

"Come on, come on, come on," Suthe screwed her eyes shut and tried to focus. Get me out of here!

The office door shuddered behind her under the force of the soldiers, and Suthe clenched her recipe book tighter, willing herself to disappear. Why wouldn't it work? She hadn't even tried that first time, and now—

Suthe's eyes snapped open at another thud of the office door. That time, there had been the crack of splintering wood, and one of the hinges was now bent at an odd angle. It wouldn't hold for much longer.

Slowly, Suthe backed away to the far end of the office—a mere six steps from the door.

"Please, please, please..." Suthe whispered the plea and closed her eyes, trying to pretend she was in her room again, practicing. Anywhere but here.

The door broke open. Suthe could hear the final crash and the triumphant shouts ringing in her ears like an explosion. Any moment now, she would feel iron, warm from the midday sun, slapped around her wrists, and then she would be put on a train headed for the capital...

No.

The sudden resolution jolted through her body like an icy shock, and then something peculiar happened. Though Suthe's eyes were closed, it seemed to her that the world began to shift. Gravity lost its hold, and there was a sudden hair-raising moment when Suthe suddenly felt as though she were sliding on ice.  The floor disappeared beneath her feet, and she fell—or was she flying? She didn't dare open her eyes for fear of becoming dizzy, and it was becoming difficult to hear over the wind whistling around her.

Then everything stilled.