Still keeping her eyes closed, Suthe took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Had it worked? There was no more shouting or crying—rather, just an unusual call from a lone bird. The heat of the midday sun had lessened, and there was the smell of salt on the breeze. Suthe rubbed her arms against the slight chill and finally opened her eyes. What she saw made her gasp.

The first unusual thing Suthe noticed about her new environment was the street. Rather than warm packed earth, the road before her was laid out in endless gray cobblestones. She took a step, and the stones felt hard and uneven under her sandals. It was an unusual sensation. But the avenue wasn't the only thing covered in stone—the surrounding walls were too, stretching up above her head and half-covered in crawling greenery.

Remembering the strange bird call, Suthe looked up to find a pair of white winged creatures circling overhead—seagulls. She had read about them in books but never seen them before in real life.

Shouts in a different language had Suthe cautiously making her way to the end of the vine-covered wall and peering around the corner. Her eyes widened in surprise at the old wooden docks sticking up out of the glittering blue water, and at the large boats sailing into the port. It was a sailor from one of these boats that Suthe had heard cry out—a fisherman, judging by the nets and tackle on his boat. Off in the distance, Suthe could make out the outlines of several larger cargo ships, too big to come all the way in to the docks.

"Where am I?" Suthe wondered aloud. Hesitantly, she made her way down a set of steps and along the beachfront. Closely packed storefronts lined the street facing the docks, and Suthe noticed that instead of the normal clay-and-wood construction of the residences in Crestdune, these buildings with strange pointy roofs were made almost entirely of wood, and painted in different colors.

A few people gave her, the dark-skinned foreigner, curious glances as she passed by. Likewise, Suthe returned their inquisitive glances with her own. Their clothes were different from hers—thicker than linen and dyed dark shades of blues, browns and grays, and sometimes even purples and greens. The outfits had far more layers, ruffles, and buttons than Suthe's own white and gold robe, and she began to feel very self-conscious of how out-of-place she looked.

But it wasn't just the clothes that intrigued Suthe. The people were different too. Many were pale and often freckled, although some were tanned from long hours working in the sun. And while some still had black hair like Suthe's, the tresses were straighter, like those from the south of Montmyth, in Melendru. Others had brown or even blond hair, and a few sported more coppery curls.

Suthe was so distracted by the people that she didn't notice the carriage until it was almost too late. Shouts in the strange foreign language she had heard earlier, combined with several frantic pointing fingers, finally alerted her that something was amiss.

When she finally turned, Suthe barely had time to register the terrifying black monstrosity bearing down on her before she had to jump out of the way. It lurched past in a commotion of clacking metal and creaking gears.

"That—that had legs!" she exclaimed after she had caught her breath, looking at the people around her. Oddly enough, no one seemed to mind that the carriage had been missing its wheels—not to mention there had been no beast of burden leading it. "What was that thing?"

But the bystanders merely gave her confused looks and babbled to each other in their own language before continuing on. Suthe bit her lip as realization began to set in. She was too conspicuous here, and there was no one she could ask for help. She might have escaped arrest in Montmyth, but she would starve or worse in this foreign land without someone she could communicate with.

Suthe looked down at the recipe book in her hands. Usually she would be wearing her favorite ring, but she had taken it off for kneading the glonda dough that morning. Now all she had as a bartering chip was an increasingly battered book written in a language that no one would understand.

Yes, I'm sure that'll win over someone's favor, she thought drily. No matter how desperate the situation, though, she knew she couldn't go back to Crestdune yet. Perhaps the decree would fade from people's memories in a few months?

Suthe snorted. It was wishful thinking, at best. Unless she knew why the government had suddenly wanted to arrest all the druiths in the country, she wouldn't be returning to Montmyth anytime soon.

Unsure of where to go or what to do, Suthe began to wander along the street, careful to avoid any more strange legged-carriages that ambled past. All the while, she tried ignoring the uncertainty clawing at her stomach, but it seemed the more she tried to pretend she was fine, the worse it got. How would she eat? Where would she sleep? Was her mother okay? Had someone known she was a druith all along, and reported her to the soldiers? Was—

Someone tapped Suthe's shoulder, and she spun around with her heart in her throat. Instead of some officer of the law demanding her arrest, however, a young woman with dark blonde hair pulled up in a braid was smiling back at her.

"Eshthe mar'rachh utul lo'iel," the woman said. Suthe assumed it was some sort of greeting, but could only frown at the strange language and warily eye the heavy wooden staff the woman was leaning on. It was similar in size to the spears that the Montesian soldiers carried—would the woman try to hit her with it?

"Oh..." the woman mirrored Suthe's expression with a frown of her own. "Sorry—I didn't realize you didn't speak Noth. Do you understand Montese though? My Pretian isn't great yet and I haven't learned any Crevvanese."

Suthe felt her mouth drop open. "You can speak Montese?" she asked.

The woman's smile returned, this time with a hint of excitement. "I make mistakes every now-and-then, but I spent a lot of time in Isendorn as a child. It's so great to be able to use the language again!" She let go of her staff with her left hand and held it out for Suthe to shake. "I'm Alaera Ellersong."

Suthe took her hand. "Suthe Montikwe."

"Nice to meet you. Did you just get in to Choraport today?"

Suthe's eyes widened, and she quickly looked over to the docks to hide her reaction. So this was Choraport, the capital of the western peninsula? She took a deep breath as she realized just how far she had traveled.

"Uh, yes," Suthe began slowly. "I was planning to stay in Sylterra for a few months, but, um..." she looked down at the recipe book again, for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "My luggage was lost during the voyage. Would you happen to know of a place that might exchange work for room and board?"

Alaera's gaze grew distant, and she pursed her lips as she thought over the question.

"Do you have your papers with you, at least?" she finally asked.

Suthe blinked. "Papers?"

"Official papers, travel documents, passport?" With each syllable, Suthe felt a sense of dread grow in her stomach. She hadn't thought about the legalities of her sudden trip abroad until Alaera had mentioned it.

"Uh...they were in my luggage that got lost," Suthe said, willing the woman in front of her to somehow believe the lie. Alaera did squint suspiciously at her, but shook her head and let the matter drop.

"Well, I guess it was fortunate that someone told me about the foreigner who almost got hit by a spider carriage, then," she said with a laugh. "Come on. You can stay at my place, if you don't mind."

"I—" Of course, Suthe had a few qualms about shacking up with someone she'd just met, but then, she didn't have many other options, did she? Besides, this Alaera person seemed nice. "No, I don't mind, but I don't mean to inconvenience you—"

"Oh! No worries," Alaera said cheerfully. "I'm often used to having a few guests over."

Now Suthe was curious. "What kind of guests?" If it turned out that Alaera was some sort of loose woman, Suthe would rather take her chances without her.

Alaera laughed lightly. "Oh, travelers, mostly. The most recent was an Andilirish tea merchant and his family. Thankfully I live alone, otherwise it would have been quite crowded."

A woman, living alone? Suthe was wondered why, but didn't want to be rude in asking. However, when Alaera began to walk away, Suthe thought she might understand at least part of the reason. The Sylterran hadn't been using her staff merely as a decoration—Alaera was limping heavily, and relied on the staff to keep the weight off her bad right leg. Much to Suthe's embarrassment, Alaera caught her looking.

"Oh, it's just from an accident I had as a kid," she explained, still friendly. For a moment, though, Suthe thought she saw Alaera's smile waver. "You don't...mind, do you? I know some people have qualms about—"

"I don't mind," Suthe interrupted hastily, flashing a smile. Alaera had been kind to her so far, and she didn't want to lose this new friendship over something so petty as appearances.

Some tension seemed to leave Alaera's shoulders, and she leaned a bit more onto her staff with a sigh. "Good!" she said, giving a shaky laugh. "Well, come on. My apartment's this way."

So, um, the picture for this chapter was supposed to be a seagull, but I googled just that and you would not believe how many really, really strange pictures there are of seagulls, so much so that I got weirded out and thought mmm...maybe not.  Maybe a Finding Nemo animated seagull wouldn't be bad?  But then I got sidetracked and ended up with Gerald from Finding Dory, so there he is instead (say it with me, now: "Get off the rock, Gerald!").  Eh, Choraport is by the sea.  He's a sea lion.  It's still sorta relevant.  :P

Anyway, let me know what you think!  Can Suthe trust Alaera?  How do you think she'll adapt to her new surroundings?

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to vote!