Smack.

Suthe made a face and took her hand off her arm, examining the remains of the insect that had just attempted to snack on her. There were more bugs in this seaside city, and it made her long for the arid temperatures of her home.

Leaning back into the shade of the Rust District trolley station, Suthe adjusted her heavy book bag and returned her focus to the book in her lap. Ever since Alaera had shown her the way to the Choraport Grand Library a week ago, Suthe had been making trips daily, desperate to find information on the druiths. But she had been unable to read most books that covered her topic of interest, as they were written in either Noth or the language of a lesser Sylterran tribe. Suthe had pestered Alaera for too many translations already, and this book she had found today was one of the rare ones she could actually understand without help.

It had yet to explain Montmyth's grudge against her kind.

At least she didn't stand out as much, anymore. Over the past few days, Suthe had learned how to get around the city, and Alaera had been kind enough to loan her some spare Sylterran clothes. But time was running out. Suthe's "lost luggage" had yet to be found, and she was worried that Alaera would catch on to her lies at any moment. Her host did work for the government, after all. How much longer could she stay before her secret was found out?

A dash of movement in Suthe's peripherals had her looking up with a gasp at the rooftops. She could have sworn she had seen a figure on the top of one of the buildings. But all Suthe could see now were the long vines that crept down from window boxes and swayed in the wind, brushing against the rust-colored bricks that made up the buildings and gave this part of Choraport its name.

Warily, Suthe lowered her gaze and focused on the street before her. Pedestrians passed by unconcerned, and Suthe tried to calm her rapid heartbeat.

It's just my imagination.

No matter how hard she tried to reason with herself, though, Suthe still felt uneasy, and hastily gathered her belongings as soon as she saw the brightly-painted green trolley turn the corner down the street. When the trolley finally arrived, Suthe cast a last glance skywards before climbing aboard and handing her ticket to the conductor.

The feeling of being watched didn't abate until Suthe was inside Alaera's apartment building. Even then, she bounded up to the third floor as quickly as she could and pounded on the door.

"Alaera!" Suthe called, knocking again. "Alaera, it's me! Open up!"

"Lo mar'sah egrieyell!" The cantankerous neighbor from downstairs shouted. In the short time she had been here, Suthe had heard that phrase often enough to understand its meaning: shut your mouth.

Taking a page from Alaera's book, Suthe loudly stomped her foot on the floor in retaliation. There was a grumble from below, and then silence.

Suthe nodded her head in satisfaction, but the feeling waned as she turned her attention back to the apartment door. Where was Alaera?

There was a window at the far end of the corridor, and Suthe walked over to it, looking out for any sign of Alaera's return home. Thankfully, she didn't have long to wait—Alaera's unmistakable limp, combined with her tall wooden staff, soon became visible at the end of the street. Suthe didn't miss the way other pedestrians moved out of the way and cast glances over their shoulders after Alaera had passed.

There was one person in the crowd, however, who didn't seem to have any concerns about Alaera's differences. Suthe frowned at the tall blond-haired man following after Alaera, who was shoving impatiently past others in his haste to catch up with her. Alaera surely could hear him calling for her, but she seemed determined to ignore him. Unfortunately, her limp put her at a disadvantage, and just before she reached the apartment building, the man stepped in front of her and blocked her path.

Suthe drew nearer to the window. It did not look like a welcomed confrontation. Alaera tried shoving past the man, but he grabbed her by the arm and forced her to look at him. Suthe could only guess at what they were saying.

Finally, the man let Alaera go, and she stormed past him with a scowl. Suthe continued to watch the man, who stared after Alaera for some time before slowly surveying the street around him.

What could he want?

As she watched, the man's gaze slowly turned back to the apartment building, traveling up each brick until reaching the top floor. Preoccupied with satisfying her curiosity about the stranger, Suthe's nose bumped against the glass of the window, and she gave a start in surprise.

The motion drew the man's eyes towards the window, and Suthe drew back with a gasp. For just a moment, it seemed as though his eyes had locked with hers. But he surely couldn't have spotted her three floors up, could he?

Suthe took a deep breath and smoothed her skirt. Her attempt at regaining her composure was forfeited, however, at a sudden thump from the staircase. With her heart in her throat, Suthe spun to face the unexpected noise, only to breathe a sigh of relief as she saw her hostess.

"Were you waiting long?" Alaera asked, limping up to the landing. "Sorry about that."

"Where were you?" Suthe couldn't help but blurt out. Hastily, she amended, "I—I thought something had happened..."

Alaera passed some papers to Suthe on her way to unlock the door. "It took a bit longer than I had expected to certify your temporary travel permit.  Although at this point I might advise filing for a replacement. And as for your luggage, I'd say it's been stolen, since it hasn't been found by now."

With a last jiggle of the keys, the door swung open, and Alaera stepped inside, holding the door open with her walking stick.

"Oh," Suthe said, looking down at the papers in her hand and feeling a bit bad about her outburst. She stepped through the entryway, and made sure the door shut firmly behind her. "Thank you. And, um, I'll look into that."

A moment passed before she let out the question burning on the tip of her tongue. "Who was that man outside you were talking to?"

Alaera grimaced. "I was hoping you hadn't seen him."

"Why?"

Alaera shrugged off her coat and hung it on a peg by the door. "We just don't get along well, that's all. It would be best if we avoided dragging anyone else into our disputes."

Suthe set her library book and bag down by a chair. "Who is he?"

"My brother, Thaeric," Alaera grumbled. "Or, as he prefers to be called, Magistrate Ellersong."

Suthe winced. It was just another reminder that if Alaera or any of her family members ever found out who she was, she would be on a ship to Isendorn before the sun set.

"What was the name of the ship you came in on?" Alaera asked as she began to light the candles in the apartment. "That might help in tracking your lost luggage down."

Suthe froze. "Uh...It was some foreign name that was a bit difficult to remember," she said. Is that offensive to say? Hastily, she added, "But it was very pretty!"

Alaera turned to Suthe with a raised brow. "Was it an Ellerian name?" she asked. "Ellerian and Esper are the only two Sylterran languages that foreigners seem to like the sound of, but the Spero tribe doesn't do much sailing."

"I think so, yeah!" Suthe agreed, fighting down a nervous laugh and hoping that would be the end of it. Too late, she remembered that Alaera had an Ellerian family name.

"Do you remember what it sounded like, or what sound it began with?" Alaera pressed. Suthe barely managed not to wince.

"Uh..." Frantically, she tried to think of any words she knew in Ellerian. Her cookbook! Hadn't the recipe for cinnamon flatcakes been Ellerian?"

"Sin...something?" Suthe muttered. Sinel lotarn had been the name of the dish, but maybe the beginning sounded Ellerian enough to pass for a different name. Suthe crossed her fingers.

"Sinderflynnen?" Alaera suggested, and Suthe felt a wave of relief. It had worked!

"Yeah! I mean, I think so," she said, not wanting to sound too eager.

"Hmm." Alaera said nothing more, but limped into the kitchen to make tea. Suthe followed, lingering just outside in the hallway.

"Can I help?"

"No, no, it's fine," Alaera assured her, giving a tense smile. "You've been cooking and baking practically your entire stay—for which I am very thankful—so the least I can do is make tea."

"It's no problem, really," Suthe said. "I enjoy doing it."

"You're just being polite about my cooking," Alaera joked. "You offered to prepare the meals almost immediately after the first taste of my potato soup."

"I..." Suthe grimaced, caught by the truth. Once she had realized that Alaera was only really good at baking, boiling, mashing, or stewing potatoes, Suthe knew that she would need to expand the Sylterran's culinary repertoire. The thought of tasting the same starchy ingredients for the entirety of her stay in this strange city was unbearable.

Alaera laughed. "See!"

"But I do enjoy baking!" Suthe protested.

Alaera shook her head with a smile. "Still, I am thankful. So I will make the tea--thanks to my time in Andilir, it's the one thing I can make properly."

Suthe smiled, giving in.  "All right, then."

Alaera glanced down to the book in Suthe's hands, and her smile faltered.  "Would you mind if I passed on being your interpreter for just this evening? I've been translating incoming messages from Montmyth all day. In addition to this decree against druiths, they've now just announced their intent to pursue these relics called, um..." She paused for a moment, trying to remember.  "I guess you would translate them as the 'Twin Blades'. For some reason, that's gotten Andilir upset, and the country is demanding we side with them against Montmyth." She sighed and leaned against her walking stick. "I've been translating Montese to Shun Dwo to Noth and back again all day. The International Office is going crazy and I still have twelve documents to process for a meeting tomorrow."

The kettle began to boil, and Alaera poured the boiling water into the teapot on the counter. Suthe fought down the growing dread in her stomach at the mention of her country and the anti-druith decree. But by the time Alaera had set down the kettle, Suthe had managed to find her voice again.

"I understand," she said. "I lucked out and found a book in Montese today, anyway." Hesitantly, she ventured, "What are the Twin Blades?"

Alaera turned back to lean against the counter and shrugged. "I'd never heard of them before today, but they're apparently some legendary swords forged during the Kingdom of Pretia that grant unlimited power to whoever wields them. It sounds to me like Montmyth is wasting their time putting faith in a fairytale—no offense to your country. But the Andilirish government seems to be taking the announcement quite seriously."

"Oh! We call them the Dragon Swords. But they're just a myth." Suthe furrowed her brow. First the druiths, now a pair of mythical weapons used to fight dragons? What was going on?

"You okay?" Alaera asked, jolting Suthe from her worries. The blonde was holding a teacup out to Suthe, brows raised in inquiry.

Suthe shook her head at the proffered cup. "Yeah, I'm just a bit tired. I think I'll just study a bit in my room before dinner, if you don't mind."

"I'll leave a cup and some tea cakes out if you change your mind," Alaera offered.

"Uh...how do you say 'thank you' in Noth again?"

Alaera gave a small smile at Suthe's effort. "Tashim."

"Tah-sheem?"

Suthe didn't miss Alaera's wince. "Something like that," she encouraged cheerfully. "You'll get it eventually."

"Yeah..." somehow, Suthe didn't quite believe it.  She clutched the library book tighter in her hands and headed down the hallway.

Once in her room, Suthe shoved the papers for her travel permit in a drawer of the nightstand and sat on the bed, staring at the book in her lap.  Letters she could understand and words that she could read graced the cover, and Suthe could hardly believe her luck at finding a Montese book.  For the first time since she had arrived in Sylterra, Suthe felt that finally her luck was turning for the better.

Suthe eagerly turned to the table of contents, but was disappointed to find nothing on the history of her kind.  Instead, there were only accounts of druith attacks in Montmyth, but the book never went more into detail on what kind of attacks occurred.

Feeling frustrated with her lack of answers, Suthe began to flip through the pages, searching for something that would tell her more.  As she came to the end of the book, her hopes began to wane.  

1,378 years after the Pretian Split, in the town of Faarntan, south of the Crevvane Oasis:  A band of nomadic druiths raided the marketplace and left seven dead.  In the following months, shopkeepers' wares would regularly vanish without a trace, leading to an abysmal economic crisis.  Crop failure followed in the next year and town was abandoned.

1,392 years after the Pretian Split, in Seltrin, east of the Crevvane Oasis: Citizens awoke to find that sand dunes had surrounded their village overnight.  Trade routes needed to be rerouted and wares took a week longer to reach the village, which was eventually abandoned.

1,406 years after the Pretian Split, in the port of Melendru: Eight Montese seamen reported missing.  Two men were found three days later with no recollection of the past month.  The other six were never found.

1,415 years after the Pretian Split, in the port of Melendru: citizens reported seeing floating cloth and apparitions near an old warehouse south of the docks.  Shadows and strange sounds could be heard for several weeks until the building burned down on the darkest night of winter.

Suthe bit back a snort.  There was no proof to any of these stories.  Just because a town failed to thrive and people reported seeing ghosts, historians chose to blame druiths?

She was about to close the book when a lone paragraph on the final page caught her eye.

If you think you may be in the presence of a druith, do not give any indication of your suspicions.  Druiths are extremely dangerous and will not hesitate to kill anyone who discovers them.  Druith craft consists of three instinctual abilities and several trained components--it is impossible to tell the strength of a druith just by look alone.  Do not confront any suspected druith, but instead inform the nearest member of the Montese Armed Forces.  Stay alert, and stay safe.

Suthe reread the paragraph.  Three instinctual abilities?  It was the first she had heard any details of the abilities she might possess, and it only fueled her fire of curiosity.  Did all druiths possess the same three abilities?  Suthe thought back to Pendi Montkubo, the boy who had been caught levitating in the market.  She herself had never been able to levitate, but then, maybe her abilities were too weak to do so?

"Suthe?  Um, I tried following the recipe in your book for the Esper mid-valley pasta dish, but I, uh, might have cooked the noodles for too long and the tomato sauce is a different color than usual..."  Alaera's voice carried from down the hall, and Suthe jumped up from the bed, snapping her book shut with a snap.

"Coming!" she called, hastily stashing the book in her bag with the others.  She had only a small clue of what druiths were capable of, but now she just needed to make sure that Alaera's cooking didn't kill her before she could find better answers.

~~

Happy November everyone!  I'm sorry but I feel like this became the info-dump chapter, especially at the end.  Was it terribly boring?  Any tips for improvement?  How much longer do you think Suthe can stay in Choraport before her secret is found out?  Thanks for reading, and don't forget to vote!

Dedicated to Bhashini for her wonderful reviews--thank you for reading!  Check out her "Mouse Stew and Other Tales", a delightful collection of stories which won a Wattys this year (congratulations!!).