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There were lights; blinding balls of white everywhere. Royan squinted as her eyes adjusted. There were men leaning over her, wearing strange, white clothing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a strange creature, with…purple skin? It was hard to tell, since her vision was still blurry. They were mumbling in an unfamiliar language, but Royan knew they were talking about her. She opened her mouth to speak, but her mouth seemed sealed shut. Her surroundings were slowly coming into focus, and she saw she was in an unfamiliar room filled with strange objects she didn’t recognize. She tried to sit up, but there was something holding her to the ground. She lifted her head and saw she was strapped to some kind of cushioned table. She struggled to get herself free, but the straps held her down. The men began speaking in louder tones, an edge of urgency in their voices. Then Royan felt a sharp, excruciating pain in her arm, like someone had stabbed her with a spear. Royan began to panic, and the room lurched. A wave of nausea passed over her, but she ignored it. With all of her strength, she threw her upper body upwards to break the straps and free herself…
It was a beautiful day. Small, fluffy clouds dotted the sky while the sun shined merrily, still low in the eastern sky. A cool breeze made the grasses ripple and the wildflowers dance. For the first time in a long while, Royan felt peaceful. She was alone, perched atop of a large boulder, gazing at the beautiful landscape that surrounded her. She had needed to get away for a while. Eight light turns ago, there had been a huge lightning storm, and one of the village homes had been struck and set aflame. The fire destroyed it completely along with four other homes before a downpour had extinguished the flames. Nobody had been seriously hurt, but one of the homeless families had moved in with Royan’s, and the little children were driving her nuts. She had also been taken away from her normal duties to help rebuild the destroyed huts. Today, she got up earlier than usual so she could be in solitude, away from the village, before she needed to help out again. She realized her alone time was nearly up as a figure emerged from the grove of trees next to the large rock.
“There you are, Royan. I thought I’d find you here.”
“What do you want, Lareth?”
“I’ve been looking for you.” He seemed rather out of breath, as if he had ran half the distance from the village.
“Why?” Royan didn’t hide the annoyance in her tone. She wasn’t in the mood for company, least of all Lareth’s.
“Mouka’s been worried about you. She heard you crying out in your sleep. Were you having a nightmare?”
The dream, Royan thought. She barely remembered it, but for some reason she felt like she had had this dream before. It was strange, that place she had been in…
“Royan? Are you listening to me?”
“Oh. Leave it to my aunt to worry about me. Well, you can go back and tell her I’m fine. I just want some peace before go back to the village.”
“Does that mean you don’t want me to stay?”
Royan was tempted to respond with a sarcastic comment, but she refrained. Instead, she replied, “I just wish to be alone for a little while.” Royan hoped Lareth would take the hint, but apparently he had no intention of leaving.
“Royan, you can’t keep distancing yourself from the tribe. It’s not healthy.”
“I’m not distancing myself. I just wish for some solitude every now and then. Is that so much to ask?” Royan turned away as Lareth climbed up the rock and sat himself next to her.
“You’ve been making excuses to get away from the tribe for a while now. Are you still mourning over Eleris’s death?” Royan flinched ever so slightly at the mention of her dead fiancé.
“I’ve told you, my mourning has passed. I do not think I was ever in love with him, so maybe it is better that things…did not work out.”
“You’re not saying that to try to fool yourself, are you? The elders say that if you keep it up, you might catch the sad-sickness.”
“Do they? But no, I’m not trying to fool myself. It’s just…that…never mind.” Words couldn’t possibly relate to the mixed feelings Royan was experiencing. She felt like she could not fall in love with any of the men in her village, did not want to fall in love, and because of that she was letting the tribe down. She had no desire for a family of her own, and the rather domestic life of the village bore her. She felt like there should be something else out there for her, but down inside, she new there wasn’t.
There was a moment of silence. Royan shifted her position, feeling rather uncomfortable. She didn’t like talking about these things.
“Royan, did you ever once think you could love me?” This wasn’t a question Royan wanted to hear.
“No.” Royan said bluntly. Lareth’s expression was a strange mix of amusement and disappointment. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Royan cut him off.
“Lareth, please, this isn’t something I want to discuss. Maybe there’s a man in another tribe that is the one for me. Don’t look at me like that. I don’t think intermarriage is a form of betrayal to one’s tribe--do you see that?” Royan stood up on the rock for a better look. Off in the distance, a large dust cloud was forming. It seemed rather low for one of the normal dust storms, and it was moving too fast.
“Lareth, is that…?”
“Grankon…it’s a stampede, and they’re moving quickly…” Lareth’s voice trailed off as the cloud changed direction--towards the tribe’s settlement.
“Lareth, it’s heading for the village! We’ve got to warn them!” Royan cried.
“Let’s go, now!” Lareth grabbed Royan by the arm, and they raced back to confront the impending danger.
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