“Human citizens of Readimina, I mean you no harm.”
He sounded almost diplomatic, and it frightened me a little.
“Please excuse my discourtesy of not telling you of my visit beforehand, but be assured that I have no previous association with this faun. I had no business intruding, and I will be taking my leave shortly.”
The crowd stared at him, most looking surprised that he could speak at all, let alone form sentences they could hardly understand. I found myself staring with them. The only people who did not look convinced were the strangers. I realized it was because they had already encountered Levent and, presumably, they fought. No fancy speech would be erasing that memory any time soon.
I watched the blood fill the first man’s face, his eyes bugging out madly. “All the beast speaks are spells upon you! Shut his demon mouth!” He snatched a pitchfork, but when he went to pitch it at us, as strong hand wrapped around his arm, stopping it.
“Gorn!” I smiled. Finally!
My friend scowled darkly at the burly man, plucking the weapon out of his hand. “That’s enough, stranger.” Though the men were larger than him, Gorn had the spirit of a giant, and he was not afraid of anything those two could dish out. Murmurs broke out in the crowd, and several faces turned to Gorn with relief.
Gorn then looked to Levent, sizing him up and betraying no emotion under those bushy eyebrows. “You’ve caused quite a lot of trouble in our town, dragon. It’s best that you leave as soon as possible. By mid-day is preferable.”
I expected nothing less than this. Gorn was a reasonable man, and he knew better than I what disruption this would cause. However, I did not foresee what he said next, his eyes now focused on me.
“Naitlya, it’s probably best that you go, too.”
My heart froze, and I struggled with the sudden welling of disbelief within me. Yet, I could find no lie in Gorn’s words or in the sad look in his eyes. Tears threatened to spill over, but I fought them back. I was filled with an overwhelming confusion, coupled with the heavy understanding of what he said. He was right, and I knew that my welcome in the village of Readimina had just run out.
“I understand,” I whispered, unable to say anything louder for fear of betraying too much emotion. Suddenly feeling very exposed, I wandered back into the house.