Misplaced

The Strange Girl

Kasteri wasn't sure what to make the girl, but she was probably the most interesting thing to happen in a while. Out of nowhere, she had appeared in the sands of Trennor, screaming her head off and writhing in obvious agony. Although Kasteri didn't like pulling favors, he had managed to convince Heltnu to take her with them.

It was a shame that none of his questions could be answered. Clearly, the girl didn't speak Brenan. He had tried other dialects that he had heard around the area, but none of them had gotten him anywhere.

The girl was strange. He couldn't place her origin. Her hair was long and purple, making her easy to spot in the burning sands. Although what made him seriously question her ethnicity were her pair of swirling, alarmingly yellow eyes.

Even then they watched him, wary and frightened.

Come on, girl. It's stuffy in there. Maybe you can guide us back to your home.

She asked him something in her native tongue. It was a very sharp sounding language, rapidly spoken. Sometimes the sound of it would change for no reason, and Kasteri was driven by curiosity as to why.

"I can't understand you. Now are you coming or not? You have to be bored in there."

The girl hesitantly rose from the bed. Obviously distrustful, she analyzed everything and flinched at the smallest movement. Kasteri couldn't really blame her. He'd probably do the same.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl leapt from the caravan and landed in the hot sand. She yelped and coughed as the dry wind hit her throat.

Kasteri hoped she'd follow him. He needed to find Heltnu and tell him that the strange girl had awoken.

Thankfully, the girl did trail him, her yellow eyes looking everywhere. As Kasteri noted before, she was strangely dressed. Her shoes weren't fit for the desert sands, and her paler skin wouldn't keep the worst of the sun away.

Where had she come from? The question gnawed at him. He had been looking forward to finding out. But he'd just have to wait until they found some way to communicate.

The girl asked him something, but Kasteri could only shrug.

"Heltnu!" he called out, spotting the ringmaster. The girl stopped babbling. She must have seen him as well, for she edged just a bit closer to Kasteri.

"She's awake," Kasteri told Heltnu simply.

"I see that," the older man snapped. He wasn't in a pleasant mood, probably hoping that the girl had never awoken merely to spite Kasteri.

They were as close as brothers.

And they fought just as much as brothers.

"Where is she from?"

"Why don't you ask her, old man?"
Heltnu grunted and sauntered over to the girl. He barked, "Who are you?"

The girl mumbled something under her breath that Kasteri thought might have been sarcasm. The idea that she was sassing them made him smile.

When she didn't respond to Heltnu, the older man snapped more forcefully, "Who. Are. You?"

The girl blanched and then began speaking rapidly in her language with an indignant look on her face. The ferocity clearly took Heltnu aback, for his eyes widened as he was yelled at by the tiny girl.

When no response immediately came, he glanced at Kasteri for an explanation. Holding back laughter, Kasteri supplied, "She doesn't speak Brenan."

"Then why'd you tell me to ask her, boy?!"
That nearly undid him as Kasteri bit his knuckle to keep from bursting into laughter. "Sorry, sorry. She's a stranger to these parts, Heltnu. I don't think she knows where she is."

"Then what do we do with her?"

"We take her to the capital with us." Before Heltnu could open his mouth to object, Kasteri quickly kept speaking, "We'll be heading back there anyway after we do the show in Rengar. Someone at the capital has to know where she's from. They have scholars from every region within miles. If we leave her, she'll die."

Bless the soft heart of the ringmaster, Kasteri thought as the angry lines on his face softened. Heltnu sighed, "You watch over her. And she'll make her way. We can't have another useless mouth to feed."
Kasteri nodded. Heltnu shook his head and muttered about little girls with strange eyes.

"Good news: you get to stay," Kasteri told the stranger, trying to convey the message through tone alone. "I'm Kasteri by the way."

He placed the palm of his hand over his heart, "Kasteri." Pointing to his face, he winked and repeated his name.

Recognition seemed to flare in the girl.

She pointed to herself, "Rhea."

Having made a connection, Kasteri smiled, actually hopeful that they would find some common ground.

The girl answered his smile with her own and her yellow eyes swirled with violet purple.

Kasteri's stomach knotted with dread.