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Sisa — an affectionate Sufa word for a child. Verve’s jaw unhinged as more heat flooded her cheeks. She shot Ivet a look, but the village leader only met her gaze steadily. Beyond them, the rest of the villagers began to stream out of the Tipsy Willow, chattering in a mixture of excitement and annoyance.
This was all too surreal.
“I’m not—” Verve began.
But Dannel clucked his tongue as he wove together strands of violet and indigo. “You are one of us,” he said. “Even I can see that.”
Verve’s insides went cold even as fire pricked behind her eyes, and it took her several moments to find her voice. “I’m not a Sufani any longer. My family is gone.”
A memory flickered at the surface of her mind: not smoke and screams, like Danya always spoke of, but the sound of heavy steps on wood. Darkness covered her eyes and mouth, and she couldn’t take a proper breath.
Ivet’s soft touch at her elbow made her start. The older woman gave her a small, sad smile. “We’ve all lost those we love,” Ivet said. “But it gives me some comfort to know they’re in the One god’s keeping, and have moved on to their next lives. I like to think we’ll meet again.”
She studied Verve with a gaze full of hope, and Verve went cold all over again. She drew back, her hand instinctively touching her scarf. “If the One cared about Sufani so much, why are so many of—” She couldn’t bring herself to say us. “—them gone?”
“Legion’s cruelty knows no bounds,” Dannel muttered. “They hunted our people down, scattered them across the world like chicken feed. All because they love a different god than we do.”
Legion. Verve shut the word out of her mind. Mages had killed her family. Mages had burned her home and shattered her old life. Legion, and its patron god, Atal, were just in the background.
Lest she think too hard about any of this, Verve glanced at Ivet. “Well, Atal has blessed my life in many ways.”
Somewhere, she thought Danya was nodding in satisfaction.
Ivet’s smile held no warmth. “No doubt. Atal’s ways are a mystery to me, but then, I’m not one of his Chosen.” She hesitated. “Did Atal bless you with that lovely scarf you wear?”
Verve’s fingers flew to the silken fabric again. “No. This is…” She flushed. “A family heirloom.”
To their credit, neither Dannel nor Ivet commented on her hypocrisy. Instead, Dannel extended his hand. “May I?”
Weird, but Verve wasn’t about to object. Carefully, she removed the scarf and handed it to the older fellow. He smoothed his fingers across the material, humming softly as he turned the scarf over to stroke the embroidered flowers.
Verve shot Ivet a look she hoped meant, What’s going on? But Ivet just smiled.
“Beautiful,” Dannel said at last. “The embroidery is exquisitely done. And only on one side, of course.”
Verve’s brows knitted as he handed the scarf back. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a common Sufani technique,” Ivet explained. “One side is plain, to blend in among the kotahi.”
Kotahi. The Sufani word for outsiders ran like a shiver over Verve’s skin. She could not recall the last time she’d heard it.
“That charcoal gray does the trick, indeed,” Dannel added.
“How did—”
“I told you,” Dannel interrupted. “The colors speak to me.”
Verve blinked. “Right.”
“And the other side,” Ivet continued, reaching to touch the edge of the scarf, which Verve still clutched. Bathed in sunlight, the embroidered flowers gleamed. “The true side, filled with wonder, with the beauty of our world, which the One god gave us.” She met Verve’s gaze again. “We have all learned to wear different faces to survive, haven’t we, Verve?”
Verve stood frozen, staring between the elder Sufani. Knots tightened in her belly, her throat, behind her eyes, and suddenly she could not bear this conversation any longer. She mumbled some nonsense about scouting, then turned tail and fled away into the marsh.
Not even a month into her mission, and she was losing sight of her true purpose here. Danya, the other Chosen, and all the innocents of Freehold were counting on her. But instead of focusing on her task, Verve had allowed herself to get caught up in the villagers’ petty lives.
Well, no more. She was here to find Damaris, and kill mages in the meantime.
Nothing else mattered.
