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“The servant merely did what she’s meant to do—serve!” Amber barks back.
It’s ridiculous that I should have to argue my right to drink water, but these women will never accept me. Not wholly. Not as I deserve to be.
“You know what—I’m not doing this!” I hiss. “You can fight over your tiny barrel of water. I’ll go find my own.”
Amber’s eyes grow curious. “What will you do when you find it?”
“Drink it until I have a fuller bladder than I’ve had in weeks.” I stalk around Meg and take a step toward my aggressor. “And so help me, if any of you try drinking from it without my permission—”
I feel a hand on my shoulder. “We’re in this together,” Meg says firmly. “On this island, we’re all equal.”
Amber’s lips contort, clearly displeased with Meg, and to be honest, I’m none too happy either. I’m going to find water, build a shelter, lay traps—and keep it all for myself because I’ll never let another reap the rewards of my labor again.
“I’m leaving!”
I march toward the tree line.
“Elena,” Meg calls. “Come back—you don’t even have shoes!”
I can’t turn around. If I do, they’ll see tears welling in my eyes, giving them a victory.
I’ll never be one of them, and I was silly to think they’d ever accept me. Even if I were the strongest, the most capable, they’d call themselves my betters and tell me to gather more wood for the fire.
But I refuse to live like that. My whole life, I’ve obeyed, and it’s time I live my life for myself. Even if it kills me.
Which it probably will. Even the fruit here is tough and only peeled with considerable effort. What chance do I have alone?
An icy chill sweeps past me again. I still can’t figure out why that’s a thing, but at least it passes by quickly.
There must be water somewhere. Going out into the forest alone is probably one of the stupidest things I could do, but I can’t risk having someone else find water first. They could claim it, disallowing me from drinking, or putting unreasonable conditions on my consumption.
Thankfully, with the amount of fruit on the forest floor, we won’t go hungry as long as we find more efficient ways of extracting it.
Or rather, ifI, notwe.
Because I’ll never be a part of them.
Sunlight streams through the upper foliage, illuminating a world that seems distorted, vastly different from anything I’ve ever seen. The flowers look…wild, and the trees gnarled and warped. This isn’t like Penticar. It’s dark, twisted, and strangely beautiful.
And despite the heat, icy chills continue to sweep past me, causing me to shiver.
It almost seems unnatural.
After several minutes of walking inland, I hear a strange sound.
CLICK, CLICK, CLICK…
I turn, staring into the thick forest, trying to locate the source and seeing nothing unusual.
I continue walking, but the sound comes again.
CLICK, CLICK, CLICK…
This time, it’s accompanied by a rustling that makes my hair stand on end.
I look back and see two golden orbs in the distance.
Something’s watching me.
