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“You’re not to see that wicked demon any longer,” Mom said. Her eyes were like flint. “He’ll bring death upon us all!”
The crowd echoed her, clearly in full agreement. “He’s dangerous, trouble!” they cry.
“You have a problem with Varzig?” I asked, stunned. I can’t believe it. What can have changed while I’ve been gone? Where did this poison come from?
“Of course we do,” Jeffery said, his thin nose raised in the air. He’s a scarecrow of a man, a contrast to his brother Milton’s barrel chest. “We’re decent folk.”
Demi’s aunt shakes her head, the same woman who’d shared her bread with me when I’d been a child. “No nice, normal girl would traffic with their kind. Something must be wrong with her.”
“She’s always been off,” said someone else. “Those stories. It’s not natural imagining things like that.”
That lights a fire inside of me. “You all liked my stories! Abby’s too. I won’t have you slandering a woman who did nothing but try to bring some joy to all of you.”
The crowd remained unmoved. “Abby’s dead. Her soul’s in the hands of the gods now,” Milton said, crossing his fingers to avoid the gaze of the departed.
“It's your unnaturalness we’re talking about now,” Jeffery agreed. “Evil brings evil, you know. And nothing’s more evil than a demon.”
My jaw dropped. The orcs who’d run our camp were a million times worse than Varzig. How quickly they all forgot.
“My Tessa’s not evil,” my father said in his slow, careful voice. “Just been misled, corrupted.”
My mother extended her hand to me. “Come away from that creature, darling, and everything will be well again.”
I don’t move. I glared at the crowd. Closed-minded, foolish people. “Varzig saved you. He saved all of you! Kept your children from dying!”
“He shouldn’t be here at all!” shouted someone from the back. “This isn’t demon land!”
“His goodwill is dependent on his satisfaction with your cunt,” Erik said with a sneer. I step back, feeling his words like a slap. “I’m not leaving my life in the lap of a whore.”
“He’ll tire of you eventually, and then he’ll turn on us, good folk who’ve done nothing but what we ought,” Mila said. Her husband, Rupert, stands with her, their children clinging to Mila’s skirts. Some of the very children Varzig had saved.
I shake my head. “He isn’t like that. He’s a good person, he wants to help us! I know him far better than you do!” I’m especially furious with my parents. He ate dinner at our table, and they will say nothing.
Erik burst out laughing, braying and cruel. I heard others in the crowd join in, mocking laughter ringing in my ears. “A demon, good? Wants to help humans, eh? You were right, Tom. She’s not evil. She’s crazy.”
My father gritted his teeth but didn’t defend me. My mother is pale. “Whatever’s wrong with her, she’s my little girl,” she said. “Let her family deal with her.”
“Varzig is intelligent and caring,” I snapped. A better person than any of the ones in front of me, but I know better than to say so. “You’re refusing to look past what he is. You’re worse than blind. You’re willfully ignorant!”
Milton snorted, sounding like a sneezing equu. “Demons aren’t like us. They can’t ever be. They’re monsters, plain and simple.”
I opened my mouth, but my mom stepped forward and slapped me across the face. My cheek burned, and my heart ached. “No more arguing!” she cried shrilly. “Quiet, girl, if you know what’s good for you.”
“If you won’t fix this, we will,” Milton said, meeting my father’s eyes. The threat hangs in the air, heavy and ominous. Demi’s family has a lot of influence in the village. No one will object to any plan of his, however stupid.
“Maybe we should just do that now,” someone shouted. “Get rid of the evil fucker!”
“Demon whore!” Mila shrieked. “She’ll let him take our children! She’s on his side, not ours!”
Things are turning ugly. We’re not far away from them attacking me, maybe hanging me in the square. What will Varzig do then? Fear grips me, making my tongue lay dead in my mouth.
“That’s enough,” my dad said, stepping forward and grabbing my hand. His grip is bruising on my wrist. “You’ve all said your piece and more than that besides. We’ll take the girl home. This’ll all be sorted soon.”
“It had better be,” Erik said. I feel the angry eyes of the crowd on me as my parents drag me away. I feel cold and hollow. Nothing less than breaking me will satisfy them, I’m sure of it.
“Let me go, Dad,” I said, tugging at his iron grip.
“Hush, Tessa!” he said harshly. “You’ve caused us enough trouble. Behave, now.”
