I wasn’t sure who I was in my past life but I knew from the short time I spent in this world that I don't do well with tense silence. There was something about the air that made it difficult to breathe. Words going unspoken, looks that could kill, weapons drawn and poised invisible to the eye but felt in every painstaking second.

Yeah, I don’t do tense silence, and the moment that Rhesh and her tagalongs entered the room the air shifted into an unpleasant and suffocating silence. Aramina offered her seat to me while Halide spoke to Rhesh and while I didn’t want to take their place or make it seem as if I was running, it’s difficult to argue with a lady who calmly and forcefully removes a knife from a wall.

Part of me wondered if I should be picking sides considering that I was supposed to be a hero and all but I didn’t like them. It wasn’t just their way of talking but the way that they looked at me and the other villagers. As if they were better than us. Halide’s earlier explanation of Players and the difference between us and them came to mind but where did I fit into all that?

Halide stepped out of the way and Rhesh walked in with Kadry and Mike in tow. Halide was several heads shorter than Mike but she glared at him with all the intensity of someone his height. Mike stepped aside, nearly knocking into Kandry’s longer strides and ruining the supposed “power” of their strut considering the dirty glare Rhesh shot at them from over her shoulder.

“Miss Aramina, it’s so good to see you,” Rhesh said and her voice just made me feel sick.

Aramina dropped down on the couch beside me and stabbed her knife in the table as Kadry reached for one of the trays. She tipped her head to one side and from where I sat, her eyes seemed to glow. He slowly drew his hand away with a sheepish smile and cradled it to his chest while Rhesh’s smile became tighter and Mike grunted. Halide closed the door with a loud slam rattling it on its henges.

“Air, eat your food,” she said and I looked at my dish that was still half full.

Nubi was nowhere nearby and if not for the sharp tug to the back of my head, I would’ve thought that she was gone. I picked up my dish robotically, aware of all the eyes on me and now eating to meet any of them. The air was stifling and it took everything I had to just shovel spoonfuls of soup and meat in my mouth. With the spice, it was easy to clear my airways and breathe.

Good thinking on Halide’s part.

Aramina leant back against the couch, one hand resting in her lap while the other patted the top of my head. I felt almost like a little kid with how much they were doting on me. And it was weird. We’d just met, and although I was comfortable telling them my origin story, they were being really nice to me.

Like Granny Fu.

But no chair was offered to Rhesh, Kadry or Mike. And no food for that matter.

The table was what divided us from them and I felt the weight of it all on my shoulders. If these three were extorting the people of Sinaba, as a hero I had a duty to stop them, right? But I couldn’t even breathe in their presence let alone muster a word. Aramina’s hand pressed at my back and she patted once.

“So you’re acquainted with the innkeeper’s worker?” Rhesh asked, her hands clasped in front of her. “I wasn’t aware that she took on new hands. Did Air come into town with you?”

“And if they did?” Halide sat down heavily on the arm of the couch and Aramina rested her hand on her thigh. “Sinaba isn't under the Guild's thumb, whoever comes in and out of her borders doesn’t have to be vetted by you lot.”

Kadry opened his mouth but Rhesh held up her hand, immediately silencing him. “Please understand, Miss Halide,” Rhesh said, lowering her hand, her brows furrowing and voice laden with something that made my stomach turn. “We simply want to ensure that Sinaba is safe and outsiders can hardly be trusted. Why a wolf could wear the skin of a sheep and you’d never know until it was too late.”

Wait, was she trying to say that I was a danger to Sinaba?

I opened my mouth to say something but another spoonful of soup was shoved into it. Aramina’s fingers resting at my elbow and I looked from the spoon to her. She didn’t look at me but her fingers left my elbow and I chewed quietly. Something else was going on here.

“Granny Fu sent Air back to us after the kid got situated, turns out that they don’t remember anything, so we were right to leave them here for a bit.”

Rhesh’s eyes narrowed and flicked toward me. My entire body tensing up and I willed myself not to look away from her. But every second was excruciatingly difficult and she seemed to be trying to look into my soul.

“You don’t remember anything?” Rhesh asked in that lofty saccharine tone. “You poor thing…”

Kadry snorted, stamping the end of his spear on the wooden floor. “A likely excuse for someone that wanted to infiltrate the village, don’t you all have any sense?”

Mike grunted which I figured was his way of agreeing and another thorn in my side. I opened my mouth but Nubi pulled at the back of my hair. What was it with everyone trying to keep me quiet? I had to say something to these jerks so they wouldn’t take it out on Halide and Aramina.

“Well, I’m glad that you’re so concerned for our well-being. And yes, my wife and I do have sense and so does Granny Fu. She can tell when someone’s trying to pull a fast one on her, like when you three rolled into town.”

Rhesh tensed up and Kadry was growing red in the face while Mike scowled.

“And if Air’s lying, look at them. They’re wearing rags, don’t have a lucre to their name, and look just as lost as anyone. Any good person would try to help them out and ask questions later. Not stop them at a gate and try to shake them down for everything they’ve got.”

Rhesh was the picture of serenity but there was something about her eyes and the air around her that made me want to run. As if something was edging along the surface and she was just keeping it back enough from showing. While Kadry was fuming and Mike glared, Rhesh stared at Halide evenly.

“What are you trying to say, Miss Halide?” She asked, a chilling eerie calm to her voice. “That we’re the ones who are wrong for doing our job?”

Halide clenched her jaw and for the first time since Rhesh started this questioning session, she was quiet. I’d been around them long enough to know what she might have said. And from what I’ve heard, it would’ve been true.

Rhesh and her busybodies were nothing but bullies.

“Air, you had someplace else you needed to be, right?” Halide said, never once looking away from Rhesh. “You should get going before it’s dark out.”

What?

I looked between her and Aramina. Aramina’s kind eyes seemed to lack her usual smile and she patted the top of my head, taking my empty dish from me. When did that happen?

“Aramina, can you give Air one of my old jackets? It’ll get chilly outside after long.”

Hold on. They wanted me to leave just like that?

Aramina tucked her hand under my arm and despite the disbelief, I rose to my feet and let her guide me from the living room. Nubi tucked into the back of my shirt and I could feel the weight of eyes on me as we left. Aramina kept a tight hold on my arm until we came to their bedroom.

“Why do I have to go?” I asked in a whisper and she turned to me sharply, pressing her finger to her lips then pointing down the hall. Before I could ask further, she turned around and waded through the mess of their room to search for the jacket Halide talked about. Nubi wiggled up to my shoulder and tugged at my ear.

“Those three are bad news and as long as you’re around, they’ll just keep hammering away with new things to get to you.”

Nubi had a point. It seemed like everything Halide said was backed by something else. Rhesh was obviously trying to get at something but what it was, I’m not sure. A heavy weight rested on my shoulders but unlike the one from earlier, it was just the coat that Aramina slipped around me. She palmed my cheeks, and tilted my head back, her eyes warm and her smile soft.

She squished my face and I closed my eyes, wrinkling my nose until I felt the gentle press of something against my forehead. When I opened my eyes, I saw her pull away and her arms wrapped around me, hugging me close to her.

“… I’ll be careful,” I said, returning the hug.

Nubi wiggled free of my shirt and peeked from the collar of the jacket. Aramina tapping the top of their head before she pulled away and ushered us back into the hall. The walk to the living room was the longest that I’d taken solar. Even longer than the one from the forest.

Somehow, it felt like I was running away again.

Aramina opened the front door for me while Halide stared down Rhesh and the others, patting my head one more time.

“I’ll come visit you later,” I said and Aramina smiled softly before closing the door.