Trolls hurried about, running from stall after stall and buying items in a rush. Sage and I shared a look. Something wasn’t right here. They were fighting each other to push to the front of the lines and acting aggressively. My head snapped to my right, where I noticed two women warring over a small jar of honey.
What in the hell is going on here?
“Traders!” someone screamed, and then the crowd turned toward us. They rushed forward, pressing in on Sage and I. My horse reared upward as I yanked her reins, clenching my thighs and trying not to get bucked off.
“Back up!” I thrust a hand out to the trolls rushing us, and they obliged.
“What have you got? Any corn?” a woman asked with desperation in her gaze.
I frowned.
This wasn’t the Troll Village I’d visited over a year ago. Had the war done this? Were they low on food?
I nodded. “Blue corn. Some deer skins. And seeds.”
At the mention of seeds the crowd went nuts. They rushed forward, grabbing at my legs, and I was about to panic when a gunshot went off right beside me.
Everyone hit the ground, covering their ears, and I looked over at Sage, who held a sleek black handgun.
“Be civil or you get nothing!” Sage cried.
Okay, we’d agreed no guns on this trip unless absolutely necessary, but I guess that was needed lest I be torn apart by this mob.
Scared into compliance, they lined up one by one, single file. There must have been fifty people in total and more coming out of their houses and huts to see what was going on.
I slipped off of my horse and grabbed the trader bag that Willow had packed us. Sage stayed on her horse, gun in hand, as she stared down at the scene below.
I knelt, opening the red cloth and smoothing it into the ground as I laid my items out. There were gasps, and ohhhs and ahhhs as I arranged the seeds.
“She’s got seeds!” someone said from deep in the line, and my brow furrowed again. I looked up at Sage, who held her gun trained on the crowd, and she shrugged.
The first woman came up from the line clutching an old blanket. “I’ll trade you for five seeds?” She sounded unsure, like she knew it was a shitty trade. To be honest, the trader items were a front. I needed information, not a blanket.
It was a ratty-ass blanket too, the edges torn and frayed, and why the hell did everyone look so skinny? I didn’t want to act too clueless and raise the alarm that I clearly didn’t know what was going on in the magical world, but I had to find out why they looked half-starved and were fighting over seeds.
I swallowed hard, lowering my voice. “How about you tell me about why everyone needs seeds so bad? Why you are all fighting over food? Then I’ll give you any five seeds you like.”
Her eyes glittered with excitement at the prospect of being able to hang on to the blanketandthe seeds. She leaned forward, nodding. “The vampires burned down all our farms nearly a year ago in order to force us to fight in the war against the wolves.” She licked her lips, eyeing the broccoli, corn, squash, and carrot seeds I had.
Those bloodsucking motherfuckers! Burned down all the farms!
Marmal.
“Allthe farms? Did you know someone named Marmal? Marmal from Rose-something.” My heart pounded against my chest as I struggled to remember where my friend was from. The lady shrugged.
“Yes, all the farms, but I don’t know any Marmal. Can I have my seeds?”
I nodded and she kneeled down, picking five seeds out carefully and then running off like she was escaping a fire. The man who was next looked at me quizzically.
“I know of a story about a Marmal from Rose-something. Might be your same one, but it will cost you ten seeds,” he whispered.
He’d been eavesdropping.
I nodded. “Deal.”
He was chubby, clearly not as starved as the others, and his nostrils were so big I could see his brain as he towered over me. The tusks in his cheeks were yellowing.
“Marmal of Rosedale was one of the first farms to burn. She lived near the vampire border.” His voice was scratchy like he was a smoker.
