"Hey, Evalon?" Elen asked a few hours later. They had spent the day together, walking around the village and eating the rolls from the basket, and while Evalon was still unsure about how her uncle would react to her outburst last night, she felt somewhat more at ease.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Can I ask a favor of you?"

Furrowing her brows in confusion at what she could possibly do for Elen, she said, "Uh, sure."

"I've got to go pick a frying pan up from the blacksmith. Would you go with me so I don't have to be alone with Miss Sunshine?"

"The blacksmith's daughter? Sure, I guess."

"You're my hero," Elen said earnestly as they began to make their way there.

"Why do you dislike her so much?" Evalon couldn't help but ask.

"You'll see," Elen said in a warning tone.

Deciding the blacksmith's girl wasn't the best topic for conversation, Evalon changed tactics. "Why do you need a frying pan? I'd have thought your mom would have plenty of those tucked away safely in the kitchen."

"Oh, she does. It's just that her favorite one-- the one she got at her and my dad's wedding-- broke, so she took it to be fixed."

"Oh." Unable to resist the temptation, Evalon asked, "How did it break?"

Elen broke into a laugh. "It's a funny story, actually. You see, she was making--"

"Hey, Elen," a friendly voice said. The voice came from a young boy who looked about a year or two older than Evalon.

"Hi, Keaton," Elen replied as the stranger approached.

Ah, so this is the Keaton Elen says every girl is in love with, Evalon thought. She could see why. He had dark curly hair that was neatly styled, not a strand out of place. His eyes were a muddy green color, and when framed by his olive complexion, he looked very handsome. He was tall and lean and walked with a kind of confidence that Evalon could never muster.

"Hey, sorry I couldn't make it to the slick ball game yesterday," the boys said. "I was hanging with my friends at the field and totally spaced."

Elen shrugged. "Eh, no biggy. It was Fin who wanted to play, not me."

"Fin sure is competitive," Keaton laughed. Shaking his head with a smile, he seemed to notice Evalon standing there for the first time. His face broke into a friendly smile as he said, "Hello. I don't think we've met. I'm Keaton Williams." He held out his hand for Evalon to shake.

Evalon tried to speak, but no words came out. She sat there opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and she clutched the book she had been reading the night before closer to her chest. While she was comfortable with Elen, the appearance of this new stranger made Evalon want to run and hide.

"This is Evalon," Elen swooped in, coming to her rescue. "She just moved here and she's a little shy."

Keaton gave Evalon a brilliant, dazzling smile. "Nice to meet you, Evalon. And don't worry, the folks around here are really nice. I'm sure you'll warm up to them in no time."

Evalon could not think of a response, so she said nothing.

If Keaton felt awkward at Evalon's silence, he did not show it. Not missing a beat, he smiled at Elen and said, "I'd better get going. My father is expecting me. Talk to you later." He turned to Evalon and said, "It was nice to meet you, Evalon. Welcome to Mydalr."

After he had reached out of earshot Elen said in an undertone to Evalon, "If I didn't know you were quiet because you're shy, I'd say you had been struck speechless by his good looks."

Evalon gave a shaky laugh, still feeling uncomfortable from the encounter. "I guess I'm just awkward around everyone."

Elen laughed. "Come on, the sooner we get to the blacksmith's the sooner we can leave Miss Sunshine to sulk."

The blacksmith stall was emitting heat as they approached it. A fire roared in a furnace giving off so but heat it was causing the air around it to blur. From further within, there was the loud sound of clanking metal and of a hammer striking an anvil. The noise rang through the market above the hustle and bustle of people going about their daily business.

There was a short line of people in front of the blacksmith's stall, and the dark-skinned girl that Evalon had seen her first full day in Mydalr was behind the counter, handing a slim woman holding a baby a small handful of coins that clinked together merrily. Evalon and Elen reached the stall just as the woman turned to leave. 

They waited their turn in line in silence and Evalon watched the girl behind the counter curiously. At first, Evalon didn't notice anything truly extraordinary about her. She eyes dark as night and had curly black hair pulled into a bun with many flyaways sticking out at odd angles. She spoke with each customer and seemed to take care of their needs quickly so she could get to the next person in line. But the longer Evalon watched her the more it became clear to her until it dawned on her completely. The girl never smiled. She looked weary, but not like she was tired. More like she was... bored. Evalon couldn't help but be curious as to why that was.

When Evalon and Elen finally pulled up to the front of the line, the dark-skinned girl spoke, not making eye contact. "Welcome to Mackore's Smith n' Forge, how can I help yo--" The girl froze and stared at Elen like she had dropped from the sky. "What are you doing here, Clerke? I thought we agreed you'd stay away from the forge."

"Relax, Rebecca," Elen said wearily. "I'm just here to pick up a frying pan for my mom."

Rebecca surveyed Elen closely, as if trying to decide whether or not she was telling the truth. She seemed to decide that she was, and she turned around and pulled a bag off a shelf Evalon couldn't see behind her. When she turned back around she gave Evalon a curious glance. "Here."

Elen accepted the bag without thanks. "How much?"

"Eleven."

"Eleven?" Elen said disbelivingly. "For a broken handle?"

"Your mom didn't bring us all the pieces of the handle. My dad had to forge new parts of it, so the price is eleven. You're welcome," she added when she saw Elen open her mouth to argue.

Grumbling, Elen dug in her pocket and counted out eleven coins and threw them on the table instead of handing them to Rebecca, like she didn't want to touch her. Rebecca didn't seem to mind, though, because she picked up the coins one by one and threw them in a can behind her.

"Was there anything else?" Rebecca asked. "Or are you just here to annoy me now?" She glanced sideways at Evalon as if worried she might do something that would grate on her nerves.

"No, that's it, Miss Sunshine," Elen said coldly.

Rebecca's expression turned dark and her brows furrowed. "Don't call me that."

"I'll call you whatever I please," Elen snapped.

What's gotten into her? Evalon couldn't help thinking, looking at her friend. Is she trying to pick a fight?

Rebecca's eye narrowed and she opened her mouth with what Evalon was sure was a biting retort, and before Evalon could stop herself. she cut her off.

"I'm Evalon," she heard herself say. "I just moved here from Gis--"

"I don't care," Rebecca snapped. "Unless you're a paying customer, get out of here. And take this pile of hypocrisy with you."

Elen reared up, looking furious. "Me the hypocrite? You're the one who--"

"Elen," Evalon said quietly, trying to calm her down.

"--totally broke down after your mom died! And you got on my case for grieving my sister! 'It's not that big of a deal,' you said! 'You're being too sensitive,' you said! 'You need to forget her and move on,' you said!"

"Elen, please," Evalon begged, seeing the color of rage rise in Rebecca's cheeks. But Elen seemed to have gone deaf and paid her no heed.

"Well, you know what, Rebecca?" she said. "You're nothing but a traitorous, backstabbing, callous, uncaring, hypocritical--"

"SHUT UP!" The words roared out of Rebecca's mouth and reverberated in Evalon's skull. Rebecca was red with anger and her chest was panting, as though those two words had been the equivalent of a sixteen-mile run. "Shut up," she said again, quieter this time. "You don't understand, Clerke, and I'm not going to take the time to explain it to someone as slow as you. Now get out of here and don't come back."

Her face nearly as red as her hair, Elen shot Rebecca a look fit to kill, squeezed Evalon's wrist, and pulled her away in a huff. Evalon was too shocked by what had just happened to offer any resistance. 

She allowed herself to be pulled passed countless shops and stalls, not knowing where Elen was dragging her. They passed by Fin, who smiled when they saw them. His smile disappeared when he saw the look of rage on Elen's face. He looked to Evalon, and mouthed, What happened? Unable to give an answer, Evalon shrugged and shook her head. With her free hand, she gestured toward the smith, which was slowly shrinking in the distance. Understanding lit in Fin's eyes and he gave her a look that clearly meant Good luck. Evalon was starting to think she might need it.

Elen seemed to take a path with no real sense of destination until they reached an open field just on the edge of Gnapsonhilth Woods, the strange blue-leaved, weeping-willow-like trees swaying in the wind. All the while Elen was muttering rude things and what Evalon was sure was obscenities under her breath.

When Elen finally let go of Evalon's wrist, roughly put the bag with the pan in it in the soft grass, and stomped angrily around the field, growling and cursing. Her face redder than Evalon had ever seen, Elen scooped up a rock from the field and threw it as hard as she could into the trees. Evalon heard a distant thunk! when the rock hit its mark. 

While Elon repeated this process, Evalon gingerly rubbed her raw wrist. Elen may have looked small, but she had a hidden strength, evident in the distance she was putting between herself and the rocks she was throwing. Evalon had never seen Elen like this, and it unnerved her. She didn't say anything. She just watched as Elen threw rock after rock, cursing and muttering under her breath.

What had just happened? Evalon tried to fit pieces together in her head, but her mind was still reeling over what had just occurred. Forcing herself to focus, she tried to sort out her tangled thoughts.

From what Evalon could gather, Rebecca and Elen may have once been friends. But that changed after Rebecca's mom died and Rebecca had closed herself off. And Elen had mentioned grieving for her sister... Had Elen had a sister who had passed away? It seemed likely. And apparently, Rebecca hadn't been the most sensitive to Elen's loss.

After throwing every rock and dirt clump in sight, Elen finally seemed to calm down. Well, perhaps 'calm' wasn't the right word. Her face was still red, and she was still growling words Evalon wasn't supposed to say through her teeth, but at least now she was pacing instead of throwing.

This went on for a while, and Evalon counted the seconds to give her something to do besides biting her nails and rubbing the chain of her necklace. She reached one-hundred eighty-six before Elen snorted angrily, and whispered, "Sorry about that."

Evalon didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. She just reached for her neck and rubbed the chain laying there.

"I overreacted, I know," Elen continued. "But Rebecca she just-- she aggravates me so much!" Suddenly, her shoulders slumped, like all the fight had gone out of her. "I shouldn't have provoked her. I should have just taken the pan and left." She gave Evalon a small, sad smile. "I'm sorry."

Evalon had to swallow three times before she choked out, "I-I don't think I'm the one who needs an apology." She said it so quietly she thought her words might have been carried away on the wind.

But Elen must have heard her, because her shoulder sank as she said, "You're probably right. But that bridge burned down a long time ago, and I'm not going to waste my time on a lost cause."

Evalon wanted to point out that Rebecca hadn't been the one to initiate the argument and that she'd been acting on the defensive and maybe if Elen just sat down and talked with her their rift could be healed, but she was still a little shaken up. Besides, Elen was Evalon's first friend, and she was worried that if she pushed too hard or overstepped she could lose her friend forever-- especially after seeing Elen's temper, and how long she could hold a grudge. She felt along the pages of her book and looked away. An awkward silence filled the air between them and Evalon didn't want to be the one who broke it.

"I'd better go take this back to my mom," Elen finally said, scooping up the sack with the frying pan inside from where she had thrown it on the ground in her anger.

Evalon didn't say anything, just returned Elen's wave of goodbye. Once Elen had left, Evalon felt herself shudder. Elen sure had a dark side, and it was scary. Still, Evalon thought to herself, it's not as dark as some. Her mind turned to all the horrible, selfish, treacherous, dangerous men, women, goblins, elves, dwarves, trolls, ogres, and monsters that she had read about in her books. Elen may have a bit of a hidden temper that was startling when it showed itself, but it was nothing compared to the things Evalon had read.

As she was dwelling on these thoughts, a strange sound came from deep within the trees. It was quiet at first, and Evalon thought she may have imagined it, but then it grew in volume and intensity. It started off soft, like a lullaby. But then that lullaby turned into what sounded like all the pain and suffering in the world expressed through sound. It was sharp and jagged, like a stone breaking glass and seemed to shake the slippery ground that she stood on.

Evalon froze when she heard it. It was unlike anything she'd ever heard, and yet, it still felt oddly familiar. She wondered what on earth could have made that sound. Was it an animal in the woods being attacked? Surely it was, for no human throat could make that noise.

Whatever it was, it was unnerving, and it sounded close, so it was little surprise when Evalon found herself shuddering as she turned tail and ran back home.

She was halfway there when she nearly plowed into Fin. She stopped herself just before she would have collided with him, but in doing so she threw off her balance and she wobbled unsteadily, threatening to fall to the marshy ground.

"Whoa there," Fin said, grabbing her shoulders before she could topple over. He set her firmly back on her feet. "Where's the fire?" he teased.

"Didn't you hear that?" she asked, panting to catch her breath.

"Hear what?"

"That sound-- coming from the Gnapsonhilth Woods." She turned around to point, but the view of the blue-hued trees and the wide field was blocked by houses and market stalls. She must have run much further than she'd realized.

"I didn't hear anything," Fin said, looking at Evalon in concern. "Are you sure you didn't imagine it?"

Evalon flushed and looked down. Of course she didn't imagine it, but he was looking at her like she had just said that lemons were actually blue, or that you could ward off scorpions with peaches. "I'm sure," she mumbled. 

Fin didn't look convinced. Just as he opened his mouth to say something that Evalon was sure would just portray is disbelief, she cut across him, saying, "I should go. I told Mylane I'd be back for lunch." Of course, she had made no such promise, but Fin didn't know that.

She stepped around him and made her way to the center of town so she could gather her bearings to find her way home. As she walked away she could feel Fin's eyes watching her, and she could clearly see in her mind's eye his bemused expression as she retreated up the street and out of sight.