[peral]

Sharya gazed across the knife, it was small yet she supposed that it would serve its purpose well enough. How stupid had she been? What an imbecile! With a sudden wave of rage she slammed the knife into the table and it stood quivering, the blade firmly embedded in the wood. Most of the patrons seated near her had started at the sound and were now watching her suspiciously. What did they think she was going to do? Murder them all in their sleep? She now saw that the fear in their eyes was from being so unused to the violence of the outside world, that when even a sniff of it entered into their peaceful village, it was regarded as an evil demon that must be driven out immediately. She didn't care, they could throw her out of the village, it would be like every other time - roaming until she found a village or a town that would accept her - for awhile.

She found herself burying her head in her arms and resting them on the table. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to be alive at all. Even the friendship she had formed just a few hours ago seemed to be a curse. Solitude was her only friend. That was the only way she could live and she would live it that way. There were people out for her life and she didn't want to drag anyone - let alone Tulip - into the fray. They were her troubles and hers alone. She wouldn't be so weak as to ask for help. Nay, her father would not want it. She would face the enemy and face it on her own. She would either defeat it or be killed in the process.