1. Evangeline

1

EVANGELINE

" F uck, it's cold."

I sit up in bed, holding my one blanket close to my shivering body. There's no use tossing and turning anymore, not with the sun peeking up over the horizon.

Living in the middle of a mountain range has some perks, I suppose. We're hidden from the rest of the continent, far away from the dark elves who would enslave every single one of us if they had the chance.

But the wind becomes especially bone-chilling early in the morning and late at night. Anyone who is lost or abandoned anywhere in the mountain range is as good as dead. The council likes to remind us of that to keep us in check every so often.

While I tug on some heavy winter clothing, strong knocks come at my door that threaten to break down this small dwelling I call home. I grimace at the noise.

"Come in."

Peeking her head through the door, Renee stares at me with her frigid light blue eyes. They might be even colder than the relentless wind chill.

"Are you ready? I want to get this expedition done and over with."

"Yeah. I hear you." I nod, rubbing my trembling hands together. "Just give me a few more minutes and I'll meet you out near the gates."

"Promise?" Renee asks, perking a thin brow. "You always take forever to get ready. I don't feel like waiting out in the cold for you again, Evangeline."

"I won't leave you waiting," I reassure, offering a small smile.

In return, she huffs and rolls her eyes before slamming my door. Ouch.

Although this human settlement is supposed to band together and protect each other from the forces out there that want us all dead, there's still in-fighting that happens every now and then. Some people, like Renee, don't like me that much.

I'm sure some of them would rather I get thrown out of this settlement altogether. Thankfully, that's for the council to decide, and I haven't done anything worthy of that punishment.

One step out of my hut and I'm met with the hustle and bustle of early morning life. Women and children distribute the wood to each home that we need to keep the fires going. Some of the men head out for hunting expeditions, hoping to bring back enough meat for the whole settlement.

And then we have a standing guard of men who watch for threats, though they don't really do anything at all. There's talk of the encroaching waira, but in all of my time here, they've seemed disorganized and incompetent.

"Good morning, Evangeline!" a voice calls out to me.

I turn towards the voice and see Hildegard waving an arm at me. She's an older woman. The beginnings of gray hairs are poking through the jet-black strands on her head. Some people treat me harshly around here, but not Hildegard. She's always been nice.

"How are you?" I ask, hugging myself as I cross the snowy pathway. "Have you received your food rations already?"

"Yes, I have."

"Good. I would have offered you mine if you hadn't."

"Ah, you silly girl." Hildegard reaches out, cupping my face with her hands. My hands are cold, but hers are warm somehow. "You need to remember to take care of yourself sometimes. And how are you? Are you doing well?"

A worried expression crosses over her features as she leans in close.

"Gareth and the rest of those fools have left you alone, right? They're not bothering you anymore? I'll go straight to the council and lodge a complaint if they keep messing around. I swear!"

I sigh, shaking my head. My breath billows out in front of me. "They don't know any better. It's too cold out there right now. The council wouldn't throw out some of our own over a petty argument."

"You may be surprised what they're willing to do to people who jeopardize the safety of the settlement," Hildegard says, patting me on the shoulder. "Go on, now."

Nodding firmly, I wave goodbye before hurrying to the settlement gates in search of Renee. My conversation with Hildegard leaves me with a few thoughts, none of them optimistic.

Gareth, Simon, and some other men in the settlement have bothered me before, often making comments about me whenever I reject their romantic advances. It's annoying, but what's worse is that they all have girlfriends of their own.

Those men don't like me for rejecting them, and their women don't like me for catching the eyes of their men. It's a lose-lose situation all around, but the only thing I can do is keep my head low and my mind focused on what's good for the settlement.

Still, their words get to me sometimes.

I remember how one night, after a particularly busy day, I was heading home to my dwelling when Gareth tried to wrestle me to the ground. He said it was all a joke, but when I kneed him between the legs and elbowed him in the face, all kinds of slurs fell from his mouth.

And he swore that he would make me pay for that.

So far, nothing has come from that overt threat, but I've been keeping my eyes and ears out for anyone who sends me a dirty look. Or anyone who moves at me too quickly. Gareth has quite an influence around here, so he might send someone my way to do the dirty work for him.

Lazy bastard.

"Finally," Renee says, kicking off the huge wooden stake fence that serves as the settlement's first line of defense against any outside forces. "Too busy fixing your hair to remember we've got an expedition today?"

"I wasn't fixing my hair, Renee," I reply, my irritation evident. "I was talking to Hildegard."

"Whatever."

A small shed sits near the gate entrance, filled with any tools we might need in our departure from the settlement. Renee grabs two empty bags, one for her and one for me, and she also grabs a few hand tools to chip away at any snow and ice in our way.

Noticing her brusque movements, I raise a brow as I calmly gather my things and hitch the bag over my shoulder. She drops her hand shovel and curses under her breath, fumbling the tool a few times before tossing it into her bag.

I laugh. "What's up with you today? You're not usually this sour."

"Shut up, Evangeline."

"If there's anything I can do to make you feel better, let me know. I don't like working with pissed-off people this early in the morning."

"Just shut up!" Renee snaps, glaring at me. Then she starts leading the way outside the gate. "You never know when to be quiet, do you?"

"...Sure, I do," I say. "But I haven't done anything to you today, so I'm confused by the bad treatment."

"Yeah. You're confused. Whenever you're confronted with your shit behavior, you say you're confused."

Our feet trudge loudly through the snow. I lag a few steps behind Renee, who is carving us a path through the snow through sheer willpower. And through her anger towards me, for some reason.

"I'm very confused now," I remark, offering a shrug. "Seriously. I haven't done anything."

Her nostrils flare.

"Except open your legs for Jacob, huh?"

My eyebrows furrow together. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid with me. Gareth told me the truth about what happened between you and Jacob a few nights ago. You knew that I liked him and you still went after him, you?—"

"Hold on," I say, holding up a hand. "Did you hear this from Jacob himself? Or just Gareth? Because Gareth doesn't like me very much, so I'm not surprised he's been spreading these stupid rumors about me."

Renee huffs loudly. I'm somewhat jealous of her short blonde hair. My black hair is long and gets in my face a lot. What really captivates me is her eyes, blue and cold and mean. I have blue eyes, too, but I don't think they look quite like hers.

"But he said…" Renee grits her teeth. "Then where did you go after the bonfire a few nights ago? Gareth told me you went to Jacob's dwelling!"

"I went home," I correct, offering a grin. "You can even ask Hildegard. Or Jasmine. Or any other of my neighbors. I always go home at the end of the night because I don't have any business elsewhere."

Rolling her eyes, Renee keeps carving us a path through the snow while I follow behind. Instead of hurling back a few insults of my own, I laugh softly to myself. On accident, one of my laughs is a bit louder than the rest.

"What's so funny?"

"The fact that you would believe Gareth over Jacob," I reply, sniffing loudly. The wind makes my nose and ears hurt. "I'm not interested in Jacob. I'm not interested in anyone in this settlement, to be honest."

She scoffs. "Seriously?" Tossing me a glance over her shoulder, she sends me a quizzical expression, hesitating somewhat. "You're not that terrible-looking. I'm sure you could settle down with a husband one of these days."

"Nope." I shake my head. "I'll pass. I would never want to settle down in a place like this."

I'm not sure if she's still secretly upset. She's still wearing a persistent scowl and she's walking suspiciously quickly, but she seems more talkative than usual.

"So where would you want to go if you had the chance?" she asks. "If you could leave Oshta altogether, where would you go?"

I shrug. "I'd go where the dark elves aren't."

"That's impossible. The dark elves are everywhere."

"Then I'm shit out of luck," I quip, which makes her chuckle.

"Yeah. I guess we all are."

I can sense that she might still be upset, but I try to address the issue directly instead.

"We should stick together instead of believing Gareth's stupid rumors. If we start turning on each other for dumb reasons, none of us will survive out here."

I try to catch up to her increasing pace, not wanting to get left behind.

Renee and I start gathering plants and berries once we reach a safe patch of foliage. We know that the plants here are safe because we've scavenged here before. I focus on picking out the ripe bluefrost while she collects some scraps of wood.

And for a moment, I trick myself into believing that things might be okay between us. Just for a moment.

She came at me aggressively, but she's not a bad person. She's just a little insecure.