This man was someone she'd never met before – someone from a place so far away that there was no chance of her having seen him even in passing. Moreover, he'd said in as many words that he'd never been to Silvershade before.
Just in case, Elara didn't allow herself to lower her guard entirely.
'Will you be staying here for long?' she'd asked, staring intently into the man's eyes.
The man, sir Arro, had shifted uncomfortably in place at that; even taking a small step back, as though to escape her fixed gaze. Elara could tell that he was quite clearly debating running away from this conversation.
It was understandable, of course. She knew she was coming across as an incredibly odd child. She'd have felt the same if someone had suddenly – and rather impolitely – started interrogating her without even introducing themselves first.
Still, she couldn't help it. She had to know. She had to.
'Uh…' said the man, somewhat wary at her probing, 'no. I'm afraid I've only come along to accompany my friend on his visit home. Come tomorrow, I shall be leaving to visit my own hometown. We don't get too many days away from our posts, after all.'
'Oh? But, sir Arro, where is this friend of whom you speak? Surely, he hasn't left you to yourself in a strange village – not when you were kind enough to accompany him along the way, I'd hope!'
Truly, Elara hadn't actually cared either way. She'd offer to help sir Arro if he had, indeed, wound up without boarding for the night, of course. But, at that moment, she'd just been saying anything that came to mind, in a bid to prolong this conversation.
'Ah, no! You needn't worry, lady,' the man had exclaimed. 'Sir Veylor will be back soon. He has just left the village to go… to go seek…'
Then, sir Arro had paused. Blinking somewhat owlishly, he'd started saying something, then stopped himself again. 'To... seek help?' he'd finally said, a hint of bewilderment in his voice.
And with that, all of a sudden, the man had scrunched up his features in a look of something that Elara had found she'd started dreading seeing as of late.
What else could it have been besides confusion?
No.
No, no, no.
Elara had swallowed, hard. 'Seek… help?' she'd asked quietly. 'Is there… Is there something you require assistance with? Have you, perhaps, lost something? Or, is there something in particular that you're looking for? Maybe -'
'No, no,' Sir Arro had started shaking his head. 'It's because everyone in this village is...' Then, the man had paused again.
Standing there, looking around at all the people milling about near the entrance of the village, the strapping man suddenly looked like a lost child searching the crowd for a glimpse of a familiar face.
Please, please, no.
Not him too.
Not him too!
'What?' the girl had demanded. 'Everyone in this village is what? Tell me, quickly! Speak, man!' Her voice had risen steadily, until she'd almost been screaming into sir Arro's face. A few people had stopped what they were doing, turning to look at the commotion.
Were they shocked by her outburst?
She didn't care!
The man, startled by her sudden explosion, had swiftly stepped away from her.
'Young lady, you must forgive me for my bluntness, but I was merely speaking of how everyone in this village has been kindly and welcoming - everyone besides you!' he'd said in a huff.
'No!' And then, Elara had suddenly started laughing. The angrier, the more frustrated she felt, the more she found herself dissolving into deranged-sounding giggles. 'That... ah! That is not what you had been saying earlier! That is... ahaha! Ha! Even you - why... Why? Why!?'
Sir Arro had been retreating further and further away from her. He'd just stared at her in a stunned sort of silence, before finally turning to leave.
Elara, rooted in place, had watched his retreating back for a few seconds. She'd wanted to cry, to break down and collapse right there, near the crowded village entrance. She'd wanted to kneel, and hit her fists against the ground, and raise her head to scream out loud.
She'd found that she couldn't. All she could do was stand there, soft, uncontrollable giggles escaping her lips every time she opened them to sob.
Elara couldn't be certain of how long she stood there.
When the girl had finally collected herself, she'd realized that none of the people nearby had reacted to her outburst after all. No one had approached her. No one was even looking at her.
It was only when she'd started swiveling her head around, trying to catch someone's eye, that a few of those people had smiled and waved at her.
And Elara, knowing there was nothing else she could do, had simply smiled back and greeted them as she always did.
She was alone.
Now that she knew what was going on - knew why all of this was happening, and of what was making it happen -
- she truly was alone.