Chapter Four

Rose rode the seven miles into town, feeling the normal stares attempting to pierce through her armor as she trotted down Main Street. A few people made shrewd comments about her loud enough for her to hear intentionally as they disappeared into various buildings. Children pointed and laughed at her as their mothers looked on, talking quietly about her with one another and not objecting to their children's behavior. One of the children threw a rock at her, but instead hit Kia. Kia spun around and reared up at the children angrily, scarring them all into their mother's arms. The mothers threw their fists up and cursed at her while their children screamed and cried, which Rose replied with turning and ignoring them.

She tied her horse to one of the bars outside of the store and walked into the building, grabbing the groceries she bought every week that lasted her through until the next outing to the town. She bumped into someone turning a corner, and turned to apologize. They smiled at her, and she froze. The person was an elf. He put a finger up to his lips, and she nodded. She smiled at her and turned back around, leaving the store. She turned back to the shelves of food, and then walked to the front counter and bought the groceries. She went back outside and put them into the packs on the sides of her horse, feeding Kia an apple and looking around. She could spot three more elves just from where she was standing. They all looked at her, and smiled. She noticed a human starring at her, and she turned back to Kia and mounting her, riding back down the street and to another spot in town.

She went into the small eatery that she had been in when she first saw Legolas. She sat alone at the bar surrounded by men but not in the least bit bothered by it. Aside from the woman who was mopping the floor back by the kitchen she looked to be the only woman in the eatery. The barkeep served her only when there was no one left asking for anything, and gave her the smallest bowl with the smallest serving for the biggest price. She ate in silence, and looked up only once, seeing an elf He smiled at her, and began to approach her. She slowly shook her head, and motioned to the others in the bar. He nodded, and found a seat in the corner to finish his meal. She finished and left the barkeep no tip, walking out to her horse and riding deeper into the town.

She rode down another road, stopping at a store to buy paper and ink for her pen. The storekeeper never took his eyes off of her as she walked through the store, looking at various items.

"Starring your customers down is not a way to make sales." She said matter-of-factly. He snorted and went back to his newspaper, but continued to watch her overtop of the paper. "You do a terrible job of hiding it as well." She commented. She picked up a tablet of paper, and walked to the desk. "A flask of blue ink. And I suggest filling it to its entirety this time or I shall find another store." She said. He slowly rose from his seat and turned his back on her, filling a flask with the ink.

"It is a shame that so much beauty was wasted on such a poor person." He said, turning around and adding up the price of the products.

"And it is a shame that a storekeeper can not make it out of an alley because of their stale behavior." She said, turning and leaving the store.

When she shut the door and turned to the street, she saw that someone was leaning against her horse.

"I have heard talk of you believing in elves. Are you the elf girl?" He asked. Rose looked around, seeing an elf watching her from across the small street.

"If that is what they are calling this week." She said, putting the paper in one of the packs.

"Have you ever seen one?" He asked.

"I have seen much more than you could ever imagine seeing in a lifetime because I look beyond the distance of my hand." She said, not looking at him. He grabbed her arm harshly, spinning her around.

"You speak as if you were not a weakling." He snarled.

"You act as if you were a barbarian." She spat back. He threw her to the side.

"You believing in elves would explain your stupid behavior." He said, stepping close to her again. "You have a lot of nerve walking through this town as if you belong."

"It would be an insult to belong to this town." She said. He pushed her against the wall of the store. Her horse grunted in frustration of not being able to reach her.

"My family established this town." He hissed.

"Well, that would explain a lot now wouldn't it?" She said, pushing him off of her. He came at her, pushing her to the ground. The elf hesitated, not sure whether he should help or not. Rose slowly shook her head at him, and he starred at her for a moment before walking away. The man put his knee into her back, putting his face close to hers.

"You think a cross-breed like you can talk trash about us? You're lucky we didn't kill you when you were born, and killed off the rest of your family like we had the others. We let your mother at least live to see you grow. You should be grateful to us. You are in our debt."

"What do you mean when you call me a cross-breed?" She asked, finding it hard to breathe under his knee. She could feel a small trickle of blood coming from above her eyebrow from hitting something sharp on the ground. He laughed out loud mockingly. With all of her strength and speed she grabbed his leg, managing to flip onto her back and use her legs to flip him over to of her so that he was lying flat on his back. She jumped to her feet quickly, and walked towards her horse. The horse looked at her eagerly and grunted as the man stood up, and headed for Rose. Rose spun around, throwing out her arm and knocking him back to the ground. A crowd had gathered now, but because of the horse they stayed a good distance back.

"So you were never told, then?" He said, standing up and laughing again. "You mother. She had met an elf in the woods. She had deceived her husband." He snarled into her ear. She starred straight ahead, a hard glare on her face. Rose turned from him, untying her horse and mounting it. As she rode off he called after as other people threw things at her. "You are not entirely human. You are part of them. You are an outcast."

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