"Black Zari"

The men that Astra was facing were not warriors. They were armed with machettes, pitchforks, and a net. A pair of boys carried a simple litter, consisting of two poles and a blanket. Maybe they thought that I was a bear or something, and they brought the litter to bring a carcass back. The group surrounded her, and one man started asking questions.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Black," Astra said, thinking of the bits of goop that still clung to her. The men were short and dark like Hespanairds. Time for the next lie. "Zari Black." She knew that Zari had to be a Hespanaird name, and she would need it for the story that she was about to tell. It seemed that Hespanairds were either on bad terms with the rest of the world, or knew someone from another nation, so she was not going to take any chances. "I am a native of one of Hespan's colonies, an island in the North Terel Sea. It is a small island called Foggy Island."

"I have never heard of it", said one of the men.

That is because it does not exist, thought Astra.

"I am not surprised. Foggy Island is not very large, and is not one of Hespan's more important colonies. My mother is a native, and my father is half-Hespaniard," said Astra

"So how did you come to be here?" asked another of the men.

"My journey ended sooner than I would have wished. Pirates attacked, boarded, and burnt the ship. I jumped early, and held on to a piece of driftwood. I managed to float ashore to the mouth of the Corona. Nobody told me anything about the tar pits.

"There are no tarpits by the Corona."

Uh oh.

"I was told that the Corona River was the main river on the south coast of Hespan. If you follow this river far enough, then there are some tar pits full of this greenish-black gunk. They are there."

The men laughed. "Khanom, this is not the Corona, and certainly not 'the main river' on the coast of anywhere. This is the Weedy River."

The Weedy River must branch off the Corona somewhere, thought Astra.

"I have never heard of it," Astra replied. "I had just assumed it was the Corona, as my ship had passed the port of Corona before we were attacked."

"What do we do?" asked one of the men, to the first man that spoke.

Another man broke in, "Black Zari, what are your views on alchemy?"

Astra did not know the 'right' answer to that question, so she answered honestly, "I do not know what it is."

A few of the men huddled in discussion, while the others looked on, with weapons pointed toward Astra.

The first man that spoke said, "Zari, we will to take you back to Granny. She will decide what to do."

1. Four men carried Astra shoulder high on the simple litter, as she headed west.

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