Chapter 104: Nueta

"Pearl-skinned." Their words echoed in her mind and stung like a thousand thorns. She was now with the others, standing in the middle of Esparer, with the trees peering into their minds. "You do not belong here," she heard the trees talk with their rustles.

Even if the woods whisper it, even if Carlos and the rest of them hated it; she planned to stay. "I owe it to them for coming with me, for coming to the very place that gives us nightmares," she thought.

Carlos went around the trees and pulled the ladders to call the residents. Men and women came out moving the curtains. Their eyes were gaunt and their bodies bony.

"Men and women of the land of ice— today, we are welcoming five maidens to our family. Come forward, daughters of our land," his voice echoed over every leaf on Esparer.