But not her sister.

Not Chu.

Never again her sister.

Never again Chu.

He and she had ended.

No.

He had ended them without allowing her to say a word.

As for her sister, since it had happened, it had often come to mind how Serena did not want what she had when she had it, but when she lost it, she missed it.

As she’d been doing, she forced her mind from these things and again took in every facet of that slumped, immobile troll.

As far as she knew, trolls did not leave Airen.

They did not go to Firenze because they detested the heat. Their bodies ran hot, this why the troll in her sights wore only breeches and boots even in the chill that had finally settled into Wodell.

They also did not wander into Wodell, unless by mistake (and this could happen, for they were not the smartest of creatures). This was due to a war centuries ago, when the fairies, pixies and gnomes united in an unusual alliance to drive them and their blundering, heedless violence and gluttony out in order to claim the green land for themselves.

And they could not breach The Enchantments as they not only weren’t very clever, the Sisterhood forbade it for they were thoughtlessly destructive, quick to temper, did not know their own strength, and easily caused harm to human and charmed folk alike.

Thus, they resided only in Airen where many were captured and kept as pets whose sole purpose was not to receive affection from their owners, but to act as much larger and better coordinated guard dogs.

So why was that troll there?

She understood she was in the Shanty. And in the days she had been there, staking her claim to this crumbling doorway, being seen amongst the downtrodden, vagrants, criminals, addicts and lunatics, behaving uninviting, unfriendly, and faking being consistently drunk so they would not question her addition to the ranks, she understood that no one raised an eyebrow to a befuddled and constantly inebriated troll.

But Serena did not buy it.

She was noting a way about the Shanty.

A few left to go do jobs during the day, these jobs mostly being begging for money in the city, earning it for the sole purpose of buying drink or drugs (or both).

A few left to go to jobs during the night, these jobs likely nefarious or women and men who sold their bodies for the sole purpose of buying drink or drugs (or both).

The rest simply stayed.

Only the city guard came in, not frequently, but regularly, mostly to collect any dead. Those being the ones who had taken in too much ashesh or koekah, been too long at the drink, or perished of exposure to the cold.

The guard carted the corpses away, literally, in open carts, with no ceremony and no emotion.

And she suspected, but did not see, that they took them directly to the cess, which was adjacent to the Shanty, and dumped them in.