A woman hissed behind her,"Don't look at her,Kellan."
Vivienne turned. Her gaze met a bipoy no older than 10. He was staring up at her with wide eyes. His mother yanked him back like he might catch fire.
"You shouldn't be here!" The woman sput loudly,too loudly. This caused the people to turn,the commotion catching their attention.
"It's a market place," Vivienne said softly, her jaws clenching tight. "I haven't even done anything to you"
"Not yet" someone in the crowd muttered loudly.
"Keep your cursed eyes away from my stall" another voice sounded in the background.
The crowd began to shift, not into a mob but into something like that.
Vivienne felt in her throat that awful familiar burn. Except,this wasn't from tears,but from holding everything in.
Her fingers clenched the strap of her basket. She didn't speak, not this time.
Then a man who wore a slightly different clothing approached her. It was one of the town's guards. He stepped forward,"You've been warned before, girl."
The way he called her girl,it was like she didn't deserve a name to be called with. After all,'witch' had been used soo many times they probably forgot she had a name.
"Go back to your woods," he said blankly, trying to intimidate her with his huge body size and height. "You don't belong here."
Vivienne met his eyes. She was calm and spoke back to him in a flat toned voice,"you don't get to decide where I belong."
The man was not expecting her to retort. He took another step towards her. Just then,the lemon cart behind her shattered. No wind,no touch. Just the cracking sound of wood. The wood splintered and citrus flew like spars.
Everyone froze. Vivienne hadn't moved. She hadn't even looked at the cart. Her heart thundered in her chest.
"I didn't -"
Before she could speak,the earlier whispers returned,even louder this time. it didn't matter what she said anymore at this point.
"Witch!"
"Curse!"
"Danger!"
People said all sorts of things to her in the crowd.
She turned and walked away, wanting to be alone. This time,she walked faster.
Behind her,no one dared to follow. They didn't want to, neither was it necessary. She just wanted to return to the comfort of her sanctuary.