The villagers cleared the path, allowing Sam and the woman to pass. They cast hungering glances at her, and she clung to Sam's side, trembling under their predatory gaze. Sam had encountered many eccentrics in his time, but he had never witnessed such a display of collective madness.
He couldn't fathom what made this woman so special in their eyes. To him, she looked ordinary—plain, even. Perhaps their beauty standards are just different, he mused. All he knew was that he needed to leave at first light and, if possible, take the woman with him. If he left her unprotected, they would violate her without mercy.
Yet, a nagging thought scratched at the back of his mind.
If she was so desired, how had she survived long enough to reach adulthood? Why did this chaos only erupt the moment he arrived? His intuition whispered that something was wrong—that this was some sort of conspiracy.
