Page 1 of Famine

Chapter 1

Year 24 of the Horsemen

Laguna, Brazil

I always knew I would see Famine again. Call it intuition, but I knew that fucker would come back.

The coastal breeze blows against my skirt and ruffles my dark hair. Nearby, a woman gives me a dirty look.

I stand with what’s left of my town, our bodies lining the road. I don’t know why the rest of Laguna is still here; they don’t have the same excuse that I do.

I glance at Elvita. The aging madam’s face is resolute. If she’s frightened, she doesn’t show it. Sheshouldbe frightened, but I don’t tell her that.

I follow her gaze to the empty road that curves out of sight around one of the hills Laguna is nestled against.

It’s ominously silent.

Most of the seaside town where I spent the last five years is abandoned. Our neighbors have locked up their homes, packed up whatever valuable possessions they own, and retreated. Even most of the bordello’s inhabitants have slipped out when no one was looking. I don’t know if they’ll come back. I don’t know if anything will go back to the way it once was.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that.

An older woman bumps my shoulder as she passes by.

“Slut,” she says under her breath.

I turn, catching her icy gaze.

“Last night your son called me something a little different,” I say, giving her a wink.

The woman gasps, looking thoroughly scandalized, but bustles on.

“Stop picking fights,” Elvita chastises me.

“What?” I say, giving her an innocent look. “I’m defending my honor.”

She huffs out a laugh, but her eyes are back on the road, the weathered skin around them pinched.

Alongside me, people hold jugs of wine, sacks of coffee beans, buckets of freshly caught fish, baskets of flower petals to shower the ground with, purses filled with jewelry, stacks of the finest fabrics—and everything in between. All of it tribute fit for a ruler.

I’m not sure the horseman is going to give a shit.

In fact, I’m pretty sure sticking around was a supremely bad idea, and this is coming from the queen of bad ideas.

At least I have my own excuse.Elvita and the rest of these people have none.

The minutes turn to hours, all of us silent and somber.

Maybe he’s not coming after all. Laguna is a slip of a town, hardly worth a horseman’s notice.

Anitápolis was hardly worth his notice either, but that didn’t stop him from wiping it clear away.

A murmur rises through the line of people, interrupting my thoughts. My pulse quickens.

He’s here.

Even if the crowd hadn’t reacted, I’d sense the change in the air itself.

At the thought of Famine, I feel a cocktail of emotions. Curiosity, old pain—anticipation most of all.

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