Her plan became clear that fall. I’d managed to acquire a horse and a large wagon and I was ready to swing a big deal at harvest time with the surrounding villages. Sarra told me to be sure to stop at three of the nearest villages and leave a particular gift with each village headman.
I did as instructed and soon after there were brief plagues in those villages. In each, the headman and his closest associates fell sick and died. As the headmen were breathing their last Bassa, Sarra’s husband, organized some of the other warriors of our village and led them on devastating raids against the stricken villages. They came back with booty and hostages, and the conquered villages became the first subjects of a new kingdom that Sarra was building.
Soon Bassa became chief of the warriors and I noticed he was becoming very different, changing in unexpected ways. It was easy to believe that the scrawny boy could grow to a burly fighter. But Bassa also lost his quiet, gentle nature, turning noisy and brash in just the little while since I’d come back. I wasn’t alone in my surprise. I sometimes overheard other people in the village commenting on the changes in both him and Sarra, though they never said much to me directly; I was still almost a stranger and I spent a lot of time with Sarra.
However, there was one who would talk to me: My new sweetheart, Rissa. Like Sarra, I wanted a big house and a family, and now that I was a successful merchant I could afford to start looking. Rissa had almost married once but her husband-to-be had died in the plague and then last year her father had sickened. I met her when she brought some weaving for me to trade. She had to support herself and her family the best she could, so she was very interested in my advice about what would make her weaving sell well. I helped out with some medicine I’d traded for and soon her father was back on his feet. After that I became part of the family and Rissa and I would spend hours together when I was in the village. She was the one who first told me about the rumors.
“She’s a witch, Mikal, a powerful one,” she whispered one day after Sarra’s first war was over. “She caused those plagues. And she and Bassa are in league with devils.”
I, too, was worried but I tried to reassure Rissa that Sarra wasn’t all that bad—hadn’t she helped me become a successful merchant? I told Rissa there was nothing to worry about.
But she continued, “Moma Farina”—that was another, older fortune-teller who didn’t like Sarra—“says that Sarra and Bassa are doomed. And that they’ll drag others down with them. My mother and my father believe Moma Farina. Please stay away from those two.”
Two months later, I found out just how firmly Rissa’s mother and father believed. I offered marriage to their daughter and they refused me.
I was aghast. At first I didn’t know what to do. I thought of consulting Sarra, for I was sure she could fix things up for me, but I decided the best course for the moment was to do nothing. And that did turn out to be the best choice. Fate decided to intervene and save me so I could tell you this story tonight.