[i]'Can you keep a secret?'[/i] 
It was the same question tugging at his own heart. Although undoubtedly their inner conflicts were bound to differ. He took the pencil Darya always carried on her, knowing we're she kept it. After a quick scribble he returned the paper and writing utensil.
[indent][i][b]'YES'[/b][/i][/indent] 
It read in his simple handwriting below her question. He couldn't answer any other way. Mute or not Darya had kept Arden out of trouble numerous times and never told on him even in the cases that she probably should have.

He watched the paper with an eager curiousness and a faint slither of concern as he waited for her to write this new secret. His mind raced with the possibilities, now graduated anything could be happening. Maybe she was leaving. That thought saddened him but it was a wide world full of possibilities and excitement. Especially for a talented water Mage. Arden would understand.