Darin supposed she had a point, though it wasn’t just about the Elf. She didn’t know anything about Greyrock after all. She wasn’t sure she could say that out loud. She looked ready to hurt her just because her patience had run out. That would not be an agreeable idea. So, the human slipped her foot into the stirrup and let her hand hold the Elf’s so she could be swung on the horse. Darin came to a conclusion right away. She did not like riding. It might have just been because she hadn’t done it before, but she didn’t like it.

As she got mostly settled, she told her current companion, “Darin. I’m Darin. I don’t have a last name.”

She had never needed one. Home was small. Everyone there knew everyone else by sight. She knew that most people did have two names. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew that sometimes people had the same name as another person. That wasn’t usually a problem where she was from. She didn’t think it would be a problem for the Elf. She had never heard of a name like Ridahne. Then again, maybe it was a common Elf name. She wouldn’t know. Darin supposed if she needed a second name, she could be Darin Seed-Bearer. There was no way she was telling anyone that though. So, Darin would have to do. It had done just fine for the first 19 years of her life after all.

As they traveled Darin looked at her hands. She had hoped that the four years of working on her farm would have harden her hands at least a little bit. He mother certainly sighed over the state of her hands. They were the roughest out of all the girls’ in the village. Darin was starting to realize that the world was bigger than she thought. She knew that, but she hadn’t known that. Before the Gardener came the farthest she had every gotten from home was the market in the next town over. That was just about a day’s journey, so nothing like the two months she had been travel now.

It wasn’t really two months. It was more like two and a half. The Gardener had come to the village 3 months ago. It had taken about a week and a half for the village to get her set up for the trip. That was actually a good thing. Ridahne said she had been looking for the person she was searching for, for four months. So, it couldn’t be her. Of course, the Elf said a vision had started her journey. Maybe she had known about The Seed long before Darin had known. Though if she really was looking for her the vision didn’t seem to be particularly helpful. For that Darin thanked The Tree. Who knew what the vision told the Elf? Well, she supposed Ridahne knew. That didn’t mean the human knew. For all she knew the help Ridahne was talking about was help losing The Seed. Darin just finished telling half-truths. She wasn’t naïve enough to think she was the only one that did that.

Absently Darin mentally checked that she still had The Seed. She didn’t keep it around her neck. The last thing she needed was people questioning why she had a necklace where the pendant couldn’t be seen. Instead it was in a band around her thigh. The best seamstress in the village had sewn The Seed into a pouch that was tight around it. Then she had sewn it into a band in such a way that the band looked flat. The stitching was small and tight. She had done it three times. The for the pouch was linen that had been waxed so it was both stiff and water proof. The band was the toughest leather. It was then sewn around her thigh. When Darin was ready to plant The Seed, she would have to carefully cut it off of her, and then she would have to be extra careful to cut it out. It was probably over kill, but Darin didn’t care. She had been given this job for some reason unknown to her. She wasn’t going to mess it up because she was sloppy. That why, even though she couldn’t possibly lose it, she mentally checked for it every other second.

Darin could feel The Seed. It lingered in the back of her mind. It wasn’t words or anything she understood. Still, it had been that way snice The Gardener had given it to her. She could sense if there was distance between her and The Seed. She figured that would be how she would know that it was time to plant it. As for what it looked like; The Seed looked like an ordinary apple seed. It was small, black, and unassuming. Everyone in the village had looked at it. She was the only one that had the connection with it. Everyone knew it was The Seed as soon as they had seen it. Darin had tried mixing it with other apple seeds. Appearance wise it worked. Everyone could pick it out though. They had to see it though. So, the band hid it well enough.

Darin asked Ridahne, “How long till Greyrock?”

Now that they had been riding for a while Darin was convinced that she didn’t like it. The Elf seemed to move with the horse. Darin was being moved by the horse. She knew that the animal had to not like it. She didn’t like it either. The sooner she was off the happier the both of them would be. She knew that she would be stiff when it was over. If she could help it, she was never getting on a horse again. She didn’t think that would actually be an option. Though The Seed she could vaguely feel The Tree. It was dying just a little bit faster every day. She might not have time to walk the entirety of Astra.