Darin came into to the inn to see one boy looking at Ridahne like the Elf was a ghost. Darin was willing to bet that Ridahne had done something to spook him. Then again it was possible that he had just heard what had happened last night. The human wasn’t sure what option would be worse. It was time to leave this town. Darin didn’t want this to go badly. Plus, she knew that The Seed didn’t want to be planted anywhere near here. Darin needed to move on anyways. She moved to join Ridahne for breakfast. She might as well eat something before they left.

The human picked up a piece of cheese to avoid answering the question right away. She knew what she was going to say, but she didn’t know how to say it. She wanted to make sure that Ridahne would continue to treat her like the idiot she was and not some thing worth honoring. The Seed, the job, protecting Astra. That was the important piece. Darin was just a means to the end. Then there was the fact that she wasn’t sure if Ridahne knew that Darin didn’t know where she was going; that she planned to travel all of Astra. At some point the human would have to enter both Siren and Elf territory. This included Ridahne’s home. Unless Darin found the part where The Seed belonged Darin would have to head to the lands of the Azuri, and if Ridahne was bound and determined to protect her Darin had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to back out. Something beyond either of their control would prevent it.

Maybe that would be a good place to start, “I don’t know where I’m going. Not in an ‘I’m lost’ king of way, though I am lost. In a ‘I have no clear destination in mind’ kind of way. It’s the only thing that knows where it wants to be, and he said it would tell me when I got there. I may wind up some place you don’t want to be.”

She was being vague on purpose. The boy on the other end of the room was still eying them. Darin hoped Ridahne got that the it she was talking about was The Seed and the he that she mentioned was the now dead Gardener. By Tree. This was harder than she thought it was. Darin was not used to sneaking around or lying. She picked up an apple to give her some breathing room. She didn’t want to say no to Ridahne. She also didn’t want to take her without making sure the Elf knew all the facts. That would just be cruel, and Darin was learning to lie and sneak, and she might even learn how to fight. She refused to learn how to be maliciously cruel. Her Mama would box her ears if she did that.

She swallowed her current bite of apple, “And Talbot’s coming too. His person says he wants to, and I want him to.”

Okay, she had told the farmer that she had to talk about it with Ridahne, but all of the sudden Darin didn’t care what the Elf thought of the horse. Darin liked him, and the farmer said he wanted to come. She was willing to believe that the horse had told his human that. She was even willing to believe that they could understand each other. It did make sense. She had seen it before. People and animals bonded in strange ways. She had never experienced it, but it was still cool. It helped fill the need Darin had found herself faced with. She needed to ride. She couldn’t walk all of Astra. So, Talbot was coming. If Ridahne didn’t like that she could get over it.

Darin shrugged, “Other than those two things as long as you can promise not to treat me any different than from before we got to Greyrock you can come.” Her eyes were firmly on her half-eaten apple, “I could use the help and you did say you would teach me how to use my knife.”