Darin answered the question easily enough, “I’m nineteen. I started working my farm at 14 almost 15.” She went on to explain, “I should have started looking for a spouse at about 17 and if I make it to about 25 30 without finding one, I’ll be what many people call an old maid.” She shrugged, “That’s how most human females that aren’t warriors measure if they are adults or not, by marrying age. In short, I’m considered an adult, but like a brand-new adult.” Darin only new the stuff about marriage because that was what the elders had wanted. They started coming to her mother with proposals and potential matches (It wasn’t really marriage. It was more like steady commitment. The people of her village rarely did what was consider legally or religiously binding marriages.) when she was 16 and one day. They were all second or third sons. People were looking to use Darin’s farm as their child’s inheritance. Thankfully her mother wasn’t having any of that. That plus the fact that Darin had kneed the one boy who tried to kiss her where it truly hurt. He had tried to claim her publicly. He had put hands where she didn’t want him putting hands. So, she humiliated him in public. Then there was the fact that she wasn’t really pretty, and the fact that she didn’t act the way her village thought she should act. All talk of marrying Darin off had been squished by the time she was 18. Which was fine by her. Darin didn’t know that she wanted to commit to anyone. She certainly didn’t want to make promises like that to anyone in the village. Besides, though promises meant absolutely nothing, Darin knew that. Her father had broken all of the promises he had made to her mother the night he ran off. She didn’t want anybody to do that to her. Her mother was strong, but something had broke inside her that night. In addition, Darin was almost certain that one of those promise was kissing, and other such activities and she had never seen the point of those types of activities. Well, she understood the making kids part, but other than that it was a mystery to her. She had talked to her mother about it once. Darin was assured that it would all make sense when she met the right person. Darin wasn’t so sure the right person was out there. Besides, it wasn’t like she could go looking for them. She had more important things to worry about. She needed to get The Seed planted. Then she could worry about romance; if she wanted to. Darin asked a question of her own, “What about you? How old are you?”