Well that answered Darin’s question. Odds were Ridahne would never get a tattoo that told the world that she had helped the Seed-Bearer. Now that Darin knew the answer to that question, she was strangely relieved. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Ridahne personally. She was willing to bet that the Elf truly did want to make sure The Seed got planted where it was supposed to, but that didn’t mean the human truly knew anything about her. All she really knew was that that the warrior had done something that should have had her sentenced to death, but instead got her exiled. Darin stole a glance at the tattoos on her face. The farmer assumed that one of them told the people who knew how to read them exactly what she had done; well maybe not exactly, but at least the severity. Darin wasn’t sure what one it was. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Darin found herself speaking, “Sometimes you can tell similar things by looking at a human’s hair. A woman without children tends to wear her hair down around her shoulders. Then when she has her first child, she starts pinning it up. I think that’s more practical than symbolic though. The child can’t yank on hair it can’t reach.” Darin sighed as she moved to lay down, “That doesn’t work for me though. I cut my hair all off when I was sixteen. My mother just about died of shock when she saw it.”

Darin found she couldn’t lay down because Mitaja was behind her. She let out a sigh as she sat back up. Her shoulder was starting to hurt. She didn’t want to say anything though. It wasn’t a real pain. It was more of a dull throbbing. She had worked out in the fields while being in a lot more pain. Darin still didn’t think her back would ever be the same.

Darin found herself asking, “If I was Azurei what would my, you called it an ojih right? What would my ojih look like? I’ve been a farmer for about five years, I’m not married, and I’m pretty sure I’m the bottom of my village’s list of important people. Well, at least I’m not a drunk lay about like Todd.”

Darin had no idea why she had asked that. Maybe it would help her understand Ridahne’s culture better if she could relate to it. It was worth a shot. The human did want to understand the Elf better. She also didn’t want to pry into something that wasn’t any of her business. Besides, maybe that was a rude question. Suddenly Darin wasn’t sure. There was also the fact that Ridahne might not have enough information to answer that question. It wasn’t like cultures had direct translations from one to another. It wasn’t like Darin could tell where Ridahne would fit in her culture. Absently, she bit her lip. She might want to take that question back before Ridahne grew offended

She spoke carefully, “You don’t have to answer that. If it’s rude you can just tell me to buzz off. I would understand.”