So much for distracting Ridahne. Darin sat and listened to the Elf’s confession, was confession the right word, confession seemed like a good word, with a slight air od confusion. When the warrior was done Darin had to process. Her head slowly turned from staring at Ridahne to staring at the fire. That was a lot to take in. Suddenly, Darin’s greatest crime (Stealing a dog from an abusing master) didn’t seem so bad. Darin knew what a murderer was. She had vague ideas of what a rapist was. (One had tried to hide from Lively justice in the village. Lively had sent a messenger bird with news of the crime. Darin had been part of the crowd of fellow farmers that the village elders had rallied to prevent his entrance. He was not given a trial. His body was burned. In both Lively and the village that was a high dishonor. Darin knew she was lucky she had not been the one to find him. The elders had ordered him dead on sight.) Darin knew both were bad, but they both still happened. She couldn’t fault Ridahne for getting rid of them. Though if Darin was understanding it right, that wasn’t all she did. She also killed people after being lied to about what their crimes were. Ridahne had killed innocents because she believed they had committed crimes they hadn’t.

Darin found herself asking, “Tell me. Were you exiled for the innocents? Or for the death of the liar?”

Ridahne had told Darin that she might not want to know what had happen. Darin had a feeling Ridahne was right. Darin also had a terrible feeling that she knew what the answer to her question was. That was the question she didn’t want to answer. So far, the human could understand why the Elf felt guilty. Darin didn’t understand how killing while being deliberately misinformed was one hundred percent the Elf’s fault, but she could see how Ridahne could see it was her fault. In Darin’s head the solution to the delimia was simple. The person in power should be stripped from power, thrown in jail, and maybe executed. Ridahne should probably not be allowed to kill again, and yes, everyone should know what happened. Darin didn’t think that was what happened. She was willing to bet that Ridhane killed the liar and got exiled for treason; never mind that her reasons were right. Evil was not black and white, cut and dry. The human was willing to bet that Ridahne and her people had mistaking honor and loyalty for goodness. Then when Ridahne figured out that wasn’t always the case she had been punished for it.

The entire time Darin was thinking she had been staring at the fire. She didn’t even turn as she asked her question. Her eyes blinked slowly. Against her thigh The Seed burned. It wasn’t the same type of burning as when Darin had faced Mark. That burning had led to terror and a surety of evil. The closest Darin could compare this burning to was fury. Darin was trying very hard not to get angry until her suspicions were confirmed. For all she knew she Ridahne had never killed the liar. She might not have even tried. She might have been sent on this mission because she killed the innocents. Darin only had a part of the story. She needed the rest of the facts. Something, she thought it might be The Seed, told her Ridahne was telling her the truth. Something else, probably the memory of her mother, was telling her that Ridahne wasn’t telling Darin everything. Darin was trying not to let rage over take her until she had all of the facts. It wasn’t easy at all. She had never been angry before; tick off yes, but true rage, no. This was new. It almost scared the young girl. Her arms wrapped around her bent knees, and she gripped her knees tightly. Ridahne was right. She didn’t want confirmation of the answer she already knew.