Darin stumbled as Mitaja came to press close to her. The young human looked back at the trail she had been creating. It looked like the Elf and her horse had bent, broken, and trampled across several crops in her haste to get to the human. Talbot was joining them, but he was going slower. Like Darin he was trying not to damage the crops. That made sense. They were both farmers while Ridahne, Tsura, and Mitaja were warriors. As such they had different priorities. Darin thought that maybe why they were having problems seeing eye to eye. Then again there could be lots of reasons why that was the case, and she didn’t really care to think about it. Her gaze swung to back to The Tree as she contemplated the best way to sneak away and continue her journey. She might have to wait for this Ravi to show up.

Suddenly, a joyful exclamation filled the air, “Look at you! Just look at you!”

It was an Elf. Darin turned to see a male Elf come though the group of people. He was taller than Ridahne with skin so pale it was almost white. Darin wasn’t sure how that was possible given the fact that he was wearing the same uniform as the rest of the workers and a quick glance at his arms and hands showed that he was no stranger to working in the dirt. He had hair so dark The Seed-Bearer almost thought it was black until the sunlight caught it just right to reflect the brown tones. His eyes were an incredibly pale lilac color that fooled people into thinking they had no color at all. He completely ignored Ridahne and Tsura and Mitaja to come and take Darin’s face in his hands. His fingers felt rough and impossibly long. She didn’t think he was Azurei like Ridahne.

He stared straight into her eyes as he exclaimed again, “Look at you!” He was wearing the biggest smile on his face, “You’re gorgeous! You’re perfect! I never imagined you would look so beautiful! “He dropped his hands to her shoulders, and he bent so Darin would have to look up to see his face properly, “Darin, Darin, Darin, Darin. Darin, daughter of Martin, by Talia. You are incredible! You made it! We were starting to think you got lost. But now you’re here! And you’re beautiful! And perfect! And just right! And better than any of us could ever had hopped for!”

Well this was an interesting experience for Darin. Even if she temporarily ignored the fact that this strange Elf some how knew the name which The Gardener referred and the fact that he knew she was The Seed-Bearer it was still odd. No one, not even her mother, had called her beautiful before. The best she got was “passably pretty when you try.” She had never been called gorgeous or perfect before either. The strangest part was she thought that this Elf might sincerely mean every word he said. No, that wasn’t right. She knew that he meant every word he said. The same part of her that knew that Mark was pure evil confirmed that fact. He barely knew her, and he already loved her. Absently she noticed that the workers were chattering excitedly among themselves. They were all looking at her in awe and excitement. She was baffled for a minute.

Then it came to her and she spoke softly; interrupting the Elf’s praises, “You were expecting me. How?”

The Elf continued to smile as he reached up to push her hair out of her eyes, “It’s always been you Darin. It’s always been perfect, beautiful, amazing you.” His hand came back to her shoulder, “When The Gardener knew that The Tree was dying he enlisted us to do everything we could to save The Tree. When it became clear that it was impossible, he told us to stay at the far reaches of The Farm as he and The Tree talked. A week later he came out. He showed us The Seed. He said that what he had to do was a secret. We could tell no one outside of The Farm. He then told us that he had to find someone named Darin, daughter of Martin, by Talia, that she would be responsible for Planting The Seed; for saving Astra. And then he went out looking for you. He told no one who he was looking for. Then, about three months ago, he sent us a weekly update, as was his custom. It said, ‘This is my last message. I found her in a little nameless village west of a town called Lively. She is a farmer. She will come to see The Tree soon enough.’ We looked for Lively on the map. We figured it would take you two months to get here, what with getting ready and all. You hadn’t shown up yet. We were starting to get worried.”

She spoke again, “I can’t be the only Darin. And I’m fairly positive I don’t look like anyone’s daughter.”

The Elf laughed just a little bit, “True. But my people have visions from time to time. I saw you, but not like this. You were dressed in a floor length skirt. Your hair was pined up and you were standing near a man wearing a crown. You were punching a guard in the face. Your features are still the same. The vision came before The Gardner’s message. We thought you were a princess of some sort. To hear you were a farmer was such a relief. And here you are. In work pants with sensible hair. It’s better than we could have hoped! You are the most beautiful thing that I, that we, have ever seen. You are our hope! Yet you are just a simple thing! You’re armed with a sickle and not a knife or sword. A farmer’s tool!” He let out a breath that remind Darin of the noise Thomas mad every time he saw Milla, “You’re gorgeous.” He suddenly became serious, “Now! You need to eat something. You need a bath, and you need sleep in a proper bed.” He pointed at The Tree, “But first The Tree. It is waiting to meet you. Your guard must stay here though your companion may come.” He turned to one of the other workers, “Alix! Run and tell the Workers in The Tree to get down. The Seed-Bearer must speak to The Tree.”

Darin felt it was important to clear something up, “Are you Ravi? And why can’t Ridahne come?”

The Elf, Ravi, nodded, “Yes! That’s me! I’m the Overseer; the most recent in a long, long line of Overseers. These are the Workers. The Azurei can’t come to this first meeting. The Tree is sacred, and she is Eija. I am not saying her reasons are wrong, but she had killed before. It would not do for your first meeting to be tainted by that. Though she is Chained, I assume Seed-Chained, she can’t be evil if she’s Seed-Chained. The Tree, and by extension, The Seed refused to be Chained to evil. Though that doesn’t mean being Chained is a good thing. Tax will take her to the main Farmhouse where she can get some rest.”

Darin like this man. The same instincts that had warned her about Mark told her that Ravi meant every word he said. He had to be good if The Gardener made him the Overseer. The Seed tingled against her thigh, and the young Seed-Bearer was reminded of sitting next to a fire after a long day in the snow. Talbot finally joined them, and he pressed his nose to the back of Darin’s head in silent support. Darin didn’t think he fully knew what was going on, but she did know that he was on her side. She wasn’t sure she believed Ravi as he said all those good things about her, but she believed that he believed them. And she did want to see The Tree.

She turned to Ridahne, “I have to go. It will be alright. This is like the exact opposite of Mark. I’ll meet you at the main Farmhouse later. Is that alright?”

They had been ignoring Ridahne, and Darin felt slightly rude because of that. That didn’t change the fact this needed to be done and the sooner the better. Talbot was coming with her. She just didn’t want Ridahne starting a fight while she was gone. That would not be good.