Darin nodded, “Good night Ridahne. I will see you tomorrow.” As the warrior left Darin turned to Ravi, “Where do I sleep?”

Ravi sighed, “This way Seed-Bearer.” As they walked, he asked, “Was that necessary Darin?”

She didn’t hesitate, “Yes Ravi, it was. We couldn’t keep running from each other.”

Ravi sighed, “In front of everybody?”

Darin shrugged, “Probably not. But we do not get to pick the location of our battles. We simply fight them when they come.”

Ravi opened a door, “I suppose that is true.” He nodded in the open room, “Here you are.”

Darin smiled, “Thank you. Good night Ravi.”

The Overseer left, “Good night Darin.”

The human placed her fiddle on the small table before falling on the bed. She fell asleep almost instantly. As she slept The Tree reached out to her. It was a continuation of the lessons Darin had learned earlier in the day. The Tree needed to make sure she had all the information before she left The Farm. The Seed-Bearer had been assigned an impossible task. She would not be sent out unprepared. She was loved and she needed to know that. The Tree woke the girl just in time for her to hear the first rooster call the rising of the sun. Darin smiled as she looked out the window. Ridahne claimed she wasn’t going to rise early. Darin always knew she would be up with the sun. This was The Farm and she was a farmer. It was inevitable.

Darin looked at the Worker uniform she was wearing. She grabbed the hat on the hook by the door and then snuck out the window. She was going to attempt to simply join the Workers in the day’s labors. She wasn’t sure how well it would work, but she was going to try. There was a group of them gathered together. Darin kept to the edge of the group. She then followed them to weed carrots. He was good work, and Darin found herself smiling as she worked in the dirt. She had no idea if she was hiding properly or if they were just pretending that they didn’t recognized her. Darin wasn’t sure she cared. She just lost herself in the farm work. It felt like home.

Darin worked with the others until lunch. Then she saw Talbot watching her from the edge of the field. He looked towards a spot in the distance and then back towards her. She furrowed her brow in question. It seemed like the horse had something he wanted to tell her. Without speaking to anyone Darin headed towards Talbot. NO one tried to stop her. Well, that answered that question. People were pretended they didn’t know who she was. Talbot bent his knees so Darin could get on. She then let him carry her away from the carrots. They walked for a moment before he stopped. Darin slipped down to see what Talbot was concerned with. Her attention was drawn by a shriek.

Darin smiled, “Why hello there beautiful. What happen?”

It was some type of bird of prey. Darin almost wanted to say it was a hawk. The poor creatures wing was broken. Darin had rehabilitated crows and sparrows before. She wondered how much different healing a hawk would be. She obviously was going to do her best. She didn’t think Talbot brought her to just look at the poor bird. Darin was glad she was wearing thick work gloves. She carefully picked the hawk up. She was not surprised when he lashed out. She managed to avoid terrible injuries, but he did get a talon across her cheekbone.

Darin scowled, “Now that’s not nice! I’m just trying to help you silly!” The bird quieted down, “That’s better. Come on. Let’s go see what Ravi has to set that wing. Maybe he can tell me what you eat too.” She looked at the sun, “And hopefully Ridahne is up now.” She smiled at the hawk, “Maybe we can get her to weed carrots.”

That didn’t actually sound like a half bad idea. Darin had tasted a bit of Ridahne’s warrior lifestyle back in Grey Rock when Mark attacked them. Maybe the Elf could see just a little bit of being what a farmer was all about. Still, Darin couldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to. Darin wrinkled her nose. She could feel blood dripping down her face from the injury the hawk had lashed out. She scowled at the thought of both Ravi and Ridahne freaking out about the minor wound. The most it would do would scar. That was not Darin’s biggest concern. She still had all her fingers. Talbot walked next to her as the headed back towards the Main Farmhouse. She didn’t feel comfortable trying to ride while holding the injured animal. She was glad Talbot understood that.