[I]"Ridahne, I need you to stay here until tomorrow," Jaisih, Ridahne's father spoke softly. There was a tired note to his voice.
"But da! Hadian gets to go! How come it's always Hadian who--" 
Jaisih cut her off by firmly but not unkindly grabbing her chin with one hand. She held it high, as if to pull free from his grasp, but she otherwise did not struggle or look away. And though his hand was firm, his eyes were soft, pleading. She had to understand, he had to make her understand. "Enough." Spoken softly, it was a command. Jaisih was a good man, but he had a will of iron, and his daughter inherited that from him. He sighed. "I need Hadian to come with me. We can't sail the boat without ten hands, Ridahne. I know you don't want to be bound to the house, and believe me Ridahne, it hurts me to see a wild thing caged." 

This admission softened young Ridahne's disposition. Her father did understand her, better than most. "But Da, I could help make some money. I...I could...uh, I could dive for shellfish and seahorses, or I could borrow Hili's horse and go out to--"
"Ridahne, I know you would. I know you could. And I hate that I've ever had to ask you to go out into the Dust Sea, however willing you might be. But this isn't about making ends meet, Ridahne. Yes, we're not doing well financially. But there's a more important task I need you to do." 

Suddenly it felt less like a prison sentence to be cooped up for so long. "A task?"
"Yes." Jaisih swallowed, and Ridahne watched something in him, some kind of light slip away from his eyes. She watched him turn to stone before her very eyes and knew that something was very wrong. Because when things were hard, she did the exact same thing. "Your mother is...not doing well," he finally said. 
Ridahne shook her head. "Well no, she's been sick. But the healer is doing everything he can...Right?" Silence. "Jaisih?" A panic crept into her chest. "He's doing everything he can, right Da?"
"He...is. Yes. He will probably be by this evening. You must thank him for all his work and assist him where you can. But my dear...sometimes things don't work out like you want them to."
Ridahne gasped, but she could already feel the lump in her throat. "Are you saying--"
"I'm saying I'd like you to stick around here until we get back, Ridahne. For me." 

A painful fear like she'd never felt touched her young heart. At first it felt like she couldn't breathe, but by force of will she finally took a breath and nodded. She caught Hadian's eyes as the two turned and walked out into the still dark morning, and she found there a look of understanding. Hadian knew. Their mother was dying and Hadian knew and didn't tell her. Ridahne had never felt more betrayed. So she waited for Hadian and Jaisih to walk out of sight, and with her mother asleep in the other room, Ridahne dropped to her knees and wept. [/I]

---

"Ikali.." Ridahne had gone very still and very silent for a stretch of time and when she eventually did stir, that was the one conscious thought she could express. It was a female name, though who exactly she was referring to was unclear. It was her mother's name of course, but Darin didn't know that. She felt the undulation of Tsura underneath her and knew for the moment she was safe, so she didn't fight the wave of dizziness that came over her again.

Ridahne could sort of make out voices. They didn't sound entirely friendly by their tone, but she had little comprehension of words. Were they there already? How long had she been unconscious? Just how bad was she? More movement, some voices again. A tall man came from the house, took a second to assess the situation, and went to help Darin get Ridahne off Tsura. He had blonde hair and gray eyes, but a cool composition dosed with the right amount of urgency after seeing all that blood. It was hard to tell with elves, but he seemed to be older than Ridahne, but much younger than the village doctor. "Got yourselves in some trouble, didn't you?" He had a soft voice, cool and contemplative like water. 

Ridahne felt hands on her, ones she assumed were Darin's because of what felt like callouses. She moaned softly, but otherwise didn't resist until she felt the second pair of hands on her and heard a male voice distinctly say the word 'trouble'. It was like a part of her barely conscious brain was still back on the road fighting the Red Hand, with that man's hands around her neck, squeezing, strangling her, his weight pinning her down as she was robbed of her right of breath. Not again not again not again no no no no NO NO!

She tried to scream but it came out a sort of raspy keen, and a sliver of life came back into her limbs. Not nearly as vibrantly as when Darin first tried to move her earlier, but she managed to latch on to one of his hands and tried to peel it away. He was too strong for her. She tried a kick but between him and Darin, she was held firm. 
"Ah, we've got a dangerous one, Konie." The way he said this was almost endearing, like he wasn't really worried about her being a threat but he knew they needed to be careful all the same. "Easy, Azurei," he said softly. "We're here to help. You're alright." He and Darin laid her down on a table and Ridahne gave in, going limp but with vacant eyes half open. The man, obviously Konie's assistant, began washing Ridahne's wounds to get a better idea of how badly and where she was hurt. He wiped her face clean with a cool, wet rag and stopped short as he got a good look at her face. 

"Talyn?" Konie asked. 
"I know her." His voice was so, so soft. He looked stunned. "The last time I went to Azurei, I was in terrible haste. And I thought I could go through the Dust Sea, I thought I'd prepared enough. I didn't. I came close to dying out there, and then someone came and found me. And I thought for all these years that she was a Ghost of the Sands, an apparition of the Dust or perhaps just my delirium, because one moment she was speaking to me and the next, I was in a large hut with a doctor, but she was gone. But I know something of Azurei Ojih, and that's definitely her. She's...real." He touched the black mark on her forehead, her most recent mark, with a gentle fingertip. "And not at all who I'd expect..." He turned to Darin. "She saved my life once. I'll see to it we return the favor." 

The two worked tirelessly, cleaning the wounds, stitching up the arrow wound and the deep cut on her side, bandaging up her head. They could do little for the bruising on her throat, but that would fade in time. Once they had her cleaned, stitched, and bandaged, they moved her to a low mattress that was very nearly on the floor, as was the Elurian custom. Talyn had cleaned himself up and, after serving Konie with a steaming mug, came to sit on a cushion beside Darin. He offered her a small cup of a hot, milky drink that smelled slightly sweet. A mild flavored milk-tea that was a staple in these parts. He sipped his own cup and asked softly but straightforwardly, "What happened?"