The Azurei lad--for he was considered on the older side of adolescent among his people--blinked and was visibly surprised to hear Darin speak even halfway decent Azurian. It was a complex language, as complex and difficult as the people who spoke it. Few bothered to learn it unless they themselves were elves [I]and[/I] often had business with their desert kin. Eluri was a little easier in structure and to get the accent right, and the Orosi often talked with their hands as much as their lips, so they were a bit easier to follow. Yet here was a human who could hold conversation with him. "You speak like a...long-time-visitor." A rough translation maybe, but he thought it would do. "I have heard of [I]Rah-Elaitih[/I] that would not teach the blade until their student learned the speech of Azurei. But I have never seen someone do it so well." A Rah-Elaitih was a blade master, though it more commonly referred to specifically those that traveled Astra and took apprentices to teach their art to. He had either heard their cover story, or simply assumed it on his own. 

The eija-in-training looked somewhat...disappointed? It was like he'd expected to finally learn the exotic truth of how humans did their death rites, and it turned out they were no different than Azurei's. He nodded. "Ah, to dust, then. Yes." The lad continued to clean Ridahne's blades in silence. The human did the same with her own blade and he found it to be very strange. It was oddly curved and not optimal for combat. He tried desperately to apply what he knew of his own blade training to the odd weapon, but nothing seemed to really fit. He would most certainly report that back to his master. There were some details about the whole situation that made the three of them begin to wonder who these two strangers were, how they both found and bested the Red Hand agents, and what they were doing out there to begin with. Jinh, the seasoned male eija, seemed to have a clue as to who they were, or at least who the elf was, and the other two quickly understood his guess. 

There was a lot he didn't know, but he had seen the sigil carved in silver on the horse's tack. While he himself could not identify it, he thought perhaps either of his companions might.

--

Ridahne drank a lot of water, and that was encouraging at least to Talyn. But he could still see her amber eyes glazing over every now and then as they stared into a wooden plank without really seeing it. Even she'd catch herself doing this and would blink rapidly and refocus her eyes and become a little more alert, but Talyn caught it all the same. 

Finally Ridahne sighed as if in defeat. "I'm very tired. But I have something to ask of you before I rest again."
Talyn inclined his head. "Mm?"
"I need a piece of paper and some charcoal, or even ink if you have it. I'd like to send a message."
"To?" Talyn asked as he opened up a small drawer and fished for a stick of charcoal and a little piece of paper.
Ridahne took the materials, smiled, and said, "His name is Taja-Ajoran. A message sent to the palace and addressed to him will find its mark." Ridahne carefully propped up her good leg and used it as a writing surface. She wrote with care, and the one single word was scribed with as much precision as could be managed with a piece of charcoal. Ridahne wanted to tell him everything, to tell him she'd found Darin and was on a road that would eventually lead her back to Azurei. To him. But she knew that messages often were intercepted, and secrecy was their best ally, especially after last night's experience. So she trusted to Ajoran's thoughtfulness and knowledge of her and simply wrote:

[I]Soon.[/I]

It said everything she needed it to. 'I'm alive and I'm coming home one day.' And instead of addressing it with her name, she simply drew a rough version of her sigil--a seahorse. She handed it back to Talyn and eased herself back down onto her back with a lot of grimacing and some amount of dizziness.