Darin sighed, “There’s just so much Ridahne. It’s hard to believe that I’ll ever be ready. I’m not even sure what it means to be ready.”

Darin fought a yawn and was the loser of that battle. She let her eyes slip close. She supposed that some sleep was better than no sleep even if it wasn’t much. She figured she should move from where she was sitting to return to her own bed, but she was just so comfortable right now. She would regret it when her back ached in the morning though. With that in mind she forced her eyes open and then forced herself to stand. She felt like it was the hardest thing she had every done even though she knew that couldn’t be true at all. It was still no fun to cross the room.

As she practically collapsed on the bed, she told Ridahne, “I told Mrixie to go away and to take Ulice with him. He said he would be back later tomorrow, or rather today now, I guess. I still figure we’ll have the morning free of him. We should try to get some sleep though so we can make the best use of our unsupervised time.” She yawned again, “I’m going to bed. Good night.”

Darin slept, but if she dreamed, she didn’t remember any of them. It felt late when she woke up, but there was no sunshine coming from the window for her to judge the time. How did people live in this ever-present twilight? She was ready to be on the way from Lihaelin, but The Seed wasn’t, and she didn’t think the trees of the forest were ready for her to depart either. Besides there were still things that needed to be done. She still needed to get her boots resoled. They might still need to gather supplies. Darin wasn’t so sure about that one. She knew Ridahne had gotten supplies the first day they were in the city, but she didn’t know if that was enough to get them to their next destination.

Darin rolled out of the bed and landed on the ground, “Owe.”

It was a soft sound that was followed with a ground as she desperately tried to get herself untangled from the blankets and rise to a vertical position. This process involved lots of cursing in both Common and the language of home. Once she was vertical, she made the bed. It was an easy enough task. That was followed by pulling on her boots and making her way down to the tavern on the first floor. She was starving. The last food she had had that she had managed to keep down were the dumplings yesterday morning. That had been more than 24 hours ago. 

Though she was nervous Darin managed to ask the person running the inn at the moment for breakfast. She was brought a bowl of something that Darin thought looked like boiled wheat mixed with milk or cream. She supposed that was a standard breakfast anywhere. When she tasted it, she decided it wasn’t wheat but barley. She supposed boiled grain mixed with milk or dairy was a good standard breakfast anywhere. Back home it was wheat because that’s what she grew. She wouldn’t be surprised if different grains were used across Astra. This bowl tasted like it had just a pinch of salt and hint of sweetness. She decided she liked it and finished it quickly.