Well, that hadn’t been what Darin had been planning at all. She certainly hadn’t expected Ridahne’s question to Ajoran or his answer. Had they really forgotten Khaltira? How had they forgotten her name? Had Darin done that? If so, how had she done that. She hadn’t meant to do that. She hadn’t known that she could do that. She honestly just expected the false Sol’s name to be forgotten over the years. She hadn’t expected a grand dismissal from everyone’s mind. Was it everyone’s mind? Or was it just Ridahne’s and Ajoran’s? Was there a way to find out? Darin was biting her lip in worry as her sister came over to hug her. She quickly smoothed all signs of her worry away to accept the hug. When the Azurei pressed their foreheads together Darin actually smiled. She could worry about this strange occurrence later, much later.

She shook her head, “No, I need to speak to Istaerih. The Sea has been rowdy since I got to Azurei.” She cast a look towards the port beyond the market. I need to figure out it It’s just excited I am here or if something else is going on. People have livelihoods, that can’t be meet if The Sea responds to everything I say and do.” She bit her lip in confusion, “I don’t understand it. Usually Istaerih is much better behaved.” She smiled at Ridhane as she linked her arms with her sister, “Come along. Just know that I will probably be distracted as we walk though the market.” She linked her other arm with Ajoran as she turned to him, “It’s a failing of mine, “If something interests me, I just stop and start asking far more questions than I probably should. Ridahne knows this. I have yet to figure out if she’s annoyed by this or not.” She laughed as she tugged them towards the market and the port beyond, “Not that it matters. I do what I want.”

With that being said she let go of both of them to begin her hurry towards the market. Taja let out a screech as he appeared from wherever her had been hiding to take his place on her shoulder. As she got to the market, she realized that people were whispering about what The Sea had been doing this morning. People didn’t look at her beyond noting that she wasn’t Azurei, so despite the rumors that The Seed-Bearer was in Astra, it didn’t seem like people had connected her to that position of power. That was alright. Darin wasn’t going to call attention to herself. She wouldn’t lie when asked about it, but she didn’t want to be suddenly noticed. She found herself flitting when stall to stall to look at the different vendors. She found herself asking the woman selling pottery how she got just that shade of blue. The fishmonger was worried about how the strange storm earlier in the day would affect business. There was a pair with a collection of leather gloves and vest that seemed concerned about it as well. Darin was in the middle of asking the leatherworkers about the stitching on a vest when she felt a tugging on her pant leg. She turned to see a child who was a little taller than her knees.

That was odd, but didn’t stop Darin from crouching down and asking, “Yes?” She made sure to smile, “Can I help you?”

The girl looked at her with awe in her face as she pushed something into Darin’s hand; her voice was barely a whisper, “For you Astra-Sol.”

With that the girl was gone, running into the market, and being lost to sight. Darin back up as she watcher the girl scurry away. Darin wasn’t completely worried. Ridahne had told her how Azurei children would band together to form little gangs and roam while their parents worked. Darin had to assume that it was relatively safe. She took a moment to look at the object she had been given. It was a black stone that Darin didn’t recognize but there was a curling carving in it. It took her a moment to realize that the child had carved a simple expression of a crashing wave. Darin looked back in the direction the girl had run off in as she considered. Once again, she had been called Astra-Sol, by a child no less. Darin wasn’t sure that she wanted that, but she was becoming less sure that she could stop it.

She turned back to the leatherworkers as she pocketed the small treasure, “What does the world Sol mean to you?”

The first one responded immediately, “A woman of honor and power.” If he was caught of guard by the sudden change of conversation, he didn’t let it show, “She is charged with the care and the protection of her people.”

Darin let out a noise of question, “Now, I am an outsider, but didn’t Azurei just have problems with one of their Sols recently.”

The other leatherworker scoffed as the first one turned to spit on the ground, “That woman.” He paused for a moment as he thought, “What was her name?” He gave he head a shake, “No matter. She was not an imposter.” His brow wrinkled in confusion for a moment, “The humans had a phrase … snake in sheep’s clothing?”

Darin corrected, “A wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

He nodded, “Yes, that is her. A wolf, not the best example of a Sol. She serves only as a warning as what not to do.”

The other mentioned, “Hanasa-Sol is doing much better. She seems to be learning form her predecessor’s mistakes.” It was his turned to be confused, “What was her name?

Darin shook her head as her hand came to run her fingers across the small stone in her pocket, “It doesn’t matter.” She pointed at the stiches, “The stitching?”

They returned to the previous conversation and it wasn’t long before Darin was making her farewells. She wasn’t inclined to go to another stall and found herself standing in the middle of collection of stalls. It seemed that Ridahne and Ajoran weren’t the only ones that had forgotten Khaltira. She wondered what that meant. She also needed to figure out what she was going to do about the people calling her Astra-Sol. She might not be able to stop it. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to stop it. It seemed like a lot of work for a petty reason. She fished the stone out of her pocket to look at it. Besides, what did it even mean to be a Sol, a proper Sol. Darin wasn’t sure she had the best examples. She wasn’t sure what to do. This was the first time she had been addressed my a title other than Seed-Bearer.

Another child, this one was about the height of Darin’s waist, ran up to her. He bowed clumsily as he thrust something out at her, “For you Astra-Sol.”

She took the stone and he hurried off. This one was red, almost the same color as the disk Ridahne wore around her neck. It looked like a flower was carved into it. The human was suddenly reminded of the mayor of Lively’s mother. She was older and her health was shaking. She only left the house at festivals. When that happened the children of Lively would press flowers into her hands and scurry off as quickly as possible. Was this the Azurei version? Darin wasn’t sure.  The human had never heard of the tradition in other places. She needed to ask Ridahne.

She quickly found her sister and dropped both stones into her hands, “Two children, they were young, I think, gave me these. What are they supposed to be? Am I supposed to do something with them?”