Darin listened to Ajoran with a smile on her face as he slipped into talking about Ridahne. She had heard that story before. She was more interested in things like favorite color, scent, thing to do. She did snort at the mention of apple pie. What was it with Torzineis or soon to be Torzineia and apple pie? Had Ridahne said something to him so that he would ask about it? Darin wasn’t sure and she didn’t want to pry in that direction. Maybe it was just something that all Azurei had heard of and wanted to try. She supposed that made sense. Darin had heard of chocolate before this trip after all, but she hadn’t every thought she get to try it, so she hadn’t wasted time thinking about it.

She laced her arm with Ajoran’s “I’ll have to make some for you at some point.” She looked towards the market, “It’s too hot to make the pastry, but I bet I can find all the stuff to make the filling at the market.” She smiled brightly, “I make the best apple pie back home. The pastry is the hard part. The filling is easy. It’s just apples, sugar, and various spices. If I have it on hand, I use apple cider instead of water, but water works just fine.” Her brow furrowed as she continued, “The pastry is the hard part. It requires a great deal of butter and a great deal of time and it has to be at least chill for the layers to form correctly. Here it the heat of Azurei it would be next to impossible.”

Darin supposed that she could chill the air like she had when she first met the Sols, but that felt like a horrible use of her power, horribly selfish and possibly damaging to the Azurei weather patterns. The rain today wasn’t that bad, since rain like this could and would happen naturally, maybe not for as long or as steady, but it could and did happen. Messing with The Sky and with weather was difficult. Darin could change it, but it was easier and wiser to just change the timing of it, to have rain wait an hour or sweep though faster, to have cool winds linger for just a little longer, things like that. Darin was willing to bet that Tasen was do to have rain in the next week or so anyways and that The Sky just hurried it along and then caused it to pause for just a little bit.

Darin gave her head a shake and returned to the conversation with Ajoran, “I could make you some of the filling for a wedding present if you like, but you’ll have to pay for the supplies because I spent the last of my coin on new boots, which are important when you travel by horseback and by foot.” She smiled at him, “Though speaking of weddings, Ridahne wants me to do the rites for this, which makes sense since I am both her sister and The Seed-Bearer, but I have no idea what these rites are or even what happens at a wedding. Do you think you could give me a crash course?”

^_^

For one brief moment Harai considered silence. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t betray the Red Hand. Up to this point her hadn’t; her had merely explained the purpose behind it, the same way he would explain it to a potential recruit. If he started giving names of those he reported to he would be a traitor. Then again, he was the only one in Tasen. No one had come to support him. In the end looking at the braziers from the corner of his eyes and this woman’s unrelenting eyes convinced him. He spoke. He gave every name he could think of, which wasn’t many. He told her of the plans that wouldn’t take effect until The Seed-Bearer left Azurei, how the Sols actions made trying anything in Azurei foolish and insane, but one she was in human territory the Red Hand would proceed to act quickly.

Then Harai mentioned two names, one that wouldn’t interest the Taja and one that just might. Harai had been recruited by a Siren woman named Hopesong Currents. She had been recruited by a human man named Martin Aliceson. Harai had met Aliceson just once, but he seemed to be high enough with in the organization to know what was going on. It was possible that he would be able to answer more of these questions but finding him would be next to impossible. When there had been a rumor that The Seed-Bearer was a boy named Martin Lively, Aliceson had gone into hiding. Maybe now that that rumor had been proven false, he would reemerge.