The elderly woman's usually neutral expression changed a little when Darin referred to Ridahne as her sister. It was only a little upward pull of one eyebrow, but evidently that was a surprise to her. She'd never heard of a Taja taking their Sol as an adoptive sibling, or was it the other way around? There were no explicit rules against it, but it left her guessing at the power dynamics between the two, and what that looked like. She remembered that Ridahne had been adamant about not calling Darin by her title and now that choice seemed to make more sense. Amaiera-Sol was silent as Darin spoke, and the only real reactions she had to what was said was a few nods of understanding or acknowledgement along the way. She chose to wait until the younger woman was finished speaking, and then she would consider everything. And consider she did. The Sota-Sol didn't answer right away and instead gave a long, thoughtful sigh. Finally she spoke, looking Darin in the eyes. Amaiera-Sol was a force to be reckoned with, certainly, but she allowed the same gentleness that she'd shown Ridahne in the hall. "The more I speak to you and to your Taja, the more I understand. She is yours, and you are a woman who takes care of what belongs to you. You are protective of her, and no doubt you saw the woman who cast out your Taja as a villain. You cannot be blamed for such a perspective, though I would hope that as you come into your own as Astra-Sol and you gain an appreciation for the complex nature of important decisions, that you also understand the weight of rule and doing what you judge to be best in a moment, even if nuance later proves those decisions to be rash. There is no ill-air between us, Astra-Sol," Amaiera-Sol assured her. "As for your dillemma...you certainly have the right to ask my assistance, and I am honored you asked. I will do my best to advise you, but in the end you must do what you judge to be right. I assume you have consulted your Taja about this already. Taja Torzinei, what say you in this matter? You have the training for such matters." Ridahne nodded, sipping her tea. "My training instructs me to slay him. An enemy alive will find you in the dark. A dead enemy allows you to sleep in peace. But...not all enemies are worthy of slaying. A petty thief is a criminal, but it's unjust to slay a man who steals a loaf of bread to survive. I'm inclined not to kill him, but," she added, glancing at Darin, "If it's decided that that's the best course of action, I would not hesitate." Amaiera-Sol nodded. This seemed to be the answer she expected. "We have made it our policy in Azurei to capture and slay anyone openly with the Red Hand. You might call that cruel, but the message has been clear that we in Azurei support the true Seed-Bearer and do not tolerate those that seek to sow chaos and violence. Other lands have their own methods in dealing with them, but my reports tell me other lands have more trouble with them than we do here since the Sols made that decision. It is both bold and foolish for this one to out himself inside my borders." Amaiera-Sol took a sip of her own tea, and indicated to her Taja that he was also free to partake if he wished. "I have spent centuries reading other people. I can gather easily enough that neither of you wants to kill him. By law, you could without fault, but it seems neither of you wish to. Then don't." "But I won't let him go." Ridahne did not ask Darin's thoughts on this, she had her own very strong opinions. The Taja across from her evidently found that scandalous but did not speak. "Not as things are. The Red Hand will find out everything about us eventually. I've encountered one that Saw me in a vision. Not her, but me. I would guess that I might be recognizable enough to the right person, but not Darin. Not yet. That has so far kept us in relative safety, and while a time will come when that safety will end, I think it's unwise to speed forth that day with carelessness. Harai is not much of a threat to me, but he could put someone who is on our trail. I met my match once, I'm not keen to do it again." Ridahne touched the long scar across her side she earned during the fight where she'd almost died. Amaiera-Sol nodded slowly. "Your Taja raises a good point. As for other options...we can and will hold him if you wish us to. It does not need to be a lifelong sentence. Once you have planted the Seed, grievous harm would come to any who wished to damage your sapling, or to take it from you. There will come a day when the Red Hand is either routed or thwarted, and on that day it would be safe to release him to do as he wished. He would be a prisoner, for a time, though we would treat him with as much care and dignity as you require." "It's not a bad option to consider..." Ridahne said. "Unless...unless you could bind him in an oath of some sort. Either in an oath of secrecy, where he would not be capable of relaying information about us, or perhaps one in which he is prevented from returning. If you could do that, then I would feel safe releasing him."