Darin remained silent as Ridahne explained what she meant. There was nothing to say or add. Ridahne explained the situation perfectly with concise details and a minimum of fuss. She was right too. What happened after was Darin’s choice and hers alone. Ridahne was also correct when she mentioned giving Harai a task. What would that task be? Darin was almost of the notion that she needed to send him home, especially if he had not been back since his father died. But what would she have him do then? Part of Chaining was giving the person a job that they wanted to do. But weren’t sure they were allowed to do. It was supposed to be a burdened that ended with being Honored. Being Seed-Chained was deeper than being Seed-Friend and less painful than being Seed-Cursed.

Maybe Darin could make it a choice. She could tell Harai that he could be Chained to The Seed with a specific task or left in Azurei captive until the end of his days. The problem with that though was she couldn’t Chain all of her enemies or give them. Chaining wasn’t meant to force everybody into servitude. Then again, this was the first person that Darin had thought about Chaining since she had discussed her accident and rashness in Chaining Ridahne. She almost wished that she could have given her the choice. So, that settled it. If she decided that Chaining Harai was a viable option then she would give him the choice between staying in Azurei or being Chained. But what would she Chain him to do?

Darin was too tired to think about this properly. It had been a long day and she had expended a lot of energy playing with Astra and the people of Tasen. She was angry too, but too tired to be angry properly. This had supposed to be a day of fun and play and relaxation and Harai had come to Tasen and ruined it! She was angry at Ridahne too, for going off to work and leaving her alone with Ajoran. She wasn’t as angry at Ridahne as she was at Harai and she wasn’t actually angry because she was tired beyond all reason, but she was still up set that her perfectly nice day was ended by this.

She muttered to herself in the language of home, “This is so not fun at all.” Whe then switched back to Azurein, “Thank you Sota-Sol. For coming to see me and for your advice. I need to discuss this further with Ridahne and I need a bath.” She smiled slightly, “The salt is starting to itch.” She rose from her sitting position, “I’ll take my leave now. I ask that this conversation remain, not secret, but maybe quiet. I appreciate your discretion.”

Then Darin didn’t quite bow, but the nod of her head was certainly more respectful than her actions towards the Sota-Sol had been in the past. She had no doubt that Amaiera-Sol and her Taja would keep her confidence, and it surprised her how little she worried about that. She linked arms with Ridahne to pull the woman from the room and out into the hall. It was an effort not to collapse on to the older woman, and it felt like each step was liftin a mountain. Darin wanted to cry from frustration and exhaustion. She had never wanted this, and she wasn’t going back down that path now. The responsibility of The Seed was hers. She had accepted that a long time ago. There was no point fussing about it now.

She, did however, make a selfish request, one she had wanted to make since they had gotten to Tasen, “Stay with me tonight Ridahne please.” Her voice wobbled and she struggled to keep from breaking out into tears, “Get Ajoran, arranged for baths in the room I’ve been given, and then please” She sounded almost desperate as she stopped in the hallway and turned towards her sister as she kept their arms linked, “Please stay with me tonight. Don’t go off to the dorms of the Eijas and Tajas. Be with me. Don’t leave me alone again.”

Then, despite all efforts to the contrary Darin broke down in tears. The exhaustion of the last few days caught up to her. The weight of the decision regrading Harai crashed into her. The irrational fear that Ridahne would do like her father and mother plagued her. And Darin cried, clinging to her sister, in the middle of the hallway, where anyone who came by could see. The Sota-Sol said she was doing the Gardener proud, but how could that be true when she couldn’t keep from crying the first time her life got hard.

^_^

Harai thought, and then thought some more, and then thought just a little bit further. The Red Hand claimed that The Seed-Bearer was some sort of human noble or rich boy. Why else would he be traveling with an Azurei Eija? The mistake in assume that The Seed-Bearer was a boy was acceptable. Traveling as a boy was safer for just about every woman, especially in today’s uncertain times. But the assumption that she was rich or noble by birth had always seemed rash to Harai. It could be true, but it seemed more likely that the Eija, one of not just Azurei’s but all of Astra’s most skilled and deadly warriors, had been assigned to the child simply because she was The Seed-Bearer now. Harai had seen calluses on her hands as they had talked, and the childhood trauma that she had mentioned had been told too simply, too plainly, to directly, to be anything but truth. The fact of the matter was, was the Red Hand was wrong. The girl was no noble. She was a farmer and in Harai’s opinion, which wasn’t the best since he had been born a miner not farmer but still, who else to give The Seed to but a farmer.

Then there was the fact that she was a child or rather not quite an adult yet. He was willing to bet that she was younger than he was, or at least close to his age. He had seen her in the market yesterday and today. Yesterday she had been an eager student, like a child soaking up every drop of new information on everything that interested them, and that was, it appeared, everything. As for today, she had simply been a child at play. Harai could remember splashing in the puddles when it rained when he was younger just as she had today. Her face had been bright and open and joyful. He couldn’t help the plague of guilt than struck him when he realized he had ended that. Her laughter and good spirits had infected everyone, and he had pulled her companion away. If that woman was simply a Taja then he would eat his boots. He knew family when he saw it.

What would she do with him? She might kill him, but Harai’s mind shied away from that option. Not because he didn’t want to die, but because all the stories of The Seed-Bearer said they only killed as a last resort. She wouldn’t let him go. She couldn’t risk him running back to the Red Hand to tell them what he knew. A lifetime of being Azurei’s prisoner seemed like the best he could hoped for until he either escaped or he suffered a deadly “accident.” Maybe he could promise something, promise to never again associate with the Red Hand. No, that wouldn’t work. The Red Hand grew suspicious if its members didn’t report back often. Maybe he could spy and then report to, well not directly to her, but maybe a Taja, not her Taja, but a Taja she trusted. He worked as a merchant of a company that worked between several ports, Siren, human, and Elf. He could gather a great deal of information and report it whenever her was in Tasen.

Harai was surprised by how fast he warmed to that idea, but the more he thought about it, and he could do nothing but think right now, the more he realized the Red Hand hadn’t been completely honest with him. He had been told The Seed-Bearer was noble born. He had been told that they were hiding and hording The Seed’s gifts, but she wasn’t. She may have been the one that was holding The Seed, btu she wasn’t carrying the burden alone. Discretion made sense since there were people trying to kill her. She had brought rain to this desert town that had desperately needed it! And even after The Seed was Planted, she wasn’t going to care for It alone. The Tree was at the center of The Farm and cared for by hundreds of people that only wanted the best for Astra. The Seed-Bearer was a child! Who needed all the help she could get! Why? By The Tree! Why had he been so foolish to simply accept the rumors fed o him by the Red Hand. He wasn’t getting out without help, but maybe, just maybe, if he offered to spy, the girl who starved for her mother, the girl who played in the morning and conversed with dead men in the evening, might be willing to help him too.