"You think duty is determined at birth!" Well there was more to say there, but then there was another jump and they were at an inn.

If Giri had been faster on the uptake, less distracted by the conversation, the mode of travel, and everything else going on, she'd have realized who she was looking at and called out [i]Sagacious Crane as I live and breathe![/i] and offered her warm regards. But Crane is looking a bit worse for wear and in the instant it took Giriel to recognize her properly, she felt Piripiri tightening the hold on her leash, and beginning her own introduction, even setting out tea. 

Well, she seemed to have the situation well in hand. Who was Giri to point out that the Golden Banneret had very pointedly not fulfilled the terms of her spell yet, that she had very clearly specified being taken to Han specifically and being taken to Han's inn when Han wasn't visibly present was clearly not the end of the deal. But they had traveled fast and hard, the Banneret was distracted by a fox (a very natural state of affairs even for a heavenly spirit), the inn seemed inviting enough, and the tea even more so. 

Besides all that, Giri still had something more to consider. The idea that duty was determined by birth filled her with revulsion. She had [i]trained[/i] for her profession. She had [i]chosen[/i] her life. Of course birth limited her options. Being from a small mountain village had ruled out the nobility and if she wanted to herd anything other than sheep and goats she would have had to move somewhere else. But even so there were options. Every village needed a smith, a tailor, and a cobbler, and they needed apprentices. And of course the mountain witches like her mother needed apprentices too. But she had never been forced. She wanted to study magic, she knew she could have gone and learned to sew or bake or wield a hammer instead and she hadn't done it. A guard should go into service because they want to be a guard, and if they don't like the local lord, they should travel somewhere else, or hire out as a mercenary instead of a guard. She wanted no part of what the Dominion seemed to be offering. 

She truly felt the freedom of the Flower Kingdoms as she thought about all this. And today, this lovely morning, she expressed that freedom by saying nothing while Piripiri served the tea.