Blackfridayrule

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Surgery tomorrow morning :/. This will probably be my last post for a couple weeks until I can get both hands back in semi-working order. But hopefully this marks the end of this whole year-long nightmare and I can get back to my life once I heal. Here's to hoping, right??

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne knew Darin didn't believe her about not knowing who she killed. She never would, so Ridahne didn't push it either. But she knew. She knew because she'd been there, and she'd also known the opposite. She had no regret for killing Khaltira-Sol, but for Takhun's death she would always hate herself a little. What would he say now if he could see her? Ridahne let it go. As important as it was to air the subject, it was also not the sort of thing to dwell on, and she was eager for the change in subject, both for herself and for Darin's sake. For her part, the thoughts about Takhun and the reality of what she'd done, the deeper reality beyond just doing her duty however ugly it was, hurt to think about, and she was already in enough pain as it was.

So the elf laughed softly and offered very quickly with a the kind of exasperated groan of someone who'd thought long and hard about her answer long in advance, "Heat! I miss the heat! It's much cooler up north, and the air is...thicker. Wetter. This rain nonsense has me chilled to the bone--I can only imagine how you're getting by, soaked as you are. Home is dry and hot, but at night it cools down a lot. I miss the ocean. And..." Ridahne had to laugh a little at herself. "You're going to laugh at me," she said. "Either that or call me spoiled. You wouldn't be wrong, I was spoiled."

The elf took a drink of water and took a bite of her chunk of bread. "You have to understand though," she began to explain as though she needed to justify herself first. "I grew up with next to nothing. We ate fish and whatever my cat and I could hunt. Sometimes we'd get goat milk. As a kid, I spent a lot of time either by myself or running around with packs of other scrappy children, and we were always scraped and dirty and dusty. If I wasn't covered in dust, I was salty from the sea. That's just how it was, and then when I became an eija, well...it's a much higher status than 'fisherman's daughter'. Because we were around the Sols and the palace we had to look the part, you know? We were expected to be clean and presentable while we were at the palace, and so they had these bath houses. Big pools lined with clay tiles, one for the women and one for the men. You would scrub yourself with soap and everything first in a separate spot, so when you go in the big pool you're clean. And they had these bottles of oils that were infused with fragrant herbs. We used to put it in each other's hair. I thought the whole thing was wasteful and excessive and silly, and they all teased me for it. But then I sort of got used to it, and I ended up really liking it. It makes your hair so soft, but more importantly, it makes you smell so nice. Ajoran likes citrus, so I always used the one infused with lemon peel and sage. He always smells like juniper. And it's stupid, but I do miss that a lot."

Ridahne smiled. "What's your favorite scent in all the world, Darin?"

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

No worries! I’m doing hand surgery #2 next week so I’ll also be likewise not so frequent a visitor to the site.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Mitaja, who was quite enjoying the little warmth that Darin had to offer, groaned and followed the human over to the fire. She pushed her wide head under her hand, demanding pets, and purred. It was a sound like grinding stones, not the soft rumble of a barn cat.

Darin asked Ridahne if it was still as much of a nightmare as it was back then. For a long time, the elf wrestled with that answer. It wasn't so much that she had to figure out what to tell the human, nor was she trying to understand her own feelings. She knew them keenly. And for a long time it seemed like the elf wouldn't answer at all, for she sat stone-cold silent with her back resting heavy against the wall. She wouldn't look up from the floor. Finally a soft voice broke the silence. "It's different for each one." The words seemed forced, like it took great effort to push them out. "The first one...I don't have nightmares about him anymore. It still makes me shudder when I think about him. About what he did to that poor girl. About what I did to him in return. It's not that I don't care anymore it's just...that was some twenty years ago maybe. Even the ugliest wounds turn into scars eventually. Terrible to look at, but not so terrible as it once was. And I learned a lot from that day. For better or worse, I'm much more decisive now." She took a moment to drink a sip of water, but it seemed more like an excuse to prolong the silence than to get water.

"Most of the others happened so fast. A lot of the poor fools tried to fight back, so there was never a moment to reflect. And as horrible as it is to admit, the more you do it, the less difficult it is, usually. And I've been doing it for a long time. There is no pity in my soul for the men who attacked us last night. They knew the choice they made, as did I, when we crossed blades. It was them or us." She sighed. "I've thought a lot recently about the ones I killed by mistake. Ones that were really innocent, but because of the lies told to me, I slaughtered them. It's probably a blessing I don't know which ones they are, except one. One I know for sure. His name was Nailih, and it was he who planted the seed of doubt in me that led me to where I am. He told me Khaltira-Sol was a liar, and at the time I didn't listen to him. But over the months that followed I couldn't get the thought out of my head, and then...well, you know the rest." She looked up into the sky, a glimmer of tears in her eyes, and spoke in Azurian. "Nailih, I hope I've done you right. Be at rest."

There was another long, slow, heavy silence. Then, "Consider it a blessing you did not know his name. Right now you're thinking about who he was beyond his mission to kill you. You want to know what sort of life you destroyed. It's better you don't know, Darin. It doesn't sound like good advice right now, but I know it to be true." Her lip trembled. "It's so much worse when you know that they like to dance. When you know that their favorite scent is lavender, or that even though they're stony and aloof on the outside, they whisper sweet words to their horse each night. When you know that they hoped to marry. And you know these things because they told them to you, their friend. Khaltira-Sol earned her death, and her successor was already showing signs of being just like her. But Takhun..."

Ridahne's throat clamped up a little, and she held her breath to keep from hitching a sob lest it disturb her wounds. She let it go in a slow, controlled exhale, but the sniffle that followed betrayed her. "I do have nightmares about him. And how I lured him into the lavender gardens that night." She looked up at Darin finally, her amber eyes searching for Darin's. "My dear Darin, you might feel like the worst person in all of Astra right now, but the magnitude of your sins will never rival the things I've done. And if I am deserving of love and forgiveness despite these things, then so are you. I'm not the right person to teach you about self-forgiveness, for I have yet to learn it myself. But it will get easier, I promise you. But you will not forget it, and you will learn from the experience in some way or another. You'll remember the important parts, the things that will be useful to you in shaping your own character. But the sheer horror will fade. And I hope this is never something you have to face again."

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne nodded patiently, knowingly. She too understood the paradox of being a lifelong killer of animals, and then feeling so wretched that she vomited after her first assassination. Animals were intelligent creatures with feelings and social groups, but somehow killing an alik or a fish or a boar did not ever occur to her as something to be ashamed of or as something to mourn. But people? It was different somehow.

"I know," she said. "I spent my whole life hunting and fishing. I kill animals and gut them and skin them without an ounce of remorse. But people?" She sighed heavily. "He was a rapist. My first kill. He targeted young girls and I don't know how many he haunted in his lifetime, but we knew of two for a fact, and that was enough. They told me what he'd done, and I'd actually spoken to one of his victims. A poor, battered thing, but resolute. That brave girl wanted him to burn for what he'd done to her and I vowed I'd make it happen. I was so angry, and that anger fueled me right up until the point that I woke him from his sleep with the cold tip of my sword. I made him take out his kit and tattoo his ojih to reflect his crimes, and he did this tearfully. He groveled and said he was so sorry, but he was never sorry for what he did. Only that he got caught. The moment came and I swung at him, but I was so nervous and some part of me, the part of me that once was a decent, innocent girl, hesitated and flinched back a little. My sword tip connected but not enough, so I just slit his throat instead of cutting off his head. He gurgled and writhed on his woven mat floor for longer than I ever thought possible, and I was too stunned to just finish the job and stop the whole nightmare. So I stood frozen until the light went from his eyes and the noises stopped, and then I ran outside where Takhun was waiting for me. I puked into my horse's mane on the ride back."

Ridahne had only ever told that story to Hadian and Ajoran. She gave Darin a sympathetic gaze and said, "You're not the only one to have compromised when the moment came. And I think we tend to see people and animals differently. I would be heartbroken if Mitaja was killed, but a chicken for tomorrow's dinner? Not so much. Even as we care for those animals and bond with them, we always knew how it would end, and I think that makes it easier. But with people, it was never supposed to end that way, and deep inside it hurts us when this notion is betrayed."

Ridahne tapped one slim finger against her knee, debating something before she finally said it. "I don't know if this is a consolation to you, Darin. But if the eija had found him alive, injured or otherwise, they would not have killed him outright. They would have captured him and tortured him until he revealed his secrets to them. His death might not have been swift, but it was not hard. As I nearly learned last night, bleeding out is a slow but ultimately not horrific experience. You stop feeling the pain after a while, and you simply get so tired that nothing else matters but the void. He didn't suffer much. You aren't a monster." Ridahne would know.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Hearing that some apprentice boy was out there cleaning her blades absolutely galled the elf, and despite her obvious pain and relative lack of energy, she squirmed at the idea. It wasn't that she thought he would mistreat them--his master would throttle him if he ever dared. An Eija's blades were sacred things, and very personal. The eija had to meet their blade smith as an apprentice and get to know each other, then train in something specific so that by the time they were decent at them, the smith would make them something that would truly fit. They were survival tools, negotiating chips, pieces of art, and extension of the wielder. The apprentice would know that. No, she wasn't worried so much about their safety as much as it just bothered her that someone else had their hands on them without her knowing. Not to mention the embarrassment of having filthy blades that would have sat that way except that someone else found them.

But she sighed, defeated. There was no way she'd make it all the way out to the stables and not in the rain either, and Darin needed to be warm and dry just as badly. "I really doubt they'd take them. Not unless I was dead. Not to mention that apprentice, if he's any good at all, won't do anything so rash as stealing someone's blades without his master's explicit command. No, I do believe he went snooping, found them filthy and thought to clean them out of respect. It was right to let him do it, even though it's hard to think of them in someone else's hands without my say-so. Thank you."

Ridahne sought Darin's gaze; her own was earnest. "You did nothing wrong. It's not like you could keep them from snooping around, and they'd figure it out one way or another eventually. Eija don't usually kill--that's the realm of the eija-alihn. But I don't know if there's any rules written, not in any recent memory, about what I've done and how to deal with me. But they will come here. In the night, is my guess. It's what I would do. But Darin, please promise me, whatever happens, remember that their issue is not necessarily with you. I can keep you out of this, at least this time. I'm hoping they can be reasoned with, but...killing a Sol is kind of a big thing and it's very close to the heart for everyone right now, so I can only imagine tempers might run a bit hot."

Ridahne accepted Darin's sickle with an air of respect and deep gratitude. Even if Darin was not a warrior, it was no small thing to give away your weapon, especially one so dear to her. The fact that she would even offer it made Ridahne feel incredibly honored. "Thank you," she said, her tone sober and sincere. "I will keep it with the utmost care until I return it to you."

There was a small silence between them, then Ridahne asked the question that had been simmering at the back of her mind since Darin told her about the archer she'd maimed. "About the man...his hand...are you alright? I...I ask because I know that the first time you take someone's life, indirectly or otherwise is...hard. I know because I've been there. And you should know, and this is kind of hard to admit," she laughed ruefully, "But I cried for at least a week afterwards. I had nightmares once or twice. It was awful. And it gets easier. But I don't want that for you. I don't want it to get easier for you, because I don't want you to have to face that choice, or that necessity if you can help it. My hope is you never have to again. So...anyway...if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here. And I understand."

It might seem odd, a career assassin speaking so openly of the grief one feels after taking a life. But it was a reality that was discussed often among eija-alihn. When Ridahne was initiated, a more senior member took her aside and spent hours discussing the value of life, and how it should be preserved if possible. He told her that some day, she would have her first target. And it was going to be ugly. "You are trained for the moment," he told her, "And so when it comes you know what to do. But after? In the silence of night left alone with yourself and the gravity of what you've done, you have to make peace with yourself somehow. And you can't be trained for that." Ridahne had given support and received it from her fellow eija-alihn, especially her partner Takhun. But he grew hardened to a point where he no longer cared. Ironically, Ridahne killed him for it, and for that twist of fate she would always harbor some guilt. She did not want Darin to taste that kind of poison. It was too late for herself, but she would do everything in her power to shield Darin from it.

In Dark Seas We Sail

Berlin studied each of them carefully. They were such an odd bunch, and at first he couldn't figure out where they all must have come from. Not all from the same place, he thought. They looked and spoke too differently to all be kinsmen. The tentacles were throwing him off, too. Of course, in typical Berlin fashion, none of this showed on his face. Instead, he displayed a careful neutrality. Rohaan's assessment had been right though, they were after the slavers. Well, finally some good news.

Berlin, always surprisingly polite for a pirate, bowed a little and said, "A pleasure to have you aboard, Kaga-met." He had a million questions, first and foremost was a burning Sweet Tevira WHAT IS THAT THING as he stole a glance at the Swift Justice, but he had more decorum than that. "We're a small pirate crew that has a special distaste for slavers. Some of us have had rather personal experiences with them, so we're quite motivated to see them all destroyed. If they have any captives still alive, my hope is to rescue those we still can. We offer no mercy to our targets. Not this time. I know we don't look like much but..." Berlin smiled, a mischievous gleam in his gray eyes. "We're more than we seem. Allow me to introduce my crew."

Berlin turned to look at them, noting that Wheel was nowhere to be seen. Interesting. There was more to that story, and he'd get to the bottom of it in time. "This is the first-mate, Pieter, Uban, Hanabaptiste, and you've already met Rio." He gestured to the boy, who flashed the visitors a wicked little sneer of a grin that said, Not what you expected, am I? Berlin, still looking at Rohaan, spoke in vokurian and instructed him to put on a pot of tea. The shifter nodded once, changed to the shape of a sparrow and swooped down from his perch in the ropes and straight down the steps to the galley below deck. Speaking to his guests he said, "Can I offer you some tea? I'd like to discuss strategy with you, if you've got the time and inclination. They outnumber us greatly, so our hope was in stealth and infiltration, something me and my team does very well. We have a...very specialized skillset. And I assume your plan was not to fire cannons at them all night either..." he said, stealing another glance at their semi-alive ship. "I'd like to hear what you had in mind, and what you know about them, if you're willing to share."

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne laughed at first, thinking Darin was just having a little joke when she said the events in Ridahne's dream were true. That wasn't even possible, after all, and dry humor was kind of Ridahne's style anyway. Ridahne was about to ask what really happened when the human continued speaking, going back a little to explain all of what happened and why. The elf's small smile melted off her face and gave way to an expression of utter disbelief and...awe. "Hang on, hang on, you're serious?" Ridahne pointed a mock-accusatory finger at her and said, "Don't you mess with my head, my brain's addled enough." But she didn't really mean it--she knew Darin was serious. She just wasn't sure how to deal with that information. "By the Tree...Darin...that's...incredible. And kind of concerning, I mean, for your health. But...I didn't know you could...I didn't know that was even possible. Have you always known this?"

Her mind was reeling. Mostly still trying to understand how and why that was possible. She assumed it had to do with being the Seed Bearer, obviously, but she wasn't aware the Gardener had powers quite like that. Of course, there were lots of tales told about the Gardener and his connection with not just the Great Tree but with all of nature and with the people of Astra. And those tales ranged from the mundane and expected to the only slightly supernatural. But never in her life had she heard he, or any of his successors, were capable of controlling the elements like that. She wondered what else Darin was capable of that either she hadn't shared with her yet, or that she herself didn't know.

Secondly, Ridahne had known that they were connected, she and Darin. They were fated to be with one another, but Darin sealed that bond when she made Ridahne Seed-Chained. The elf both knew and felt that there was some kind of extra connection between them, but it didn't occur to her that it would be quite so...tangible. She'd seen what happened to Darin in her dream. Whether it was just an elvish vision, which didn't usually come in the form of dreams and were more like waking visions, or if it was strictly a message from the Tree or a result of their bond, Ridahne wasn't sure. Maybe both. Maybe since she was connected to the Seed-Bearer, she could sense when she did things that were especially magical.

Darin continued, explaining that the whole village had seen it. Considering the hut wasn't up in flames, Ridahne thought, that was probably alright. And especially if--

"What?"

The color seemed to drain from Ridahne's face at the mention of the visiting Eija. The usually self-assured warrior suddenly looked like a rabbit pinned in her den by a fox. She had to remind herself (multiple times) that there was no possible way they were here for her. If they were, they'd have gotten to her by now. Killed her in her sleep, if that was their goal. Eija did not usually kill--they more often would debilitate or injure someone if they had to in order to bring them in. In some extreme cases, the criminal's sentence was simply to lose a limb, typically a hand. They would take them to a healer, do their task, and leave. There were rare circumstances in which an eija was permitted to take a life, including self defense or the defense of others in the case of an active threat. But did that apply to her, traitor of traitors? Her situation was unprecedented in her lifetime, and she had not known of any other assassin who killed a Sol. What rules still applied to her? Did any of those apply at all now that she was outside the borders of Azurei? Not likely. If someone wanted to see her dead, in Azurei or out of it, they probably had the right to do so.

"Who??" Ridahne asked, as if Darin would know. Ridahne knew most of them. They were probably here on contract for some reason or another. But they'd find out about her soon enough, if they hadn't already. "They're going to know." Her tone was edged with a panic that she tried to keep down but couldn't fully eliminate. "If they don't, then they will. I don't know what kind of rumors are spreading around Azurei about you or the Gardener, so you might be alright. But they'll find out about me. If they see Tsura and his gear then they'll know. We know our own. Darin, will you please do me a favor? Later, when you're more solid and feeling better, will you go to the stables and bring me my knives?" Ridahne felt the spot on her chest where a strap of her blade harness usually sat; it felt vulnerable and naked without it. She wanted to be able to defend herself when they came. Not that she would stand a chance as she was, but she would never go down without a fight. Ever.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne's father tightened the grip of his hand on her small shoulder--a reassuring gesture for both himself and his daughter. He was unsure of all this, Ridahne could tell by his silence. Jaisih was a quiet man and she was used to this, but he was not usually so stony about it. But he smiled at her and tried his best to make her feel supported, and that little semi-forced gesture meant more than it said to Ridahne. Her father loved her dearly, and he did support her and believe in her--no one better. But he was out of his element here, and even Ridahne could see he longed for the company of his wife to help guide him. She wished Ikali were with them, too.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Ridahne?"
"Yes, Jaisih, more than anything." Despite the knots in her own stomach, she was beaming.
He gave her a hug. "Ah, my sweet Isfahan. You'll do great. You know...I heard Master Teleisun has a son...about your age. He's a smith. He'll...probably make your blades when you're awarded the honor. You...should...go and say hello. You know, be friends."
She squinted at him. "What are you getting at, Jaisih?"
He smiled and held up his hands innocently. "Nothing, nothing. C'mon. Your master is expecting you."

The two entered the small home, where a large, brawny man wearing a loose white shirt, and Ridahne's master stood. She bowed to them both. "Master Teleisun, thank you for allowing me into your home. I am honored."
"Glad to have you. I understand you are going to begin your training to be an eija, yes?"
"Yes, Master."
"Jaheil will do. Now, today we'll be testing your aptitude for certain weapons, and find one that suits you. It will help your master know how to train you, and when you've earned it, one will be made special for you. Would you like to see the smithy, have a look around?"

Ridahne nodded, and the four of them went out back to the covered shelter that served as the smithy. There were tongs and hammers and oddly shaped blocks of metal, grindstones, large barrels of water, a stack of wood to fuel the forge, and a large rack holding several weapons. There was a shortsword, a longer one, a scimitar, a collection of little daggers, and slim throwing knives. Ridahne admired them all for a moment before a tapping sound caught her attention. She turned and saw a boy, about her age, sitting at a sturdy workbench fitting a chunk of wood to the hilt of a blade for later refinement. The blade itself was wide at the end and narrowed in a sweeping curve where it bent slightly, like a boomerang, towards the back. The boy holding it wasn't too bad to look at either. His hands were nearly black with soot or coal, and she found she liked watching them nimbly work the little piece of wood. She eyed her master, who's head tilted in the tiniest encouraging nod, and then approached the boy.

"Hello. What are you working on? What is that?"
He looked up at her; she could see his eyes scanning her scant ojih, and then they met hers. His were so dark, and hers were like the heart of a fire. He cleared his throat a little. "This is called a khukri. It's uh, it's not finished though. And it's only my second one so it's not my best work but--"
"Can I see it?" He nodded, took a nearby rag to wipe the thing down (along with his hands) and then handed it to her. She admired the weight of it, the way it felt in her hands. It was heavier than she expected. She liked that. She couldn't begin to see any flaws in it; clearly this boy had been practicing his skills for a long time.

Jaheil came over with an appraising look at Ridahne. Knowing the answer already he asked, "Do you want to see any of the other blades?"
"No sir--uh, Jaheil. I mean, thank you, but...I really like this one. I like how heavy it is, but it's not that big. And it's...I don't know. Pretty. I like the curves."
Jaheil scratched his beard, and a little gleam came into his eye. "Yes, the weight is part of how it's useful. Ajoran..." The boy snapped to sudden attention, as if he had not expected to be called upon and was unprepared. "Why don't you show Ridahne how to use it?"
Ajoran beamed. Any chance to take a break from his work to go recklessly hack at some logs was worth taking. "Alright! This one's not finished, let me grab the last one I made and we can use that."

Rain came down in a sudden torrent. But, Ridahne noticed as she looked up, the rain seemed to be coming through the roof. Not leaking...coming through. No one else seemed to notice. Alarmed, she looked down to see not only that puddles were forming, but she was taller. Older. Bleeding. Ridahne cried out, surprised and confused, then ran outside to see if the rain was real. It was. And kneeling in a patch of mud oddly placed in a whole area of sand was a soaked Darin.

"Darin! What are you...?" Ridahne gasped. The human girl lifted her hands, and with a motion like she was hoisting a stone over her head, she made the sheets of pelting rain just...stop...

--

A noise disturbed Ridahne from her long sleep. She cracked her eyes open and realized it was really raining outside, though this roof seemed to do its job in keeping the water out of the hut. She turned her head and saw a very pitiable looking Darin sort of fold rather than kneel nearby. Ridahne gasped sharply, growled her painful regret, and finally spat out, "Darin! What happened to you? Ai, you look like you might pass out at any moment!" She leaned over and put a warm, slender hand on Darin's brow to find that it was cold and a little clammy. "Damn. Don't move, I'm going to help you."

Ridahne pushed herself upright and tossed her blanket over Darin. The elf was a torn up mess, but she forced herself laboriously to her feet, favoring her wounded leg. If Darin had any ideas about protesting, Ridahne wouldn't have it. Besides, she wanted to get herself moving as soon as she was able. The warrior practically dragged herself over to the kitchen where she found a pitcher of water for them both and half a loaf of bread. She was reluctant to get back down onto the cot, mostly because of the effort it cost her, but Mitaja stood by to brace her. Ridahne poured a cup of water and pushed it into Darin's hand.

"Drink. You need it." Her voice was still rough; it almost didn't sound like hers. "And eat. I can see your hands, they're a quivering mess." Ridahne waved her hands and instructed Mitaja to go lay next to Darin, though in typical fashion the cat very nearly was laying ON her, sort of half on, half off. And, while she was at it, the cat groomed Darin's hair with her big tongue a few times, just for good measure. Ridahne took a little piece of bread for herself. "What did you do..? I heard you say you bit off more than you could chew...which..I'm assuming is some kind of human idiom for doing too much?" Ridahne tried to hide her own misery; she'd done a bit too much getting up and walking so far so soon, though she knew she'd have to do more of that pretty soon.

"I assume you were out in the rain...which is funny, because I had a dream that you--well, it was in Azurei, and it was raining inside the building and you were there for some reason, and you lifted up the rain. But," she waved a dismissive hand, "Concussions do strange things to your head. Hearing the rain on the roof probably made me think about it too. Anyway, what happened? Where have you been today?" Her question was not accusatory like a mother clucking over a truant child. More like a feeling of 'what in Astra did you get into?'

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

The young eija in training, after finishing with his task, slipped away in silent eija fashion to join his master and her partner. The group was on good terms with the little village--they'd been asked to come and so were welcome, and had been treated with courtesy and respect. To the Azurei, the village kept them employed, and it was their duty to track down bandits anyway. Still, they tended to keep to themselves. They even brought their own tent that they slept in together, and sat around the fire outside. They would generally join one of the village elders for mealtimes though.

"Took you a very long time, Ja'heil," his master pointed out with a note of disapproval.
Ja'heil bowed low. "Sorry, Elaitih. I did as you asked, but the Azurei's blades were still covered in blood, and...they were beautiful, the touchmark was Teleisun, I think. I made sure to clean them."
The male eija's attention sharpened. "Teleisun? Which variant? With a star, or a crescent moon?"
"Star."
"That's the mark of Taja Ajoran Teleisun, if I'm not mistaken. He's made blades for only six eija that I know of. He stopped smithing when he became a taja. Was she of our order?"
Ja'heil nodded curtly. "Without question. Those blades were excellent, Harum. And her saddle bore a sigil I haven't seen...but I assume it's an eija's sigil. It was a seahorse."

That gave them all some pause. The ranks of eija were small, and they all at least vaguely knew of one another. Sigils weren't always unique--some families had generations of eija and passed down their sigils, or if they were from an important family, they kept their house sigil. If they never had one, or had ties to one, they would create one. The Seahorse sigil was new and thus uncommon. It took a moment for Salei, the female, to recall it. "The Atakharan girl, I think. Tall, slim. Remember her?"
Harum had to really stretch his memory. "The quiet one...can't remember her name. Yes." And then it dawned on him. "She's got one of Teleisun's blades...and I seem to recall seeing her with Taja Ajoran a lot. They were...an item. You don't think..."

Silence. Each one of them knew exactly what that meant. And suddenly they all knew who lay injured in Konie's hut, though nobody wanted to say it out loud for reasons none of them could understand. They'd known, they'd always known somehow. But they needed proof and now they seemed to have it. Salei looked visibly uncomfortable. "The Traitor is still alive. But nobody knows why. Did she...escape? There was never a search...we would have heard about it."

A distant roll of thunder punctured the next round of silence. Rain slowly began to drizzle on their heads and it picked up momentum quickly. Wordlessly, Harum extinguished the fire, and the three of them went quietly back into their tent. They had a dilemma on their hands, and for once they did not know how to face it.

--

The rain was a thundering torrent on the rooftop but Ridahne slept through it. Talyn and Konie went about their usual business making salves, preparing tonics, clipping herbs from pots outside and hanging them to dry. Linens, including Ridahne's clothes, were washed and hung to dry over the fire, as they would only get more soaked on the line outside. Darin hadn't come back, though they weren't too worried. Perhaps the other elders had cornered her and demanded answers, but nothing horrible was likely to happen in town.

A knock made them both look up; Talyn put a gentle hand on Konie's shoulder, signaling she should stay where she was, and got up to answer it. He opened the door only a little at first, though when he saw Darin passed out in Harris' arms he threw it open. "Oh dear..." he sighed, his voice cool. "Set him down there, tell me what happened." Talyn had a way of being calm while still employing the necessary urgency for the situation.
"Lad just needs rest is all, and maybe a stiff drink when he's come to." Harris laughed a little, but Talyn detected something off in his tone. Something distant and thoughtful. "Worked himself hard out there." He set Darin down near the fire, stole a glance at the sleeping Azurei in the corner, and after a polite nod he dismissed himself to go and get warm, dry, and fed.

Talyn shut the door and locked it once more, then went to Darin. He checked her pulse, and though she was clammy from all the rain, there was still a good healthy warmth to her. He knew of heat exhaustion...but with the rain out there, it hadn't been hot at all. And she did not seem frail. What really happened? He explained his thoughts to Konie, who was in the kitchen, as he gently peeled away Darin's soaked outer clothes and covered her in a thick wool blanket to keep her warm. He hung her clothes to dry too.

"Quite the pair, these two...quite the pair..."