Darin enjoyed the journey to Atakhara. She enjoyed Hadian’s company. She soaked up the knowledge he had like a patch of parched ground soaked up water. She drank it up and still found herself wanting more. She wanted to know everything and anything. She asked question after question. (It did serve a dual purpose. While she was busy asking questions and learning she was distracted from the heat.) She found she liked learning about the world. She hadn’t cared to know when she had just been farming at home. She hadn’t needed to know about the world then. Now that she did, she enjoyed it almost as much as getting her hands int the dirt to help things grow. She supposed it was a good thing that she was so passionate about the things she needed to do. That was a gift a few people had. Darin was sad to see Hadian veer off towards home even if she understood why.
The journey from Atakhara to Tasen was less informative as Ridahne took care to avoid towns. As she watched the sun dip below its apex Darin privately hoped they arrived at Tasen soon. The goo from the plant was starting to dry at and flake. It made her skin itchy. Back home they use a paste made from oat flour and wide brimmed hats to protect against the heat of the sun. Darin had lost her hat long before she met Ridahne and there had never been a time to replace it. Darin missed it now. She wanted a chance to get into the shade and to rub most of the natural ointment off her skin. That wouldn’t be until after they had meet with the Sols so the sooner that happened the better.
Then, as the day shifted towards evening, the tone and inflection of the Sea’s voice changed. Darin rightly assumed that meant they had reached Tasen. From a distance it looked like many of the cities that Darin had seen in the past while on her travels. That was not what bothered her. The fact that Ridahne had finally unveiled her banner, which Darin had been waiting for since she had discovered it’s existence, didn’t bother her either. What bothered her was the looks the Azurei were given her Ridahne. If they weren’t scowling at her traitor’s mark, they were puzzling over her Guardian mark. The human was also not pleased with the fact that four Tajas were deemed necessary to greet them. On one hand she didn’t think they needed an escort. On the other hand, she wanted to laugh. There was no way that a mere four warriors were a threat to her warrior. She also wanted to berate Ridahne for not using all of her titles and only picked the ones that demonized her.
Still The Seed-Bearer kept silent as they made their way though the building. She scowled at each inclusion of another warrior. Ridahne wasn’t a threat. She wasn’t a demon. She wasn’t even a traitor, not really, not to Astra. On the other hand, Darin’s grin grew wider as she listened to the Stone of the building chatter excitedly to each other. The marble and granite spoke excitedly to each other in what could only be described as whispers as they gossiped about the visitors. For once, the main part of the chatter of Astra was not about Darin. Yes, they were excited to see her, but Ridahne Torzenei, they called her the Balancer, the one to do what needed to be done, had finally, finally, come home! The Azurei people may not fully comprehend the truth, but the Stone, the Sea, and the Sky were better at listening to The Tree. They knew what needed to be done and were glad to see she who had done it.
However, Darin’s scowl became deeper as they were told to dismount. Despite Ridahne’s assurance that it was alright, she didn’t like the thought of living part of her family behind. She was surprised when Talbot bent his lower legs to decrease the dismount height. Darin had become a much better rider over the past year, but since Talbot had always been too big for her, mounting and dismounting had always been difficult. She basically had to climb the plow house to get on and getting off could only be described as a controlled fall. Neither were graceful. It didn’t surprise Darin that Talbot understand the importance of what was going on. It surprised her that he was willing to help her not make a fool of herself. Taja had no such concerns. When Ridahne named Taja-Uvaru the bird looked around as if the Elf was speaking to him. When the hawk realized that wasn’t the case her shrieked right in Darin’s ear causing her to wince. Then he took flight to circle over the group.
He landed back on Darin’s shoulder as they entered the room they had been heading to. Darin took one look at the Sols and the Sota-Sol before turning her attention back to the room and the Stone that was still chittering. It wasn’t just whispering anymore. It was closer to shouting even if The Seed-Bearer was the only one that heard them. From the corner of her eye Darin watched Ridahne wash her face but made no move to mimic the moves. The once farmgirl was who she was, dirt, grime, dust, and all. The Sota-Sol spoke to Ridahne, yet Ridahne respected Darin’s wishes and did not speak back. When it was clear that the Guardian was not going to speak the woman worn with age and experience turned her attention to Darin.
The human wanted to scoff and pretended that her attention was still caught by the way the building was constructed. Absently she raised a hand to brush a wayward strand of hair back behind her ear. She gave no indication that she had heard the woman. Darin supposed that to the woman that who was closer to Ravi’s age than hers everyone looked like a child, yet she wasn’t a child by any human marker. She did not require the support of her parents to survive. She could do sums, read, and write. She knew a trade. She had reached two decades of life. She supposed that since she was an unmarried woman, she could be considered a child, but not even the elders of her home considered her a child. When she had been fifteen and just starting to take care of the farm herself, she had been a child who didn’t know what was best. By the time she was eighteen, long before The Gardener arrived, she had no longer been a child and needed to stop acting so childishly. Darin was an adult, she was entitled to a certain level of respect due to that fact.
Suddenly, after a few minutes, she startled as if she realized something, “Oh!” She turned towards the Sota-Sol, “You were talking to me.” There was a wide, not really genuine smile on her face as she gave her head a slow shake, “I wasn’t sure. You see, I am not a child.” The smile faded as she did nod once, “But yes. I am Darin Torzenei, daughter of Martin by Talia, Seed-Bearer of Astra.”
That got a reaction, at least from Taja. The hawk let out a screech that echo though the room as he extended his wings their full span behind Darin’s head. The water in the pool Ridahne had used to wash her face suddenly rose up in excitement. Darin smile was tight as it splashed on to the stone leaving the pool empty. There was a crack of thunder, though no one in room would have been able to see the lightning that raced across the sky The Seed-Bearer knew it was there. The building shook to the left once before settling back into place. This was the first time in all her journeys that Darin entered a place and immediately told people who she was. Astra was responding.
Her voice was cold as she locked eyes with the woman who spoke to her, “Now I have a question for the Sota-Sol.” She took once step forward, a threat that honestly no one save Ridahne had the ability to combat, “There was a monster in Azurei. The Tree spoke in desperation to so many people using any method possible to destroy the monster. Yet no one The Tree spoke to, you included, did anything. No one listened.” Suddenly her voice was a lot warmer as a true smile graced her features, “No one but Ridahne Torzenei Seed-Chained.” Darin took a step back to practically bounce around the woman in question, “Guardian of Astra.” Then in a blatant disregard for Azurei culture and sensibilities Darin pressed a soft kiss to her sister’s newest Oijh mark, “Listened.” Taja took the chance to hop from Darin’s shoulder to Ridahne’s head as Darin’s rage returned, this time fire rather than cold, “And I want to know why!” Her head flipped around to glare daggers at the women in question, “I want to know why not one of you listened! I want to know why that evil was allowed to continue! I want to know why when the one person who listened took care of the issue in the one way, she could she was sentenced to death! I want to know why honor was deemed more important that what was right!”
She wasn’t yelling but she was raging. Thankfully, Astra knew better than to react. There was a strange calm in the air as Darin snapped her arms out every time the word why left her mouth. Suddenly she stopped in her erratic jerky motions to stare at the woman who dare sentence Ridahne to death, who dare called her a child, who dare assume she had a right to dictate their presence here, who dare assume she was the most powerful person in the room. Darin wanted to do something, anything, she wasn’t sure what was it The Tree had called it? She wanted to abuse her power for her own personal gain at least once, here and now. She wanted to shock the Sota-Sol in a way that couldn’t be ignored. She just wasn’t sure how.
Then Astra spoke, Darin listened, and her arm snapped out towards the subject of her ire. The water that splashed to the floor followed the motion to create a pointed streamer pointed right at the Sota-Sol’s Oijh. The air in the room drastically decreased in temperature in order to allow the water to freeze in almost an instant. Darin let out a slow breath that appeared in the air as a puff of vapor. This was a threat, pure and simple. Everyone in this room was at The Seed-Bearer’s mercy, and Darin wasn’t feeling particularly merciful. Darin had known, intellectually, just how powerful she was, but this was the first time she knew it. It was a heady rush. It scared the young human. It excited her as well. It was a conflict she wasn’t sure she minded one little bit.
Somehow her voice was colder than the air as her arm remained extended, “And I want to know why you seem to think your authority is higher than the authority of The Tree of Astra.”
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