The moment she felt Ridahne’s hand on her arm Darin dropped the streamer of ice. She did not raise the temperature of the air in the room and as such the ice shattered when it hit the ground. For Ridahne there wasn’t much she wouldn’t do. Darin slowly turned her head towards Ridahne to look at her as the Sota-Sol spoke. To be honest Darin didn’t care what was said as long as what was said was the truth. She was more concerned to the warrior’s reaction to the words that were said. She wanted to make sure Ridahne would be okay. This was a room of her demons and the human would fight them all if necessary.

Finally, when all was said and done, when it was clear that the Sols and Ridahne were done talking, when it was clear that while she wasn’t being forgiven quite just yet, Ridahne would be shamed no further. When it was clear that she would be unhindered in their journey Darin finally reacted. Her hand rose up to touch the opal present in the circle of leather that rested on Ridahne’s brow. This was what they had come to Tasen for. This is what she wanted to have happen. They came to retrieve the nimarih. The came so the Sols could see what Ridahne truly was. Yet, Darin felt unfilled, unsettled, like something was missing. There was so much that she wanted to say, so may directions to take what the Sota-Sol had said. Darin wasn’t sure what to do now. Then Taja took flight to land on Darin’s shoulder and press himself against his person’s cheek.

Darin laughed at the attempt at comfort as she switched from near perfect Azurei to her native tongue, “Taja! And here I thought you liked Ridahne best.” She reached up to brush at his chest feathers, “Life is confusing Taja. Sometimes I fear I will never understand it.” Then she took a deep breath as she switched back to Azurei, “You say you owe Ridahne an apology, yet I have not heard one cross your lips. You say you have seen war, but no one in Astra is that old. You may have seen the results of a skirmish, of bloodshed, of battle, but I promise you, you have not seen war.” Her voice was surprising;y calm as she looked at Taja, “I do have one more question.” She finally looked at the Sota-Sol again, “I want to know why you didn’t listen to The Tree. It spoke to you. It spoke to multiple people in this room.” She pointed to four of the women sitting, “Including the four of you.” He pointed to the one who was smirking, “I do not know about her, but if I was her, I would stop smirking. I do not know what she thinks she knows, but I honestly doubt she is right.” She gave her head a shake to refocus, “I would know why you choose to ignore The Tree. I will be in Tasen for a week. I require no escort beyond that of Ridahne Torzinei Seed-Chained, and will hear your explanation before I leave the city.” She sighed as the temperature in the room slowly returned to normal, “For now, I am tired. The two of us will take our leave.” She laced her hand with Ridahne’s, “Let’s go. I no longer wish to be in this room, and we have an early start tomorrow so you can show me around Tasen.: She looked over her shoulder at the woman Ridahne had addressed concerning Ajoran, “I am going to check on the rest of my family. Send Ajoran Telisun there, immediately.”

With that being said Darin paid no one in the room any more mind. She did keep her fingers interlaced with Ridahne’s as she tugged her sister out of the room. The stone doors opened of their own accord and Taja took flight to lead the way back they came. Darin hadn’t been paying attention to the path they took to get to that room and didn’t know where the stables were. Luckily Taja was smarter than her. The hawk led the two women to the stables were Talbot, Tsura, and Mitaja were settled in. Luck was on her side and the building was empty of people. Finally, Darin dropped her warrior’s hand as her arms came up to wrap around her abdomen. Taja flew back down to press against Darin’s cheek again.

Her voice was impossibly quiet, “She reminds me of the elders back home, so convinced of her wisdom, of her experience, or her age, that she does not listen to the opinions of those who’s life she seeks to meddle in. So sure that she is right, that even when she proven wrong she seeks to find excuses for her poor actions. I don’t ever want to be like that, unprepared and unwilling to listen to those younger than me, just because they are younger. So set in my ways that I attempt to brush aside another’s person’s feelings just because I think I know better.”