Aria was sitting once more in front of the fire at Kren's inn. Outside, the suns were setting.

She and Press had returned to the Town Hall to see that the people outside had grown very restless. When Press and Aria had pointed this out to Nyja and the others, they all decided it would be best to address the people straightaway and adjourn for the day rather than continue the investigation. Kore reluctantly agreed to tell his people that there had been something of a misunderstanding, and that he and the Bedoowan councilors were going to be engaged in close discussion over the next few weeks. After that, Nyja spoke to them and acknowledged that there had been corruption and a lack of oversight in the Bedoowan leadership, and that she was going to see to it that the knight presence in their village was reduced immediately. This was met with general appreciation and relief from the crowd. Finally, Tarek and Kahlin came forward to announce their creation, show everyone the tak-light, and explain what that meant for the Tryptite curfew.

"If we hurry up, we should be able to lift it by the end of the week!" He'd proclaimed optimistically. This statement generated more enthusiasm than everything else combined. The curfew was probably the biggest point of contention between the tribes, it being a holdover from the days of the oppression.

After that they'd agreed to break for the day while Nyja and Tolk coordinated the knights, Kahlin and Steric set about distributing the tak-light, and everyone else dispersed to do their own stuff.

Aria's stuff had included dropping by the marketplace to buy more writing materials and a snack (rabbit jerky was delicious, but not very filling), joining Jani for a trip to the bathing stream just out of town (the water was snowmelt; Aria had never gotten herself clean and clothed so fast in her life), and finding Dakka and Rill to thank them for saving her skin (they'd spent half an hour jibing her about how ridiculous it had looked to see one skinny girl with half an army on her arse).

With all of that out of the way she'd headed back to the inn to write her last journal and get ready for dinner. Press hadn't accompanied her for the day. Knowing how much he wanted to see the lab she'd told him to go with the scientists to check it out, and after making sure she'd be okay on her own, he'd relented. Their plan was to meet up at the inn at sunset so the three of them – her, Tarek, and Press – could go over all of the Traveler stuff without being overheard.

All day she'd been presented with chance after chance to go track down Tarek and talk to him, but she'd kept avoiding it. If she didn't talk to him now, though, she'd either have to lie to her uncle about what had happened (not an option), or tell them both the truth right then and there. So since she'd finished her journal she'd been sitting in front of the fire, waiting for Tarek to show up.

With a sinking heart she saw him walk through the door. He spotted her at once and came over. He looked weary and worn, but was smiling at her, which just made her feel considerably worse. She felt very aware of the ring in her pocket.

She stood up and before he could greet her said, "Tarek, can I talk to you outside?"

He looked confused, but said, "Yes, alright. Is everything okay?"

She replied, "I just want to talk to you about what happened to Alder."

His eyes flashed, betraying the grief he'd been hiding behind the smile. She walked past him for the door, and he followed close behind her.

Once outside she looked around for a good place to talk, and settled on a bench under an unlit lamp just off a narrow dirt path leading to the inn. She went over and sat down. Tarek joined her. "Knight Talrind mentioned that you were the one who found his body. Do you know what happened?"

She bit her lip and nodded. She didn't want to tell him this. It couldn't wait any longer, though, so she forced her mouth to move. "It was after you'd left for the town. Jani and I decided to split up. She was going to take the tak-light to Kore, and I went to look for Alder. I was worried about him."

She took a deep breath and continued. "I went to the barracks, hoping he'd be there. He was. I mean, he was near them, in the forest. It seemed like no one was around, and he came stumbling out of the trees towards me. He was injured. He said he didn't have much time, that…that assassins were after him. He told me to run."

She paused to see if Tarek would say anything. She was staring down at her lap, not looking at him. She sensed no movement from him, and his silence was deafening.

Her words sounded clumsy to her. "I wanted to get help, but he told me there wasn't time. I had the gun, that weapon you were carrying around. I told him he could use it to fend off the assassins–"

Tarek's voice cut in suddenly, harshly. "Why couldn't you use it? You know more about them than he did. And you said that thing was dangerous, that you could kill people with it."

Her hands were shaking. "I'm sorry, I can't. I mean, I couldn't. I couldn't shoot someone. Anyways, he refused. He told me that we could only use what the territory had to offer. He told me to get out of there, and not to come back. That's when the assassins showed up. Knights, probably the same ones that attacked you guys this morning. One of them told me…told me to leave if I didn't want to die. And Alder told me to leave. Not to go get help."

She saw someone approaching them out of the corner of her eye. It was Uncle Press. He'd seen them talking and was coming over. She didn't want him there just then, she just needed to finish talking to Tarek. She shook her head and gestured towards the inn. He'd looked glad to see her, but now his brows creased in concern. Still, he nodded, turned, and went to the inn with one last questioning look.

Wanting to get the story over with she said, "I ran away. The assassins let me leave. I changed my mind almost as soon as I was gone, I thought I could use the gun to scare them away without killing them, so I went back. By the time I got there, though…he was…already dead. And then Tal showed up."

"Knight Talrind," he snapped. "You should call her 'Knight Talrind.' It's respectful."

He sounded like he was just barely suppressing a lot of anger, and using the minor correction in etiquette as an outlet. This was exactly what she'd been afraid of. She'd hoped that he would cut her a break, but how could she expect him to when even she didn't feel like she deserved one?

She was on the verge of tears, but she reached into her pocket and took hold of the ring. She gasped out, "He said he was proud of you, and…that you'd shoulder this burden well. He asked me to give this to you."

She dropped the bloodied ring into Tarek's hand, and saw his fist clench on it. She looked back down, not wanting to see his expression.

He was quiet for a long moment, then he said, "You ran away."

She didn't respond, just worked on controlling her tears. He said again, "You ran away. You left him to die and ran away to save yourself. And you could have helped him. You had a weapon, and you could have saved him, and instead you ran away."

"He told me to," she protested quietly.

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. "You could have saved him!" He shouted as he stood up. She stayed sitting, staring down, shying away from his anger. "He's dead because you ran away! That's all you ever do, isn't it? Run away. You ran from Jani, you ran from Saint Dane, you ran from all the rest – all you do is run! You're a coward!"

A small sob escaped her throat, and he snapped, "Don't. You didn't even know him. Not like I did."

He stopped talking, as though his upset was too great to express. He whirled around and made for the inn.

Aria sat there, looking up at him only once his back was turned, and watched him storm through the door. She couldn't talk to him again, couldn't face telling her uncle everything or watching Tarek tell him, so she stood up and started walking in the opposite direction. She just wanted to be alone.

She got out of sight of the inn quickly, and kept to the shadows. This was a lot harder than it had been that first night, because Kahlin had personally gone around and helped stock a lot of the lamps with the new tak-light. The streets were far better lit than before. The curfew was still technically in place, but miraculously she didn't run into any knights. Nyja must have already reduced the number in town, like she'd promised.

She walked fast put her hand in her mouth, biting down hard to keep from making any sounds as the tears began to overflow. She hadn't thought about Alder's death since it had happened and retelling it just then had been like ripping the stiches out of a hastily sewn wound. It felt bad.

She didn't know where she was going and she didn't care. She just wanted to be away from anyone who knew her well enough to judge her.

She walked for a long while. Then, as she passed beneath a brightly glowing lamp, she heard a garbled cry coming from a doorway to her right. She was in a more residential part of the village that she vaguely recognized, though it was hard to tell in the darkness.

A moment later she realized where she was as a toddler came running at her. It was the little kid she'd met her first day here, one of Chariti's kids.

He seemed to recognize her. "Aggasa fwen! Amma, isaw fwen!"

She stopped and looked down at him. She couldn't recall his name. He looked up at her, smiling happily, but his eyes widened like an owl when he saw that she was crying. "Oooooh nooo," he said slowly, and Aria got a bubbling urge to laugh though the tears at his expression. He looked so worried about her, it was really touching.

He didn't say anything else. He just grabbed her pants and started trying to drag her to his house. She knew that he wanted to help her, but there wasn't exactly a lot he could do on that front. Probably not much anyone could do.

Still, she walked over with him because she didn't want him running around after her at night. New lights or no, there were still animals out there. She'd just make sure he got back to his mom – to Chariti – and leave.

She hastily wiped away her tears. She knew she still looked like a total wreck, so she tried to keep her face turned down as she approached the open doorway. Almost at once the familiar form appeared in the doorway. "Tinil! Where did you – oh! Tinil, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?"

She sounded very stern and Aria tried to explain. "Hi Chariti. I don't know if you remember me, but we actually met a few days ago. I'm the one from over the mountain. Granite Bay?"

She still wasn't looking up at the woman, not wanting her to see what a mess she was. Chariti said, "Oh, yes, I remember you! Remind me of your name again?"

"Aria."

"Aria," she said, bending over to pick Tinil up. "Well, according to what Dellon said, you've caused quite a stir here since arriving."

She didn't sound accusatory, merely curious. She probably hadn't gotten much more than a jumbled series of rumors, like most people. Not wanting to stick around much longer she tried to evade. "Yeah, it's been hectic. I'm sorry, but I need to go…"

She turned to leave, but Tinil started crying, "Nogonogonogoooo!"

Chariti said, "Wait a moment. Are you alright? You seem upset."

Aria shrugged. "I'm fine. It's just been a long day."

It was really hard to keep her voice from cracking, and Chariti wasn't fooled. "Where are you heading? You mentioned you came here with an uncle. Where is he?"

Taking a steadying breath she said, "He's waiting for me back at the inn. It's past curfew. I've got to go."

Her voice was just a bit dry as she said, "The inn is in the other direction."

Aria paused.

Chariti said mellowly, "Why don't you come inside for a while? We were just about to sit down for dinner. You are welcome to join us if you'd like." She sounded like she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Well, if she kept walking around at night she was sure to get caught by a patrol and she didn't want to be bothered with that, even if the curfew was on the brink of being removed anyways. Besides, it was getting cold and she still didn't want to head back to the inn yet.

She quickly raised an arm to try and scrub the rest of the tears and mucus away, turned around, and said, "Alright. Just for a few minutes, though."

As soon as she stepped into the light and looked up, the woman's expression softened into concern. "Oh, dear. It looks like you have had a rough day. Come inside, I'll get you some water."

Aria nodded and followed.

Chariti's home was nice, a little larger than Jani's. There was a central room that was both kitchen and dining room, with a low, round table in the middle. There appeared to be two bedrooms attached to the main room, one for the three children and one for Chariti and her husband. There was also a small family room off to the side, and in this was an open floor space littered with simple toys, and a short sofa. It had a frame of logs and appeared to be like Kren's beds at the inn – cloth and leather cushions stuffed with hay. It looked worn, but well cared for.

Chariti's daughter was sitting on it while her brother sat on the floor. He had a short knife and was whittling away at a piece of wood. She saw four legs and a large lump on one end. It looked like he was trying to carve it into an animal of some sort.

Chariti sat Aria down on one side of the sofa, put Tinil on the floor next to his brother, and said, "Wait here just a moment."

She gave her kids a warning glance that seemed to say, 'Don't bother our guest,' and turned to leave.

The two kids stared at her curiously as she sat down, but didn't say anything.

…At least until their mom walked out the front door to go get the water. As soon as the woman was out of sight Tinil hopped up and toddled over to her, sitting down at her feet. The boy said, "Hey, you're that girl we saw a few days ago. You're from over the mountains!"

Aria nodded, hoping that the kids wouldn't notice how miserable she was.

The boy continued, "Hey, you look pretty miserable. What's wrong?"

Well, so much for that. She tried for a smile and said, "It's nothing, really. I've just had a rough couple of days."

The boy looked skeptical, but went quiet the second his mom walked back inside. Aria couldn't help but smile a bit.

Chariti brought her a bowl of water, which Aria accepted gratefully. Crying dehydrated her like crazy. "Thank you," she said.

Chariti nodded. "You are welcome. Now, would you like to stay for dinner? It's stew, and we have plenty to go around."

She tried to say, 'Oh, no, I couldn't. Really, you've been so kind already,' but she barely got past "Oh, no," when the kids all started protesting loudly. She heard a few tidbits through the clamor such as, 'can't go yet!' and, 'have to tell us what happened,' and, 'aango idduh stooo!'

Chariti looked at them sharply, but Aria hiccupped out a laugh. "Okay, I guess I can stay for dinner." She didn't feel like eating, but at the same time her stomach felt totally hollow.

The kids cheered and Chariti said, "Wonderful. I'll put out an extra bowl. My husband should be home shortly, then we can eat."

Aria smiled at her, and settled down to wait.

As Chariti busied herself in the kitchen, Aria decided to entertain the kids. Tirk and Sera, as they reminded her. She passed the time asking Tirk what he was carving (A bear. You have a lot of bears where you live, right?), asking Sera what kinds of things their father hunted (Rabbits and deer and stuff. And bears. What do you hunt where you come from?) and what the two of them did from day to day.

"Who cares?" Sera said shortly. "It's boring here. What's it like where you're from?"

Thankfully, Aria was saved the hassle of answering them. A very tall man lumbered through the door just then carrying what appeared to be a dead fawn over his shoulder and the children all jumped up and rushed him, shouting, "Dad!"

The man grinned at the welcome. He was patting them on their heads and trying to tell them about his day when Chariti poked her head over and said, "Well, you took your time getting back here. And what did I say about bringing such things inside the house?" She said while nodding at his kill.

He smiled lopsided and wearily at her, and said, "Sorry, love. I'll put it outside."

"See that you do," she said sternly, but Aria could tell she was just as glad to see him as their children were. He disappeared out the door and came back in a few moments later, having evidently stored the fawn somewhere where he could deal with it later.

When he came back in he noticed Aria on the sofa. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I take it we're having company tonight?"

His three kids all began explaining who she was and where she came from. Aria sat quietly and let them. It was good to let kids talk when they were excited, and she could introduce herself when they were done.

She was happy to see he didn't just wave them all off, but instead stooped to listen to them very carefully. When they quieted down she said, "I'm Aria. I'm here visiting the village with my uncle, and Chariti was kind enough to invite me to stay for dinner."

He nodded. "I think I picked some of that up," he said, crediting his kids. "Say, you aren't the girl who riled everyone up this morning, were you?"

She felt her face turn beet red, and hoped he hadn't heard, or heard about, all the things she'd said to make everyone chase her. She nodded and tried to stammer out an explanation, but he waved her off. "I was wondering about that! I've heard some rumors, but I'd love to know what really happened. Tell us about it over dinner."

Minutes later they were all tucking in around the table for stew. She was the star of the show that night, telling them everything she could about what had happened in their village the last couple of days. She left out a lot, obviously, and also tried to cop out about the rumors the man had heard, attempting to brush past it to the confrontation in the cavern. He wouldn't let her, though. "Oh, yes, I heard something about 'muddy little huts,' and 'back in the glaze mines.'"

Her face felt like it was on fire, and she collapsed into her hands while her breath poured out of her nose whistling like a teakettle. She'd never felt so embarrassed in her life.

Thankfully, both he and Chariti howled with laughter at her reaction. The kids didn't really understand what was so funny, but being kids they just laughed along anyways. Finally Aria was able to look back up and explain the situation, apologizing profusely all the while.

"Well," Chariti chuckled, "Whatever else you might say about it, your words were certainly effective!"

So. Embarrassing.

She spent the next hour or so regaling them with the whole plot, answering their questions about Maal, and Kore, and the lab and the tak-light. "I thought those lamps seemed brighter than normal!"

The stew was delicious, venison and vegetable. There was also plenty for everyone, so she didn't have to feel bad about taking more of their food. It really did seem like they had enough to go around.

Despite their intense interest in her story, Sera, Tirk, and Tinil were all basically asleep by the end of it. The hearty meal combined with the late hour was enough to knock them out. Chariti's husband, whose name she learned was Corron, picked them up and carried them off to bed. Tinil woke up just for a moment to wave goodbye to her, and mumble something. She smiled and waved him a little goodbye.

While her husband was tucking in the children, Chariti leaned over and asked, "So, may I ask what had you so upset earlier? You seemed very distraught."

The warm glow that had sprung up over dinner diminished considerably. "It's nothing."

She tried to say more, but Chariti just raised an eyebrow. Aria looked at her, looked over at her husband and the kids, and shook her head. She didn't want to talk about this stuff around everyone.

Chariti got a thoughtful look on her face. When Corron came back in she said to him, "Love, you still need to take care of that fawn, don't you?"

He shrugged and said, "It can wait until morning. It's cold out, anyways. It'll keep."

Then he saw the look on his wife's face. Aria blushed as Chariti gestured to her, the implication obviously, 'I want to talk to her alone for a while.'

She stood up and said, "I should really go. Thank you for the meal, it was amazing."

But Chariti wasn't having it. She stood up, walked over, and led her by the shoulder to the sofa in the next room. Corron said, "You know, I'll just check on that fawn; make sure the nothing can get at it."

He turned and left. Chariti sat down next to her on the sofa. "Okay, now, what happened?"

Aria opened her mouth to tell her that she really needed to get back to her uncle at the inn, and instead found herself telling the woman the whole story again. Everything she'd told Tarek, and a lot more. The only difference was that she swapped out the gun for a ball of tak in the story, which was just as well. They were both lethal weapons.

She told her how she felt about running away, how she felt like a coward, how Jani thought she was a coward, how Tarek thought she was a coward too, and how afraid she was that her uncle would also think she was a coward.

The whole time Chariti sat still and listened quietly, an expression of calm on her face as she took it all in. When Aria finished she said, "Do you think Alder thought you were a coward?"

The question took her by surprise. "What?"

Chariti paused, as though gathering her thoughts, and said, "Based on what you said, I think you may be worried about what Alder himself may have thought of you before he was killed."

She paused. She wasn't worried about that, was she? Why would she be? After all, it had been Alder who had told her to leave in the first place.

But when she thought back on the moment and put herself directly in that position, tried to imagine him watching her retreat from danger as death closed in around him, she found the image crippling. She hadn't given it a thought before, but as she did it stabbed at her like the heart of an infection that was spreading to the rest of the body.

She shoved her fist in her mouth and bit down hard to keep in a wail of pain. She didn't want to wake the kids.

She felt Chariti's hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Aria, listen to me. It sounds like what Alder wanted above all else was to keep you safe. That's why he told you to leave, not to get help, and not to come back. If you had run for the barracks or tried to fight, you would likely have been killed right in front of his eyes. Running was all you could do. I have no doubt that it was nothing but a relief to him to see you run, knowing that you would be safe."

She sat there for a few more minutes, riding out a new deluge of tears, Chariti's hand warm and comforting on her back. She knew Alder had wanted her to be safe. She knew that's why he had told her to leave. But still…"I could have saved him," she choked out.

Chariti shook her head. "Not without becoming a killer. I do not think he would have wanted that for you, either."

No. He wouldn't have. She believed that strongly for some reason. She continued crying for another few minutes, but this time she found the tears petering off of their own accord. A large part of her tension was gone. Like a Charley horse wearing off after it had been cramping for a while, it felt like an unbelievable relief.

She took a deep breath, and it finally didn't hitch into a sob. "Thank you. I actually feel a lot better."

Chariti gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Good. I do not think Alder would want you to remain in such a state of grief for long. And as for your friend, Tarek; just give him time, and remember that he is no doubt in a great deal of pain as well."

She nodded and got up. "I know. I just hope he doesn't hate me."

Chariti walked her to the door. "You know, if you need a place to sleep tonight, you're welcome to stay." She gestured to the sofa.

"No," Aria replied. "Thank you, though. For everything. I really do need to get back to my uncle. He'll be worried about me."

He probably would. After everything that had happened, and with Saint Dane still wandering around, and with the curfew still in place, and with wild animals still posing a threat to the village…

Oh yeah, it was time to head back.

Chariti wrapped her in a hug, which surprised her. Still, it was comforting, and she returned it. "Come back and visit us again before you leave, alright?"

Aria nodded. "I will. 'Night," she said, and turned to go.

As she was walking away she glanced back over her shoulder to see Corron had come back and was standing in the doorway, arms wrapped around his wife. They looked happy together.

A bit of that warm glow flickered back to life as she turned and headed for the inn.

She managed to walk for about a minute before a voice yelled, "Oy! You! There's still a curfew, you know!"

Ah, crap.