"There's something I want to tell, ask, you must know, I have to, please, oh, Winter Mist, please come with me! My Da…” Is all I hear Sean say before a couple has come up behind him. He turns away from me, but reaches for my hand.

"Ah, Sean, m'lad!" The man greets him. I find that he is fast talker. I avoid smiling too openly at the man because I notice he’s avoiding looking at me. I can’t but wonder if his lady friend is the overly jealous type. "Look, I've found Baine! She's coming with us. We'd best leave now, our - er- friends are waiting for us! I have some unfinished business to do before we go, if you remember? So meet us where we said, and quickly, or we might leave without you!" The couple leaves us, but the woman Baine keeps looking over her shoulder at us…just me? I give her a wink and hope maybe in her I’ll find a friendly soul or at least someone less hostile.

I rise from the ground with Sean’s assistance, wiping away the remnants of the tear stains, “Yes…” His answer to my answer is a whoop and a hop before getting a hold of himself to me give a kiss on the cheek. I giggle, but I pull him to me for a real kiss.

I start to ask about the couple, but think it would be better to ask about them while we travel to wherever he’s…Where we are supposed to be going. I smile to myself at the moment. Have I finally found a place to chase away the loneliness or…I banish the other thoughts that come to mind. I can be a good wife…I can try to be a good wife…How in the world is a warrior of Her Matriarch supposed to be a good wife?! I can hunt, grow edibles, sew, break horses, sharpen knives, fight…

Sean is busily gathering up the uneaten food, he looks up to find my brows furrowed in concentration and my fingers in a counting mode. I blush as if caught guilty by his inquiring expression. I answer with a sincere smile, “I need to get my mares and my things. Where shall I meet you?”