The festival was over and Orin had returned to d'Arte for good a few days ago. Her heart broke when the magic of the festivity was suddenly dispelled; one morning she just woke up and the mirth was gone from the voices outside. Instead, everything was industrious, clinical. The traders were taking down their tents. She had spent most of her time at the grounds while she was here, either entertaining men as she had learned to do or being with the entrancing woman, Soul. When the festival went away she knew she had to return to her pack. For the time, she had a reason being away, but now if she stayed outside of their realm they might think she was abandoning them.
No, I just need to get my head straight... A month at the festival grounds had not actually helped her figure out what to do about Tal, it just helped her stay away from it while trading for her pack. She thought things might be clearer when she got back to d'Arte, but it was no better. She was still frightened of who lurked around the corner, and she was possibly even more an outsider now than she had been before. Aside from all that, she was now apart from Soul. She missed the woman dearly. Would they really meet again, as promised? It seemed Soul always had the control, and one of the biggest fears in her heart was that she wouldn't come for her.
She never returned to the Terrace. Since she was back she returned to her duties at the stable, and rather than trekking back to the treetops she had laid one of her blankets down over packed hay and made that into her mattress for the last several nights. She still had a small bounty of wares and riches she had collected during her stay in the north tucked away in saddle bags in the corner of the stable. Now she crouched in the hay, picking through these things; books that had not sold, a scarf she had obtained, some other little trinkets and gifts from people she had entertained.
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