"But I can help the ones here, right?"
Because I had to do something. These people had done so much for me. I didn't know the Reapers, but they were the ones who'd gotten me off the tree. That meant they'd saved me too, so Ihadto help somehow. It felt wrong not to!
"I'll make sure of it," Lessa told me.
"Yeah..." Drozel grumbled. "But if we're leaving, Meri, would you like Lessa to crash here with you?"
"Crash?" I asked.
"Stay," Omden hurried to explain. "She can use the other guest room, or ours. Then you won't need to move around again. Or you can stay here alone, and she'll be right next door if you run out of food or need anything. You can also stay with her, I'm sure."
"Whichever you want," Lessa assured me.
I glanced down, but my eyes found Omden across the room on their own. Almost like he was waiting for me, the man smiled. Subtly, he nodded, making it clear this was okay.
"Maybe you can stay here with me?" I asked Lessa. "But that's silly, right? We'll have to go to your house to sew anyway, so maybe - "
"It's as far from here as there," Lessa hurried to assure me. "You also have all your things here, and I have enough, I promise."
"I'd like to stay here, if that's okay," I told them. "I'm not used to moving around this much, and I really like the bed I'm in, and all my clothes are here."
"So we'll stay here," Lessa said, making that sound final.
There was just one more thing I needed to know. "How long will you both be gone?" I looked at Omden first, because Drozel was already watching me.
And yet, when my eyes landed on Drozel, he didn't smile. That wasn't good. Thankfully, he didn't glower at me the way Gideon used to. Drozel and Omden never did that, though. Theywere happy. They were gentle, and even when Drozel got loud or big, he always stopped.
"We don't know," Drozel told me. "At least a week, but probably more."
"Might be as long as a month," Omden said. "Lessa, you know where the money is, right?"
She huffed, giving him a weary look. "I have money."
"I know," Omden promised. "But you do know, right?"
She chuckled. "Yes, Ommy, I know."
"When do you leave?" I asked next. "You said in the morning, but when?"
"Dawn," Drozel said. "You'll still be sleeping when we head out." Then he pulled at the thing he'd shoved behind him. "So I -we- got you this on our way back." And he passed over a doll.
But it wasn't really a doll. This one wasn't made to look like a child. It was round and soft. There were appendages jutting off it, and a bubble-shaped head. Most of it was brown, but there were bits of white as well. Turning it over, I realized it was a bird.
"Is this for the baby?" I asked, not sure what to do with it.
"No," Drozel said, turning in his chair to face me. "That's what we call a stuffed animal, Meri. It's supposed to keep you safe, and that one looks like a sparrow, so I thought you might like it."
"Most of us slept with them as kids," Omden explained. "Plenty of us kept them as adults."
"I have half a dozen," Lessa said.
"But why?" I asked. "It's very soft, but I don't understand."
Drozel waved for Lessa to move, then claimed the spot beside me. Reaching across, he slipped the stuffed thing from my hands, and turned it over in his.
"Dragons tell our children these chase away evil. I'm sure they really don't, but they're good to hug when you're asleep, and they make you feel better when you're nervous. You can squeezeit, or throw it when you're mad. They're soft, so they won't break things."
"But it stops the bad stuff," Omden said.
