He waited for her to come to her senses and return, to apologize and take his hands and say she never wanted to fight like that again—

But she didn’t come back, and she didn’t come looking for him after he returned to his own room. Tarma showed up, toward sunset; she looked older, somehow, and he guessed that his father’s death had hit her pretty hard.

“Well,” she said. “It’s official. Faram wants you up there yesterday, so you’d better get yourself packed up. You’ll need to be on the road tomorrow.”

“Will I need an escort?” he asked, a little doubtfully. He didn’t really want one, and a retinue would slow him down.

Tarma shook her head. “I don’t think so. You can take care of yourself quite well, youngling, and if you have any enemies out there, they won’t be looking for one man and his beasts, they’ll be looking for a damned parade.”

He sighed. “Well, I guess this is the end of my stay here. I‘ve—not precisely liked it, but—Tarma, I appreciate all you’ve done for me. I can’t really say how much, because I won’t know exactly how much you’ve taught me for years yet.”

She smiled a little. “Then you’re wiser than I thought, if you’ve figured that out. Wise enough to know that you’ll be better off packing up now so you can leave straight away in the morning.”

“Does Kero know I’m leaving tomorrow?” he managed to get out. Tarma looked at him oddly for a moment, then nodded.

“I told her,” the Shin‘a’in said, her expression utterly deadpan. “She didn’t say anything. Did you two have a fight?”

He started to tell her what had happened between them, then stopped himself; why, he didn’t really know, unless it was just that he didn’t want anyone else to now about this particular quarrel. “Not really,” he said. “It’s just I haven’t seen her all afternoon....” He let his words trail off so that Tarma could read whatever she wanted to in them.

She nodded. “Good-byes are a bitch,” she said shortly. “Never got used to them, myself. Travel well and lightly, jel‘enedre. I’ll miss you.”