Bandor said after a long awkward moment. "I am Bandor, journeyman baker, and husband to Alinath of the Bakers of Redern."
"Seraph, Raven of the Clan of Isolda the Silent," Seraph replied with outward composure, knowing her words would tell him no more than his eyes had already noticed.
He nodded, bent to right the basket Alinath had dropped, and began to collect the rolls that had fallen on the floor.
When he was finished he said, "Alinath will be busy with Tier; I'd best get to the baking." He turned on his heel and headed back through the door that Alinath and Tier had taken, leaving Seraph truly alone.
Uncomfortable and out of place, Seraph sat on a small bench and waited. She should have left on her own as soon as Tier had killed the nobleman who pursued her. She'd have been safe enough then. Here in Tier's village she was as out of place as a crow in a hummingbird nest.
But she stayed where she was until Tier returned alone.
"My apologies," he said. "I shouldn't have left you here alone."
She shrugged. "I am hardly going to come to harm here, nor do I have a place in your reunion."
He gave her a faint smile. "Yes, well, come with me and I'll make you known to my sister and mother."
She stood up. "I'm sorry that your father was not here as well."
His smile turned wry. "I don't know if I'd have been welcomed here if my father were still alive."
"Maybe not right away, but you're persuasive. He'd have relented eventually." She found herself patting his arm and stopped as soon as she realized what she was doing.
Tier's mother and sister awaited them in a small room that had been arranged for a sick person. Alinath sat on a stool next to the bed where Tier's mother held court. The older woman's hair was the same dark color as her children's, though streaked with spiderwebs of age. She wasn't old, not by Traveler standards, but her skin was yellow with illness.
Both women looked upon Seraph without favor as Tier made his introductions.
"Tier tells us you have no home, child," said Tier's mother, in a begrudging tone - as if she expected Seraph to impose on her for a place to stay.
"As long as there are Travelers, I have a home," Seraph replied. "It only remains for me to find them. Thank you for your concern."
"I told them that I would escort you to your people," said Tier. "They don't come near Shadow's Fall, so it might take us a few months."
"So we are to lose you again?" said his mother querulously. "Alinath and Bandor cannot keep up with the work - every week they toil from dawn to dusk for the bakery, which is yours. When you come back in a few months, I will be dead."
It was said in a dramatic fashion, but Seraph thought that the older woman might be speaking truth.
"I can find my people on my own," said Seraph.
"Do you hear that, Tier? She is a Traveler and can find her own way," said Alinath.
"She is sixteen and a woman alone," returned Tier sharply. "I'll see her safe."
"You were younger than that when you went off to war," said Alinath. "And you weren't a witch." She bit off the last word as if it were filthy.
"Alinath," said Tier in a gentle voice that made his sister pale. "Seraph is my guest here and you will not sharpen your tongue on her."
"I can take care of myself, both here and on the road," said Seraph, though his defense touched her - as if the words of a solsenti stranger could hurt her.
"No," said Tier, his voice firm. "If you'll house us for the night, Mother, we'll start out tomorrow morning."
Tier's mother and sister exchanged a look, as if they'd discussed the situation while Tier had left them alone to retrieve Seraph.
Tier's mother smiled at Seraph. "Child, is there a hurry to find your people? If you cannot tarry here until I pass from this world into the next, could you not stay with us as our guest for a season so that we might not lose Tier so soon after we've found him?"
"A Traveler might be harmful to business," said Seraph. "As I said, there is no need for Tier to escort me. I am well capable of finding my people by myself."
"If you go, he'll follow you," said Alinath with resignation. "It may have been a long time since