Luna knows that, though her father will rage and cry and search when he realizes she's gone, he'll also forget her soon enough; that her mother loves her, but will never look for her. She knows that she won't need protection forever, and it's tempting to try and make it through alone. But she needs it now, and she's not stronger than her father, and she knows -- better than she knows herself, better than she knows anything but roses -- that her father will be Riding soon.

She also knows, though she hasn't seen her in so long that the woman herself is only a faint memory, where her aunt has made her home. Even for family, help from the Luidaeg will not be cheap; but there's no price higher than the one she'll have to pay if her father finds her.