Clavia glanced at the bread Karin was working on, gauging how slowly the girl was cutting the bread. Karin was definitely slicing bread slower than Clavia was meat. Okay, time for Clavia to pull out the goat butter and work on the slices already cut, give her daughter a chance to catch up to the meat slicing.
While she dug into the cool storage, she glanced at the queen. "I'm afraid that sweeping isn't anything we can help with. None of us are trained with any sort of weapon, unless you count a pitchfork. I hope Link knows someone out there who can help him."
She pulled out a butter knife and started slathering some butter on the sliced bread- sandwiches are fine, but very few breads out there tasted better dry than with something to add a little flavor to it.
"Old Tokk's supposed to come down this afternoon, from what I understand. Uma visited him this morning before settling in by the lean to shelter. Have you had a chance to see that? If not, I have a feeling you will yet today. I know it would do Tokk's heart good to see you as many times as he can."
She shook her head. "Honestly, it's a miracle his heart's made it as long as it has." She smiled back at the queen. "I'd almost accuse the goddess of keeping him going just so that there was someone among us who knew you. We may have had a helluva set back a hundred years ago, but it seems there were some back up plans already in place."
Karin looked up at her mother, then over at the queen. "Mister Symin teaches us history pretty well. I think he should've told us the truth about where you and Ser Link went, but I guess I can understand why. Don't want the bad guys knowing where all the good guys are while we're setting back up to fight. But he wasn't there, and we're just now getting the director back down to talk to us. But I know she can't know everything. Will you and Ser Link sit down with us some day and tell us? About back then?"
Clavia looked at Karin, tempted to intervene and tell her not to overwhelm the queen with questions, but that was a momentary temptation born of being a mother with a child who asked so many questions that even some of the most patient people in town got fed up. Karin wasn't asking for anything that nobody else wanted, and at least Karin was being polite with the request. Some of the children in the town might not be as much.
"What do you say, Karin?" she said pointedly- she had missed one thing with that otherwise polite request.
Karin blink up at her in confusion, then realization dawned on her and she gave the queen a panicky apologetic look. "I'm sorry! I should've said please!"