"If they had them, I'd say honey pears," she said, a bit wistfully. "but failing that, the cherries here are very good, and the apples have been delicious this season."

Produce she could discuss, and happily. She knew quite a bit about plants, and she enjoyed cooking. Of course, that made her seem like less in the eyes of some of her people, and her self esteem ran low because of it, some days. But here she was settling in, pushing the old wounds down as best she could.