I went to my wagon to try taking a nap. Shéna was sitting on the back steps.
“Still no word of Rispan?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“It’s my fault.” She hung her head.
That startled me. “Come again?”
“He was getting rid of my tracker,” she said. “If anything happens to him, it’s my fault.”
I never realized how common self-blame could be. I’d done it with Tarana. So had Kirsat. I would really have to stay on top of that kind of thing.
“First of all,” I told her, “Rispan makes his own decisions, and good or bad, Rispan does what Rispan wants to do. If he got himself into trouble, it was from his choices, not yours. Second, Rispan is only on this mission because of me. He does what he does based on my mission, my needs, and my orders. So that makes it my responsibility. But I’m only he
