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Earendil and Lin were not in the courtyard, but as Shiro had promised, Daeron and Iorlas were there. They were spending time with Luthien, who had set up an easel and was beginning yet another painting. While she worked, they watched her, and Iorlas was especially interested in watching Luthien paint.

"Well, look who grew!" Daeron exclaimed teasingly when Miyuki came into view of the three of them.

Luthien laughed. "I shall never get used to such growths, I swear it," she giggled. And this was nothing new to her, either. "And I see your pet hatched, as well."

"I have no objections," Daeron smiled bemusedly. He turned to look at his wife. He knew she liked to watch Luthien paint, he would leave it to her.

Iorlas seemed excited by the idea. "I would love to," she murmured. "We've not done anything with Miyuki since she arrived, and you must admit, we don't often go to the city as it is."

"Very true," Daeron admitted with a chuckle. He turned back to Miyuki. "There you have it. Miyuki, we would be honoured to take you."

Luthien laughed again. "Iorlas, I really must thank you. Daeron hasn't been like this since he was a child."

"It goes both ways," Iorlas replied, blushing softly. "I have never felt so free before, either."

Daeron chuckled. "Well, let's go so we can be back by lunch time," he suggested. "Of course, we could always go visit Ninako and Nineko at their inn for lunch, we haven't done that since we first came back here either."

"Very well, then," Daeron grinned. He leaned over and kissed his mother on the cheek. "See you later, Mother. Do tell everyone where we've gone."

"I will," Luthien replied, returning the kiss to the cheek. "Enjoy yourselves."

"Thank you, Luthien," said Iorlas.

Luthien raised one hand to stop her. "I told you, 'Mother'," she said firmly.

Iorlas blushed again and nodded. "Yes ... Mother. Thank you, and we will see you later."

She of course had never known any parents, or even any parent figures, so when Luthien told her to call her 'mother', it was definitely something for her to get used to.

Daeron and Iorlas were only a few short minutes getting their coin purses, and then they were back with Miyuki and ready to go.

"Do you come often to the city with your parents, Miyuki?" Iorlas asked her niece curiously as they walked down the road that led to the city proper.

"Well, it stands to reason," Daeron mused. "You have been quite young when you've been around cities, and your parents have always had a reason to go with you. But it's good to have someone else with you when you don't know an area well."

"But surely, by this time, you know Tor Karad fairly well, don't you?" Iorlas asked, looking at Miyuki. "You've been here a number of times with your parents, after all."

Though part of her wondered if Miyuki would even be comfortable going to the city on her own.

"I suppose that makes sense," Daeron admitted. "After all, you've not spent much time here ... how long did you spend in Amon Darthir? At least a year, I'm sure."

So to him, it would make sense that Miyuki would know that area better than this one.

"You would at least know your way back to the castle, though, after all the city is really just one continuous zig-zag of a street. One way takes you to the castle, the other way takes you down the mountain."

No chance of getting lost, really, so long as a person knew which way they were going.

"Perhaps if you got to know some of the people here, it would help," Daeron suggested. "Though I admit, you don't see many children running around here, either."

So it wasn't as if Miyuki had really had the opportunity to meet anyone her own age here, and that made a difference as well.

"And I think I may say something to your parents," he added as an afterthought. "Constantly dragging the two of you everywhere isn't letting you really get to know anyone all that well, and leaving everyone behind so quickly doesn't help. They really should give you more time to grow into a place."

Yes, it would make it that much more difficult for them to leave a place, but if they never had the opportunity to make real friends, have relationships, that wasn't good for them either.

But Miyuki's protests only made stronger Daeron's conviction that Miyuki really needed more social interaction in the places they visited.

"You're going to be here for a few more weeks, at least," he reminded her. "You could always try to meet people here on your own."