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"That of course is depending on the weather," Earendil pointed out. "But Roydon can control the wind, so we shouldn't have any trouble, I'm sure."

He looked thoughtful suddenly. "We're going to have to find a bunk for you," he murmured softly to Aurin. "I'm afraid we had to shuffle around quite a bit for Haldia and Kelirahc when they joined us ... finding a place for Celeb was difficult ..."

"I do not require much," Aurin assured him, "I can fit in just about anywhere I am sure."

"Maybe if we put Starr with Haldia, and Storm could share with Aurin?" Earendil suggested. "The twins are fine with Haldia now that they're used to her."

Rhea nodded at the idea. "It can't hurt to ask, anyways," she replied with a smile.

"We should go talk to them, then," Earendil nodded. He motioned for Rhea and Aurin to follow as well. "Let's go, I'm sure Aurin would like to put his bags away-"

He broke off suddenly, staring at the captain. "Or ... bag ..."

Rhea laughed. "Can you imagine taking bags and bags of things on a roc?" she grinned at Earendil. "I put a rune on it. Now come on, let's go talk to the twins!"

And she brushed past him, dragging Aurin after her, though he appeared a little flustered to hear royalty being spoken to in such a manner.

Earendil chuckled. "Just wait. By the end of the trip, he'll be as comfortable as anyone else around us."

He smiled down at Lin. "Should we let them talk to the twins on their own? Or shall we go with them?"

Earendil nodded. "Sounds good. Then we have nothing left to do before we sail."

But even as he spoke, Roydon and several of the crewmen came up on deck, and Roydon immediately began calling out orders, directing them to different areas. It seemed that it was time to go.

Before long, the ship was moving, and though it was very dark outside, it being very late at night, Earendil stayed up on deck and watched the island as they began to pull away from it.

Very quickly, word spread throughout the ship that they were home, and almost everyone rushed up on deck to see.

"There!" Leyenda pointed out to Kelirahc, her voice brimming with excitement.

Kelirahc stared at the long stretch of sand that marked the beginning of the Southland desert, holding Amalirahc in his arms so that the boy wouldn't wander off and fall overboard.

"That is a very big beach," he murmured, his voice filled with awe.

Leyenda laughed.

Aurin was standing with Rhea near the others, and he looked over his shoulder at Skyel. "She will have to fly," he said sadly, "I do not believe that she will fit on a smaller ship."

Rhea nodded and touched his arm lightly. "Best to tell her then," she murmured.

Aurin nodded and moved off to talk to his roc.

Earendil watched as the soldier headed off. "What is he going to tell her to do?" he asked Rhea curiously.

Rhea smiled. "Skyel will simply fly and circle around us as we sail," she replied. "She will be out of the way, but always in calling distance."

Once they arrived at the small port, everyone set about helping to move the cargo - not much of which was left, though there were many empty crates and barrels - onto the three much smaller caravels. Once everything was loaded, they started up the river and back towards Namonuito.

By this time, it was getting dark, but though mostly everyone went below to rest for the night, Leyenda sat up on deck with Kelirahc and Amalirahc. She was too excited to sleep, and Kelirahc was more than happy to keep her company. Amalirahc was asleep, but there wasn't anywhere for him below deck to sleep on his own, so they simply kept him with them.