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"For me, that was ... wow, fifteen years ago?"

He had to stop and think about it for a moment. "It was the time of my ... seventieth birthday? Seventy first? And now I'm eighty four. So close to that."

"Which for you is strange," Earendil chuckled, "because it's the longest you've been in one place, isn't it?"

For her first several years she had simply gone back and forth between the worlds; spending that much time in one world was a record.

"Close enough," Earendil grinned.

He couldn't help but think that they might someday break that record, but he didn't want to assume anything, or make her feel pressured into anything.

Earendil chuckled softly and did as she said: he left it at that, as much as he would have loved to add something.

He led Lin outside into the sunshine, and the heat hit them immediately. It was a warm day, even though it was only mid spring, and there was even the slightest hint of humidity in the air, which was very unusual for that area.

Earendil glanced back at Miyuki. "Do you need something to shield your eyes?" he asked her anxiously.

He never thought about the sun, himself; he was used to it, never gave it a second thought. And Lin he was sure was used to it by now, too.

Earendil chuckled. "Well then you be careful," he told her. "If you get too hot, you let me know, all right? But we'll be inside soon enough."

He was heading along the path that led to the mountain, and about halfway there, the path forked to the east, and he followed the fork towards the stables, where he had never taken Lin before.

Earendil smiled. "We'll be there shortly," he promised Miyuki.

And sure enough, they came around the mountain and into the stables area. There were four separate buildings, each of them made of white marble with red shingled roofs. They were in a semi circle around a large, white marble-paved area where there were horses being led by grooms, and the faces of the buildings were open so that the insides could be seen. In three of the stables, horses were lined up in stalls, but the fourth had no stalls at all, not even a gate to hold its creatures: there were four unicorns in there, standing together and watching the goings on, but despite the lack of restraints they made no move to escape.

"There they are," Earendil pointed for Miyuki's benefit, since it would be quite obvious to Lin. "The unicorns are there, and the horses are in the other ones."