Welcome to Gaia! ::

Adonai nodded. "I traveled once," he murmured. "I have no desire to do so again ... not at present."

He smiled warmly. "There is only one thing greater than learning, Toshiro ... and that is family. I will never leave my family again, as long as I have breath to draw."

Rhea peered behind Kara to look at her wings.

"Your wings are big like mine are," she said, puzzled, "but you're already all grown up and you know lots about magic already! Do you still knock things over too?"

Did that mean that she was going to be knocking things over for the rest of her life?

Adonai held up one hand to Toshiro.

"A home can be anywhere you wish it to be," he told the boy. "Look at Elnara ... most would say that her home was here ... and yet she has made your world her home. No, it is not my home that I would miss. As long as I have Shael and Rhea, I am fine."

"Doesn't that get hot?" Rhea asked Kara in surprise. "I mean in the autumn and in fading and in winter it would be nice but in the summer wouldn't that get very hot? I think it's cooler in the summer when I don't have wings, and sometimes if I have them for a while they get a little bit heavy, but Papa says that I just need to get used to it and make myself stronger and then they won't be heavy anymore, and-"

"Rhea," Shael interrupted, giggling softly. "Breathe."

Adonai chuckled softly. "Indeed it is," he murmured. "But my wife and my daughter are the only things I need to be happy ... as long as I have them, it matters not where I am or what happens to me."

He looked over at the two of them, and dark though his eyes were, they were bright with the love that he felt for them.


"And Miyu's wings are black, too!" Rhea pointed with one hand. "Don't forget Miyu!"

She wondered what Kara would look like if she didn't have her wings showing. For that matter, she wondered what she meant by her wings being inside her - for Rhea's wings did not go inside of her, they simply dissipated when she wanted them to go away.

"When can I start learning things?" she asked Kara suddenly, her hazel eyes filled with longing. "Papa says that someday I will be able to do lots of things, more than even he can, but I don't know how to do anything with my magic except have wings and grow flowers ..."

Rhea nodded and let go of Kara, giggling up at her happily.

"Of course!" she agreed. "And we can have a good visit and then I can help Mama make lunch and then-"

"Would you prefer if we come to the ranch for Rhea's lessons?" Shael interrupted her daughter's spiel before she could really get going. "It's no trouble for us, and it's been a long time since we've been there."

Rhea nodded her agreement with her mother. "I was there two whole times!" she beamed proudly.

Adonai headed over from where he had been chatting with Toshiro. He had overheard the conversation between the two women (how was it possible not to, with Rhea as excited as she was?), and he wanted to add his own part.

"If you don't mind," he said politely, "I would like to take Rhea to the ranch for her lessons ... I know Shael has been saying of late that she has little time to finish all of her work, and Rhea does take up quite a bit of her energy ... besides, I have some research that I could do there, so it would be of no trouble to me."

Rhea's eyes lit up again, and she looked way way up at her father, then up at Kara, biting her lip and waiting anxiously for her answer.

Adonai smiled and nodded. "It's settled then," he murmured. "Now Rhea, go off and play with Miyu and Toshiro ... and try to keep at least a little calm, all right?"

Rhea giggled. "No accidents!" she beamed, skipping off to return to the others.

Adonai chuckled softly and turned back to Kara.

"Thank you," he murmured. "She is the most innocent being you will find, but sometimes she is a bit of a handful."

He motioned towards the door. "I hear Feng and Ryu's voices as well," he smiled. "Shall we join them?"

Aliya meanwhile had been telling Shael all about Adwin and his falcon, and she was just describing the scratches and scrapes on his face when the others returned.

"Oh, he did manage to get it all right, though?" Adonai cut into the conversation without even thinking, smiling eagerly.

Aliya blinked at him. "You knew he was going to try for one?" she asked him blankly.

Alyse giggled knowingly.

"And it was my own brother who encouraged it," Aliya glared at Adonai. "You do realize he could have been killed, right?"

Adonai shrugged. "Amdir was there, if he had no problem with it who was I to argue? Besides, if he did take the one I told him to, it was indeed a female, and you will have the best hunter the land can provide you with."

Haradhel was amused by the two. "Aliya, you do realize that Adwin is nineteen years old and perfectly capable of making his own decisions? I agree, climbing a cliff face was probably not the smartest thing he's ever done, and to take a falcon while the parents are nearby was definitely stupid, but you can hardly blame Adonai for what your son did."

"Speaking of which," Alyse grinned at her uncle, "can I borrow your falconing book, Nana-tol? I promised Adwin that I would help him train her."