Welcome to Gaia! ::

The servant was back then with two glasses of water, and he held them out to Daemon and Long.

"Thank you," Lalwen thanked the servant for them. "And Sol, could you please bring the kenet for Daemon?"

"Right away, Princess Lalwen," the man replied , once again bowing his head.

As the servant hurried off, Lalwen motioned for the men to follow her again. "Come, let us wait for him in the dining hall," she suggested. "That way at least you can sit and rest your feet."

It would also make it easier for them to drink their water, she knew.

"It's just around the corner, this way," she urged them with a smile.

The tables in the dining hall had long since been cleared from lunch, and they had on them fresh crimson tablecloths. Lalwen motioned for Daemon and Long to make themselves comfortable.

"Sol should not be long with the kenet," she told them with a gentle smile. "It is only a few rooms away."

Lalwen was about to reply when her attention was drawn to someone else entering the dining hall. Rather than replying, she smiled at Daemon and nodded towards the doorway.

"I think Lady Alena can better answer that," she told him softly.

Lady Alena had just entered the room. Tall and slim, she moved to join the others, a leather pouch in her hands, her every move graceful. She smiled warmly at the three of them, her green eyes bright, and as she bowed her head in greeting to them, her hair, the colour of orange flame, fell forward.

She was not alone, either: behind her, a little girl, slightly taller than Saria but with hair just a shade lighter than Lady Alena's, was trying to hide behind her skirt. Her teal eyes were wide as she took in the strangers, her brows pressed together anxiously, and she had a fist so tightly enmeshed in Alena's skirt that her knuckles were white.

"Daemon, Long," Lalwen introduced them, "this is Lady Alena, Grandmother's adviser, and her daughter, Lady Shiloh."

"Greetings, sirs," Lady Alena smiled warmly. "Welcome. It is wonderful to see someone from your world again." She glanced down at her daughter and nudged her gently with two fingers. "Come, Shiloh," she murmured, "say hello."

Shiloh's eyes flickered up at her mother, and her face grew a bright shade of pink and she ducked completely behind Lady Alena's skirt.

"Likewise," Lady Alena smiled warmly, dipping slightly in a polite curtsey.

Shiloh focused on ignoring Long, staring intently at a pleat in her mother's skirt instead.

Alena laughed softly and knelt next to Daemon. She opened the pouch she was holding and dipped two fingers into it. When she lifted her fingers again, there was a creamy orange substance on them.

"May I?" she asked, gesturing to Daemon's face.

With a smile, Lady Alena began gently to apply the salve to Daemon's face. It was cool to the touch, smooth and creamy, and had a faint sweet scent to it.

"Now, as I was entering," she said softly as she rubbed the salve into Daemon's burnt skin, "I believe that you were asking about kenet. Princess Lalwen is quite correct, I can better answer your questions. Now, Long might not be aware of this, but I'm sure you noticed, Daemon, that I am not like the elves with which you are familiar, yes?"

Her green eyes flickered briefly to his as she waited for confirmation of her suggestion.

Lady Alena caught Long's look of surprise, and she smiled at him. "I could give you the whole long tale," she began, turning her attention back to applying the salve, "but that would take a long time. I shall give you the shorter version. I am a Sky Elf, from a land called Amon Darthir, very far from here. The Gift of my people is fire, and it is the only Gift they have been left with. Of course, being fire users, burns are always a risk."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Well, save for those who are immune to it," she amended. "But there was a need to find an ointment that could prevent burns, or help to heal them afterwards, and so the research was done. Kenet is the result of that."

"It's really neat!" Lalwen said calmly, though her eyes were bright. "If you put it on, you can even stick your hand in fire and not be burned!"