Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh, yes," the man replied cheerfully. "I had a lovely chat with Prince Aethos this morning while I was taking his order. He told me that Alassëa was still alive, and was back in town, and about the group that they were traveling with."

His eyes glittered brightly in the shadows of the back of the shop. "Welcome back, Alassëa."

Alassëa tilted her head slightly to the side, a curious gesture instead of a greeting one. "Thank you ... did you say *Prince* Aethos?"

Alassëa tapped her fingers lightly against her staff. "It's ... a surprise," she murmured. "He ... never told me that ..."

And, as she had grown up as a commoner, without any contact with royalty, she had a very different view of them than Miyuki did. She was surprised and grateful that Aethos treated her as an equal, but at the same time she was a little hurt that he wouldn't have mentioned something that was - to her - quite important.

The shopkeeper smiled at Lin. "Well, it took a while to take down all the notes and measurements I needed, so we were talking about different things ... and he talked about his homeland, about the rocs, his people ... and I'm a curious man, I asked questions."

"Perhaps I should ask him more," Alassëa said with a frown. "That Emile does not know doesn't make me feel much better. It's a different situation."

Earendil wondered what she meant by that. Did she mean because he was human? Or did she even realize that he was a human? She couldn't see to know, after all. Or did she mean because Aethos was (as far as he could tell anyways) courting her?

"Yes!" Alassëa replied to Miyuki emphatically, hitting the floor firmly with her staff as if to emphasize her point. "It's very important! Royalty are the rulers of a country, and should be accorded the respect and - and -"

She struggled to find the word she was looking for, but she couldn't think of it. Instead of getting hung up on it, though, she just went on.

"And he shouldn't be treating me the way he is, he should be acting more like his rank-"

"I suppose this wouldn't be a good time to point out that I also am prince of my country, as is my brother, Daeron?" Earendil interrupted, trying to keep her from getting too worked up. "Lin then is, by her marriage to me, a princess, and as our children, Miyuki is a princess and Andarien is a prince. River is descended from royalty, though that branch of the family gave up their claim long ago. Even Luk is a leader in his country, though they have a different system, they don't have a monarchy. Shall I go on?"

Alassëa was stunned into silence. She'd had no idea about any of them ... and from the sounds of it, they weren't the only ones in the group ... who else then? How many? Why? Why hadn't they said anything?

"I'm not freaking out," Alassëa replied shortly, "I'm - wait, are you saying now that he's just helping me because it's his duty and not because he wants to?"

"That's not what we're saying at all," Earendil sighed. "What we're saying is that royalty are people, too, and other than their rank and their job they're no different from anyone else. We're all here because we wanted some adventure, and Aethos is helping you because he likes you."

"The only time we ever mention it is when we need to for diplomatic purposes," Earendil added. "Such as when we're first visiting a new land and have to introduce ourselves and ask for permission to travel, or ask for lodgings, or something like that. Beyond that, it really doesn't matter to us."

Alassëa still looked doubtful. "Still ... it's a bit deceptive not to tell someone, when you say you're trying to get to know each other," she said softly, her tone disappointed. Clearly she was thinking about Aethos, and didn't seem to care too much about Earendil and the others keeping their ranks from her.

Alassëa paused to think about that. "I suppose it would depend on how he requested I act," she said finally. "I'm not treating any of you any differently now, am I?"

She was being as stubborn as she ever was, if that was any indication.

"I might not have hit him as much," she added as an afterthought; and now her voice was thoughtful as she said softly, "He's going to need a good one for this, though."