Welcome to Gaia! ::

"A hint, hmm," Wren murmured, musing to herself. "Well ... all right. It's here, on the palace grounds. Is that enough of a hint, Miyuki?"

Earendil chuckled. It wasn't really a hint, but hew knew it would only make Miyuki (and probably Lin) more curious than they already were.

"And a good excuse for me to go riding," Wren added. "I don't get to ride nearly often enough."

"Is it that far?" Earendil asked, surprised.

"It is if you want to spend some time there before you have to turn back," Wren replied. "If we were to walk, especially with children, we would have to turn around the moment we arrived in order not to be late for the next meal."

"Would you like to go this afternoon?" Wren asked eagerly. "Or would you prefer to wait a day, and rest up? You must have been traveling for a while now, I'm sure you could use the rest ..."

Earendil looked down at Andarien. That was usually the best way to judge if they needed to rest or not, he was the one who tired the most easily. At the moment, he was chewing on his collar again, and he made a fuss as Earendil gently pried the material from the boy's mouth.

"Lin?" he asked, looking over at his wife. "What do you think?"

"Fair enough," Wren nodded.

"Are you hungry?" Amalthea asked the group. "I can have some food brought in for all of you, something light if you like, or something more if you're hungrier. At any rate, it will be fresh."

"Can we have fish?" Kaito spoke up eagerly; and this time Shiro didn't just nudge him, he outright whamped him on the leg under the table. "Ow! What?"

Shiro rolled his eyes at his brother, but Amalthea just smiled.

"Yes, you may have fish," she agreed, amused. "I half expected something like that from you, Kaito. As I recall, fish was just about the only thing you ate at your parents' wedding."

And so the group enjoyed a lunch that included a few different dishes of fish, and then they were brought back to their rooms to rest for the afternoon. Andarien ended up being quite tired, and slept for most of that time.

Earendil took the opportunity to have a long, hot bath, letting the dirt and grime of the past weeks soak away, before laying down to rest on the large bed that was his and Lin's.

Miyuki wasn't the only one who was interested in exploring their new surroundings: though the adults were all napping after their tiring journey, the children were still full of energy, and River and Amalirahc were also wandering the halls. They had met up quite quickly, since Amalirahc's parents' room was right next to River's grandparents' room, and they were exploring together - under, of course, the watchful supervision of the guards that lined the corridors.

River had taken a very quick bath, and at her grandmother's urging had put on the one dress that she now owned (which they'd had made for her in Ebonscarp). Amalirahc had basically washed his hands and face and feet, and was wandering around like his father usually did - wearing only pants.

"Miyuki!" Amalirahc waved enthusiastically when he spotted her coming out of the door to her parents' suite. "Come join us!"

Amalirahc shrugged. "Not really. At least, they weren't when I left. They were just snuggling, I think. Mama was tired I think but Ada wasn't, so he's just staying with her."

"Grandfather's asleep," River told Miyuki, "but Grandmother said she wants to take some time to read."

"We were both bored, so we decided to look around," Amalirahc added, rubbing one ear absently. "This place is different from the other castles we've been to. It might be more interesting to explore."