Welcome to Gaia! ::

Elia giggled again. "Well, we'll be out of here soon enough. Mother and Father are expecting you, though they weren't able to come down here to meet you themselves. They should be free by the time we reach the library, though. That's where the tunnels come out."

Suddenly the patter of footsteps could be heard, and a small girl with dark curls tackled Elia around the knees. "I found you!" she cried gleefully. "Papa said I wouldn't but I did!"

Elia giggled and picked the child up. "Your father was right, Saria, you should not be down in the tunnels. It is far too easy for you to become lost. Now come, let us return you to him."

The little girl put her arms around Elia's neck. "But you'll carry me all the way back, right?" she grinned.

Elia laughed. "As long as you don't fidget too much." She turned to Long and Daemon. "This is Saria, my niece. She and her parents live in the city, so we do not see them too often. Unfortunately, she has a habit of wandering where she ought not to."

Saria just giggled and smiled innocently.

Elia smiled. "And I admit, I used to wander when I was even younger than Saria. I terrified my parents, despite the fact that my mother also has the Sight. But I also lived here, so I did know my way around better than Saria does."

She sighed and looked at her niece, though the sparkle in her eye showed that she was not as exasperated as she sounded. "And I hope it will not take Saria getting lost before she learns not to come down here alone."

Saria giggled. "I'm not alone," she beamed, "I'm with you!"

Saria giggled and laid her head against her aunt's shoulder, and her eyes sparkled mischievously. "But I came down to be with Ada-thel so I knew I wasn't going to be alone!"

Elia arched one eyebrow. "Is that what you would like me to tell your father?" she asked softly.

Saria's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "No," she said solemnly. "Please."

The child blushed at Long's teasing, but she stuck her tongue out at him before snuggling into her aunt's arms.

It was not much longer before they reached the end of the tunnel, and there Elia pushed aside a tapestry, revealing a sun-lit corridor for Long and Daemon to exit the tunnel into. There were two guards at either end of the corridor, and a few doorways, as well as a few tables.

There were other differences from the tunnels as well. The stone walls were no longer carved, as Elia had told Long, and their exposure to sunlight had left them slightly bleached, lighter than the stone of the tunnel walls. Also, as soon as the tapestry had been lifted away and they had emerged into the corridor, the temperature increased by several degrees, though without the burden of humidity. The Eastland desert was hotter than the Southland desert, and its heat permeated almost everywhere: the tunnels were just about the only places where the air was cooler.

Of course, to Elia and Saria, this was normal, and neither of them paid any attention to the change.

"Here we are," the elder princess smiled at the men. She set Saria down on the floor and took her hand, her attention still on Long and Daemon. "Come, my parents are this way."

She started to lead them down the corridor.

Saria turned around and looked at Long, her dark eyes anxious.

"Are you all right?" she asked him.

Elia smiled at the two men, her gaze filled with pity. "I had forgotten that you would not be accustomed to our climate," she murmured. "It's a good thing the tunnel comes out indoors, rather than out ... it isn't the hottest time of the year, but it is the hottest part of the day."

"We are just coming out of winter," Elia explained to Daemon. "The days have already begun to grow warmer, and I think since you spent some time in the Southland it's possible you might be able to feel the difference if you were to stay here for a while. For people who aren't used to deserts, though, I don't think the change would be noticeable, at least not for a while."

Saria blinked at Long, her expression blank. "Snow?" she repeated, her tone making it clear that she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yes, I can imagine that to be true," Elia mused, "though admittedly I have never been to the plantation. Mother and Father can't exactly leave to take us there, and it would not be seemly for me to go on my own."

She smiled at Daemon. "Still, Grandmother and Grandfather make sure to come and visit us quite regularly, every few years at the most, so we do know them well and they do tell us stories."

She turned a corner and gestured towards an open door just ahead of them. "There, Mother and Father will be in there," she told Daemon.


Saria's expression didn't change, except that her brow now furrowed ever so slightly. "Really cold? Ice?" she repeated again, clearly lost.

At four years old, she didn't have enough experience to realize what those things meant or the understanding to even imagine them.