Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil smiled and squeezed Lin's hand. "Don't feel bad about it," he murmured upon hearing her sigh. "It's been a long few months for us, we're both tired."

A quick visit back to Rhea told them that Cindy was in the courtyard, and so that's where Earendil and Lin headed next.

The trees in the courtyard were beginning to turn shades of gold and red, but it was still beautiful and serene. Clouds had come up and partially blocked the sun, so it was not as bright as it had been when they first arrived, but in the shelter of the courtyard, there was no breeze, so it was still quite warm.

"She's probably at the gazebo or something," Earendil murmured to Lin as they wandered into the courtyard.

Earendil first spotted a swatch of blue between the golds of the leaves, and then they came around the bend in the path and there was Cindy in the gazebo. She was alone, and she looked quite occupied, but Earendil felt certain that she would be happy to be able to talk with Lin.

He smiled down at Lin. "Do you want to talk to her yourself?" he asked her softly as they approached. "Or shall I stick around?"

Earendil chuckled softly and squeezed her hand one last time as they reached Cindy.

"Hope we're not interrupting," he said softly, trying not to take Cindy by surprise.

"Would you believe we were waylaid?" Earendil asked, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "We were about a week away from here, on our way back, and we woke up in the morning surrounded by ships. We had to go with them, and Luk was there."

Oversimplified, but the truth.

Earendil grinned. "Yes, I can see that," he agreed, sitting across from Cindy. "After all, I've been witnessing it almost my whole life. Lin seems to attract more than most, I have to say, though she blames it on Haven."

He said the last part with a poker face, though he was clearly teasing her.

Earendil chuckled and winked at Cindy. "Determined to have your family be the cause of it all, I see," he teased her. "Well, I guess I can't argue that. And I can only say that it's a good thing, too, since it's doing so much good. This place now has a good ruler, Arthael will find out about her family, so many lives have begun ..."

It really was amazing just how much influence one family could have in a world that wasn't even their own.

At that comment, Earendil's face flushed slightly, and he looked down at Lin. "Er ... yes, well, sometimes even the bravest of men can be the most afraid when it comes to matters of the heart. And it didn't help that there were so many misunderstandings ... on both sides."

He smiled slightly, still gazing at Lin. "But it was a risk well worth taking, in the end. And though the future is still unknown, I'm sure that it will work out somehow."