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Celebor nodded at Miyu, still holding Ruran where he was. "I think I would like that," he agreed. "Though I was also sort of hoping that Ulani and Ulrich could help ..."

Ulani nodded, her jaw set firmly. "I would be more than happy to do just that," she said quietly, anger simmering below the surface.

Though she had a feeling that what the boy needed was to be utterly humiliated before he would even agree to any sort of training or discipline at all.

Rhea clutched her staff tightly. She had never needed it so much before as she needed it now. Curiosity was one thing, intelligence was another, and normally she had no trouble with stopping herself from leeching the emotions of others - but she had never been in a space with so much anger, and she actually found herself having to work hard to channel it out of herself.

"Cindy," she whispered softly, leaning over to whisper in her teacher's ear, "I think I should get out of here ..."

It was just getting to be too much for her, even with her staff ...

Rhea nodded a quick goodbye to her grandparents, and then turned and headed quickly out the door. She felt better almost immediately as she reached the fresh air, but still she had to fight the feelings of resentment and anger that were trying to bubble through her.

"I'm sorry," she murmured as Cindy joined her. "I've never been tested like that before ..." She shook her head slowly. "Let's go home ..."


Back inside the house, things were still a little crazy. Aras seemed to be hiding behind Miyu, Ruque and Kanis were huddling together behind their mother, who was trying to shield them - and Ruran was having a glare-off with anyone who dared to catch his eye.

"You want to hold me here, Dad?" he challenged Celebor. "Go right ahead. I can stick it out. Corrah did the same thing to me. He held me almost a whole day before he let me down. Let's see if you can hold out as long as he did."

Of course, he left out the fact that he had been the one to break down - hungry and in pain, he had finally succumbed to Corrah's correction. But he wasn't going to say that here.

Rhea smiled shakily and nodded. "I thought I was ready for anything," she murmured, "but if not for my staff ..."

She shook her head. She didn't want to think about it. She was quite possibly the most magically powerful person there ... she didn't even want to consider the damage she could cause, taking in the rage that that boy felt.


Ulani looked at the other children who were there, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. To have such a wonderful person as Celebor as a father, and Niyana for their mother - she didn't know much about Niyana, but she felt certain that she had to be a wonderful woman - and then to have such a horrible brother ...

"Miyu," she said softly, turning to the girl, "why don't you take the other three outside? Maybe you could see Aliya or Adanedhel and Rose ... I'm sure Ecthelion would like to meet his new playmates."

Rhea nodded, still holding her staff tightly.

"I've never felt such anger," she admitted quietly. "Such ... hatred. It's ... it's sad ... but ..."

She lowered her eyes. "The reason for his anger is not that he hates others so much ... but because he hates himself. For what he is. Half elven. He hates his human heritage, he hates his mother ... but he hates himself most of all. To show anything but anger to him is weakness ... and it is consuming him."

She leaned her forehead against her staff, almost as if she were getting over a dizzy spell. "How could anyone become like that?" she whispered, sounding as lost as she felt.


Ulani smiled at Miyu. "Just follow the river, past Adonai and Shael's house," she instructed. "I'm sure Aragost would be happy to take you there - I can see he's still waiting in the yard for you."

He had never done well with large groups, it was no surprise to her that he hadn't come into the house as well.

Rhea frowned sadly. "But even ... even being inside his head, knowing what he's feeling, and what he's thinking ... I can't understand it," she said softly. "And I don't know what to do with it. What if I hadn't brought my staff with me in there? Sometimes I feel as though I don't need it anymore, that I can keep things out and therefore wouldn't need it ... but ... what if I hadn't had it in there?"

Aras clung tightly to Miyu as she led them all outside, and as Aragost came into view again she tugged on her dress and pointed.

"Who's that?" she whispered up at Miyu, her teal eyes filled with fear.

Rhea looked at Cindy, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Then the fact that he's here ... that I've actually met someone with as much anger and hatred as him ... it was more likely not to have happened than to have happened eventually?"

It made her feel better, but still, she was worried about her lack of control, especially with her staff in hand.

Aras pressed closer to Miyu. "He's big ..."

Much taller than Corrah had been, even if he wasn't quite as forbidding looking.

Kanis blinked at Aragost. "Are you a trainer?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

Rhea nodded and hugged Cindy impulsively. "Thanks," she said softly. "I wish I could help him somehow ... but to me, it seems that it would take someone else of half blood to do so."

Aragost rose from where he was sitting as the children approached him, and he made sure to keep his cowl low over his face.

"You are going to see Rose and Ecthelion," he said softly, "are you not?"

All three of the children were in awe, but it was Kanis who spoke up, her tone filled with awe: "How did you know?!"