Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil smiled and put his hand on Miyuki's head. "Sleep well," he murmured, standing up again. "I love you."

He smiled, then turned back to Lin. Shall we? he mouthed to her, nodding towards the door.

Once the door was closed, Earendil headed towards the door that opened to the hallway and held it open for Lin. His information was that Iorlas and Alassëa's room was just a few doors down from theirs, across the main hallway, and he was anxious to find them before they went to sleep.

"She staying in bed?" he asked Lin, noticing that she was listening at the door to the en-suite.

"It shouldn't be too difficult," Earendil chuckled softly, patting her hand before leading her down the hall. "This is a very large city, I daresay the largest we've ever been in with the possible exception of Caras Galadhon."

Of course, it was also the oldest city they'd been in, with the possible exception of Caras Galadhon, and thus had the largest population - again with that possible exception.

"Ah, I'd forgotten about that," Earendil smiled. "Yes ... and now that I'm thinking about it again, I find myself curious to know what it is."

Very quickly, they had reached the door to Iorlas and Alassëa's room, and he knocked tentatively on the door. Within a minute, the door opened and Iorlas was peeking out at them. At first, her expression was curious, but when she saw who it was, she sighed and opened the door wider for them to come in, her expression resigned.

"Come in," she said softly, gesturing with one hand toward the room.

Alassëa was grooming her bird when Lin and Earendil entered the room, and Earendil wondered if she had already been told about Iorlas. Perhaps this wasn't the best time and place to talk to Iorlas and find out more information about it after all ...

"You have questions about my being a dragon," Iorlas said softly, making Earendil's concerns about Alassëa baseless as she closed the door behind them.

He glanced towards the blind woman, and Iorlas smiled faintly at him. "I told her immediately after dinner. I felt it only fair."

"Not that you could have kept it from me for long," Alassëa spoke up absently, "considering how many people are going to want to ask you about it now. I would have found out eventually, though I am grateful that you were the first to tell me."

Iorlas nodded and motioned for them to take a seat. There was a couch against one wall, and Earendil steered Lin towards it as Iorlas herself sat on the edge of her bed.

"How much has Miyuki told you?" she asked hesitantly, wondering where she should begin, and what would need to be better explained.

Iorlas shook her head slowly. "No wonder everyone was avoiding me at dinner," she murmured sadly. "I do appreciate that you're taking the time to find out the details on your own. I'm afraid Miyuki's ... shall we say ... story-telling abilities are ... vague at best?"

If she'd heard Miyuki's version of events, she would have been afraid of herself!

"Then perhaps you should begin at the beginning," Earendil suggested, "so that we don't get the story in bits and pieces, but rather all at once."

Iorlas nodded, took a deep breath, and began.

"I do not know who our creator was, Eru or Melkor," she began, "but from our earliest moments, all we saw was the killing of our kind. Both of us were filled with rage, and we both ... went on a rampage."

She explained about her and her sister's shared hatred of the elves, of how they lived for thousands of years killing every elf they came across, and how their hatred was only fueled. Then she explained about how one day, she was nearly killed, and how a passing elf saved her, how Ioreth had killed that elf, and how from that time on they had been at odds with each other. Finally, she explained about how she had met the woman who had changed her and Ioreth into what they were now.

"For myself, I couldn't be happier," she concluded. "I can be among the people that I love, as one of them, and my sister can do nothing to directly harm anyone. I know I'm in the most direct danger, but Ioreth only wants me to change back so that she can. She won't actually hurt me."