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"Not long," Iorlas answered softly. "Thirty years or so. It took us a while to get used to being elves, and then we headed towards Tavari. I knew it was the smallest elven village, though not the closest, and I thought it would be best if we went somewhere small, where Ioreth could cause the least amount of trouble."

She grew quiet then, thoughtful, wondering if perhaps it would have been a better idea to still stay away from people, considering how much trouble Ioreth had managed to cause there.

Iorlas smiled softly. "Ioreth will lie, she will cause as much mischief as she possibly can, she will try to trick people into situations that are harmful ... but she herself cannot lay a finger on anyone."

"I would still feel better if the children didn't go around by themselves when we're here," Earendil spoke up. "Nothing against you, Iorlas, I trust you - but if Ioreth shows up again, I just want the children to be safe."

"Don't worry about that," Alassëa spoke up again, finished grooming her bird and now just stroking it. "Their Majesties have ordered that Lady Kirahn, their own personal bodyguard, be with the children at all times when they're not with their parents."

"They should be," Iorlas agreed. She stifled a yawn. "Do you have any other questions for me?"

"Just one," Earendil spoke up. "You've said that Ioreth is going to do anything to try to make you change back so that she can as well. Why are you so certain that you won't die, or rather, why are you so willing to die if the situation arises?"

Ioreth smiled again, and despite the topic there was no sadness in her eyes.

"If I die," she said softly, "she can never regain her true form. She will be trapped in the body of an elf forever. To save the people I have come to love so much, I would gladly die rather than let her loose on them again."

Iorlas laughed softly. "I hope not, too," she smiled at Lin, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Believe me, I am glad to be alive, and hope to be so for a long time to come. It's all we've got. It's true that we look like elves, but essentially we are still dragons. Once we die, that's it. There is no reincarnation for us, no Halls of Mandos. We will cease to exist."

"That's a bit sad, I think," Earendil murmured.

Iorlas shrugged. "It's an incentive to do what I can now. Not to waste what life I have. It doesn't bother me."

All in all, they had a good night's sleep, and after breakfast the next morning they sought out Wren to see if she would take them to her favourite place. She had said that it was on the palace grounds, and to be honest Earendil was still wondering where it might be. Of course, the palace grounds that he knew weren't large: in the Southland, the palace was on the top of a mountain, so there was only room for the training grounds, really; in Amon Darthir the place had been built for defense, so large grounds weren't wise; and in the Eastland it was simply too hot to have much grounds, and there wasn't much point in keeping it. But this place was different, unique from the other lands in that it was an incredibly old country that had not in thousands of years been worried about needing to defend themselves, and had thus been built for beauty and comfort rather than military strategy. And that made all the difference.

River and Amalirahc were also going with them, since the children wanted to see it as well, and so their first stop was the palace stables, to find horses for all of them to ride.

"It would probably be easiest to have a small cart for the children to ride in," Wren, dressed today like a woods elf, said thoughtfully as she tacked up her own horse. One of the grooms was tacking up a horse for Earendil, but at the princess's suggestion, he paused to see if he would have to continue.

Earendil tilted his head curiously at his cousin. "You mean, you would ride ahead and Lin and I would take the children in a cart?" he asked her.

Wren nodded. "Not that I don't trust them, but coming back they might be too tired to ride. And it's not a good idea, I think, to have more children on horses than adults with free hands, and one of you at least will have to carry Andarien."

Wren nodded to the groom, who bowed slightly and turned back to the stable.

"Just a small one so that we can still go quickly," Wren added, turning back to the others.

"Sounds good," Earendil agreed. "Will it take long to get ready?"

Wren grinned at him. "No time at all."

And sure enough, within one minute, the horse and cart were ready for them. The cart was a two-wheeled sort, and had only a bench for sitting on, and a place to rest their feet.

"They're also used for racing," Wren winked at them. "So our speed is going to be set by how fast you're willing to go in it."

"Absolutely," Wren replied. "Exactly how fast is up to your parents, since you probably do want to be careful with Andarien. But you can definitely go much faster than those wagons you arrived in!"

"Why don't you start off and we'll follow, and you can adjust to the pace we end up going?" Earendil suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Amalirahc agreed, even though he wasn't the one driving the wagon or riding the horse.