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"Not long," Rhea replied with a twirl of her skirt. "I came upstairs to get dressed as soon as Mama said we were finished. And then I heard some noises in your room, and then you came out - so not long."

Her hazel eyes glinted brightly with mischief. "Come on, Mama wants to ask you about Aragost and I want to listen to what you say!"

Rhea's eyes grew wide as she waited for Cindy at the doorway.

"That's not good," she said worriedly, taking Cindy's comment literally. "Come on, let's hurry!"

And instead of waiting for Cindy, as she was going to originally, she took off down the hall and ran down the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her.

When Rhea came racing into the kitchen, Shael had just finished setting the table for lunch. She stared at her daughter, who seemed worried and out of breath, and her brow furrowed with worry.

"Are you all right?" she asked softly.

Rhea nodded vigorously. "But are you?" she blurted. "Cindy said you were dying!"

Shael blinked, taken completely aback by her words. "What?"

Once she realized what had happened, Shael laughed.

"I'm all right, Rhea," she assured her daughter, putting one arm around her shoulders and hugging her close. "If Cindy says something like that, she doesn't mean that I'm really dying - she just means that I'm so curious that I'm growing impatient, perhaps, or something similar. That I'm eager to know ... whatever it is she believes that I'm curious about."

She smiled at Cindy. "If you mean your talk with Aragost ... then you're correct," she giggled. "I am indeed curious."

Rhea, relieved, hugged her mother around her waist, then moved to sit at the table for their meal.

Shael sat down and lay her crutch on the floor at her feet before serving Cindy some food.

"I'm not certain," she admitted, "but I think he said something about research ... though what he's researching this time, I couldn't say. Perhaps winter plants again, that's what it was last week ... but in light of last night's discussion, and the fact that he didn't know Aragost came here this morning, he could be trying to find out what he can about empaths, as well."

"Empaths?" Rhea piped up, holding her plate out for her own food.

"That is what you are, Rhea," Shael smiled at her daughter. "One who has empathic powers."

"Oh, that bit that we're going to help me keep out," Rhea smiled brightly. "So that's what it's called." She giggled. "Maybe we should find another empath somewhere and ask what they do, maybe that would help!"

Shael cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm ... not sure that would be possible," she murmured to her daughter. "Empaths are ... rare ..."

So rare that she had only ever heard of one or two in the entire thirty thousand years of elvish history.

"Oh," Rhea said in a rather disappointed tone. "That's too bad. It would have made things a lot easier."

She started eating, seemingly dropping the entire conversation without warning.

Shael stared at Rhea in wonder. She had voiced her thoughts exactly ... though she was realizing now that it wasn't the first time.

She cleared her throat softly and turned back to Cindy. "And what are your plans for the afternoon?" she asked quietly. "Any ideas?"

Shael shook her head slowly. "Echo ... mimic ... reflect ... I don't even know what to call it anymore. She says what I'm thinking before I realize I'm thinking it ... are they even her own thoughts? Does she have her own thoughts? Her own traits? What is she, beneath the mirrored exterior? Who is she, beneath the images and reflections of those around her?"

Her eyes grew sad. "I suddenly feel as if I don't even know my own daughter anymore," she said wistfully.