Welcome to Gaia! ::

Without skipping a beat, Kyrie looked over at Wren. "Princess?" she said questioningly.

Wren smiled softly and nodded. "If you wish."

Lancaeriel also smiled, though it seemed a bit more of a pained smile than a warm one. But after a moment, the sparkle returned to her eyes, and she turned to her occasional pupil.

"Well, Miyuki?" she asked, genuinely pleased at the thought of sharing once more with her. "Do you think you could stand sharing with me again?"

While they were all looking for rooms, their hostess explained, "I will be downstairs. Once you're settled, feel free to do as you wish. There will be a hot bath, though I'm afraid you will have to take turns, and I have food ready if you're hungry, or if you'd rather rest for a while, this is a very quiet area so you'll be able to sleep undisturbed. If you have dirty laundry you would like cleaned, just bring it down and I will get to it by tonight, as well."

She paused, looking thoughtful, wondering if she had forgotten anything; and then, just to be safe, she added, "If there's anything you need, or if you have any questions, just let me know. Our home is yours while you're here and I would like to help you in any way that I can."

"I wouldn't mind a bath and some rest, myself," Earendil admitted. "Though the thought of some clean clothes would be welcome as well."

They had after all been traveling for a few weeks without the opportunity to get their clothes properly washed.

"Then bathe and rest and bring me your dirty clothes when you have the chance," Elspeth beamed. "Just down the stairs will be quite fine."

"Does anyone mind if I take the first bath?" Kyrie asked, looking around at everyone.

When no one disagreed, she smiled gratefully and took her bags back downstairs with her, leaving the rest of them to sort out their rooms and do what they liked.

By the time everyone had bathed and rested, the aroma of dinner was wafting up the stairs as if inviting them down. Elspeth had prepared quite the meal for them, just as she had sent the basket of provisions those days before, and when it was all laid out on the table there was just as much food, and even more variety.

This time, of course, Elspeth, her husband, Duran, and her son, Alaric, joined them. Despite the large number of people in the room, it was not crowded - though they did not all fit at the table, and some of them ended up eating, plates in their laps, while sitting on the couch or other chairs around the room.

"So Kyrie," Earendil said as people began to be full and conversations began, "you were going to tell us about your husband after we'd settled in, weren't you?"

Kyrie smiled and lowered her eyes self-consciously. For all the woman was so skilled and seemed to have no trouble speaking her mind, as blunt as a person could be, she wasn't one to put herself in the spotlight, so to speak - which really was the reason she hadn't brought up the subject of her husband any earlier, despite having known the group for over a year.

"Oh," Elspeth murmured, also clearly surprised by the news. "You're married?" The slight furrow of her brow showed that she was also curious to learn more about Kyrie's husband, though she was too polite to say anything further.

"His name is Ahkshi," she began. "He is a fire elf, and he lives in the city of Makshim, in the country of Shiezin, one of the countries belonging to the fire elves. We have been married for over nine hundred and fifty years, and for all but two hundred of those years ... well, a little less ... I have been traveling."

She looked at Lin and Earendil. "When you were staying with Lily and Corazin, they told you, I'm sure, that I had not visited them in over two centuries," she remarked. "During that time, I was with Ahkshi."

Kyrie nodded slowly. "Essentially, yes," she murmured. "It's hard, being apart ... but I feel guilty when I stay there for long periods of time. There are always people traveling who need help. People who are lost, under attack ... people who have been injured ..."

She shook her head. "I have the ability to help them, and therefore the responsibility. My brother taught me the basics of medicine, but Ahkshi is a physician as well and he taught me about surgery and the like. That's why he can't come with me on my travels," she added as an explanation of why he didn't accompany her. "He's needed in his city."

"That must really suck," Kaito murmured sympathetically from his seat across the room.

Kyrie smiled and shook her head. "No, he lives in Dolerum, which is quite a distance away. Khetal lives with Lara's parents, the ones who adopted me when I was young. But I was still young when I began my travels, and that was how I met Ahkshi."

She paused, then laughed softly. "Actually, that was how Lara and Cantor met. Lara came with me once on a visit to Ahkshi, before we were married, and Cantor was the one who we first ran into. They are brothers, by the way - Cantor and Ahkshi."