Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil closed his eyes, and the blue faded into darkness. Then he reached out with one hand towards the door, palm facing outward. For a moment, nothing happened; then suddenly a red glow in the shape of a dragon appeared on the door just beyond his fingertips, and the door opened silently onto a landing in the middle of the tower's spiral staircase.

"Come out," he called to the others softly. "It's safe."

Earendil chuckled as he closed the door behind them again. "We are here," he told her. "Out in the castle proper. First thing we need to do is find Ninako and tell her that we have guests again. She's in her study at this time of day, which was why I chose to use that passage instead of any other - it brought us the closest to her study out of all of them."

"Great-grandmother," Earendil nodded. Then he added, "The queen."

He started leading them up the stairs. They had only one flight to go, and then her study was just two halls down.

Earendil paused thoughtfully, wondering how best to answer that question.

"Well," he mused, "it would take more than a day to explore ... possibly more than two, if you were to see absolutely everywhere."

But that was at his size, not hers.

Earendil chuckled. "Well," he replied patiently, "we have many people here who spend a lot of time making sure it all stays clean - and actually, it doesn't get very dirty in the first place."

Though she did have a point - after all, the marble walls and floors were always sparkling.

"Indeed," Earendil agreed, thinking about it for the first time in his life. "I suppose there are ..."

And suddenly he realized how little attention he had paid to some of the most everyday aspects of his life. He knew several of the servants by name, but only the ones with whom he personally interacted. Those who took care of the parts of the castle that he had nothing to do with, he had no idea who they were, or how many there were, or where they lived, or where they spent their time when they weren't working.

They were fast approaching the door to the queen's study, and Earendil chuckled slightly at Lin's comment.

"We have many rooms for them," he assured her. "Many of them live here - others of them live in the city."

He knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

The oaken door opened wide and the queen stepped out. She was barely taller than Earendil, but they shared many of the same features - not the most prominent of which was her long black hair, also loose today.

She was surprised to see Earendil there at this time of day, but even more surprised to see who was with him.

"Nina?" she blinked. Then her gaze moved to the little girl who was on her back. "And ... one of the Winters children ..."