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Elrohir thought carefully. "Regan was ... twenty two generations before me, I believe," he murmured. "And of course, I have great-grandchildren of my own, so from Regan to the most recent generation is twenty five generations."

Earendil chuckled. "A long time indeed. At any rate," he added, turning back to Leilani and Aric, "you're welcome to join us on our trip. We're going to be riding, I'm not sure how long it would have been since you've ridden horses."

"We'll be fine," Aric assured him. "Don't worry about us."

"You're welcome to spend the night here," Haradhel offered. "Get a fresh start in the morning. It's quite late now, and to be honest, if you're spotted outside at night, there's no telling how our fighters might react. Better safe than sorry, after all, especially when you have a child to worry about."

Leilani smiled softly. "I used to love the snow," she murmured. "It's been so long ..."

Aric chuckled. "Thank you, we would love to stay the night," he smiled at Haradhel. "That is very kind of you."

"We wouldn't have it any other way," Haradhel replied warmly. "It's no trouble."

She rose to go prepare a room for them, but at the doorway she stopped. "Would you like your son to stay with you?" she asked them curiously. "Or should he have a cradle of his own?"

Leilani bit her lip thoughtfully. "If a cradle isn't any trouble," she murmured.

Haradhel grinned. "Not at all. You just relax, I'll take care of it." And then she was gone.

Haradhel was passing by the door when Miyu walked in, and she smiled warmly at the girl.

"Welcome back," she greeted her brightly. "Go on in, dinner is on the table. We have some guests, they're family of Ulrich, they're very friendly. You should go say hello."

"Hello," Aric replied warmly in the Common Tongue, though Leilani, like Miyu, simply smiled shyly and waved. "And who are you, now?"

Now that the initial shock was out of the way, he was starting to become curious about Lin and Miyuki and Miyu and their extra body parts.

Aric smiled and nodded. "My name is Aric," he introduced himself. "And this is my wife, Leilani, and our son, Remiel. Ulrich is Leilani's brother, so we had come to visit him and Ulani."

"We never expected to find all of this," Leilani murmured softly, looking around and examining the room. "This is ... amazing."

"I didn't think you spoke the Common Tongue," Earendil spoke up curiously. "You were only speaking Common Elvish until now ..."

Aric smiled. "What better way to see if you were saying things differently among yourselves than what you were saying to us?" he asked.

"The best way to find out if someone is who and what they say they are is to eavesdrop when they think you're not listening," Aric smiled. "Valar know we learned that the hard way."

"So what else has changed since we left?" Leilani spoke up, her curiosity overcoming her shyness. "You said something about an Aldrich on the throne in the Eastland ... what does that mean?"

Earendil smiled faintly. "Well ... it's a bit of a long story ..."

Elrohir took it upon himself to begin at the beginning - his parents, his mother's status as a shapeshifter (which didn't seem to faze the visitors in the least), the war that had begun in the attempt to kill her, which had led to Regan's assassination, which had led to the larger war - Second War of the Races - and how the dwarfs had been exiled and the Eastland filled with elves of both races who wanted to intermarry freely. From there he explained about Lothiriel and Estel, and how they had gotten the position of queen and king.

By the time he finished, it was very late, and Haradhel had long since returned downstairs. She smiled at the visitors warmly. "Come," she murmured. "Your room is ready. There are extra blankets for yourselves and for your son. If there is anything else that you need, please let me know."

Aric and Leilani rose (a bit stiffly, it must be noted) and Aric bowed his head to Haradhel respectfully.

"Thank you," he said softly. "If you would be so kind as to bring us to our room, I'm certain that we will have everything we need."

It was clear from their demeanor that they were used to being around royalty, but in a position of servility rather than equality.

As they headed out of the room, Leilani turned and bowed her head as well. "Good night, everyone," she smiled. "It was a pleasure to meet all of you."