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"That's true," Earendil chuckled. "At least it has an advantage that way, even if it hasn't got a whole lot else."

He looked around as they walked, keeping his eyes open for Iorlas.

Andarien looked at Miyuki. "You don't want to play?" he asked her, eyes wide. "But River's your friend!"

He had his blocks after all.

"It is," Earendil smiled. "Very pleasant, as far as it goes. Perhaps a bit too uneventful, compared to what we're used to. For once, we're bringing our own adventure instead of finding it. And it looks like the children have been accepted just fine."

He enjoyed walking like this with Lin. It was something that didn't happen very often at all anymore, especially not just the two of them.

Andarien grinned at Miyuki. "I can play with my blocks!" he beamed. "Then when Ada comes back I can show him how to make a tower that doesn't fall down!"

"Calm is nice," Earendil chuckled. "Honestly, with all this business with Ioreth, and Alassëa's father, and Emile ... things get exciting everywhere we go."

He pointed up a street. "There, I think that's her at the end over there. Walking in front of that couple."

It was hard to tell sometimes with so many blond people around, but it looked to him like Iorlas.

Earendil laughed. "Yes, likely," he agreed, amused. "You could always fly, if you desire. Or that glowing thing you do. Then you would be near her faster than me, and you would know sooner than me."

Still, he picked up the pace a bit so that they would be able to catch up. As slow as Iorlas was moving, since she was just wandering, she was still going in the opposite direction, away from them.

Earendil laughed. "Something like that. But it looks like we'll catch up soon enough."

They were close enough now that they could see Iorlas clearly. It was definitely her.

"Iorlas!" he called out, hoping she would hear him above the crowd.

Iorlas was lost in her own thoughts, but when her name was called twice, she heard it the second time. She looked around to see who had called her, and she smiled when she saw Lin and Earendil waving her down. She stepped around the people who were walking behind her and headed down the street to the two.

Earendil slowed his pace to a more moderate one. "Good, she heard us," he said, relieved.

Iorlas blinked at Lin. "Oh?" she asked. "I saw you earlier ... you didn't seem in a hurry then. Did something happen?"

Earendil smiled softly at her. "Do you know of somewhere we could talk?" he asked her. "In private, I mean."

Fear edged into Iorlas's eyes. "Did something happen?" she asked again, her tone anxious now. "Is Daeron all right?"

Iorlas let out a sigh of relief, though her face tinged slightly pink and she turned away from them.

"Come, there's a bench under some trees just around the corner." She beckoned for them to follow her. "We can talk there."

She led them around the corner, and, as she had promised, there was a park bench in a small grove of trees, without any people around it. She sat on one side of the bench, and Earendil motioned for Lin to sit in the middle before he himself sat on the far end.