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Earendil returned Lin's kisses, and when she spoke into his ear, he held her close again. As frustrated as he was, as afraid as he was of what was happening to his eyes and his ears, he did feel stronger when she was with him.

"I love you," he told her softly, his arms tightening around her slightly. "I could never express just how much I love you, Lin. It was only thoughts of you that kept me going in there."

He let her go again and gazed at her tenderly. His eyes were still moist, but tears were no longer falling. He lifted one hand and stroked her hair lovingly. "You are right," he murmured with a hint of a smile. "We've been through so much already ... we can make it through this, too."

His smile wavered slightly, but he refused to let his emotions get the better of him again. He had to be strong. He was back with Lin - she was his strength. They both needed to be strong. For their children.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door - neither loud nor soft, though it was too soft for Earendil to hear.

It required too much energy to sit up, and Earendil stayed laying down, though he did look to the door to see who it might be. Part of him was afraid, but the rational part of his brain reasoned that if it was someone who wanted to hurt them, they wouldn't have knocked.

The door opened, and in stepped Maravel, the bald, one-armed man from the throne room. He had a bag slung over the shoulder of his single arm, and he stepped into the room and bowed.

"Forgive me for disturbing you," he said quietly, causing Earendil to strain to hear what he was saying, "but Prince Cael informed me that you would be in here, and I thought Prince Earendil might appreciate something to eat."

Earendil missed about half of the man's words, and he looked at Lin, frustration returning to his face.

The frustration faded from Earendil's face when Lin told him what Maravel had said, and he sighed and tried to sit up. As in the cell, he managed only to prop himself up on his elbows.

Maravel meanwhile was bowing to Lin again. "Forgive me," he said, speaking up. "It seems the General has taken yet something else from your husband."

He straightened and closed the door, then lifted the bag from around his neck and held it out to Lin. "He did not get any food while he was down there, so you'll want to make sure he doesn't eat too quickly," he cautioned her. "He'll only make himself sick if he does."

Earendil pushed himself up into a sitting position and dragged himself against the headboard of the bed so that he didn't have to sit up himself, but could be propped up by pillows. Then he looked into the bag.

"Bread will be easy on my stomach," he murmured, reaching for the half loaf he saw in there.

Maravel watched the two of them sadly. Several times he looked as though he wanted to say something, but each time he simply shook his head and remained silent.

Aside from the half-loaf that Earendil was now munching on (safely and slowly), the bag held a wedge of cheese, several pieces of fruit, some meat wrapped in an oiled cloth, and some wafers.

As Earendil ate, he felt some of his strength returning, but his stomach had shrunk during his captivity and by the time he had eaten less than half the bread, he was full.

"Much better," he mumbled tiredly, replacing the partial loaf in the bag. He shifted so that he could lay down again, then looked up at Lin. "Maybe we should get Andarien and Miyuki back in here," he suggested, rubbing his eyes. "I know I look a fright, but I'd like to see them."

Andarien was simply happy to hear that finally he could see his father, and he scrambled to his feet and ran towards the bedchamber immediately.

Lancaeriel had been reading through a journal she'd found sitting on the desk in the room, and now she looked up at Lin.

"Do you think this would be a good time to examine him a bit further?" she asked quietly. "Perhaps see what has happened to cause his sight and hearing to be affected, and if there is anything that can be done for him?"

"I don't think I blame him," Lancaeriel murmured, setting aside the journal she'd been reading. "I know I would be terrified at the idea of losing one of my senses, let alone two."

She accompanied Lin back to the other room, and nodded a greeting to Maravel, who had taken a seat on one of the chairs in the room.

Andarien was kneeling at the side of the bed and was biting his lip anxiously as he looked at Earendil. Earendil was half asleep, though he tried to rouse himself when the children came to him.

"Miyuki, Andarien," he smiled, his voice soft. "I'm so glad to see both of you again. How are you two? You kept safe?"