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"Ah, I see," Elberon murmured. He tilted his head at Earendil. "Is it a bit warm in here?" he asked. "I know it's a bit stuffy, I'm just so used to it that I don't think about it ... but this is probably your first time in a stable, isn't it?"

"No," Earendil replied, his flush growing darker, "I've been in the stables in the Southland ... but we usually have windows and such open for a draft, so yes, it is a bit more stuffy in here than I'm used to."

He cleared his throat and turned to Lin. "Perhaps we should go back outside," he suggested pointedly.

"Come again!" Elberon grinned, waving back before turning back to the horse he was tending.

Once they were outside, Earendil took the smelly bag away from Miyuki and handed it back to Lin. "Here, I'm sure we'll all feel better now that we're back in the fresh air," he murmured, and though his face did lose some of its colour, it still retained a slightly pink tinge.

Earendil nodded. "That sounds like a plan," he agreed. He shifted Miyuki to his other arm and prepared to follow Lin once more. "Now ... he said the one by the house, so ... that way, I guess," he pointed at a large structure just beyond the ranch house.

"Nothing wrong with asking," Earendil shrugged, "or knocking on all the doors until we find him."

It was going to be hit and miss. Even if they did know which room was his, that didn't mean he would be in it. Either way they would have to ask someone anyways.

As they approached the building, the door opened, and a woman stepped out. She was dressed in forest garb, a deerskin tunic and pants, and had a brace of throwing knives strapped around her biceps as well as a dagger at her waist. She had short blond hair - a boyish cut, really, though she was clearly a woman and blue eyes.

She didn't seem to notice Lin and Earendil, and instead she stretched and started off towards the pasture, to the right of Lin and Earendil.

The woman turned to Lin and blinked. "Second floor, first door on the ..."

She trailed off and looked closer. "Wait, have I seen you before?" she asked, almost suspiciously.

Earendil looked at her more closely. He hadn't seen her before, that was for certain. But there was something strange about her ... she wasn't any taller than Lin, and when he looked at her ears ...

"Are you human?" he asked her.

She stared at him. "Yes. That a problem?"

The woman continued to stare at Lin, her eyes narrowing in concentration. "I'm sure I've seen you before, I know I have!" she exclaimed. "Where ..."

She snapped her fingers, remembering suddenly. "Close to twenty years ago, in the Seconds world. You were smaller then, didn't have wings."

Earendil looked down at Lin. It certainly sounded as if this woman knew Lin, but if Lin didn't know her ...

Armus laughed. "I knew I knew you!" she exclaimed. "Idhril brought us here years ago to help with the slavery issue. There were a lot of people from that middle world, whatever it's called, who weren't happy with it, but I think we've settled in nicely."

She tilted her head slightly. "You must be Lin, then. I never did learn your name the first time we met. I've been hearing all sorts of rumours all day about you. Adopted a child, here with a Southland prince."

She turned to Earendil. "That would be you then, I suppose?"

Earendil chuckled. "Yes. Daeron is my brother, which is why we're looking for him."