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Iorlas nodded. "I know. And I can understand that. He needs to be able to communicate, especially if you go to cities where Common Elvish is not spoken. If he were to somehow become separated from the rest of the group ..."

She shook her head. "It would not be good. My only question is, will my blood work while I am in elven form? I am a dragon, yes, but does my blood carry the same properties in this shape as in my true one? That is my question. And if not, then I would not mind changing back, not now that Lancaeriel is here and has offered to make me an elf forever. The only problem then is ... Ioreth."

When Iorlas reverted to her true form, her twin would do the same: at the moment she was safely locked away in a cell where she could do no one any harm (so far as they knew, anyways); what would happen if Iorlas were to change now? Even if only for a few minutes?

"And I hope that it would not come to that," Iorlas agreed. "I don't think Ioreth has ever been happy, except when she has been killing. She will never be happy again. There are times when I wonder-"

She cut herself off and shook her head. "No, I will not voice my thoughts on that. But that is why we must speak to Lancaeriel. I must confess, I have already spoken with her about ... changing ... and while her intention on making Ioreth's reversion contingent on my reversion was at the time a very good idea, I fear that now it is only a hindrance."

She sighed. Her words were calm, but the look on her face showed that this was bothering her much more than she was letting on.

Iorlas pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to think of how to say what she wanted to say.

"What I mean is," she said slowly, "what I wanted when Lancaeriel changed us was not the same as what I want now. Back then I wanted something ... to control Ioreth, to keep her from hurting others, and I only took on the form of an elf as a means of controlling her. But now ... now I wish I truly were an elf. Permanently. Yet the only way for that to happen is for me to first change back to what I truly am. In so doing I could help you and Andarien easily. Bleeding does not bother me in the least. But in order for me to do what I want more than anything else to do, I would have to release my sister from her current state, and that is something I cannot do lightly."

She glared up at the sky, and for the first time since meeting Lin and the others, her expression was angry. "Would that she were here this moment, and we could end this once and for all!"

Iorlas rubbed her temples, trying to calm herself. "That, I do not know," she said softly, fire still burning in her eyes as she turned to look at Lin. "We could ask Lancaeriel. She has ways of finding out. She is - was ... has studied magic extensively, beyond what most elves are even able. She will be able to tell us that as well."

She turned her gaze towards the desert that lay beyond the edge of the vineyard. "And yet ... this would almost be ideal ..."

Iorlas blushed lightly and looked back at Lin. "Forgive me, my thoughts are running away with me again," she apologized. "I mean the desert. The vast emptiness of it. If Ioreth would ... catch up to me here, it would be an ideal opportunity to put an end to all of this nonsense. I know it sounds horrible but ... I'm not certain I did the right thing, having us changed like this ... it hasn't solved any of our problems, and Ioreth is as horrible as she ever was. What I should do the next time she shows up is end it. Forever."

She looked back out at the desert. "Nothing out there to destroy, no one to hurt ... it would be the perfect place."

"And even if they were, would it matter?" Iorlas murmured. "I am what I am, Lin. I make no apologies for that."

She sighed. "One thing I wish were different. I wish I could say that I wanted to do this out of concern for others. Truth be told, if that were the case, I'd have allowed Lancaeriel to kill Ioreth instead of changing us into elves. No ... I'm being selfish. Very selfish. To not have to worry about her following me, to be free from her, to be able to truly become an elf ... those are my reasons for wishing for this, and that is the one thing that makes me feel bad about it."

She smiled ruefully at Lin. "It makes me sound so horrible, doesn't it?" she murmured.

Iorlas laughed softly. "Thank you. But come, we should find Lancaeriel right away then, and see what she says about all of this. Don't you think?"

She smiled at Lin. They would need to know these things before they took any steps, after all.

"Up at the house, I should imagine," Iorlas replied with a shrug. "She keeps herself busy with her studies."

The two of them left the vineyard and headed towards the house. Before they even arrived, they could see the strangely pale woman sitting in the yard, leaning against a tree, a book open on her knees. She looked up when she heard the two women coming towards her and smiled at them, closing her book and setting it aside.

"Good afternoon," she greeted them.