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"Pants and vests, actually," Earendil replied as the door was opened for them. "The shirts themselves are white, not that anyone keeps them on. Haradhel was the only exception, of course. She was also the only woman ever to train with the Home Guard. It's a great honour, one that few people manage to attain."

The Dining Hall was full when they arrived - or at least, as full as it could be with everyone from the family there. Lore and Elnara were the only ones not yet present, though Earendil was certain that they would be arriving soon - and in addition to those who were expected, there were two extra people: a man and a very short-haired woman.

"Ander!" Earendil exclaimed, happy to see his cousins again. "Wren!"

Wren was sitting next to Tinuviel, and when the two women saw Earendil Wren laughed and held her hand out to Tinuviel. Tinuviel smiled sheepishly and passed something off to her, and only then did the two of them acknowledge Earendil's presence.

"It's good to see you again, cousin," Wren smiled brightly, rising from her seat to acknowledge him properly. "It has been far too long. Though Tinuviel tells me that we have come at a very good time."

"What with Uncle Lore and Aunt Elnara visiting," Tinuviel explained. "Since the last time Wren and Ander were here was the wedding."

Wren laughed. "Not nearly as surprised as we were to learn that they were here as well!" she chuckled. "Honestly ... what are the odds that we would all end up here on the same day?"

"Not very," Tinuviel admitted, "since time passes so differently for them."

"At any rate," Earendil grinned, "they'll be down shortly, I'm sure, so why don't we all sit down?"

Just as Lin spoke, Elnara entered the room with Garrick in her arms. Lore was next to her, carrying Hana. They were a bit late because Hana had been quite angry when Elnara had tried to cut her feeding short, so there had been no choice but to finish - and then when they added the need to get ready for dinner on top of that, well, it had just taken them quite a bit more time than they had expected.

Elnara had chosen to dress up as well, though not nearly as fancy as Tinuviel had. She was wearing her pale green spidersilk gown with the matching scarf around her neck, and for jewelry she wore only the necklace with the key that Lore had given her so long ago. She had dressed the twins similarly: spidersilk shirts and pants, save that Hana's was a pale blue, while Garrick's was a pale green.

"Surprised by what?" Elnara asked as they entered the room - but then she caught sight of her cousins, and she waved happily to them. "Hello again, Ander, Wren," she said brightly. "It's wonderful to see you again."

Lore grinned seeing two familiar faces, he had to admit he had not expected to find them here. They must have just arrived.

"Never tired of hearing that," he grinned, "It is good to see you both again."

Elnara laughed at Lin. "I hadn't expected it at all," she admitted, "nor would I have if anyone had suggested that they might be here. But come, let's all sit down - we've made the meal late in starting, I'm sure everyone must be hungry."

She smiled over at Lore and headed for the table, towards the empty seats opposite her cousins.

By the next day everything was back to normal, well as normal as it could be with a group of visitors being at the castle. However yesterday was behind her (wonderful day but there were some things she would rather not be brought up ever again), but now that the first day here was out of the way it meant that Lin could go back into her routine for when she was here. Which consisted of, training, lessons, training, fun (which somehow turned out to be an excerise in something) and spending time with Earendil.

Well that and she was going to need to add spending time with Tinuivel and asking for lesson in social graces (that's what Mi called it anyways).

Elnara on the other hand was preparing the twins (with Lore's help) for their trip into the city. They would be making many visits that day, and she was worried the twins might need more than she had remembered to take along. It would be their first real full day out, and she just hoped that they would behave.

"It's a good thing they still fit into their slings," she laughed to Lore as she finished packing their bag. "And perhaps a good thing Garrick isn't walking yet, though I have a feeling he'll be wanting to try walk down the streets."

Maybe they could let the twins wander loose at the inn, she hoped that would keep them happy.