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Aliya puffed her cheeks out and raised her eyebrows, trying to remember.

"Oh boy ... Adanedhel's twelve now ... so it must have been at least ... ten? Eleven? More? I can't remember." She shook her head slowly. "He was the one who had so much trouble sleeping all the time, he kept having dreams ... if he's been having those dreams all these years then I'm amazed he looks in such good condition. He hardly slept when he was here."

She paused. "His dreams ... I can't be sure ... but they seemed to be about ... an animal that could change its shape."

"Well, if he'll be working at the ranch from now on I'm certain there will be every opportunity to get to know him better," Aliya smiled. "And I'm sure Lin will do her best to find out what became of those dreams ... she was here at the time."

Adonijah began to stir again, and this time he opened his eyes and sat up halfway. He froze in the middle of a yawn as he looked around and saw all of the strangers around him again - but then he spotted Tao and Aliya together, and he scrambled to his feet and ran over to them, ducking underneath Tao's wing for protection.

"As if she doesn't have enough people already," Aliya commented softly, her experssion growing slightly pained as she watched her son hide himself away again. Still, it was encouraging that he hadn't tried to run for the house, and that he had at least stayed in the general area.

Lothiriel smiled at Ryu. "Well, I'm sure Uncle Elrohir and Aunt Haradhel will be pleasantly surprised as well," she murmured softly. She smoothed out her skirt again, looking off into the distance. "It almost makes me wish I could be there to see it."

Pen raised one eyebrow. "A new worker," he shrugged. "It can't be any different from any other time."

"I suppose," Pen nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. If you put it that way."

Lothiriel just grinned impishly, her eyes sparkling with secrets.

Aliya smiled at Feng. "Well, I think I should leave him alone with you two more often," she giggled. "He does seem fine ... though I imagine it might have something to do with Tao's presence. He loves Tao to bits."

Aliya laughed. "Ah yes, that would explain it," she giggled, reaching out to pat the griffin on the head again. "She's quite the wonder. Maybe she'll be the one to get Adonijah used to the two of you, then. It would make me very happy."

She reached forward and lifted Tao's wing, pulling her son out and holding him to her chest. "Come, why don't we go inside?" she smiled at the others. "We can get a drink and something to eat."

And she turned and started heading inside.

A short while later, back at the ranch, Adanedhel and Beren were just arriving. The boy had been talking almost non-stop to the man, showing him things he had learned and so on, but Beren didn't mind. He found that he was already growing fond of the boy, and he was enjoying the conversation. He had after all been traveling for a very long time by himself.

As they entered the area of the buildings, Adan looked around.

"I wonder who's around," he murmured softly, seeing a few of the workers at their various tasks.

"Kara!" Adan called out eagerly, spotting her sitting on the porch. He beckoned for Beren to follow him and ran over to her. "Kara, do you know where Elrohir or Haradhel is? Beren wants to work here, he's one of the ones that Donovan rescued when he was a kid!"

Beren smiled and bowed his head to Kara. "Good morning, my lady," he said warmly. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I trust that I find you in good health?"