Welcome to Gaia! ::

Andarien grinned and pushed his chair back.

"Do you want to come, too?" he asked her eagerly, stretching to rid himself of the stiffness that had come up during his time sitting and designing. It had been only about an hour, but after all the traveling they'd been doing since leaving Caras Galadhon, he wasn't used to it in the least.

Andarien shook himself loose and called Zeus and Eon to follow him. Eon looked up at him, then looked back at Ai, beside whom he was sitting, and then he yipped quietly at his master that he would like to stay with his mate, if he could.

"Sure," Andarien grinned. "Don't make any trouble."

Eon sat up indignantly, and Andarien laughed. Zeus skipped over and pranced about Andarien's feet. He for one was eager for some exercise.

Andarien and Miyuki spent some time exploring the palace and getting to know their way around, asking guards for directions when they needed to, and finally they ran into some of the people who had been sent to help them. A gentle man with warm eyes accompanied Miyuki back to their rooms to measure her for new clothes, and a burly man brought Andarien to the palace armoury, where there was a forge he could use as much as he liked.

At midday, meals were brought to their various places, and after a while Andarien returned to the suite again. He had just stepped inside when from out the window, there came the sound of trumpets blowing a fanfare.

"That must be the parade starting," Earendil commented, glancing towards the window. He was sitting up in bed now, and was quite thoroughly sick of it already.

Andarien looked at the window, too, and Kyrie's information about the conservatory that would offer the best view without them leaving the palace ran through his mind.

Andarien's face lit up, and he nodded to Miyuki. "I think it'd be nice to see," he agreed. "I don't remember the city at all - I want to see what it's like, and I want to see how the people react to Mari!"

He grinned and reached for his sister's hand. "Come on, let's go!" he beamed, starting towards the door.

Earendil smiled back at Lin. "I'd love to sit by the window," he agreed. "I can't see a thing from here. I'll probably need help, though."

If she were to set up the chairs first, it would probably be easier. He would be able to sit without having to wait then.

"Tower stairs, up to the top," Andarien murmured to himself as he led the way. The trumpets fanfared again, and he picked up the pace slightly. He didn't want to miss it!

At the top of the tower stair was a thick door that didn't look as though it saw much use, and the hinges gave off an ear-piercing creak when they pushed the door open. The room inside looked ... dead. There were troughs and pots for plants, and remnants of soil in them; but the only traces of plants that were left in the room were bits of rot on the floor. There was a desk in the room, but it was rather dusty; and the furniture and curtains were also coated in a thick layer of dust.

"Wow," Andarien coughed, making his way slowly and carefully towards the open door that led to a balcony. "Think this room has been used since the General took over?"


Earendil watched as Lin rearranged the chairs, and when she came to help him, he couldn't help but laugh at her question.

"Ready for a different view, if nothing else," he chuckled. He held his hands out to Lin. "I should be able to make it if you help me," he smiled, hoping it was the truth rather than believing it.

"Mari would probably know," Andarien shrugged, reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief. He held it in front of his nose and mouth to protect them from the dust that shook free from the curtains when Miyuki pulled them back. "She grew up here."

Behind the curtains was a wide open doorway that led to the balcony, which was quite sizable: ten feet wide, and fifteen feet across. It had a gray-stone railing which matched the stone of the palace itself.

Andarien stepped outside fearlessly and looked around.

"Hey, look, Mi!" he beamed, pointing at the palace walls where, the day previous, golden banners with black crows had hung. Now they were gone, replaced with red banners with a white dragon.

"I don't know why else they would have put them up," Andarien agreed. He stepped right up to the railing of the balcony and leaned his elbows on it, looking out over the city.

And they were indeed over the city. The tower was a tall one, and the palace was on a bit of a hill, so they were well above the tops of the city buildings (not that any of them were more than two floors high, so it wasn't difficult to be). From their vantage point, they could see almost the entire city, too: the streets, the people, everything.

Once again the trumpets sounded a fanfare, and Andarien's attention was drawn to the front gates of the castle, where the parade was just leaving the palace grounds. The gates were wide open to let the procession through. At the front of the parade were soldiers, marching in rows of five, the center and end soldiers each carrying a banner with Mari's family crest.

After the marching soldiers came the trumpeters, and behind them were more soldiers, these ones on horses. They came in rows of three, though there were only a few rows of them. Then came more soldiers marching on foot; then a formation of seven soldiers making an inverted V-shape in front of three people mounted on black horses: Mari in the center, sitting tall and waving to the people; Maravel on her left and back a few paces, looking somewhat afraid; and Cael to her right and back a few paces, looking quite comfortable in the saddle and grinning at Mari.

The streets were crowded with people, but so far it seemed that the common emotion among them was confusion: after all, most of them were unable to see the banners from the streets as there were buildings in the way, and the takeover of the city had taken place during the night, when most of them would have been asleep or too afraid to look outside.