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"Interesting," Aysu commented thoughtfully. "I knew Water Elves - true Water Elves - changed when they went in the water, but I wasn't aware that there were others who could do the same thing. Change, I mean. But you change far more than they do."

"And in case you're wondering," Ta'neer added, "we aren't true Water Elves. Not enough, anyways. Only the purest have their water magic."



"Thank you," Lily smiled. "You'll have to come visit me at my house, then, that's where all my work is kept. Perhaps Mother will invite you all to dinner sometime."

"All at once?" Luk asked. "Where would she put us all?"

Lily laughed. "Well, a few at a time, anyways. Senator's wife, she'd think it her duty - though she'd eagerly do it even if it weren't."

"So your people are usually in the water, then?" Ta'neer asked, suddenly very interested. "Like the water elves."

Aysu rolled her eyes at her sister and sat down next to her, letting her feet rest in the water. "Ta'neer wishes we had purer blood," she told Naida. "She's jealous of Dwr, which - personally - I think is the reason she tries so hard to ignore him."

She reached out and poked her sister in the side. "You do realize he's got some of the purest blood around, right?" she asked her.

Ta'neer glared, her teal eyes growing darker, changing colour slightly, taking on a purplish hue. "Don't even think about finishing that thought aloud," she warned Aysu.

Aysu giggled. "Lighten up. Seriously."



"Me, too!" Andarien said brightly. "Ada, when can we go?"

The adults all laughed, and Earendil put one hand on Andarien's head. "You wait until we're invited," he told him, his eyes sparkling brightly.

Andarien looked up at him. "But how will we know when we're invited?"

"Someone will come and ask us if we would like to come."

"Where will they ask us?"

"Wherever we're staying, probably."

"Where's that?"

Earendil paused while he thought of an answer to that, and he looked to Lin for help. They really didn't know the city at all, and as he recalled, it was quite large - they wouldn't easily find somewhere just by wandering.

Aysu sighed softly, but she was smiling. "Water elves have the abilities that you saw Dwr have," she explained patiently. "When they're in the water, their skin becomes scales, and the webs between their fingers become very useful. But - and more importantly - they can breathe under the water, as if they were on land. Ta'neer and I don't have those abilities - any of them."

"Only those who are of entirely pure water elven blood have those abilities," Ta'neer interrupted her twin. "Our father is a water elf, but our mother is only half water elf ... and half light elf. That makes us one quarter light elf, and once the water elves marry another type of elf, their children cannot have that magic."

She glared down at the shell in her hands. "Except Dwr. His great-grandfather was a white elf, which for anyone else would be enough dilution to block the magic but for some reason he has it. Which - in itself - I don't mind. But he's constantly rubbing it in!"



"There are two empty rooms at my house," Lily offered. "One used to be my brother's, but he's got his own place now; and the other belongs to my aunt, though we haven't seen her in about two centuries."

Luk looked at the others. "I'd take her up on her offer, if I were you," he advised them. "There are a few inns in the city but they're rather expensive, I have to say."

Aysu nodded. "Dwr likes to be the best," she said simply. "He would never outright cheat, but he will do anything he considers legitimate to win. That's why I had to stipulate that a false start would mean disqualification. He used to make a habit of that."

"He takes the fun out of it," Ta'neer added. "Just like everything else." Her grip on her shell was so tight that her already pale fingers had turned white.

Aysu noticed this with a glance and she frowned softly. "Ta'neer ... calm down, will you? You're going to break your shell."

Ta'neer glared at her sister, then, without a word, rose to her feet and walked away.

Aysu blew her breath out slowly. "The stupid part is, the shell was a gift to her from Dwr in the first place," she confided to Naida.



"If you'd like," Luk offered, "I can ask around and see if there are those willing to take them in. I'm in a better position to ask people, after all, since I do know them."

He turned to Arthael and her family. "You know that you're all very welcome to stay here," he added. "I'm afraid I haven't much room in here, but the yard is soft and I've a tent that would make you feel as if you were actually in a house."

Arthael smiled. "I've always slept better outdoors, anyways," she told him. "I'm sure it will be fine."

Aysu brushed her blue-green hair behind her shoulders as she contemplated how to reply.

"The best of friends," she said finally, her eyes fixed on the water. "When we were little. Then we grew up ... and, well, adolescence does strange things to people. Boys think they need to do stupid things to get the attention of the girl they like, and girls get overly sensitive to the boy they like. Our mother says they'll both grow out of it, but honestly ... some days ..."

She made the motion of knocking two heads together, then smiled sheepishly at Naida.



"I'm going to head home, then, and let Mother know that we need to get our guest rooms ready," Lily smiled. "Shall we count on you four staying with us, then?"

She looked at Lin and Earendil as she spoke, then waited for their answer.

Aysu's eyes lit up with amusement when she heard Naida's tone of voice.

"Oh?" she said, her tone clearly indicating that she wanted more details. "Do tell. Those two are driving me mad, it's been going on for a year and a half already. I'm desperate for anything that might help!"



Earendil chuckled at Lin. "It makes things far simpler than we're accustomed to, doesn't it?" he grinned. "I see absolutely no reason why we couldn't. At least we'll know one of the people we're staying with."

Which really didn't mean much, since it wouldn't take much effort to get to know whoever else they might have stayed with.

Aysu giggled, clearly amused by the idea. "Pity I can't think of anywhere to lock them together," she grinned. "Nowhere but a bedroom, anyways, and then everyone would want to kill me. What a scandal that would be!"

She laughed again, then looked back eagerly at Naida. "What else?" she asked.



Lily smiled. "Excellent. Would you like to come with me now? That way you'll know where it is, and you can bring your things from the ship."

Earendil glanced at Lin. "I think that might be a good idea," he said slowly. "The sooner we're settled, the better. Then we can also look around the city a bit, too, if we have time."

Aysu snickered. "I notice you didn't say it would work for Ta'neer," she grinned. "I don't know if it would work for Dwr, but I'm willing to give it a try. Part of his problem though is that he just doesn't listen. So that would be the challenging part that way."

Sometimes she thought Dwr just liked the sound of his own voice; but other times she wondered if that wasn't just him spouting off to get Ta'neer's attention again.



So the four of them packed up what little they'd brought with them, thanked Luk for showing them his house, bid farewell to their old friends, and left, with Lily in the lead.

"Would you like to go to the ship first for your things?" the copper-haired woman asked Lin and Earendil as they re-entered the city. "Or should we first go to my house and let Mother and Father know that you'll be staying with us?"