Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lancaeriel laughed softly.

"Tell you what," she grinned at Miyuki. "Give me until tomorrow, and I'll ask Cael about it. I'm sure he must know something about it. He's lived here for nearly thirty years, after all."

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, not loud enough for Earendil to hear.

"That sounds like a good plan," Lancaeriel agreed. She glanced towards Lin. "Shall I get the door for you?" she asked her just as there was another knock, a bit louder.

Earendil blinked. "Someone's at the door?" he asked, surprised.

Even the second knock, though louder than the first, was not loud enough for him to hear.

"Ah." Earendil smiled gratefully at Lin. He knew his hearing wasn't what it was, but he had been afraid for a moment that it was worse than he'd feared.

Lancaeriel smiled and moved to the door, and she pulled it open just after a third knock sounded.

It was Cael, and when he saw his wife, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Lancaeriel! Here you are!"

She laughed and opened the door wider. "Yes, here I am. Come join us, we're just chatting. Is the parade over?"

Cael came into the room and took Lancaeriel's hand. "Yes ... well, sort of. My part is finished. Maravel and Mari are still out there with the people. I don't think I've ever seen them happy before."

Then he took his attention away from his wife and looked at the others. "Hello, all. Sorry if you didn't hear my first knock, I wasn't sure whether or not Prince Earendil would be resting and I didn't want to disturb him."

"Very," Earendil added with a grin. "Not being able to do anything gets boring very fast."

"I could always help you with that, if you don't mind sleeping for three days straight," Cael offered, seemingly quite seriously.

Lancaeriel whacked his arm. "Behave," she chided him.

"Probably put a spell on your father to make him sleep," Lancaeriel sighed.

Cael chuckled. "Well, I was teasing, but if you want me to do it, I can," he offered to Earendil.

Earendil smiled and shook his head. "Thanks, but I don't like unnatural sleep. Your wife has already made it quite clear that staying put is the best way to recover, so I'll stick with that."

"I was," Cael nodded. "Just wanted to be with her now that I'm back at the palace."

Lancaeriel smiled. "Then perhaps you can help us," she suggested. "We were wondering about the conservatory. Miyuki, what were you wondering specifically?"

She looked to her protegee. Earendil had only suggested they do some of their studying of plant magic in there, but not what specifically had drawn Miyuki and Andarien to the place.

"Well, don't be too hasty to say it hasn't been used," Cael cautioned Miyuki with a smile. "Maravel uses it. Rather infrequently, I admit, but that is where he goes to puzzle through his visions. Not that he ever touches anything in there."

He took a moment to think about it. "Those pots ... I'm afraid I've never paid them much mind, but ... as I recall, they're made of stone ... probably took four people to get them up there, even without any soil in them. If you want to replace the soil, I would suggest using smaller buckets to take it out a bit at a time, mix it with the soil in the gardens, and then bring it back a bucket at a time and refill the pots."

Then he grimaced. "You are right, though, the entire room is in desperate need of cleaning. The dust has been piling up in there for as long as I can remember. Would you like me to speak to some of the staff about cleaning it?"