Welcome to Gaia! ::

When morning came, Rhea led Lin once more to the island, but this time, rather than coming up the cliff, they went around it, towards the front of the castle. There, she could see that the land in front of the castle sloped gently towards the rest of the island, and that the other side of the island was almost entirely made up of mountains. But on that slope were three separate walls: one up by the castle, and then another a few miles below in, which guarded a city where she assumed that more of the elves lived, and below that wall, several miles even further inland, was a third wall, presumably as a first line of defense against whatever it was that lived on the mountainous side of the island.

"Where should we land?" she mused, looking at the three walls. Within the topmost wall would be foolish, she supposed that only few people were allowed up there. Too close to the castle would be seen as a threat. Within the second wall was the city - perhaps from there they would be safe. Within the lowest wall would be much too far away, it would take them forever to get up to the castle at all.

Rhea nodded. "Right then. But I don't think that in the city would be a good idea, I think if we stay out of the city it might be safer ... maybe a bit above the city, halfway between the city and the gate?"

She pointed at the place she meant. There didn't seem to be any people in the area ...

Rhea nodded and headed towards the ground, and soon enough they were on the ground. It was cool, but she had been prepared. She had carried her cloak in her arms, and now, hiding her wings once more, she draped her cloak over her back and pulled her cowl up, hoping that it wouldn't make her too conspicuous.

"Ready?" she asked, turning to Lin.

Rhea smiled bravely and led the way up the path towards the gate of the wall that led to the castle. She was a little surprised to see that all of the walls were as white as the castle itself had been ... she knew that in the Southland they had been hard pressed to find all of the white rock they had needed for the palace, and this one was much bigger - though not quite as impressive, per se.

When they reached the gate, there were two soldiers on each side of it. One of them stepped forward, arm raised to stop them.

"Halt," he commanded in the Common Elvish tongue. "What is your purpose here?"

The soldier exchanged a glance with the rest of the men, and stepped forward towards the two travelers.

"I think you should come with me," he said solemnly. "But first, we will have to make sure that you have no weapons. Please remove your cloaks."

Rhea wasn't about to let Lin get into any trouble on account of her wings, and as she pulled off her cloak, she summoned her own wings, spreading them wide just as Lin had done. Her wings were white again, as usual, since she didn't have to hide in the dark. Her weapons were of course hidden, melded into her body, and she left it that way ... just in case.

The men's eyes grew wide, and all four of them fell to their knees and bowed their heads upon seeing the two women with their wings spread.

"Forgive us, maidens," the first one said, his voice almost fearful. "I ... I mean no disrespect ..."

"Nonsense," Rhea replied. "We are strangers, and will be brought to see your king. Of course you have to make sure we have no weapons."

The man shook his head. "No, I will bear the responsibility. None will touch you, or your things."

He rose to his feet and ordered the other three men to keep watch, then turned back to Lin and Rhea. "Please, come with me," he said, almost reverently.

It was a brisk half hour's walk to the castle, and not once did the soldier attempt to speak with either of them. Rhea also kept quiet, secretly amused by how they had been received. Her intention had been merely to keep Lin from seeming too different ... but it seemed they might have been taken for some of the Valar, or Maiar at the least.

Once they reached the castle, he led them inside and down a corridor.

"I'm afraid our king is not in residence at the moment," he said apologetically, "but Aethos-sola I'm sure will be able to help you."

The soldier nodded. "I will take you to him," he said respectfully. "This way."

He took them down a wide hall and to a thick wooden door. The door was open, and he walked right inside. There were two soldiers in there, fully armed and armoured, helms and all, but one of them was clearly of a far greater status, because his armour was more intricately designed. He was giving orders to the other man, but he stopped when the soldier who had led Rhea and Lin there entered the room.

"My liege," the soldier said, removing his helmet and kneeling on one knee, "if you have a moment ..."

Rhea blinked at the soldier, taken by surprise. Though he spoke like a Westlander, his hair was the colour of fire ...