Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rhea giggled at Lin's reaction and poked her gently in the side. "Lin," she murmured, "any self-respecting country will have at least one historian. You don't need to be so surprised."

Aethos also chuckled at the look on Lin's face. "Yes, we have a historian," he smiled at her. "But first, some food. Please. The dining hall is just this way."

He led the way straight into the castle, down the wide hallway.

It seemed that when Aethos felt he needed to apologize, he didn't skimp. Though it was midmorning, and it was only the four of them in the dining hall, the meal that was brought out could be more aptly described as a feast. The entire table was filled with all sorts of foods, some that were in common with the Four Lands, some that were in common with Nauros, and still others that were unique to this island.

Partway through the meal, a servant appeared in the doorway.

"Aethos-sola," he said respectfully, "the woman has returned, bringing others ..."

Aethos rose to his feet. "Send them in," he ordered.

The servant hesitated. "My lord ... she will not. According to the others, she wants only to make sure they are safe before she will return to their ship."

"If that is her wish," Aethos nodded, "then so be it."

The servant bowed deeply, then turned and left the room.

"I agree," Earendil nodded. He wiped his mouth on a napkin and moved to stand up, but his leg muscle seized again, and he fell back into his chair, cursing under his breath. "Or not," he muttered.

Rhea smiled and rose to her feet. "Lin, why don't you stay here with Earendil," she suggested, "and I'll let Haldia know what's going on?"

"I will!" Rhea promised with a smile; and then she headed off after the servant, Aethos following after her.

Earendil sighed and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. "Sorry, Lin," he murmured. "You shouldn't let me hold you back. You've missed out on enough things, sticking around for me ..."

Earendil smiled warmly, though it seemed a little bit wistful as well. "Perhaps not," he admitted softly, "but still ..."

He just felt guilty about it, Lin always staying with him when he was working, or injured, or sleeping, or whatever it was. He had always waited for her by choice, but there were times when he honestly felt as if he were constricting her somehow.

Earendil chuckled. "You know I don't just mean that, Lin," he murmured softly. "But yes, I won't disagree with you that you do lack tact at times. Though I admit, there have been a few times where I felt quite tempted to become a bit physical with Aethos ... how Rhea changed him so much, I'll never know."

From the direction of the doorway, soft voices could be heard approaching.

Earendil raised one eyebrow. "So big that we can't even talk about it now? That is impressive."

He glanced over towards the doorway as the voices drew nearer. Aethos was the first one through the door, but right behind him were Leyenda and Kelirahc, followed by a much calmer Rhea.

"Earendil!" Leyenda cried, rushing forward and throwing her arms around him. "You really are all right!"

"Just as Rhea promised," Kelirahc said softly, putting one hand on her arm.