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Earendil chuckled softly. "I was going to suggest a walk, but that could work too," he smiled at Kara. "I know I'm not quite ready for bed yet."

He looked around at the others. Ahren and Shiara had headed off already, and Haldia looked as though she were ready to fall asleep at any moment. "Though it looks like just about everyone else is," he added. He looked thoughtful. "Maybe I'll go for a walk on my own then," he murmured.

Earendil blinked and wondered if he should be worried about this. After all, Kara had to know just as well as Donovan ... but at least she hadn't been one of the ones teasing him ... still, he was starting to feel nervous about this. Maybe a walk wouldn't be such a good idea after all ...

But there was no way he could back out of it now, not now that Kara was expecting to go with him. It would be rude, and it would really let everyone else know that something was definitely wrong with him. Or, perhaps not wrong, but simply up. Something was going on.

At least Lin probably still wouldn't get it, he mused.

"When you're ready then," he nodded, rising to his feet.

Earendil nodded and started towards the door, where he waited for Kara to join him.

"Everyone else," he murmured with a smile, "have a good evening, and I bid you good night." He repeated it in the Ancient Tongue for Haldia, and Haldia smiled back and nodded at him.

"Have a good walk," she replied, waving slightly.

Earendil bowed slightly and motioned towards the door. "After you," he smiled gently; and he followed Kara outside.

Once they were outside, he chuckled sheepishly. "I'm afraid you may have to lead the way," he told her. "I don't know my way around, beyond the main yard." He looked up at the stars. "It sure is a beautiful night, though," he smiled warmly.

Earendil followed after Kara, clasping his hands behind his back. "I can understand why Miyu would want to," he smiled, slowly allowing himself to relax. "I understand that her magic is aligned with the stars, or something like that ... it's amazing how different the stars are here from back home. I know we're quite a bit further north, but ..."

It kind of reminded him of how the stars had been different on Nauros and Amon Darthir as well. Navigating by the stars was something that he enjoyed, not only because of the navigation, but especially because it was simply an excuse to gaze at the stars' beauty.

Earendil tensed slightly at Kara's question. At least, he reasoned to himself, she was going about this in a polite manner. And it really was her business. He shouldn't let himself get so uptight about it. And maybe - though he doubted it was the case - maybe she wanted to ask him about something other than Lin.

"Go ahead," he murmured, resigning himself to fate. "What's on your mind?"

Earendil's gaze fell to the ground, and he stared at the path in front of them as they walked. Step, step, step ...

He had to be honest about his feelings. He was just an honest person. If it were anyone else, anyone else at all, he could simply brush them off, tell them to mind their own business. But this was Lin's mother, someone who had the right to know, and who did indeed deserve to know. Not only from guesswork, not from rumours, but from him, straight from him.

"More than anyone," he replied softly, finally, still staring at the ground. "More than anything."

It went against everything he was ever taught, everything his culture stood for ... but he didn't care. He loved Lin, and that was all there was to it.

"How could I?" he asked softly, still looking at the ground. "She doesn't love me. At least, not in the same way. She loves me as a friend, perhaps as a brother, but ... that's it. And what right do I have to ask her to stay with me? She has a whole other world before her ... family, friends ... they're all in that world that I can't go to. How could I ever ask her to leave that?"

He ran his fingers nervously through his hair. "She has a wild spirit. She needs to be able to come and go as she likes. I could never cage her just for me ... I could never take her away from the people and the places that she loves. Truly loves."

He knew Lin was just a visitor to this world, and especially today and yesterday, when he had seen just how many people were here at the ranch that she visited with the same joy she had when she visited him ... he knew now more than ever that he was no different from anyone else in her eyes. A dear friend perhaps, but just a friend from the world she liked to spend time in.

He said nothing of the political aspects of it. The scandal that would ensue. The position it would put the two of them in, culturally and socially. He didn't care about that, not for his own part. He would be able to endure it, he knew ... it didn't matter.