Welcome to Gaia! ::

Haldia looked at Lin over her shoulder. "Are you all right?" she asked, more worried about Lin than about Earendil. "I do not believe that I have seen you this anxious before ... he is going to be all right, you will see."

She offered Lin a brave smile, hoping to make her feel better.

Haldia blinked at Lin. "Strange?" she repeated. "Does he not often go somewhere early in the morning, before even eating?"

In her experience with him - at least, at the palace - he had been frequently absent in the mornings. To her it was almost natural. Really, the only reason she was out here was because Lin was worried.

They had gone almost all the way to the valley already, and since they hadn't found him, Haldia turned the roc around. They would circle the ranch for a while and see if he was anywhere near there.

Haldia laughed aloud as the possessiveness of Lin's tone. It was just funny to her - but then, she was one of the people who knew about Earendil's love for Lin, and she knew that were the situation different, Earendil would be thrilled to know that Lin was so worked up over his absence.

"We will find him," she grinned. "And then you can ask him yourself where he was and why he did not wait for you."

"No, that is true," Haldia grinned. "But you must have realized by now that he does it because he wants to. He showed me to the city while you were home again, and it is quite clear to me ... there are very few people that he respects, and fewer still that he has true affection for. You are one of them."

The main one, but it was not her place to say.

Haldia nodded. "Yes, but only once he was sure that the owner's daughter was not in," she replied, not thinking anything of it. "I believe that he took me to every shop, though ... I admit, I was curious and eager to see them all. But he did not seem to respect any of the young women. The older and married women, yes, but ... that was it."

She chuckled softly. "He even said to me that until he met women from outside the city, he could not find any that he could even just tolerate."

"I have never understood those women who wish to marry a man of prominence," Haldia admitted. "I think that is the reason Kelirahc and I are such good friends. He was much like Earendil, back home. Sought after by the single women, young and old. I was never interested in him in that way, and so he never ran from me."

She was also aware that it was Earendil's birthday, but birthdays had never been anything special to her people, and so she didn't think anything of it.

"Somehow," she added, looking around, "I do not think this is the type of place where he will have to worry about such things, though."

"It reminds me of home in that way," Haldia smiled, looking around. Suddenly she pointed. "There! By the horses!"

Sure enough, far below them, Earendil could be seen leaning against a fence post and watching the horses. He was about as far away from the ranch house as he could get without getting lost, and Haldia wondered if perhaps he wanted to be alone. Still, she had to admit that he should have expected that people would be worried about him.

She nudged Rhiel gently, and the roc tightened its wings slightly and started to descend.