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"Very suddenly," the historian agreed. "To this day I cannot explain how he got here, or how he knew that Aerin-sol needed his help, or for that matter how he even got her off the island. But every day I am thankful that he did come, even if we still know nothing about him."

Their princess was still alive and well, and that was what was most important.

Rhea laughed. "You can say that again," she grinned at Lin. "And more so for me than for you - I live there permanently! I'm going to have all the time in the world to ask the two of them questions."

An adult she may be, but she was still a child as well. Personally, she blamed it on the fact that her parents had always babied her, even once she had been too old for it.

Rhea laughed. "Yes, and I know Leyenda and Kelirahc were planning on coming along as well," she grinned. "What a merry visit it shall turn out to be!"

At last, Earendil finished with the food, and he turned to Lin and asked, "Hey Lin, weren't you going to ask about something else? You were asking Aethos-sola earlier about the gnomes ..."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Alena said cautiously. "They have intelligence enough. Admittedly, it is easier for us to learn their language than for them to learn ours ... but they are intelligent, in their own way."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Perhaps the best way to tell you about them would be to show you my research," she decided. She rose from her seat. "Please, follow me."

Earendil glanced at Lin, and then he and all the others started after the historian as she headed towards a door in the back of the room.

Earendil had to put one arm around Rhea's shoulders as they followed after Alena, because even though his leg wasn't cramping anymore, it was still quite sore.

Alena noted his limp and slowed down accordingly, without saying anything. She didn't want to make him feel self conscious about it. The door she brought them to was a stairway, and she led them up several storeys until it became a spiral staircase. Even then, they continued upwards, up and up and up ... and after a while, Rhea started to get a nagging feeling ...

"Lin," she murmured quietly in the Common Tongue so that Alena wouldn't be able to understand her, "I think this might be where we came in last night."

And if it led to a library, it would explain why it had been so deserted in the middle of the night.

Rhea nodded, casting her eyes around the tower they were climbing. "I don't know for sure, but ... it seems like the same tower to me. It's certainly tall enough, we did come in the tallest of them ..."

There was no way to be certain until they reached the top and looked out, but it was just a feeling she had.

It was still a few more minutes before they made it to the top of the tower, and at the very top, just beyond a closed door, the tower was open, and the wide view of the ocean could be seen outside. It stretched out to the horizon, and there was nothing else in sight. The castle was high on a cliff, and the ship was too close to be seen without going all the way outside. Tactically good, Rhea mused.

"Here," Alena said, opening the door at the top of the stairs. "Come in here."

She led them inside and used her magic to light several torches, illuminating the room. It was a circular room, like the tower, and the walls were covered, ceiling to floor, with rounded shelves. Each shelf held hundreds of scrolls, rolled tightly and stacked and labeled on the shelves.