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Ulani smiled at Lin. "Yes, he was killed. He was as dead as a person can be. But you see, because of how he had died, his body had not been recovered, and he had not been buried. My mother once discovered how the dead could be revived ... under certain conditions. But to do so is paramount to suicide."

She reached into the front of her tunic and pulled out the small leather pouch that contained her elfstones, and dumped the small stones into her palm to show Lin. There were three of them, white so pure that they seemed to dazzle, even inside where there was no light shining on them.

"My mother used her elfstones when she tried it," she explained, "and she was able to survive. Regan ..."

"She had a unicorn's horn," Ulrich supplied. "She didn't have her elfstones at that time."

Earendil glanced over at Ulani's hand, and he broke into a wide grin when he saw the stones. "Impressive," he murmured. "Those are the rarest of the rare."

Ulani slid the stones back into their pouch and put them away. "If Mother hadn't had her stones, I doubt she would have been able to defeat the guardian," she said with a grimace.

"I still don't know how the unicorn's horn helped Regan," Ulrich shrugged.

"They're just as magical as the stones, if not more so," Ulani reminded him. "I just wish she had kept it with her."

"Do you still have it?"

Ulani nodded. "In the bedroom."

Earendil chuckled and moved Miyuki to the knee away from the pie. "Don't touch," he murmured. He dipped his pinky finger again and put it to Miyuki's lips to give her another taste of the sweet filling.

Earendil chuckled. "Yes, well, there are worse things. Besides, it's not as if it's bad sweets. It's strawberries, what's wrong with that?"

"With sugar," Ulani grinned. "But you're right, it's not a lot of sugar."

"You know," Earendil chuckled at Miyuki, tapping the end of her nose lightly, "you're going to leave me with nothing if you're not careful."

He picked up his fork and broke off a piece and took a bite. "See?" he grinned. "Mine."

Earendil took another bite, watching Miyuki as he ate. She was just ... too cute ...

"She's going to break my heart if she keeps looking at me like that," he murmured. He watched Miyuki as he ate. She was just staring at him ...

"Just like a fox," Ulani chuckled. "That's just adorable."

Earendil licked his lips slowly. He could see himself giving in to that look very often in the future ...

Earendil chuckled, and now that he was no longer holding Miyuki, he held his plate in his hand and ate a bit more quickly.

"You know," Ulani commented, tilting her head slightly, "it's probably a good thing Earendil doesn't have children of his own. They would be spoiled rotten."

Earendil flushed, but he couldn't argue it. He knew he spoiled kids. But he was sure that if he had his own, he would be more strict with them.

"That's true," Earendil chuckled. "I did. And look, you turned out just fine. I'm sure Miyuki will be fine."

"Ulrich used to spoil Adanedhel," Ulani recalled with an amused smile. "Every time he did something ... anything at all, Ulrich would give him a carving. I think it's more the attitude that can come with the spoiling that is trouble, but as long as you're careful about it ..."

Earendil glanced at Lin. "Adanedhel?"