Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I've been doing well," Adanedhel grinned, stepping aside and motioning for the others to come in. "We all have. You came just in time, Rose just finished her chores for the day. Rose!" he called, leading Earendil and Lin into the living room. "Visitors!"

Rose stepped out of the kitchen. She was slightly on the short side, and had long black hair: and her eyes and her face were easily recognizable. She looked very much like her brother, Roydon.

"Hello," she said softly, smiling warmly at the two. "Welcome, come in, make yourselves at home. It's wonderful to see you again, Lin. And you," she added, turning to the prince, "must be Earendil. Welcome."

Earendil smiled warmly. "Thank you," he murmured. "It is an honour to meet Roydon's sister."

She giggled and blushed. "Thank you."

Rose sat on one side of a loveseat, and as Adanedhel sat next to her she motioned for the others to sit down on the couch or other chairs.

"Not yet," she replied to Lin's question, "but Haradhel has asked us to come for dinner later this week - actually, I think she's invited everyone from the valley - so that we can all meet everyone. Quite the feast, I would expect."

"Why the end of the week?" Earendil asked curiously. He would have expected that Haradhel would have wanted to show off her granddaughter and her family.

"That's when Kadmiel will be back," Adanedhel replied. "He and Ruran are up in the mountain. We expect them in the next few days, but we don't know when exactly."

Rose smiled. "Kadmiel is our second son," she explained. "Ecthelion is our eldest. We just have the two boys, no girls. The two of them headed into the mountain for a small trip, scouting I guess you could call it."

"Ruran is a bit better than he used to be," Adanedel answered Lin's second question. "Especially compared to when he first arrived." He chuckled. "I'll never forget the day he learned his lesson."

Rose laughed. "He thought that Adonijah was weak because he refused to fight with him," she giggled. "Now, you and I both know that Adonijah is simply shy, and even with people he isn't shy around, he prefers to avoid conflict. A short time after Celebor and his family came to live here, Ruran and Adonijah met at the river. Ruran challenged Adonijah, and Adonijah let it pass. Ruran tried to attack him ... but instead of hurting Adonijah, he ended up in the river."

"He ran off," Adanedhel took up the tale, wrapping one arm around his wife's shoulder, "and Celebor had to go after him and rescue him. He was lost. Anyways, he learned a bit of respect for us, and for our way of life here. He's still bitter, but he has learned at least not to pick fights with everyone."

"So what do you do, Adanedhel?" Earendil asked curiously, sitting back in the chair where he had sat down. "I mean ... here in the valley, or on the ranch, what's your part in everything?"

Adanedhel smiled. "I take care of my family," he replied. "When I can, I help supply food for the ranch. During the summer we have a bit more free time, but the fading, winter and stirring keep us very busy."

"That," Adanedhel nodded, "and collecting food and wood for winter. Preparation and repairs of tools. Shovels especially. It's a busy time, since there's so much we can't do in the winter."

"But it also means that we can relax a bit more in the winter," Rose added, "which is always nice. Winter is such a lazy month. I never want to do much of anything."

"Lots of sleeping," Adanedhel replied with a grin. "Well, it's dark so early in the evenings, and doesn't get light very quickly in the mornings, so that just stands to reason. We still have to take care of the animals, though Adonijah takes care of most of that. We also do a lot of visiting in, more so than the rest of the year."

Earendil couldn't imagine not having lots to do during the winter, just as the other times of year: but he had never experienced one of their winters, so that made sense.