Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Related to me?" the queen asked sharply. "My ancestor, then?"

Her first reaction was to wonder why it had to be such a secret - but then she realized ...

"And what is his name?" she asked Sir Valdemar quietly.

The historian swallowed hard. "Lord Aldrich, my Queen," he replied in a soft tone. "And though he does not wish it, he is the King over all the races. Elves, dwarfs ... even the races that you know nothing about, many of which do not live in these lands ... he is ruler over them all. He alone of all the Firstborn has the power of the Valar, to give life and to take life, to create and to destroy ..."

Atalya was silent. There was only one question that was running through her mind ... and that was, Why, if his descendants were running three of the four countries of the Four Lands, did he do nothing to help any of them?

"I'm not sure I understand," Reave put in suddenly. "I know I haven't had the same education as the rest of Atalya, or our children, or our grandchildren ... but I don't know what these creatures are, or why they're so fearsome ..."

Sir Valdemar balanced the book under one arm and put one hand on Lin's shoulder.

"Don't worry," he murmured. "I won't open it again in your presence. You know now what this is all about ... but why don't you wait in the corridor while I show my lieges."

He raised his eyebrows pointedly and nodded towards the door.

Nearly a quarter of an hour passed before there was movement in the corridor where Lin waited. Tinuviel, still unchanged from the last time Lin had seen her, appeared around a corner with a tiny book in one hand. She was reading as she walked, her attention almost solely on the pages in her hand.

Overall, however, she did not appear as she usually did: she was wearing a fine dress, a dark crimson that brought out the rosy hue of her cheeks, and her hair was done up in all sorts of twirls and swirls, with a golden circlet woven in with her strands.

The corridor was silent, but something made her look up from her book, and when she saw Lin she smiled and closed her book, clasping it in one hand.

"Good morning, Lin," she greeted the Gaian amiably. "How are you today?"

She thought nothing of the girl's presence - after all, Lin had been visiting the castle regularly since Tinuviel had been but nine years old. She had to admit, however, that she could not explain the fact that Lin seemed to just be ... standing there.

Tinuviel was startled by Lin's reply, and she couldn't keep it from showing on her face.

"Did something happen?" she asked anxiously. "You ... look as though you've been excluded from something ... I've never seen you look anything but happy ..."

But she looked far from it today.

Tinuviel's brow furrowed slightly. "I've never known you to voluntarily miss out on an explanation of any sort," she said suspiciously. "What is going on that I do not know about?"

She was an Aldrich, after all, and she carried the same stubborn streak that marked the family, and she would not give up until she knew what was going on.

Tinuviel's dark eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And what is it, that you are being so secretive?" she asked crisply. "You should keep in mind, Lin, that as heir I will be told whatever it is anyways, so there is little point in keeping it from me."

Though if it was something that Lin would rather avoid, perhaps would be kinder of her to simply ask her Ninako instead.

"Is it really something so terrible?" she asked, her voice softer now, and kinder.

Tinuviel's eyes narrowed in such a way as to show that she was confused, but before she could speak, the door opened and Sir Valdemar stepped out.

"Ah ... Princess Tinuviel," he murmured, bowing low, the thick tome beneath his arm once more. "Forgive me ... I must steal Lin away from you for a while ... but Her Majesty the Queen wishes to see you immediately."

Tinuviel looked from Sir Valdemar to Lin once more, then into the room, where the king and queen were waiting for her. Both of them were pale, their eyes filled with fear. Without a word, she entered the study, and the door closed behind her once more.

Sir Valdemar looked down at Lin. "You seem upset," he murmured. "Are you all right?"