“And you are right to be cautious. By your leave, lord king, let me explain.” He turned to Amrothlin. “Unless the king needs you, you are free to go.”

Kieri held up his hand. “By your leave—I prefer Amrothlin stay. Please—sit down. Will you have food or drink? There is plenty.”

“No,” the elf said. “I broke my fast with Amrothlin at the inn where elves gather. But thank you.” He sat, folding his hands very deliberately; Kieri’s eye was caught by the great ring he wore. “It is necessary that I tell you a tale that is long in the telling, but I will make it as short as I may, with the promise of telling it in full later. It is the tale of Lady Arian’s birthright from her father … and from me.”

“From you!” That escaped before Kieri could stop it. He remembered then what Arian had said seasons ago.

“Yes.” The elf held his gaze. “Her father, as you know, was elven, but fathered children on humans only while he lived in the Ladysforest. Dameroth, as you knew him, was one of my sons. She, Lady Arian, is my granddaughter, as you are Flessinathlin’s grandson. My quarrel with Flessinathlin began long before, and that, too, is a tale you must know, but perhaps not now. What you and she must know now—before your children are born—is that her father carried the elvenhome gift, as your mother did.”

Kieri could not move for astonishment. Finally, into the silence that the elf allowed, he said, “You … sent your heir—your single heir—here? Why?”

“He is—he was not my only heir,” the elf said. He looked at Amrothlin, then back to Kieri. “I saw no reason to limit the elvenhome gift with so few elvenhomes left. I foresaw that Flessinathlin would fail, that her line would fail; I hoped my son would take over the Ladysforest and restore elvenkind here. But he is dead. Now I see that you have the Lady’s own elvenhome gift, and that is a wonder to me. I had not known such a thing was possible—a half-elf creating an elvenhome.”

“It was a surprise to me, too,” Kieri said.

“You have no one here to teach you how to use it,” the elf said. “It has not come to full power. I would help you with this, if you wish.”

If he wished to have the full power of an elf—of course he did. But why would an elf make such an offer?

“I would not offer such help,” the elf said, as if he’d read Kieri’s mind, “but that Arian is my granddaughter, and your children are my great-grandchildren. We treasure children; I must see them protected and safe.” He paused and then added, “And … they have inherited the elvenhome gift. Did you know that?”