She hesitated, her eyes wandering away from his. "I have seen eighteen seasons . . ."
He realised when he spoke, and at the guilty manner in which she bit her bottom lip, that he had guessed correctly. "That many?"
"Well . . . sixteen."
He chuckled at that. His own estimate had been that she was no older than seventeen. "Are you comfortable staying with Julina?"
"Oh, yes!" she smiled. "She and Dorain are very kind, even though Dorain treats me like a child, sometimes! And Lily . . ."
"Yes? What of Lily?"
"Well . . . she's not what I was told." She smiled, then, pleased with her own thoughts. "She's so in love with Anest. I just wish . . ." she stopped herself and blushed.
Baldric laughed, and gazed upon her with the kindly understanding of a father with grown daughters of his own. "There are many fine young elven men in the Four Kingdoms, in a land called Angorain, far to the west from here." "But I can't! I must find a way to return home! Everyone will be so worried."
He smiled. "I thought you might say that. Well, the going will be difficult. However, the journey is possible without going east again through the Burning Lands." He leaned over to look her directly in the eye, in a playful manner known instinctively by all children and adults. "I will have you returned safely home, presently."