"Are you being gallant, Sir? Or has the chattering of my teeth merely evoked your pity?"
It occurred to him then that he had never smiled so much as when in her company, and he did so as he considered the waifish, raven-haired girl sitting wrapped in his great cloak, kicking her bare feet absently, the slow-moving River Grey in view behind her turning in its slow course towards the south.
"Would it surprise you to know that my sire was of a gallant race of people?"
Rhia smiled impishly, smugly, at this. "Would it surprise you to learn that I know a tale or two of an alliance that once existed between your people and my own? Ah, I thought it might! Well, it is true! My people remember, as those of the Four Kingdoms do not, that a distant kinship lies between us. Actually, it is a kinship once removed, for your direct kinship is to the Black Elves of Skraag. Have you heard of them?"
Akaru shook his head in wonder, never taking his eyes from her soft, lively, animated features.
"Well," she continued with relish, "the elves of Morag were related to the Black Elves of Skraag, just as they in turn were related to the northern troll people. And the northern troll people were the protectors of the Oreadi-"