Mellonin joined Raefindan, and together they looked away northwestward. Gond tossed his head as Jorje approached him, and hesitantly snuffled noses; Gond snorted, spraying Jorje with a fine mist, and Jorje trotted off in disgust to roll in the grass.
"They don't think much of each other, " murmured Mellonin.
"Gond and Jorje? Or Ravion and Aeron?"
Mellonin stifled her laughter, and her eyes sparkled. "Oh Raefindan, I am glad that you can laugh at it all. I need to laugh. Everything has been so..." she spread her hands and shook her head.
Raefindan nodded. "A thief and a moonstruck girl. Sometimes I wonder what Ravion was thinking."
"It was as much my doing as Ravion's; I wanted his sister to come. I thought..."
"You thought Aeron's sister would bring out the best in him."
She nodded.
"She may yet, " Raefindan soothed her. "And indeed, perhaps she is now. Who knows how much wilder he would have been?"
"He'd be tame enough in prison where he belongs, " Mellonin said.
"Do you really think so?"
Mellonin studied Red in surprise. Clearly he did not agree, and she dropped her gaze again.
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