The granite tower rose before her, a dark blue spire against a winter sky that seemed leeched of color. The day was clear but the air crisp and cold with the promise of snow by nightfall. Around her, snow already lay thick upon the rocks to either side of the path and crunched beneath her horse's hooves. This high into the mountains, winter came early and stayed late.

She snugged the fur-lined cloak she wore closer about her and drew rein. Her tall gray stallion pawed at the snow and gave a restless toss of his head.

"Easy, Arrna," she said soothingly, giving his muscled neck a firm pat. Her other hand rose to push back her hood and she looked toward the arched doorway at the base of the tower where a sentinel had emerged. Her gaze met that of the elf standing guard.

"Who goes there?" he challenged.

"Lurielle Elentia," she responded clearly, and let a smile part her lips. "Well met, Jiraen."

"Well met, Luri." Jiraen smiled just as widely and came forward to take the reins as Lurielle dismounted. Arrna allowed it with no more than a huff of air through his nostrils.

"How goes the construction?" Luri asked as she walked alongside Jiraen to the small stable on the tower's far side. When she had left for Rhydin a week past, the temple had been nearly completed.

"They've finished Corellon's temple and begun the shrine to Angharradh. There is some dispute between the golds and us as to whether Angharradh should be honored or the three separately."

Luri sighed inaudibly. The "golds" Jiraen spoke of were the Ar'Tel'Quessir, and they were often at odds with their silver elf cousins over such issues. Until two months past, there had been no gold elves in Winyandor and construction had proceeded smoothly. But with the arrival of nine of the golds, harmony might very well have become a thing of the past. Still, Lurielle knew that the knowledge and power they brought to the new land more than made up for any disagreements that arose.

"This is their home as well now and they should feel as comfortable as anyone else in their manner of worship. I will see if I can come up with a suitable compromise for the council."

Jiraen dipped his head respectfully, knowing that the council would give great weight to anything the elf beside him said. They were silent as Jiraen led Luri's horse to a stall and forked some hay in for him to munch on. But as they walked toward the tower, he slanted her a searching look from intelligent green eyes.

"And how was your journey to Rhydin, mellonamin? Did you find what you were looking for?"

Feeling his gaze upon her, Luri kept her eyes forward and tried not to let the dissatisfaction she felt with her trip show on her mobile features. "I did not. But perhaps what I went looking for no longer exists anyway."

Jiraen waited a moment, but when nothing more was forthcoming he chuckled. "I will be content with that, then. Come inside and have something to eat before you ride on to town."

With a grateful smile for her friend's refusal to pry, Luri followed the other elf inside the tower.

*****

By the time Lurielle was mounted once more, the clouds had crept across the sky and the light was muted, making the lines of the mountains around her less distinct under their blankets of snow. She got Arrna moving, hoping that they would make it to town by the time the storm began. The wind was picking up, fluttering her forest green cloak around her. Jiraen's farewell followed her as she started on the downward slope of the path.

Winyandor was easily the most interesting land she had ever seen, and it never failed to impress her whenever she returned from her travels. The land had not always been accessible to settlers, or to anyone else for that matter. A society of wizards had shaped it centuries ago and kept it for their own. In fact, their towers still stood at several points around the perimeter, twelve in all.

The perimeter itself was the high point of the mountain range that surrounded the land in a complete, perfect circle. Lurielle imagined that from above it must look exactly like a gargantuan flat-bottomed bowl with rocky, treacherous slopes on the outside and a smooth, easy downslope on the inside until finally the land leveled out completely for a hundred miles at its base.

When the wizards had held the land, there had been no access point other than travel by magecraft. Even that had been strictly regulated. But when they had made a gift of the land to the elves, they had worked their arts to carve a path on the eastern side. Thus, whenever anyone entered Winyandor, they did so facing west, the direction most honored by elvenkind.

It was in the exact center of the circle of land that the settlement had begun, and even from the inner slopes Luri could see its lights as pinpoints beckoning to her. On the near side of the town was a wide pool fed by a stream that swept down from the mountains above, and on the town's far side was the dark smudge of thick forestland that stretched to the edge of the circle and up the slopes beyond. The view always gave her a feeling of peace and contentment. Unbidden, the thought crept into her mind that she wished to be able to show this sight to Aidan.

She wondered if he would have liked to come here and have a home that did not carry any unpleasant memories. Leuthilspar was where he had been born, but it had never been his home. He had grown up in Rhydin, calling the streets home, and had at times undertaken missions from less than savory people. No home that. The Song of Sunlight had perhaps been a home to him - certainly he had spent enough time there. So had she, for that matter. And Warden Keep was still home to either of them should they wish to take adavantage of it. And then there was the Glade... but she shied away from pursuing those memories. How exactly did a place become "home?"

In the end, Luri supposed it did not really matter. Living meant taking the bad with the good and knowing when it was time to move on. Aidan had always seemed to understand that better than she did. She hoped that wherever he had found to call home, he was happy there.

Lurielle let her thoughts move to all the work that still needed to be done here. She had always been skilled at ignoring her own needs and wants in the face of a greater good, had she not? She would concentrate on the tasks at hand and forget about the past.

As she rode closer to the heart of Winyandor, the snow began to fall.