The older elf bowed his head briefly in response to the bow, his features seemingly carved from wood, unreadable, unknowable beyond the initial frown he had cast at his daughter. Elana sat watching the pair in silence, wondering how on earth her father would handle this. When Zaxis offered his hand the Elder elf seemed aware of human tradition, quickly responding by engulfing the offered hand in both of his. The leathery yet graceful fingers clasped firmly about the fingers of the wizard.<br/><br/>"Well now..." Dathis rumbled "greetings to you in kind Magus Melkra. It has been many centuries since one of your kin entered our land". The older figure continued to hold onto the limb of the younger, his grip only firm, but unyielding, like gnarled tree roots wrapped around it. "Indeed it has been several decades since any of human kind have strayed as far as this humble settlement. Perhaps the tales from the war have kept your folk at bay?" The old man snorted in a short yet surprising show of humour "Somehow I doubt it... and yet here you are as if sprung from the earth. I suppose I should ask your reasons for your visit... What exactly you couldn't help yourself from doing..." He regarded the other man intensely, the eyes of steel seeming to see through the figure before him. Then he flung the hand from him, drawing a startled squeak from Eli, and walking swiftly in a circle about the chairs to place himself before the fireplace where he leaned on the back of a carved seat.<br/><br/>"Let us not bandy words, Wizard. We both know your true purpose here." He shot a slightly softened glance at his startled daughter, who nonetheless appeared shrink beneath that gaze. "Do you think you move through our lands unobserved? That our borders go unguarded, even in these more peaceful days? That especially those of magical talent may wander as they will? No, we knew of you as soon as you crossed into our land. And so I know that you do not<em>happen to be in the vicinity </em>but have taken an almost straight path to this very spot. I say almost straight because you have chosen a course to avoid the outer fringes of our larger settlements naturally. Now what could possibly bring you into our company?" The rhetorical question hung in the air several moments, time in which Eli's eyes seemed to grow wider and wider. Was this really how her normally most respectful father was going to treat this powerful stranger? And yet his words fired her curiosity, and her admiration at the seemingly limitless knowledge he possessed. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, waiting for him to continue.<br/><br/>"It is of course quite simple. It is no secret that wizards desire power and knowledge. What possible aid could elven kind be to human magic users? Unless perhaps one of us were to be exhibiting signs of an older power.. a more common ancestor of both of our strains of spellcraft." And his eyes turned and fixed on Elana. Her youthful face was scarlet as her mouth dropped open. She was quite literally unable to say a word as all the thoughts in her brain seemed to race and then freeze, helpless. "My daughter has never been able to keep a secret from me.. " His eyes dropped for a fleeting moment to the soles of her feet, which were still somewhat stained with a little ground in dirt and grass stain "..even secrets she perhaps keeps from herself. I suspect she and yourself would both be interested to learn that the chief topic of the abbreviated council I have just returned from was in fact your imminent arrival and the status of my Elana. So please, let us speak openly. Or as openly as adults may at least. What truly is your business here sir? What do you desire of the Elven Kingdom?".