Rivendell

Our pleasant stay here in Rivendell draws slowly to a close, in a few days' time we shall be on the road again divested of most enjoyable safety the Vale provides to all who come without ill intent. I think I have grown much accustomed to this fact in past weeks, perhaps too much to my liking. I have also noticed many of us becoming softer, irresistible to all that pampering Imladris offers. On the other hand it is definitely a well-earned rest everyone deserved after all we had been through past seasons.

It feels like an age since I have listened to the sounds that flutter in my ears, or watched the sights that glitter before mine eyes. In truth, it was perhaps just over a year, by Man's reckoning, that I last set foot upon the grass of Imladris. And yet, it always surprises me when I say as much to myself. Time has performed a cruel trick indeed. Soon, I will celebrate the day of my conception, over four hundred years ago. Four hundred years. And one lone year seems to have stretched just as much, if not longer.

It is only a short ride from the stables to the Gates of Imladris. Nelnardis urges Beren to a canter, listening to the steady rhythm of hooves upon the road, trying to calm herself. However her heart inevitably beats faster as she nears the watchers.

One of them sees her approach and they sigh as Beren slows to a halt. Before Nelnardis can even ask the question the watcher shakes their head. Nothing. She nods, sadly, turning back to the road to the stables.

The rain comes whispering, rising from the quiet of a still, cloudy day. I step off the porch, feeling the water gathering in the wet grass, running into my hair and over my face. The letter in my hand grows sodden, words running into trails of ink. The thirsty ground beneath my feet drinks deep in rain, welcoming the interlude. I move to my old, familiar, spot, standing above the waterfall, feeling the water slanting through the air, hearing it surround me. A childish gesture sends the piece of paper carelessly into the torrent beneath me, spinning out of sight in moments.

Naurdam strode across the courtyard to his waiting steed. He had spent the past few months within the valley of Imladris and he was keen to be out on the road once more. He had visited the Halls of Lord Elrond on only a handful of previous occasions since their creation and on this most recent trip it had proven hard to mask his displeasure at finding the Halls open to not only the race of man but to the race of Dwarves also.