Fëamiril

Manadhlaer sighed, not for the first time that day, or that hour. She dipped her quill and made another attempt:

It has been widely known since the Elder Days that the sap of an unopened poppy...

Instantly she stopped and put a line through her words. "If it has been widely known," she said aloud, "why write it at all?" One of her delicate silken slippers, as light as an Elfling's first breath, had already gone. She kicked the other against the far wall of her office and began again.

Sarmëtecil was a Noldë, and proud, as such folk are wont to be, but even she trembled slightly before the stare of the Lady of the Pillar. "It is true, my lady. Great heaps of log-books are simply missing -- erm, not to be found at this time." She ran a finger under the collar of her burgundy tabard, which now seemed uncomfortably tight.

"What," Manadhlaer began, but fortified herself with a swig of tea before she continued. "Do you mean. Missing."

"It is our hope that in time, we may locate --"

I see the last black swan
Fly past the sun
I wish I, too, were gone
Back home again

Dear Diary,

Yes, yes, it is late. It is one of those white nights. Norlië's cat Eli is making some very odd and unpleasant noises at me because I am not reclining on my bed. I have had some lengthy conversations with that cat. Of course, the chief topic is Norliriel herself. I told Eli that I miss her too, that she will be back when she has finished her business, and I am sure that to buy back her cat's favour, she will bring some sort of fish. Maybe salted, as the traveller prepares it, but fish.

I do not know where to start. At the first glance Daegond might have been strange, crude and even mean to a person who did not know him, but he had more than meets the eye. Profound loyalty to those he protects. The reasons why he was behaving the way he did. A softer side which the Noldorin (or any) warrior tries so hard to hide under their shell of steel.

All I have in my mind are the scenes of meeting him.

I heard a knock on my door and when I opened it, my uncle Fëamíril was behind it since he had finally arrived from Lothlórien. We has down for a cup of tea and to talk about a thing or few. He asked me why I hadn’t painted for such a long time, but the reason it something that I’m not willing to openly admit yet. ”I need more pratise,” I answered. ”No artist is truly ever finished and perfect.” It was vague, but it was also true and something that I believed in, also for myself.

The wax seal on the outer letter bears the image of a pillar, like that once displayed in Gondolin. The Tengwar on the letter are precise, needing to communicate their message, yet artful and really quite attractive to read. This letter is bound to a thick packet of others, each one a business letter of some sort -- yet while their purpose is utilitarian, and these too are highly readable, the calligraphy is simultaneously so beautiful that one would think the writer had copied out poems for framing on one's wall as artwork.

My dear Lady Gilinnen,