Bree

“You are far too beautiful to love me.”

Oh, my mother would certainly be rolling in her grave this time. I fear I may have offended everyone at the same time. Let me try to recount my day from the beginning...

Oh, to be a lass in Bree! The men fall over themselves for one's attention here just as they did back home, rather for a quick feel up your skirt than an arranged marriage. I cannot tell which one I dread more. (The arranged marriage. At least here it would not be so frowned upon to throw fists at a man who feels you up without your desire). 

As good of an elf as he is, sometimes I wish to smack Amathlan upside his pretty head. Hardheaded and proud, he is. He is prideful to a fault and apparently does not like others to help him, even when he is seriously injured!

Here is what happened...

My father would be rolling in his bed if he knew where I was and what I am doing now.  After our departure from our family homestead outside of Archet, my father and I settled in with my brother and his family in Bree. I miss the farm and the homestead, my father toiling in the soil and me helping him worok nearby with the farmhands. I miss the long field of flowers that I would pick through, now burned.

My time within this company grows with each day, and so do the relationships have forged with the members of the company. I am surprised by my own willingness to stay in the Bree lands and be in the company of such mixed races. The Ithilwe of ages past would have scoffed if asked to mingle with men, and most especially dwarves.

This grudge I have held for the mortal kind seems to be softening with age and experience. My readiness to keep their company is growing and I have found many good friends among the members.

I sit in front of the hearth and take a sip of the bottle of dark, red wine I had purchased in Bree. This wine is not quite as deep and flavorful as the elven wine I am more used to, but has a simple and nice taste just the same.

It rained today, or should I say poured. Perhaps the storm in the morning set the tone for my mood today. I have done nothing of importance and just sat in front of this fire all day. I am annoyed, but I know not why.

The fire is still barely crackling and alight but the sound seems to be making me drift off....

Discarded in the corner of the upper room of the Company house is a note. The paper was balled up and tossed aside, though if one were to smooth it out...

*There is a large package with a simple note tied to the top.

The letter reads:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Amathlan, formerly of Gondolin, From Ithilwe Lomelindion....

Being back at my camp is an odd feeling. I had not thought I would be returning to this spot under the trees. Even though I am further from home once more, my heart seems lighter than it did the last time I ventured through these lands. This time, I have good friends and companions who will happily occupy my time. A darkness still lies on these lands, but the new companions I have had the pleasure of meeting have turned the darkness into little more than a shadow in my eyes.