Noldor

It started off most pleasantly. Esterfin had rode at dawn to the coast, so great was his wish to see the Sea again. He returned around midday, with some ham and cheeses from the market, and an exceptionally good bottle of wine. It was one of those rare bottles that could put the best Dorwinnion to shame. Proud was he to share it with Parnard and I. 

"I would hear your tale, if and when you wish to speak of it." I said to Parnard. And he told me he was fine. Then he told me the rest, and still I though thankfully he was mostly fine. Aye, there was a small matter that concerned him and I, but I tried to install hope. The way things were at the moment, I doubted he would have years of waiting ahead. 

And in the end, I told him a little of what was on my heart. I am not sure he could take it in. 

And I found him. Standing, looking over the waters was he, with a rare expression upon his face. He turned as he heard my approach, smiling cheerfully as he gave greeting. But I knew Parnard well enough to see a hint of shadow in his eyes.

We sat by the waters, and spoke a few pleasantries before opening up more, each to the other. of what had transpired in recent years. 

It was with a sense of much relief that I awoke early, and took a short walk around the gardens, and down to the small lake. There was no sign of Estarfin, and I had no intent to awaken him from any restful slumber he could manage. Neither was Parnard there at all. He had sunken to the floor in a merry enough mood the night before, and resisted our attempts to move him. 

We dismounted, leaving our horses in the care of a stable master I did not recognise. He told me Master Lelyar and (my steward) had appointed him a little over two years past, and that he was proud to serve. Lelyar and his wife, it seemed, had gone into Mithlond for supplies and were not expected back for a week or two. But there was food in the pantry and wine in the cellar, 

I would make time to know all servants of my House, but Estarfin and I needed a little  rest and refreshment first, I felt.

And we arrived early in the afternoon. The last part of our ride was an easy one. I had a sense of coming home, though I was uncertain how Estarfin felt beyond his stated wish to be by the Sea again.

It was my hope these small halls, on the outer edges of the declining town, would give us space and sanctuary from much that had gone before. But as Estarfin said 'A war is coming'. Likely our 'sanctuary' would be a temporary one.

Estarfin looked out over the farmlands nigh the small village of Hobbiton. We would wait until the stars shone, then pass over the lands to Needlehole.

"If the Siege had never been broken, do you think we would have grown as safe and comfortable as these Halflings?' he asked.

Tears are falling freely from my eyes, whether from the smoke or sorrow I no longer know. I am covered in blood, and it is not my own. This night has brought nothing but madness and awful grief. I stand before a small house, the roof burning, the acrid smoke mingling with the pall of smoke from a hundred other fires. The Haven is in ruins, the last shelter in Beleriand destroyed by our own hands. The occupants of the small house lie at my feet, and my heart nearly breaks as I look down at them. The smallest of them could have run, could have hidden.