Safe

(Disclaimer: All belongs to Tolkien, except any mistakes.)

With many thank to Ellfine for beta reading and encouragement.

Early thoughts upon the release of Melkor from imprisonment

It was through great desire for the light of the Trees that those who are now our kings led us hence. No cowardice was it on any of their part - no yearning to flee the land of their birth. No cowardice was it either on the part of the three hosts who followed them. It took courage to make that long, slow journey into the uttermost West, with the dark clouds of the ruins of an unfathomable war still obscuring the northern stars. Yet the fact remains that here, in Aman, the Eldar have little need to be courageous, for we are safe from all harm.

So why now is there this disturbance – this calling to council of lords?

What, in truth, is there to fear in this blessed realm? Does Manwë not know well what he is about in granting Melkor pardon?

There has been much talk. Some who made the Great March, who remember life under the starlit expanses of land in the east, speak again of their memories. Some say that Melkor's deeds are beyond forgiveness. Vala though he is, they trust him not at all. King Ingwë; King Finwë - they trust him not at all!

Yet Manwë Súlimo; he is King of the whole of Arda. He understands most clearly the purposes of Iluvatar, the wise do say. We can ever trust him.

My parents speak rarely of the time before they came to Eldamar. Nevertheless, others speak openly in the streets of the city of the shadow-shapes that once walked the hills above Cuiviénen - of those of their kin who were ensnared by the servants of Melkor and never seen again. Arnónë told me the tale of her own father - of his disappearance into the woods on a hunt from which he never returned. Though she, her mother and her brothers made long search, never were they to know what had befallen him. She told me of the creeping fear of the Dark Rider that the Quendi once lived under, that hunting became a thing most carefully planned – that none wandered far save in the company of great numbers, nor sought to explore at will.

"Mayhap that was true of the Avari, but our people are brave of heart!" I protested. "All three kindred of the Eldar are far from cowardly."

"You know not fully of what you speak, my lady," she answered me. "Those born in Aman understand not what it was like to dwell in the Hither Lands. There was a dread in the very air that griped the fëa until doubt and mistrust - seeing in the shadows threats that were not there - consumed and weaken even some among the strongest. Why, many of our people hid or fled when first they beheld Oromë. They fled from his presence into the deepest darkness of the forests, and were lost to us. Deceived they were by the lies put abroad by Melkor, that they knew not friend from enemy."

"But the noblest were not deceived," I countered. "Not those of great courage – not King Finwë! They were ever drawn to the light."

I do understand what she says. I trust not Melkor myself, and wonder at him suing for pardon. But what have I to fear? Melkor is still under guard, still confined to Valmar, is he not? The Valar watch him most closely. And I trust our king's judgement; his ability to lead us aright in whatever situation may come upon us. I trust also to the learning and might of his son.

Here in Aman we have nothing to fear. My family is safe; I am safe – I who take rest in the arms of Curufinwë Fëanáro.

- - - - -

Avari – The Unwilling. Those of the Quendi who would not leave the Hither Lands.