It was a normal day for Fëanor, where he was kept busy with ruling Formenos with the help of his family.

"...and there is a endless struggle to explain to my grandchildren about money and that we can not use them on insignificant things that will only end up forgotten in a corner of the attic and gather dust…"

At the moment, however, he had to listen to a fellow smith trying to not complain about some problems at home with the younger generation. Since it was lunch break, it was only to be expected that talks about family and home would appear at some point.

"My granddaughter, for example, is in that age when she have started to realize that the rarely seen goods from Tirion is very….different from the ones normally sold here in Formenos. Dollhouses, small dolls to live in those and all the accessories, you know. And then there is that problem with the fine cotton fabrics for clothing as well."

"I can not say much, because Nelyo was never really into the same things as the noble daughters in Tirion back when we lived there…." Fëanor thought for himself, remembering how a very young Maedhros once had gotten a expensive dollhouse from Finwë in a open show of grandfatherly affection and how his daughter then had gifted said dollhouse to her younger maternal cousins instead at the first opportunity to get rid of it, simply because the young princess had already been past the common age where girls would have liked the dollhouse. That was only one of many ways Finwë had proven himself to not really have a clue to handle children without showing some form of favorítism against his eldest son and the family Fëanor had started with Nerdanel.

"And my grandson have the nerve of joining his sister in complaining about that the amount of their pocket money each month is too low!"

That caught his attention.

"Pocket money?"

The other smith sighed in exasperation.

"That's right. We are a common family of smiths who have to work everyday for our daily bread, and I think my grandchildren are jealous on your youngest grandson for that you are a Prince, my Lord. Surely you can afford to spend some extra money on the boy."

It was in that moment as Fëanor realized something else.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Back home, Rûsa looked up at the great clock in the kitchen and then towards the window. His grandfather would return home soon, and dinner needed to be finished when he came.

"Rûsa, can you see if there is any extra apples in the basket Celegorm left at the front door this afternoon? There is not enough for the apple pie I planned as dessert," Nerdanel requested when she would peel another apple and realized that there was not enough many in the bowl at her side.

"Sure, grandma."

Since Maedhros had been tasked with setting the table, he was the closest person to ask.

He had just turned around the corner to come to the entrance hall, when Fëanor called for his family:

"Nerdanel? Nelyo, can you two help me with a quick overlook of something? It will not take long before dinner, I promise!"

This was something unusual to happen, Rûsa understood as his mother and grandmother also came to the entrance hall, what was the reason?

Once up in his private office, Fëanor started to search through the shattered piles of papers on his desk.

"I know that it is somewhere….here, the total amount of my annual income as Crown prince and the income for the rest of the family…"

Both Nerdanel and Fëanor was good at mathematics thanks to their respective chosen craftsmanship, and could therefore count out a huge number mentally even without helping each other.

"What is all this fuss about, Atar?" Maedhros asked in confusion, supporting Rûsa on one hip so he could see better.

"Someone asked how much money we are spending on Rûsa, and I came to realize that there can not be much we uses each month, outside paying master Rumil as his private tutor, school books and all the needed items for his hobby of painting…"

"Why would I need a lot of money to spend on things I do not need? In my past life, I had to be satisfied with rags as clothing, poorly made sandals to protect my feet, and make things from scratch by my own hands!" Rûsa summarized in a raised voice with a hint of irritation, counting on his fingers to see if there was any detail he forgot.

"I do not doubt that, Rûsa, because out of that annual amount of money for you as a income from Tirion due to being my grandson, you are barely spending more than ten percent, fifteen percent at most, of it in one year! Part of the spared money is caused by us adults in the family, because we have the necessary skills to sew basic clothing and making those few wooden toys you have in your room," Fëanor responded, looking down on the paper where he had managed to count out the total sum. Looking over his shoulder, Nerdanel chose to suggest:

"Maybe we can give thirty percent of the remaining money to charity? That way, it can look like Rûsa is thrifty but not stingy with money for his young age, and it would still leave him with a total of sixty-five percent left each year."

Before anything else could be suggested, they got a reminder about the dinner when both Rûsa's and Fëanor's stomachs made a loud noise. Which caused Maedhros to laugh slightly.

"Dinner first before anything else, I believe. We can talk about this tomorrow when Atar is home."

That was something her parents and son could agreed on. And perhaps they could invite the rest of the family for a better talk about this, to hear out other suggestions and what to do with the money Rûsa did not use personally.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

As it turned out a few days later, Rûsa did actually use some of his pocket money when he was inspired to so so.

"Are you sending a gift to someone?" Maedhros asked when she saw her son pack something into a large box, one of several ones used for gifts and would be sent with the mail wagons between the major cities in Valinor.

"I made a rough draft of a drawing of cousin Finduilas and her husband Gwindor last time we met them. The actual painting of them was finished last week and I did want it be really dry before I sent it to their home. They sent their address in one of the letters following the begetting day gifts I got from the royal family in Tirion this year."

Ah, that was logical, if he wanted to send away the finished painting now instead of waiting for the next big family gathering at the royal court. Maedhros could also understand why he did not use specific names, it was not like he did meet her uncles Fingolfin and Finarfin often, and even less so with her cousins or their own children. The extended royal family of the Noldor was not exactly living together in Tirion as they once had done in the Years of the Trees, many of them had married and moved out into their own homes, as was the natural way of life.

"Shall I give you a rough draft of a greeting to them? Just to help you with placing the more difficult letters right."

"Please do that, ammë. I shall only pack in this a little more first. I do not want it to be ruined somehow during the journey."

With a smile, Maedhros went to get some parchment, a inkwell and a quill to help her son with the letter to Finduilas and Gwindor.