13. Promised Land
We talked, and talked, and talked. I was pretty sure that Lindir would fall asleep during what felt like hours of conversation – which meandered unpredictably, like a river does across the mountain valley, between subjects near and far in both space and time. We were both remembering the times of the First Age, then it was his turn to relay the news of our relatives from the wider House of Finwë and other mutual acquaintances, after which I spent literal hours retelling – very superficially, for the dreadful lack of days and weeks really required for such an undertaking – my own experiences from the life in Middle-Earth. Some time into our dialogue, a petite Sindar woman in a flowing grey dress joined us. I was greatly surprised to learn that she was Telperinquar's wife whom he introduced as Ninglor; a charming name, as flowers are always a great source, I thought (not that I intended to be snide – on the contrary). It turned out they had met each other during his days in Eregion, but only came to start the relationship, and eventually marry, after his unfortunate demise and rebirth in Aman. I was glad to see my nephew return to some of the joys of life that he had patently shunned back in the day. Whether that was due to him completely devoting his being to the craftsmanship or, as rumours had it, unrequited feelings for none other than Alatáriel, I did not (and would not) know, but I remembered being a little upset that the sole member of the House who had survived – and was not torn asunder from his spouse like I was – did nothing to even consider extending the lineage. An even better piece of news came when my nephew noticed matter-of-factly that he and his wife had a son, already an adult Elf who was living separately and pursuing a geologist's trade. My own marital status being, at present, very much in doubt, I was glad that our bloodline has not only survived, but also continued in the new generations. Presently, he was away on a prospecting mission in the southern mountains bordering Avathar, so meeting him was a matter of the future, but suddenly, life has looked even brighter for me.
Naturally, it was my own adventures in Middle-Earth after the end of the Third Age, when contact had all but ceased and the flow of information dwindled to but a trickle, that caught the most attention from Tyelpe and his wife. They marvelled at my tales of the derelict world and were horrified at my mention of the wars that had ravaged it in the past centuries; I saw that some of the stories brought back unpleasant memories for my nephew, as a bitter wrinkle cracked the skin of his cheek at the edge of his lips. Not intending to show off, but very much striving to change the subject, I showed them the couple of devices I brought with me from New Imladris – the tablet and the small camera; these really did change Telperinquar's mindset as he handled the electronic devices with the reverence of a craftsman witnessing the work of a far superior mastery. I turned the tablet on, showing him the basics of the little portable computer's operation, and the principle made him both overjoyed and contemplative.
"I don't even know what it might take for us to reach the same level of ingenuity", he said earnestly, shaking his head. "And the power that fuels these devices… it is the same as lightning, I understand that, but no one has ever seriously studied it enough to be able to use it with such precision. Besides, it is rather inconceivable that the Men, who we firmly believed to be inferior to us in every regard, have so resoundingly bested us, while we here, despite our own progress, have come nowhere close to this even now".
"The progress you must have had a hand in", I interjected, hoping to return some of the levity to the conversation.
"That I have, although far be it from me to claim any kind of uniqueness or leadership! Many of the craftsmen you knew are still working in their field, and many more new faces have joined us. You would absolutely have to speak before them – once I assemble them for this purpose, and preferably sometime soon – so we might think of how to make the next step. We can't hope to reproduce, let alone best, these miracles, but at least we need a good metaphorical kick in the rump to get the thought flowing again. Unless, of course, you would have all of this kept under wraps?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I would not. None of this information belongs to me in any way, as I've had no hand in devising any of these technologies. My music, on the other hand…" I chuckled.
"Oh, and of course you will absolutely have to play for the people here, once the realm becomes more used to your return. Knowing you, I would have been greatly surprised if you had not brought a wealth of new creations from Endor. Actually, I would be very much perplexed if you told me that you are not conceiving new melodies right as we speak. Or at least have not been doing this during your trip to Tirion", Telperinquar laughed back. Oh, birds of a feather – or, as luck would have it, of the same coat of arms – flock together all right; we were building rapport with amazing speed, despite the thousands of human years worth of separation.
But of course, I had to know the stance of anyone else who might have had any interest – of whichever variety – for my return, and since Telperinquar was at the very least living in the very heart of the Ñoldor realm, he was best suited to provide me with these crucial bits of information. So I switched the subject again – and learned, with mixed feelings, that Arafinwë was, per Tyelpë's information, less than thrilled about the fact, and so were some of our relatives on Ñolofinwë's side – no real surprise there as I had already pondered on this possibility while sailing back. None of that unhappiness would probably be poignant enough to cause me any real discomfiture, let alone harm, my nephew pointed out, but what would await me in the Teleri realm should I decided, by some really odd lapse of judgement, to venture there without reliably concealing my identity, was anyone's guess.
And of course, there was the matter of Nerdanel, and I inquired about her with a voice that has noticeably become hoarse at the mention of her name – and then the fact that my letter to her was not yet answered despite the passage of a few months. Telperinquar sombered at the mention, though perhaps not to the same degree that I have.
"She is… confused. While I have no doubt she loves you still – and she had claimed the same when we talked about it – she is still more than a bit confused. You just have to give her some more time, Macalaurë, but she will not be delaying it forever if I know anything about her – and you know the same, do you not?" he spoke slowly, nodding his head as if in confirmation of his deep inner thoughts.
After that, he chose to abscond from the precarious – and serious – talk for the remainder of the evening, as Tyelpë insisted adamantly that I and Lindir were to stay in his home for the night instead of attempting the journey back to New Imladris after dark, which would have been a futile endeavour anyway. Instead, I showed them all – including Lindir who has not quite claimed to have seen all of my collections despite having spent a lot more time with me – a video recording of some Mannish music I brought back with me. I was perplexed to witness Silverfist's lively interest in something I thought he would have believed a barbaric entertainment; a performance at the Rock in Rio festival by none other than Iron Maiden. Heavy metal and rock was about the last thing I thought most of the Elvendom would be interested in – and the tepid reaction I have noticed from most of Elrond's household made familiar with the subject matter would only confirm that preconception of mine. Yet, Tyelpe was apparently deeply intrigued; time and again he asked me to pause and even rewind the record, paying particular attention to both the crowd – which was both huge, in excess of quarter of a million, and well documented for its enthusiasm – and, even more surprisingly, the performance of a particular band member, the one manning the drum kit.
It was then that I finally remembered about one item on the wishlist I had mentally compiled before the journey to Tirion. Actually, I had both a businesslike proposition and an industrial commission for dear Tyelpë – and what I saw during the "movie show" made me all the more certain that he would be all for both of these. Oh, he would probably fall for it – hook, line and sinker.
Note: the chapter name is from a song by Queensrÿche (from Promised Land album, 1994)
