There was not much of the Walker's camp left when the remainder of the hunters arrived, just the last of the baggage and supplies to be loaded. The sounds from the forest suggested straggling, but before they finally emerged onto the path, a burst of 'Hunters Coming Home' announced they had found some pride from somewhere, and they appeared in good order to be greeted by the elves of their company who had arrived the previous day.

After a glancing around in vain for Triwathon, Parvon came to stand at the back of the group, waiting for the bustle to calm, the supplies to be taken away and stowed, before he presented himself to Doronor, Lithon's second and so the leader of the arriving company.

'Those of your troop who have memories for the gemstone of the Lord of Gondolin, I am ready to preside as soon as you are. There is a place prepared, in the barracks building.'

'It's good of you to wait it for us,' the elf replied. 'A daydreamer, the shoals, we foundered… it is very unprofessional of us, and an elf of the King's Office to meet us, who would have known? Apologies, of course.'

'These things happen.' Parvon bowed politely. 'I will await you.'

Glancing around as he went towards the barracks building, he spotted Thindorion talking with Mago and the new arrivals, but still saw no sign of Triw. Well, as difficult as it was for his beloved, no doubt he was occupying himself away from the area… and of course it was too much to expect him to go through this all over again…

…but in fact, it was… almost nice. Intimate in a way the last night's observances had not been, the stone passed from hand to hand amongst the hunters, one with a tale of sparring with the Balrog-Slayer, another recounting seeing him one night in the Feasting Hall, a third spoke of watching him wrestling in the practice grounds…

As the talk progressed, he heard the respect from the hunters, the treatment of Glorfindel as an equal, with equal duty and rights to the land, he realised that they, too, would die for the forest if it were required of them.

This insight Parvon found bemusing, somehow, as if he had made a discovery not usually laid out for the elves of the King's Office to note. He knew, of course, that there was a natural career progression, outside of wartime, where one would join the hunters, and then later move to the guard around the palace, there to be drilled and formed into battle companies… these elves seemed to have been part of the hunter troops forever, though, to hear them speak, living more closely to the forest, and for a moment he envied them, for he had been so long sheltered by stone that he wasn't anything like as easy in the forest as they.

After rather more than an hour, Doronor looked up. The gemstone had come back to him, and he was tossing it idly – and rather disrespectfully, Parvon thought – from hand to hand. Bizarrely, though, he had the feeling that Glorfindel would not have minded…

'Master Parvon, we're done. My thanks, and that of my friends, for allowing us this privilege. Now, we have delayed you long enough.'

He lobbed the gemstone across the gap between himself and Parvon, who caught it easily and returned it to its pouch and case, hoping his amused disapproval didn't show.

'Then I will bid you good fortune,' he said, getting to his feet and bowing to them. 'May your days be untroubled by recalcitrant boats.'

Their laughter followed him as he left, seeking his pack, seeking Triwathon, seeking instructions, for it was not really clear what he was supposed to do now. He found his pack first, and, heading down to the hythe where two boats, one loaded with supplies, and one lying listlessly in the water, were moored. An elf waved to him.

'Master Parvon! Your friend Master Thindorion has left with Magorion on foot. We are just waiting for your husband, and then we can be off… have you seen him?'

'I'm seeking him myself,' Parvon replied, but felt a tug from the forest edges. 'Give me a few moments, if you will.'

Worried now, and trying not to, Parvon headed back to the riverbank where he'd found Triwathon earlier. Sure enough, as he approached, he saw his beloved sitting almost in the same spot. This time, he didn't look up as Parvon took a place by his side, mirroring his posture. For a few moments they sat without speaking; it seemed Triwathon was not going to break the silence.

Parvon spoke first, looking out over the river.

'They've finished with the gemstone, Triw.'

Triwathon sighed.

'I don't want to get into a boat,' he said in a forlorn little voice. 'Yet,' he added quickly. 'I don't want to get into a boat… yet.'

'Well, that's all right,' Parvon said, trying to find a way to stave off this sad mood in his love. 'I was thinking about the next stage of the journey myself. For the truth is, boats seem wrong to me; I baulk at the idea of deliberately flaunting our king's wishes; it does not matter that he doesn't know, won't know, may never know… what matters is that I know. So, as there are more elves ready to travel than there are spaces in the boat, would you do something for me?'

'W… what? Parvon, I… Sorry, I'm being silly, just sitting here, looking out... They will be waiting for us…'

'Run the canopy with me?'

'What?'

'The canopy, you and I. Show me the forest through your eyes, from on high. I won't be swift, I fear, for I'm unpractised, but… I don't want to get into a boat either. As long as you can find the way for us, would you do this, lead me, show me?'

Triwathon was on his feet in an instant.

'Parvon, yes!' he said, grabbing his husband into a tight, tight hug. 'That will be perfect! Can we go now?'

'Trust our packs to the boat, or bring them with us?' Parvon said, catching Triw's mood and trying to slow him just a little, for otherwise he feared he'd be yanked up the nearest tree without a second thought. 'We should let the elves know, in any case.'

'You're right; I wasn't thinking! Bring our packs, you never know what we might need, but indeed, we should tell them. Come, time's passing.'

Morning was, indeed, drawing on. The boat elves were initially pleased to see them, then dismayed.

'But we stayed the boat for you, Master Parvon! We could have set off long since, had you thought to say…'

Parvon drew himself up, King's Elf again, despite the fact that his formal robes were packed away once more.

'And had you thought to tell me you were eager to be off, we might have come this arrangement sooner. Had any thought to suggest that we travel on foot with Captain Magorion and our friend Master Thindorion, we would have thought of this sooner… And so. You will go the more swiftly for being unburdened by us, and our packs, and make up some of your lost time, perhaps. But you will arrive in time for the day meal, no later, I am sure.' He turned to his husband. 'Shall we go?'

'Of course. Follow me!'

Triwathon set off, waiting until they were out of sight of the hythe, and the boat elves, before taking Parvon's hand.

'Are you cross with our poor friends, Parvon?' he asked, laughing as if his heart was growing lighter the further from the hythe he got. 'You sounded as if you were back at work again, facing down a blustering elder!'

'Ai, Triw!' Parvon shook his head, laughing in turn. 'No, I was perhaps out of sorts, cross that I am expected to ride in a boat when I wanted to walk, and they seemed to lack respect for my office. No doubt they will report back and Thiriston will ask me what I was thinking when the tale reaches him. When do we go into these trees, then?'

'Soon. The next watch flet, about a mile from here. Is it true, is Thindo walking, too?'

'So I understand. In spite of his continual announcement that he feels the forest has withdrawn from him, he seemed eager to avoid the boats…'

'Ah, the complaining naneths…!'

'Well, either that, or the opportunity to spend time with his newly-betrothed, I suppose… You've been this way before, Triw?'

'After a fashion.' Triwathon slowed, turned to look at his husband. 'When Arveldir and I were injured in the Battle Under the Trees, the journey back up to the Old Palace came this way. I was being carried at the start, but walking with sticks by the time we got home.'

'I remember you coming in,' Parvon said. 'It had been a hard journey for you all, I recall how grey-faced Arveldir was, the whispers about how you nearly died, and how… I was worried for my master, my mentor, but I was frantic for you and, of course, I couldn't find any excuse to go and see you for myself…'

'I think I would not have minded,' Triwathon said. 'I knew you still thought yourself in love with me, but Arveldir had spoken about you, your many good qualities, while we recovered together. I'm not sure, looking back, if he was dropping hints or just talking about the people he missed… at the time, I didn't think anything of it…'

'Ah, that's kind of him! Well, I was able to ask at the Healer's Hall, of course, so I knew you were healing, but I also knew it had been such a close thing for you. So now, when we lie together, and I see your scars, I shudder, not because they might seem to mar you – for they don't, they merely show your courage – but that they remind me I nearly was not having that moment, you were nearly dead. So I will never forget, Triw, how fortunate I am.'

Triwathon smiled, sighed, looked skywards for a moment.

'Ai, my beloved pen-pusher! I hold myself the fortunate one, for you waited all this time for me so patiently…!'

'But I am still sorry, if being in this part of the forest makes you sad. When I saw you looking at the water, you seemed so unhappy…'

'Oh, I… it is not that bad, really,' Triwathon said. 'It is in the past, anyway. We have a future to consider. Now, we take this side trail, and it will lead us to what used to be Flet Twenty Nine; we can go up there more easily, for the trees in this part of the forest are sleepy below their sapience layer, and that is the best way to move through them, when they know we are present.'

Triwathon grasped his hand more firmly, and pulled him away into the forest's wintergreen, rustling trails. The air was cool and cold together, a light breeze stirring, and it made for a pleasant walk – although it was more of an easy, swinging lope than anything, and before many minutes had passed, Triw was pausing to send out a signal, a simple identifier. No reply came.

'Not that I expected one so close to the way station, Parvon, unless from Mago,' he said. 'But it's polite to ask if there's anyone home, no? Well, this is it.' He patted the trunk of a sturdy oak. 'I hate to ask, but can you manage?'

'It will forever shame me if I cannot,' Parvon said, although the truth was he had a few misgivings. Although used, by now, to walking in the forest, he had never really been one to leap about amongst the treetops; too long had he been shrouded in stone to feel free amongst the trees. It gave him a wistful sense of sadness, for he felt perhaps he'd been denying his heritage in some way. Now seemed like a good time to begin to make amends, to relearn his ancestral birthright.

He placed his hand against the trunk of the tree, remembering to send his thoughts into its bark. He thought it was too deep in its winter sleep to know him, but it was what one did, after all… However, the contact did make him more aware of the tree, to see the route up to the first main branch, so he set off, finding hand and foot holds with less difficulty than he had imagined. Soon he was twenty feet up from the ground, looking down at his husband's laughing face.

'What?' he called. 'Too slow? Not elegant enough? I am out of practice, after all!'

'No, you are doing fine. Now, the flet is up on the next tier, to your right, around the back of the tree.'

This was less easy, as there was no obvious way up, and so he had to go around the trunk to the next branch, where he found more places to grip and step. Another ten feet or so, and he found himself level with the edge of the flet platform; it was unlike the previous talain he'd inhabited, where there was a space between trunk and flet to ascend, and it took him a moment or two to scramble higher, and drop down onto the planking that made up the floor.

Laughter; Triw was there before him.

'How did you manage that, you… you tree-creeping wizard, you?' Parvon asked, laughing in turn.

'Well, once I got to the first level, I let the tree know I was here. The sapience layer began there.'

'But you said, at talan level…'

'No, I said they're sleepy below it, but not how far below! So when it knew I was here, the oak just pushed some bark forward for me. It was easy. Look, love, if you'd struggled, I'd have cast the ladder down for you…! But you managed perfectly well unaided, while I did have the help of our tree.'

Triw held out a conciliatory hand, and, relieved that his husband seemed so much brighter of spirit, Parvon took it, pulled in to kiss his cheek.

'Very well. So, I shall announce myself to the oak, and then…?'

'Then we could make use of the privacy of the talan, yes? One bedroll will do… is that not a good idea?'

They would be late, they would be looked for, Thindorion and Magorion were possibly not that far away…

But Triwathon's eyes were shining and his hair glinted like rich, liquid honey in the remains of the winter-brown foliage of the oak…

'That's an excellent idea,' Parvon said.

After, they ran.

Parvon was constantly supported, Triw holding tight to his hand and if he pretended it was just to hold hands, and not to guide and steer him through the trees, Parvon appreciated the courtesy and did his best to learn how best to move, casting aside his doubts in his ability to walk, leap, run through the treetops. Within what felt like no time at all, he was running, laughing, and Triw's hand was no longer anxious in his; it felt as if he had thrown off decades of neglect and was learning as if he were a youngling again.

An hour, and he was confident, laughing and exhilarated, Triwathon laughing with him, leaping through the branches, waiting and joining and brushing hands and laughing again, always laughing, and Parvon felt giddy and dizzy almost, as joyous and light of heart as he had ever felt…

'Wait!' Triwathon called from twenty feet above and thirty in front. 'Join me, and wait! A sign!'

'What is it?' Parvon joined him in the tree, a little lower. 'Is all well?'

'The tree has had other laughing thoughts in it lately. I'm going to try a signal.'

He sent out a whistled call, paused and added a second phrase. After a few minutes, a sequence of rising and falling notes came back.

'That's Magorion!' Parvon said, laughing. 'I remember him trying to teach Thindo; it became a game for all of us, learning the important signals. That was when we heard you in the canopy, and you landed at my feet like a little bit of heaven.'

'Ai! And all I remember is being so glad to find you, and you being so cross with me!' Triwathon smiled, took Parvon's hand. 'Thank you, for giving me the chance to explain.'

'Always, Triw; I'll give you anything, always.'

Triwathon sighed, giving himself a shake.

'You are kind. But I must signal back. I will suggest we join them, yes?'

'Good idea. And then when we're all late at the camp, they can say they waited for us, and we can say it was better to all arrive together.'

When the notion was put to Magorion, as the official representative of the escort, he nodded.

'Yes, indeed, and if you wondered why we were not further ahead, well, it was because of that, too. No, it really, really, was,' he insisted with wide-eyed innocence as Thindo tried not to smirk and Triwathon raised an eyebrow. 'At least, the last few minutes, for the trees said you were on your way. We will not mention, please, to our captain, for while he is good, and understanding in such matters, strictly speaking there were moments when my mind was not on my work…'

'Only moments?' Parvon asked, joining in the discussion for the first time. 'Captain, I may only have been married a few days, but even I know that significant distraction is to be expected from successful engagement…'

The look of confusion on Magorion's face was enough for Thindo to burst into laughter.

'Well, one does not like to boast… Anyway, you've heard our news?'

'Indeed. It is good to see you happy, Thindorion.'

'Ah, well, I was never exactly unhappy, Parvon.'

'I, too, was glad to hear,' Triwathon said. He held Magorion's gaze for a moment. 'Guard him well, Magorion, for he has been a good and dear friend to me. And, lately, to my husband.'

He made himself smile, as if he had not been deadly serious.

'Triw…?' Parvon reached and touched his hand. 'We should go.'

'Yes, yes, we really should.'

Within an hour they were within signal of elves in the next watch flet, who held a hasty conversation with Magorion.

'You were expected an hour since! Captain Thiriston is growling, but the fact is, the naneths don't want to get back in the boats yet anyway, so you will have time to eat at least. Due south, now, a mile will find you there.'

A mile did. They dropped down from the trees and onto the trails after sending their identifiers ahead of them, and so were expected. Canadion was waiting.

'Come, there is food set aside for you, and I advise, Master Parvon, keeping out of sight of the naneths! They seem to wish to blame you for the river being wet, and cold, and the boats being cramped. I did remind them that the boats would have been even more cramped, were the four of you in them too, but they did not like that. My mother pointed out that it was not her fault, but that you might be consulted… I tried to tell her…'

'Indeed, thank you, Canadion. Yes, I am always happy to avoid that sort of consultation, as you call it.'

Canadion led the way to the daymeal cook-fire where a cauldron of Hopeful Stew and a loaf of fresh bread was waiting.

'The supplies, you see, arrived an hour before you did! And now, I will let Thiriston know you are here. He wishes to speak with you about your exploits in the canopy… Master Parvon? Why do you blush?'