Parvon and Triwathon departed the colony under the curious gaze of the better part of its inhabitants; those that did not come to see them off were mostly part of their escort. It was surprising, Parvon mused, but perhaps not entirely unexpected; Triw had become justly popular, and perhaps not much really happened of note in Ithilien, so maybe the sight of the prince in his formal splendour accompanied by Govon in equally formal uniform was something to be noted.

Horses had been found for them, and Legolas insisted Parvon ride beside him on the trail, while Govon bore Triwathon company. Daehel and Saelchi were just behind, with representatives from Ash and Rowan hunters following, an armed escort behind drawn from the garrison.

'It is not that we need it,' Legolas said, his voice apologetic. 'But it is done, here; if you are important, you have to have an armed escort to show it. And Faramir and his Vanathir will probably be there to watch the ship depart, so we need a good show.'

'My prince, those sailing will be honoured by your attendance in such good order,' Parvon replied. 'I understand it is not far?'

'An hour's ride, perhaps a little more at this pace. Next year – after the New Year celebrations – if the woods we have been living in are in better heart, we will seek to move south of the city; it is still largely rebuilding and to be somewhere a little calmer might be good. I have a feeling it would be wonderful to lose ourselves in those woods… But to be close to the river… it seems to help.'

They rode on in silence. Behind, Triwathon and Govon exchanged occasional comments on the day, the horses, the scenery – on anything except the fact that they were headed for a ship that would take Triwathon and Parvon away to the Undying Lands…

Their way soon diverged from the riverside path, around the curves of the land and beneath copses of wintered trees which flowed away and joined to make larger woodlands to either side, thee landscape slowly changing from wooded to open land and now the first hints of buildings began to emerge on the horizon to the west, half-ruined stone buildings, burned out timber shells at first, gradually giving way to repaired or rebuilt dwellings. The scent of water came refreshed on the breeze and riding on, they were on broad streets with Men standing around, working, calling, the stone buildings rising high on either side, some still in disrepair, others freshly rendered or recently renewed. Parvon looked around with astonishment.

'It's a lot to take in, first time, is it not?' Legolas said beside him. 'For all that we have been used to living under rock, to see worked stone rise so high is a wonder! I remember seeing Minas Tirith soaring like an artificial peak on the plains… But come, you will adjust soon enough, and although it may ever seem strange, still it will be less forbidding. Indeed, soon you will be on the open oceans with nothing either side of you except sea and sky…'

After a further mile or so during which the buildings became lower and more workmanlike and wound past rebuilt bridges and along the harbourside, the turned one more corner and saw the "Swan of Ithilien" riding at anchor.

Built of silver-grey wood and with a proud and arching swan neck prow, the Valinor-bound vessel rode low and proud amongst the waves of the Great River in her solitary mooring. The tide was not yet nearing its high point, and thus the sides of the vessel rode a little beneath the level of the quayside, and a gangplank was extended so that a work-crew of Men could roll barrels down it and onto the deck.

'And there she is,' Legolas said. 'After setbacks and problems and storms, she is riding at anchor and ready for her voyage.'

An elf on the foredeck saw the company, and raised an arm to wave and call, hastening over.

'My lord prince, hail and well met! Will you board?'

'Captain, we will.'

Legolas, Govon, Triwathon and Parvon dismounted, and others of their party came to take their horses. The prince led the way, Parvon falling back beside Triwathon.

'It's bigger than the river boats, at least,' Parvon murmured, as Triw walked closer against him, brushed his hand briefly. He smiled bravely.

'It's much bigger than the boats, my fair crow!'

'Yes. I hope Thindo is pleased.'

'There seems plenty of deck space, all feels good and stable and… well, I'd trust myself to this craft and gladly. Which is fortunate, I think, since I must…'

The elf who had waved to the prince now stood before the company and bowed to Legolas.

'Hail and well met, my lord prince. It is an honour to have you aboard.'

'Thank you, Captain. Parvon, Triwathon, captain Gwaelchanar will be in charge once you set sail.'

'Greetings, friends. Hir nin, we'll have supplies loaded within the hour, and so will be ready for your company shortly after. There is one group aboard already, plus the elf who arranged cabin allocations… These new elves mean we are now over capacity, but within safety limits. We will stop at Harlond, as requested, and then when we reach the Mouths of Anduin to take on more supplies and top up the fresh water barrels.'

'I am sure it will be fine, Captain. Thank you. Well, I can see Faramir and his escort arriving, so we will leave you to get on. Parvon, Triwathon, are you coming back to the quayside to say goodbye to everyone?'

Triwathon nodded, but as they turned away, a door opened and closed somewhere and Parvon saw Thindorion beckoning him.

'I will follow presently, if I may,' he said. 'Master Thindorion said he wished to speak to me before our friends arrive, and he seems to be waiting. Excuse me.'

'Thindorion! I am glad to see you again, I have…' Parvon found the rest of his greeting lost as his friend grabbed his arm and dragged him into a large cabin below the aftcastle with such rapidity that his head rocked on his neck. 'I was going to say I missed you, but I'm not so sure, now! What have you been doing, you look dreadful?'

'Worrying, mostly. Parvon, I'm sorry, really, I didn't mean… I'd no idea… but… Anyway, I've worked something out, there's a plan, and a secondary plan, and if that fails… but it will be well…'

'You've not told me yet what is amiss,' Parvon said. 'Unless it's our poor lost elves?'

'Well, yes, it is, or to do with them…' Thindo sighed and dropped onto one of two narrow beds, his head drooping. 'Believe me, I had no other options, and… well, it would have been unkind to do other than I have…'

Parvon slid his backpack from his shoulders and came to sit by his friend.

'Very well, accepting you had no options, that you have a plan and even a second plan, and that all will be well… whatever is bothering you, my friend? It is not Magorion, is it? Where is he, anyway?'

'He's fine, he's… we're fine, honestly, it's not him, he's at the lodgings keeping order… There's a slight problem with the cabin… that is, the elves, Parvon… it was the only one big enough for them, all five, they're related, sort of, so… I... had to…givethemyoursandTriw'scabin…'

Parvon laughed at the guilt and dismay in Thindo's voice. 'Is that all? Well, you did promise us the best, but we can manage on less. I assume we're now in rather more cramped quarters…? It's of no account, it won't be for long. I am sure Triw will forgive you; I certainly have already; these elves have suffered because we did not stay on the proper trails...'

'You don't understand. There isn't anywhere else, the ship's overfull already and there's talk of more boarding at Harlond…'

'Oh. The captain did say something about being overloaded, but that it was all still safe.' Parvon tried not to sound too eager; he was beginning to see possibilities in this new development that Thindo couldn't even begin to imagine. 'That being so, what is this plan of yours?'

'You share with us?' Thindorion gulped out the words. 'This is the next-biggest cabin, and there's a bed for each pair of us… and we can use different sittings at meal times, and Mago and I will go out on deck and take long walks to give you privacy, and rig up curtains, and not stare or anything…'

'No, Thindo, stop!' Parvon could not help but laugh. 'This is impossible!'

'Hammocks, then! We can swing hammocks, or… I am so sorry, Parvon…! Look, we can take the next ship, you can have this cabin, Mago and I will just wait in Ithilien – that's the back-up plan…'

'Dear, silly friend!' Parvon got to his feet, pulled Thindo up into a hug. 'You do not know how good this news is! Of course we cannot share a cabin, and of course you will not wait for the next ship; it would be awful for Mago, to see another given the captaincy that could have been his. In fact, this is just what I was looking for, a reason to delay sailing!'

'Parvon? Are you quite well?'

'Yes, yes! Now, I beg you, don't mention any of this to Triw, not until I have spoken with him, all right?'

'I don't understand enough to tell him anything, anyway…'

'No, but all will become clear. Bear with me. I will bring Triw back with me, if I may, and then I must visit the elves. May I leave my pack here? Thank you.'

Outside the cabin, the day felt suddenly brighter and the air fresh and crisp, the skies above huge and vast and Parvon was filled with renewed hope; this was his chance, this was how to sidestep his avowed intention to sail with no loss of face and, hopefully, no loss of Triwathon's trust. Eager to share the news, he ran to the edge of the gangplank and cast about for sign of his husband amongst the hunters, but Triw was not in sight. Looking inwards, he felt the link with his beloved, sensing sorrow and regret, and swallowed hard; he had intended approaching this new situation with light hearted teasing, but that would not be appropriate now. He followed the sense of Triw's fëa and realised he was actually on the ship, somewhere. After a moment, he spotted his beloved high on the aftcastle deck, staring out. Hastily, he found the stair up and hurried to join him there. To his dismay, but not entirely to his surprise, Triwathon was weeping silently, tears tracking across the contours of his face.

'Triw.' Parvon slid his arm around Triwathon's shoulders. 'I…'

'I am sad. Yes, I am sad,' Triw said, sniffing hard and dashing away the tears. 'This world has been our home for so long, and we have friends here, and although we are going with friends, and will find more friends waiting, still, it is sad, and I am allowed to be a little bit sad.'

'Of course you are,' Parvon said, reaching up to his husband's face to help with the tears. 'But I need to tell you…'

'They asked me to stay,' Triw blurted out. 'And Dusk – he was their captain, before the orc attack – asked me to take charge for him. And… it would have been wonderful, but… and I am sorry, I should not be telling you, I should just… It doesn't matter, I told them I was still sailing, I… but… Please, don't be angry! Don't think I don't want to be married to you, I do, you are my life…'

Parvon put his hands on Triw's shoulders and squeezed gently.

'Whyever would I be angry…? But will you listen to me a moment?'

A huge sniff, and finally Triw met his eyes, defiant in his tears, fearful somehow. 'I am sorry…'

'Will you stop, my love? You do not have to be sorry! And I am not angry; why would I be? I have to tell you something. We're not sailing after all.'

This did, at least, stop Triw's flow of apology and attempted appeasement, but as soon as he had taken stock and drawn breath, he carried on.

'If this is my…'

'No, it's not your fault.'

'Are you just saying…?'

'No, love. The elves that were found in the Brown Lands, Thindo gave them our cabin. They need it more than we do. And if we sail it means there's two extra people aboard – more, really, as there are two almost-adult elves where before the numbers included to very small elflings, and then there's rumour of more elves boarding at Harlond, so…'

'I don't understand… what does it matter?'

'It matters because, although Thindo has said we can share his and Mago's cabin, it means the ship must carry more food and water for the extra people. It's a ship, love, once it passes the Mouths of Anduin, there's going to be no chance to replenish supplies for at least two weeks. Even for elves, that's a long time on short commons. Thindo said he and Mago would wait for the next ship, but I can't bear to ask it of them… So we're staying. It makes things better for everyone.'

'We're…? How long? Just until the next ship? Because, Parvon, if so, then that's too hard…'

'No, love, no. I've had time to think about things.' Parvon stroked the hair back from Triw's face, smoothed the last of his tears away with gentle fingers. 'I promise you, I am not fickle, this is not a thing I will change my mind over again.'

'But… you need to go, you said…'

'When I decided to sail, yes, I did need to – it was all I could see. My work was destroyed, I thought I had lost my only friend, my beloved, to another – and I had nobody else here. But things have changed. You changed my life, Triw, you did, by coming after me… by loving me. I had to give you a chance to back away, if we were wrong for each other, but you are so very right to me, so dear to me…! As for work… well! I am so glad the hunters have seen your worth, you will be happy with them and I will be happy watching you grow and flourish amongst them. Legolas desperately needs someone to stand up to the Men for him, and Daehel and Saelchanorion keep saying they want me to help them…'

'But… your brother?'

Parvon nodded, feeling tears prickle his own eyes.

'Yes, it is… it is hard to think of not meeting him again for a time. But when I thought about it, he is only two decades dead; Lord Námo will not have finished with him yet. So all that would happen, were we to sail now, is that I would find myself staring across at my parents as we waited for his release, me remembering how they did not even tell me they were sailing, just sent a note to say the rooms had been given up, and my things put into storage. They didn't even ask me if I wanted to go, and I had thought they did like me a little… So I would be resenting them, and they would be resenting me, and when my brother was re-embodied, he would have been caught between us. And that isn't fair on anyone, Triw. Besides, I've come to see your heart wasn't really in the idea of sailing…'

'I was going to, though. Because I love you.'

'I know. And that is so wonderful, that you would do that for me. But… because I love you, here is a way for us both to stay.'

'How long, though? You mean it, you won't get bored and want to go on the next ship, or the one after, or…?'

'No, I won't. If it pleases you to stay, well, we will. Legolas has said he intends to wait for his dwarf to be ready… I thought we could go with them then.'

'Really?'

'Really. If Legolas can master his sea-longings, then it would be at least fifty years, perhaps more like a century. I know that some of his hunters would choose to sail with him… what do you think?'

And Triwathon was weeping again, but he was clutching at Parvon and managing to express his delight through his tears, so it seemed to Parvon that perhaps these were not bad tears…

He gave him a moment, content to hold him and stroke his back and shoulders and feel the relief of knowing his conscience was clear, at last.

Or it would be, once he had apologised to the elves currently inhabiting his cabin…

'Better, love?'

Triwathon nodded. 'So much better, beloved crow. I must tell Dusk, and Hind, and…'

'Steady on! We need to tell Thindo first.'

'Oh. Yes, of course we must. He won't mind, I am sure, that we're not going; he has Mago, after all.' Triw laced his fingers into Parvon's. 'Shall we tell him now?'

Parvon felt the soaring joy from Triwathon's fëa and knew that whatever it had cost him to throw away the chance of perhaps reuniting with his brother was more than worth the ache of his heart; to have dragged Triw across the seas would have been unkind, and it would have preyed on his conscience. But now he permitted Triw to do the dragging, pulling him down the stair and onto the main deck.

'Where now, Parvon?'

'It's here. The second-best cabin… come and see.'

Thindo must have been waiting for the knock, for he was there at the door as soon as Triw had tapped at the frame.

'Hello, Little-Elkling!' he said, staggering as Triw threw his arms around him in a hug. 'Watch out there! Your husband's watching!'

'His husband is entirely un-jealous of this particular embrace, Master Thindorion,' Parvon said calmly. 'Providing you do not enjoy the contact too much!'

'Thindo, oh, Thindo, there is news, and it is wonderful! We are not sailing, if you please, so I hope you do not mind, but it is because I may have mentioned that you snore, so sharing your cabin is not to our taste, thank you!'

Thindorion prised himself out of Triwathon's exuberant embrace and took a couple of steps back, looking from one to the other.

'I'm not sure I understand, but… you're both staying, yes?'

The two nodded.

'And it's what you both want to do?'

'Yes, indeed,' Parvon said. 'We find there is work for us both here, and that we like Ithilien. So we will delay our sailing until we are both more prepared. It will give you and Magorion time to connect with each other, and not have to worry about your anxious friends.'

'It would have been good to have you and Triw with us, though,' Thindorion said. 'But I am glad you're staying; I think your Triwathon isn't quite ready, yet, to set sail.'

'I will come, Thindo. Sometime.'

'I will throw a party just for you and your husband, as soon as I hear of your arrival.'

'Triw, I need to meet these lost elves.' Parvon located his backpack, took out his formal robes of office and put them on, and then shook out the brown and green robes from Daehel and Saelchanorion. These were sleeveless, open at the front, but with the edges richly finished in gold thread.

'What in the name of all the Valar do you have there?' Thindorion asked, boggling as Parvon settled the over-robe across his shoulders.

'These are the formal robes of the representatives of his royal highness, Legolas, Prince in Ithilien, if you please!' Parvon said, his voice mock-stern. 'And now, where are these elves? I need to apologise to them.'

'Just next door, Parvon. I'll introduce you…'

'No, that's fine. You take care of Triw for me; find him some wine or beer or suchlike, I think he's still in shock.'

The cabin door opening after his polite tap, Parvon saw a young face peering out.

'Who's there, if you please?'

'Good day to you. I am Parvon, official envoy of Thranduil, Elvenking, and here on behalf of Legolas, Prince in Ithilien. I understand you have had some difficulties on your road…?'

The face disappeared. 'Ada? Adar?' came from behind the door, which presently was opened wide and a tall Silvan with anxious expression stood there.

'Parvon, you say? The same as the letter of introduction was addressed for? Will you come in? But please, my sister is not well… can I beg you, speak soft words only?'

'But of course. I am sorry to hear of her suffering; they say there is healing for all, in the Undying Lands; I hope she finds her recovery there.'

They were Falasdaer and Sírdhemben, fëa-mates from the southern settlements of Mirkwood and who had found it hard to settle in Eryn Lasgalen once the boundaries had changed after the War. The youngling who had answered the door was Fimdir, and his sibling, Tostor. Behind a curtain, shielded from the cabin's brightness, the unwell elf rested. Her name, so Falasdaer told him, was Linthel.

'She is my sister,' he said. 'Her beloved died in the Battle under the Trees, and she has never recovered. Fim and Tos are our much-loved honour sons. Please.' The elf gestured to a stool. 'Be seated. Master Thindorion tells us you have relinquished your cabin for us; we are most grateful.'

'It is the least I could do.' Parvon took the seat offered and smiled in his friendliest manner. 'Besides, my plans have changed, and I am staying to assist the prince with matters of state for a time. I have come, really, to apologise that you were left unescorted. There were problems on the road, and the company perforce took a different route. Had it been known that there were elves waiting on the intended trail, a messenger would have been sent, but, alas, there was no way of knowing. Steps will be taken to ensure this never happens to future travellers. It is small comfort, and you have had a worrying time.'

'But we met Men,' Fimdir said, his voice excited. Sírdhemben cleared his throat softly, glancing pointedly towards the curtain. 'Sorry, Ada,' the youngster continued in softer tones. 'We had the Men of the White Company, riding around us, it was very interesting…'

'Exciting, even?' Parvon smiled. 'Yes, the Men of Gondor are of a different ilk to those we may meet around the forest, and they ride splendid horses. You are now, however, on a splendid ship, and it will carry you off to new places, to safety and sanctuary. Do not fear it will be dull, however; there are forests, and Lord Oromë takes particular interest in Silvans. There is much to look forward to.'

'And our parents – our first-parents, they will be there,' Fim said. 'It will be so good to see them again! Not that… do not think… Ada, Adar… I did not…'

'Fim sometimes gets tangled up in words.' Sírdhemben put his hands on the young one's shoulders from behind him, kissed the top of his head. 'We know he and his brother love and value us, but of course they miss their first-parents. We love them more because we never could have blood-children of our own.'

Falasdaer smiled, reached over to smooth a hand over Tostor's hair.

'We are as much a family as any you may meet,' he said. 'Have you children, Master Parvon?'

'No, I do not. I have only lately married and my husband and I have not yet given thought to the matter. However, as a King's Elf, I fear I would not have sufficient time to devote to a foster-child. If there is anything I can help you with, anything you need before the ship sails, I would be glad to assist?'

'You have already given us your cabin, Master Parvon!'

'You are most welcome, Master Falasdaer!' Parvon rose to his feet and smiled again. 'I hope you will be comfortable; Thindo will look after you, I am sure. And so I wish you a safe and pleasant voyage, and health and happiness to you all for the future.'

He bowed and Fimdir hurried to open the door for him.

'Thank you, penneth. Farewell.'

With a final bow, and a smile from his heart, Parvon left the cabin with a sense of rightness leaving him feeling lighter and lighter still of heart than he could ever have imagined.