Some days after this, her brother called again. "There have been rumours", he said.
"Rumours? What rumours?"
"About you and an elf..."
"Are there?" She tried very hard not to blush. Someone had seen them! Maybe even...
"You walk around with your hair down, they say. " He paused. "They also say that you wear flowers in your hair. That he picks those flowers for you...It seems you really had a secret admirer. He is not so secret now."
"Even if that was true", she replied. "It need not concern you. I am a widow, after all."
"Yes, you are, and I wonder...why? You were married two times, and both your husbands met an untimely end...I recall that you were quite curious when mother told us about the mushrooms of the forest. Especially about those that are only poisonous combined with booze"
"Was I?" He knew. He knew! But...he would not dare...
"You were. And I know for sure that and how you murdered your first husband. The second one..." he shrugged "Probably too. I wonder what your prospective third husband would say if he knew..."
She turned pale. "You won't dare!"
"Oh, I would...but I don't need to tell him. Just give me that silver thing – a present from him, yes? – and I will be as silent as a grave."
"I cannot give it to you. It was a present, as you say, and he would ask where it is."
"You can find a good excuse, I am sure. If not...well, Ivo is still alive, and he might remember that you ate the mushrooms but didn't drink. It is not secret that mushrooms don't agree with him and he never eats them. Your late husband on the other hand..."
"Hold your tongue!" she grabbed the cord to which the silver snowflake was tied. "I'll give it to you, if you promise not to say anything." There was no other way. Her hand trembled, and her brother took the snowflake out of fingers that still tried to clutch it.
"I will be silent as a grave" he promised as his fingers closed around the snowflake.
Lalaithlantir noticed that the plain cord around her neck was missing when he came calling the next morning. "You have sold your snowflake", he said sadly. "Have you fallen on hard times? Were you too proud to tell me?"
"No, no, it isn't like this...but you said I could sell it, and it is true what my brother said, that we could have a cozy life with the money...I have given it to him. He will sell it. You aren't very angry, are you? Please don't be – you did say I could sell it."
"I have, Glosswen nîn", he said and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I have...and I am not angry. You are not a good liar, Glosswen nîn. He has taken your snowflake against your will, has he not? Yes, I can see that, for you are looking glum. But why have you allowed him to take it?"
"I cannot tell you. It would sadden you." Worse than that. He would hate her, and still be unable to leave her. Poor Lalaithlanthir. She had meant to tell him, someday. If she had know he wanted to marry her...but it was too late.
"Nothing could sadden me more than seeing you like this", he replied softly, "Tell me the truth, Glosswen nîn."
"No, I cannot...everything I will do for you, but not that."
"Then tell me the name your parents have given you."
"Oh, that I can tell you, I am...wait! I know what you're planning! You'll ask for my brother!"
"I will, Glosswen, and I can do it without your name. I can see that you did not give my present away freely, and more I need not know to retrieve it."
"But he...he threatened to tell you something, about me, and you must never know it. It would cause you great sorrow."
"Oh Glosswen nîn, that you are mortal I already know, and nothing could cause me more sorrow than that." With this, he ran away, swift as the wind, and he didn't stop when she called for him.