The rooms in which I found myself were a collection of three bedchambers all opening of a communal sitting room. They were not overly ornate but they were serviceable and comfortable. Two of the bedchambers were smaller then the third. The third bedchamber contained two beds which had been fitted with clean linens and warm comforters. This room I was to share with Lailitha. Mirwen and Laiqualassë would take the use of the two other bedchambers.

From my pack I took my few possessions and placed them lovingly in the wardrobe and on the shelves of the room. It was not long before a bell rang and Mirwen came into the chamber telling me that the bell announced the beginning of the supper hour. We walked down the hall ways to the great hall on the ground level. I had never eaten in a feasting hall such as this before. Many long tables with benches placed around them filled the halls in neat rows. At the head of the hall a dais rose a foot higher off the floor, and there sat a single table placed at a ninety degree angle to all the other tables. Chairs surrounded this table rather than benches, and they were already filled. Here sat the remaining Lords and Ladies who had escaped the slaughter of Nagothrond, Doriath and Gondolin respectively.

Mirwen drew me over to a table to the side. There sat Lailitha, Earendil and Elwing as well as a number of other young elleth and ellon. They seemed to be chattering happily. I did not pay much attention to what was being said around me that night. It had been so long since I had eaten at a table for a full meal, and never had I eaten in a hall such as this. The closest I had ever come was a class field trip to medieval times, a re-enacting of a jousting tournament that took place in Toronto Ontario as a grade school student. The meal past quickly, I spent most of it listening to the incessant chatter of the elflings.

After dinner Lailitha, Elwing, Earendil, Mirwen and I made our way back to the chambers in which I was staying. Mirwen was speaking to the young ones about the lessons that were to be organised. Most of the elflings that now dwelt in the Havens had not had the opportunities to learn the things their parents had had. As such there had been lessons organised to teach them. I pondered whether they would allow me to join them for some. Now that I was faced with living a semi-static existence, I wished to learn more about the world in which I found myself.

Upon arriving in our rooms I realised that I could not spar in the dress I had been wearing. Informing Mirwen and the elflings that I was going to change and reminding Lailitha that if she intended on joining the sparing that night that she too would need to change into a tunic and some leggings. It felt good to have a moment to myself, some peace in which to allow everything that was spinning around in my mind to settle.

When I emerged from my room back into the sitting room, I was wearing a pair of leggings and a tunic I had been given, along with my dagger belted to my side.? I found the three elflings playing a clapping game that Elwing was teaching them. It was in base principle similar to the clapping games I had played as a child, involving different patterns of clapping set to a rhyme.

Laiqualassë stood with Mirwen by the window as if in conversation, but they did not speak. Mirwen looked upset as if she had been told something that she did not wish to hear. Her face turned stormy and she looked directly into her brother's eyes her lips pursed together.

"If you must, then so be it," said Mirwen as she spun away from him, walking into her own small bedchamber. The solid wooden door closed behind her with a resounding click. Laiqualassë stood looking out the large window over the wall and out to the ocean beyond. His head was slightly bowed and he braced himself against the window frame with one hand.

When he heard me approach he turned and gave me a forlorn look as though he felt that I would soon turn my back and walk away from him as well. "Come Eruanna, will you walk with me for awhile in the gardens before sparing?" He asked.

"Yes." I replied quietly with a nod of my head. "Lailitha, Earendil, Elwing," I said, getting the attention of the elflings. "If you wish to do some sparing tonight you must be in the practice courtyard by the next bell. If you don't wish to come, please feel free to stay here." They acknowledged my words before going back to their game.

Laiqualassë and I walked in companionable silence along the corridors and down the stairs to the gardens. It was not until we were out beneath the clear evening sky that I spoke the query that lay across my mind. "What has upset Mirwen so?" I asked.

"I gave her some news that she did not wish to hear," said Laiqualassë. "I do not believe that you will like it anymore then she did," he continued glancing at me. "Tuor has asked me to go to the Isle of Balar as an ambassador to the court of the High King Gil-Galad. Idril wants to assure her cousin that the Lothlim recognise his right to that title."

I felt numb at his words. I had pushed him away for the past two months and yet when I allowed myself to get close to him he tells me that he will be leaving. I swallowed and looked up at him. "Mirwen did not wish you to leave?" I asked in a manor that was only half a question. I did not want him to leave either, but unlike Mirwen I had no right to ask him to stay.

"She did not," said Laiqualassë looking off to something past my shoulder. "She quite adamantly begged me to stay, asking why someone else could not be sent. Tuor and Idril have both impressed upon me that they feel that there is no one else who would go that they have full trust in. They do not want to send someone like Gilmir who could have their own motives."

"I see that you have no choice and that you must go," I said. "I can not say that I wish to be parted from you, my friend." As I finished speaking the bell rang and I realised that I was late for sparing. What a poor example I made for the elflings whom I had lectured about punctuality not long before! "I must be off to sparing. Are you coming to join us as you said you would this morning?"

"I must return to the council, Eruanna, said Laiqualassë. I will not be at sparing this night." I nodded and we both went our separate ways.

Author's Note:

Surprise! I got this done. I can't guarantee when I'll be done the next chapter, so again I must ask your patience. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Brightest Blessings

Elariel