“I thought you were concerned before we reached Angmar, cousin?” I questioned Parnard.
“I was concerned for those Halflings; those men threatened to tear them to pieces if we did not lay down our weapons.”
“Halflings …uh?” Earcalie’s eyes widened as she looked directly at Parnard.
I stepped in to explain that part of our tale. “That is how the men captured us. They had two of the Yondershire folk, and were threatening to pull their arms and legs off. We could not permit that. We could not have their torture and death on our hands, else we would have slain all or made our escape.”
“They brought them with us all the way into Angmar,” Parnard said, indignantly shaking his head at the memory. “It was when we crossed the border into that blighted land that I became truly concerned, Cousin Danel. You see, I had been there before.”
”It is not a place I would have walked in willingly.” Although it had been my first visit, I knew enough about that land to avoid it.
Parnard poured more wine into my glass. I nodded my thanks to him.
“There is no goodness left in that land,” Estarfin said bluntly.
I nodded in agreement. “I do not believe even our kind could heal it again, any more than we can thoroughly heal Eregion.”
Parnard continued his account for Earcalië. “It was a strange and confusing time, to be certain! There was a noisome swamp, and all was shrouded in mist and darkness. Within the heart of the swamp was a decaying house.”
“Oh yes, the house.” I shivered involuntarily. Estarfin leant close again, knowing that house had almost been my tomb.
“And on the door was a wolf’s head gnashing its teeth. Very dirty and decrepit was everything in the house, and there was a loathsome smell…” Parnard brightened suddenly. “That house burned to the ground, I later learned.”
“With Gaisarix the Halfling and I inside. We would have died had not Estarfin and Miss Lithea found us when they did.” I could still easily recall that dark flame engulfing the room we were left in, drugged and hardly conscious, and the sound of Estarfin’s voice calling to me through the flames.
“It is in the past, Racarnë,” he whispered to me. “None shall harm you now.”
I smiled my thanks to him. “Not while you or I hold a weapon, meldanya. None shall harm either of us. But there was a Sorceress of some power there, and a younger sorceress who set the fire out of hatred for me. By then, Parnard had already been taken away.”
I glanced directly at Earcalië, hoping it would not be too distasteful for her to hear. She looked transfixed, and scratched her head and rubbed her eyes.
“The reason for our capture varied. At one point I overheard they wanted Estarfin, lest he slay their King.”
He squeezed my hand, and I could feel the anger in him. “That they took you both is reason enough for me to slay him.”
I squeezed his hand in turn. “Then they made it known the older Sorceress wanted Parnard for some private reason. There was some jesting concerning it from the men. Lastly, the Corsair Captain wanted me, though the sorceress wanted to bleed me for her distillations first.”
Estarfin finished his wine, looking darkly angry.
Parnard held up his hand, knowing we trod on dangerous territory. “Cousin, it is to be spoken of no further.”
“I shall say no more, save if any cross our path again, they shall perish.”
Parnard nodded. “For whatever wicked purpose, they took me south. South, all the way to–erm…Where was it again, Danel?”
“Herne,” I replied. “They took you to Herne, cousin, though it was likely they intended to travel further.”
“Herne. Very well. It was there that the shrewish woman, the one with the great black jungle-cat, admitted to starting the house fire on purpose.”
“Khahaynd,” I whispered. “She who tried to deceive Estarfin and your brother into thinking she was me.”
“And so I stuck a knife in her,” Parnard recounted with relish, “and then she ran out the door screaming curses in her profane language. What happened to her I do not know, but I like to think she went away and died.”
Estarfin and I exchanged glances. He had encountered her after that event. Neither of us believed she was truly gone.
“Then it was my turn to run. I ran far, far away, into a bog, and so escaped the Corsairs. And there it was that Estarfin and Danel found me, a little while later. Then we went home.”
I helped myself to a slice of the strawberry and rhubarb pie. I offered it to Estarfin, but he shook his head.
Parnard was grinning at both of us. “That is the summary. Of course, there are many odd tidbits and whatnot that occurred in-between.”
“That is about it. Parnard is correct, and left out a few details from his recounting,” I confirmed.
Earcalië shifted her position slightly. “That’s…still a lot to take in.” She gulped down her full glass of wine.
“It was a lot for us to endure. All of us.”
“I can imagine, well, more or less. Definitely something to be avoided. Although it seems they went south, or died, I shall tell those back home about these surly men and sorceresses, so they stand guard against any such folk,” the young nis said.
Estarfin picked up a piece of sliced cheese, but left it untouched on his plate. I suspected recent talk had robbed him of his appetite.
“Thank you for telling me,” our guest said in an uncharacteristically subdued tone for her.
“One has been seen again, nigh our house,” Estarfin said, and straightened up, looking at Earcalië. “If I had known at the time, I would have put an end to him.”
There was no hint of his previous accusation to me. Naraal was his enemy, not Parnard or I. But I should have told him the moment I knew Naraal had been at Numenstaya.
“One of the Corsairs was involved, not the Sorceresses,” I explained.
Parnard was also explaining. “A few weeks after we returned home it was. I was out doing my usual evening patrol when, all of a sudden, Captain Naraal popped out from behind a rock, and snatched at Swanhoof’s headstall! He wanted me to give message to Danel.”
“It will not happen again, meldanya,” I whispered to Estarfin.
He knew an appearance by Naraal could well happen again, but that my response would be swift and deadly, as would his own.
“If we ever see him again, we will put an end to his rascally ways,” Parnard vowed.
“Throughout it all, I knew Parnard and I were being followed. In that lay my hope,” I mused aloud. “I knew Estarfin would never give up, though he also had good aid from Parnard’s brother, Culufinnel, and Yrill the Huntress.”
“My brother was always a good tracker,” Parnard reached for a hunk of cheese. “He found me, after all!”
“You can be quite elusive, Cousin.”
“Hmpf. He only found me because I stayed in one place: Imladris.” Parnard picked up another bottle of wine, and seeing it was empty, sighed.
“I shall fetch more soon,” I said. I was still just a little concerned about how this reminiscing was affecting Estarfin. I patted his hand. “I knew you would never give up,” I said with a smile.
“No, but neither would I have found you without aid. I am no tracker.”
“I know that,” I said softly.
“Estarfin has a heart of steel,” Parnard sang out.
“Nay, Cousin. Arms and legs of steel, perhaps, but his heart is warm, not cold like metal. “ And I had succeeded in causing a small measure of embarrassment. Not that Estarfin was easily embarrassed.
“They took my armour, Earcalië,” Parnard muttered darkly, his cheeks turning red as he confessed this humiliating truth. “But we will get it back.”
Estarfin nodded, probably remembering the fine workmanship he put into it.
“What armour?” asked Earcalië.
I recalled it in thought. “Beautiful armour, fit for a Prince…”
“Of Formenos steel it was made. Estarfin made it especially for me,” Parnard lamented.
“Oh!” Earcalië’s eyes lit up at that.
“It was engraved all over with green and silver vines…and it had a big plume of white feathers on the helm that reached halfway down my back.”
“Oh, you did not wear it when I last saw you. I wish you had,” Earcalië told Parnard. “I bet it looked beautiful. I have never seen anyone else, even in Imladris, wear something like that. And I doubt there is much Formenos steel left anywhere on this side of the sea?”
Parnard beat the empty bottle on the rug in consternation. “Well, I can tell you, when that Dwarf saw it, his evil little eyes lit up with avarice. He ran away with it.” My ‘cousin’ frowned at the memory. “He was one of the servants of that wicked old sorceress Zairaphel.”
“A Dwarf is, of course, too short and stocky to wear an Elf’s armour,” I commented. “He will try and sell it.”
“Estarfin drew a deep breath, also angered by what had become of his work. “It was not made for him. It will bring him nothing but woe, I am sure of it.”
“But still, better that your armour is lost, than that you are still in their ‘claws’, Parnard.”
We all nodded. Earcalië was correct.
Parnard sighed and looked up. The first stars had appeared in the sky.
“It is hard having something taken that you value so highly. That Dwarf also had my betrothal ring, but I was fortunate enough to get it back. If we can find Parnard’s armour, we shall get that back also.”
We all looked to the stars for a few minutes, the light lessening slowly that we were witness to a stunning display of rose and gold light.
“So, Earcalië has invited us to visit at her uncle’s house, “ I said to Parnard. He looked interested, but was still sadly contemplating the empty bottle.
“Welcome news, indeed,” he said, “but first let me fetch more wine.”
I bid him sit. “Nay, Cousin, I said I would fetch more.” I rose to my feet and hurried back up the incline to the house. Very soon I was on my way back, with three bottles of Limael’s red, one of her white wines and an extra glass.
“We have drunk all the local wine we purchased,” I explained. “But Limael’s wine is always excellent.” I sat down and began refilling glasses, even as the others continued talking about how we three reached Earcalië’s uncle's house.
“Come by any time,” the young nis was saying. “I will probably not be travelling again in the winter months.”
“Is the house on an island?” Parnard asked.
“No,” Earcalië shook her head.
“Oh.” It reminded me of the fun Parnard and I had on the rocky ruins of Mount Rerir. He and I should revisit the remnants of my ancient home sometime, but it was Earcalië’s home we were speaking of.
“We live in the grasslands,” Earcalië explained. “You seem disappointed. Should I be living on an island instead?”
“No, no, no,” he answered, shaking his head.
“She dwells near the sunken lands of Beleriand, our old home,” I explained, though I was sure Parnard understood the significance.
Estarfin smiled, and finally took up some more food to eat. “Ideally she would not be living on an island.”
That seemed to halt one line of enquiry. Then Parnard asked hopefully, “Does your Uncle make cheese?”
Again Earcalië shook her head.
“Oh.” Parnard fiddled with the ties of his robe.
“More wine, Cousin?”
Parnard was not about to disagree to that. I refilled his glass.
“My uncle has a caravan and travels back and forth along the coast, transporting materials to build ships. Also elves who are wanting to sail the last voyage. I suppose among the goods he transports there is sometimes cheese, if that makes you feel less disappointed?” She grinned.
Parnard laughed. He was not too disappointed. “I thought he may have kept a flock of sheep or cows with all that grass.”
“The grasslands we live on are mostly used for flax,” was her reply.
“A worthy task your uncle has set himself,” I nodded as I refilled my own glass. But your tale next, Earcalië. Where have you visited?”
“When I last saw you I said I would be going to Gondor. Well, I did!”
Estarfin frowned. “Why would you travel there?”
I hugged his arm. I understood. “Interesting, but so many Men.”
“Curiosity,” Earcalië replied.
I understood that too, though my curiosity had never taken me to that place. Nor was it ever likely to.
“There are pictures of Gondor in a book in the library of Imladris–and a big…jumbled-up…pell-mell…plopped down place it looks.” As Parnard spoke he sipped wine, relishing its flavour.
“Not all the Gondorians are bad, the ones I met were not, at least. And they mostly knew what an Elf was, unlike the Rohirrim.
“They are more learned, I have heard.”
Beside me, Estarfin held his tongue, but drank much more wine.
“Being from that huge city, cousin, I would think they are. At least I hope so.”
“Anyway, I have been wanting a change of scenery ever since leaving Imladris, a true new experience, and Gondor seemed the best choice,” Earcalië continued.
“You went there–alone?” Parnard said, wide-eyed. He seemed concerned by the possibility.
“My uncle once travelled with Elendil to Ithilien, and he told me stories…oh, not alone, all the time.”
Parnard swallowed a huge gulp of wine.
“Elendil? That was a few years ago then?” I said.
Earcalië nodded. “I began my travels with a party from the Loth i Lonnath, do you remember them?”
“Indeed. Aearlin was once one of their number, at Thamas Lorn.”
“Well, we travelled to Lothlorien, and then we parted ways, and I travelled on, alone.”
“Loth i Lonnath have always been very capable. They would provide a good escort for any.” I recalled my own limited experience, and what Aearlinn had said concerning them.
“And it felt so …freeing! No orders to obey, no route to stick to. I could avoid towns, or visit them wearing a hood, as I pleased.”
Parnard stared at Estarfin and me, seemingly gauging our reactions.
“I stayed away from any Rohan settlement, as I know they think of us stupidly as some sort of evil spirits”
Estarfin shook his head. I knew he had some experience with those of the Riddermark, and it was not pleasant.
“Your words interest me, Earcalië, because I would also learn. But I do not think I would find what I search for in Rohan nor Gondor.” I had passed through part of Rohan once. The land itself held much beauty, and the horse herds that roamed those plains were some of the finest of their kind. Yet the actual men were superstitious to the extreme, and saw enemies where none stood. Best avoided, I believed.
“True enough,” Earcalië took a few sips of her wine before continuing. “But once I crossed the border from Eastern Rohan into Gondor, oh, how things changed so dramatically.”
“Really? How?” asked Parnard, adjusting the slipping wreath of leaves about his brow.
Estarfin had leaned back to watch the stars in the now darkened sky. I thought he was likely trying to shut out the talk of Men. I whispered to him, “We need never visit these places, meldanya. Lindon is now our home, and Imladris when we wish. We need to travel very little.”
He smiled at me, then went back to his star watching.
“They have buildings of white stone and houses of white wood,” Earcalië replied to Parnard’s question. “Some of them even know rudimentary Sindarin. The one time I stopped at a town to ask directions, a woman told me it was many years since one of my people had passed through that land. The town was called Tadrent…and from there, I made my way to Edhellond.”
“Oh, that was our old port,” I recalled.
“Is it still used?” Parnard asked.
“Nay, not any more.”
“Another ruined place! The southlands seem full of them. All gone to seed,” Parnard sighed.
“Edhellond is more rubble than buildings. I knew not what to expect from my uncle's stories and Miri’s firsthand account, but what I did not expect was to find the Avorrim still active.”
“Do they still dwell there?” I asked her with some surprise.
Earcalië nodded. It was naive of me. Why wouldn’t they be active?
Estarfin seemed to be listening again. He leant back against me, making himself comfortable.
“I suppose I thought they would have moved inland, to the remaining forests, or north, back to the Falas,” I said.
Earcalië shook her head. “Nay, not as long as they have orders from Cirdan for…whatever they are doing there. I stayed with them for a good while, and never reached Ithilien. I befriended an elleth who decided to sail for good, and I decided she should not have to sail alone.”
I lay my head against Estarfin’s shoulder and whispered “We sleep out under the stars this night? It is too pleasant to be indoors.” In truth, the lights over the sea suggested a good display of the skyfire soon. He smiled again, nodded and closed his eyes.
“We embarked on a vessel and made our way to Mithlond. Then I went home after saying goodbye, and she took a ship into the West. Now I am here. And at some point I shall depart again because I wish to see Ithilien.”
I smiled warmly at her. Although I had not gone far South, had I not been somewhat of that mind until recently?
Parnard smiled, too. “But you are here with us, Earcalië. Have you had enough of wandering?” he asked.
“Why would I have had enough of wandering when I have just started to taste the freedom of going wherever I please?”
“If you wish to visit a place, then you should do so. There is no second chance after you sail West,” I noted.
“I have never seen the appeal.” Estarfin’s eyes were open. He had been listening.
“I know, meldanya. And the appeal has vanished for me.”
“Maybe I will change my mind if I ever get kidnapped,” Earcalie said. “Though I have no intention of letting that ever happen.”
I smiled again at her. “Neither had Parnard or I, but it happened. I do not say be fearful, that is not our way. But…be careful?”
Earcalië waved a hand dismissively, much as I would have once done. “Yes, yes,” she said.
“Being free is important.” I emphasised.
“Freedom is not worth having, unless one is free to make mistakes,” Parnard declared.
I nodded at him. “But now I have the home I have longed for. I am more than content with building that further.”
“Married life awaits you,” Earcalië said with a smile.
I lowered my head a moment, feeling the heat come to my face as it sometimes did. What could I say? I was the happiest I had ever been. I looked to Estarfin, but he sat up suddenly, holding up his hands in protest.
“I place no restrictions upon Danel,” he said with a smile.
It was true. Save that I spoke honestly with him, and that was no real restriction.
“Now they must grow roots,” Parnard said with a laugh.
“They will become like the Ents,” Earcalië added.
“And I place no restrictions on you, meldanya, save you do not get yourself slain,”
Estarfin inclined his head to me. “It would not be intentional,” he replied.
We remained on the beach for an hour or so more, then Earcalië rose, saying she must be on her way, though we did offer her a room for the night.
“I am used to travelling these lands,” she laughed. “I shall not get lost. But thank you all, it has been good to catch up. And visit when you can. I shall look forward to it.”
We watched her ride away, waving as she went. Parnard sat with us a short time longer before heading to the comfort of his bed.
Estarfin and I stayed out all that night, watching the sky fire and the movement of the stars. I did understand Earcalië’s desire for travel. But my days of such exploration were over, and I had no regrets for that. Finally I was home, the place I had always been searching for. I would not trade that for anything.
The following day, Parnard and I spent time looking through his collection of the gifts of the sea. We chose several shells and some stones we wanted for our younger family members. And that set me thinking again of fetching Miruviel and Fearanië to the coast. We had enough room for them, and I thought it would do them good. It would also ease Estarfin and I back into the feel of Numenstaya.
“I shall send a letter, and ask Ceuro to escort them here for the last week, “ I told Parnard. He seemed more than happy with the suggestion.
“Then you had better get started on their gifts, Cousin.”
Such was the truth, but I did not have all my tools with me. I settled on making them a bracelet each, with a matching necklace to follow once we were home.
The evening before they were due to arrive, Parnard decided to teach Estarfin to fish. Now Estarfin was not unwilling, though neither did he feel he had much aptitude for such an undertaking. We three returned to the beach, as had become our habit, with blankets to spread on the sand, several bottles of wine, and a basket containing a selection of our favourite food. It would be the last evening we had just to ourselves for a while.
Once on the sands, Estarfin and Parnard removed their boots; there was something special about walking barefoot on sand.
I removed my shoes and my over-dress, for I intended to swim.
Swim and dance I did. I felt so joyful. I had hoped Estarfin would join me, but he seemed more than content to watch. I thought Parnard would join me, but he seemed happy to talk with a distracted Estarfin about fishing. It was still a lovely evening.
Eventually I returned to the beach and sat down in front of Estarfin. He smiled, brushing back a lock of my hair behind my ear.
“Do you remember the first time we went to the beach?” I asked him.
“It is hard to forget.”
He smiled at me, I grinned back. That day my dress had been less appropriate than it was this evening.
“You did that deliberately?” he asked.
“I did not. I would not have knowingly been so unseemly.”
We both laughed.
“Ossë is calm this evening.”
“Do not tempt him, meldanya,” I looked back over my shoulder at the still calm sea. “You know what he can be like.”
“I know better than to do that,” Estarfin said as he offered me a glass of wine.
Parnard had, by then, also removed his hose, and was wiggling his toes in the sand. “What say you that we spear some fish this eve?” he asked.
Estarfin smiled at him. It was a ‘perhaps’ reply. He turned back to me. “Do you think Uinen ever danced on the shore as you did?”
“I hope she did, she still does. It is fun, it is a celebration of joy.”
He smiled again.
“You must dance to the music of the waves,” Parnard said.
“I was trying to, Cousin.”
“Uinen holds sway tonight,” Estarfin observed. He lent back on his elbows, looking most content.
“Part of me wishes we could remain here forever. My heart is so full of peace and beauty.”
The other two raised their glasses. Parnard burst into song, praising the stars and their light upon the calm waves.
I smiled, and skipped back to the sea, revelling in all that was around me. I danced along the shore and into the water until it rose to my waist, then it was swim, or return to the shore.
I splashed water at Estarfin and Parnard as I approached, then stood, still some distance away, and wrung out my hair.
Parnard had finished the stanza and hymn, gently rocking to himself, oblivious as to anything going on. Estarfin moved off the blanket so he could offer it to me. I shook my head, though smiled my thanks. “The water was not cold, meldanya.”
“Come Estarfin friend,” began Parnard, a smile widening across his face. “A few nights ago you rode to the inn for our supper. That would not be necessary if you could fish. We are here, I have a rod with me. Permit me to show you?”
“I can fish, after a fashion. It is a useful skill,” I encouraged. Yes, I would far rather Estarfin swam with me, but Parnard was offering his expertise. It was not something to ignore.
Estarfin finished his wine, then nodded and rose to his feet. “Show me how it is done then. I recall being unsuccessful when I tried fishing in the marshes. Well, apart from the one I grasped and tossed ashore.”
I smiled affectionately at him. “You were very unwell then.”
He shrugged.
We walked to the shoreline, our feet getting a little wet again.
“See, I told you it was warm,” I said.
Estarfin took hold of the rod Parnard passed to him, and awaited instructions.
“You cast out the line, like this,” Parnard said, mimicking the casting with a flick of his wrist. “Then you wait. It is very relaxing.”
“Not so relaxing when you are keeping hungry folk waiting,” Estarfin remarked.
I stepped back a few paces, out of Estarfin’s sight. I was aware that even that thicker garment I wore was a little transparent, not that it mattered any more.
“Now what?” he said to Parnard.
“We wait until the hook—you see that small cork float attached to the line? It will bob up and down.”
“Did you put some bait on it, Cousin?” I asked.
“Yes, yes. Of course,” Parnard said without turning to me.
Estarfin did as instructed, and when the float bobbed up and down he reeled in a straw hat.
He shrugged, but looked more than a little disappointed.
“Try again!” Parnard jumped up and down on the sand in excitement. “One hat does not a fishing trip ruin.”
Estarfin sighed, looked at me for an instant, then returned to fishing.
A few minutes passed. I was calling silently on Uinen to send a good-sized fish Estarfin’s way. Then the float bobbed again.
“Slowly,” Parnard leant forward. “Pay out a little more line if it fights you too much. Slowly…easy does it…”
Estarfin had been paying diligent attention, and from the struggle he had to land the fish, if fish it was, I expected it to be of some size.
And then he pulled from the sea a glistening silver scaled fish, around four feet in length. It fought him to the finish.
“What is it?”
“The King of Cods, by the look of it! We shall eat well tonight and tomorrow. “ Parnard did a celebration dance and spun in circles until he became dizzy.
Estarfin landed the fish on the beach, and turned to Parnard. “A King cod?”
“They are usually a third of that size, Estarfin friend, but a few wily ones grow to a huge size. You have caught us a prince of a fish there!”
Estarfin smiled. He was content. He had provided us with a meal from the sea, and one that he had struggled with. “It is not quite as straightforward as hunting a boar or a hart. But it serves a purpose.”
I hurried over to him. “Well done! It took me several attempts before I landed a sprat.” I chuckled.
And we were happy. We were all happy. Life could be challenging, I knew, but my hope was that more times would be spent being happy than not.
