Vinyalonde

"Well, Sogadan,” said the Lord Ambassador. “What do you think I have inside this box?”

“Your coin to pay off your wine bill, I hope! You have let it run up again."

There was a drawn-out moment of silence over dinner. Introductions had been made, and the weather had been discussed, and re-discussed, and it seemed that the two elves, who had only just met, had run out of conversation. Then Belephras examined the Lord Ambassador's plain robe with a cool and impertinent eye.

"Is it a special custom of the Greenwood Elves to wear linen garments after noontide? How very different."

Sir,

The first breath of spring had arrived some days ago, blown upon the gentle west wind rolling into the Valley of Imladris. The eaves dripped with melting snow, hung with rapidly dwindling icicles that glittered in the mellow sunlight. Patches of green appeared in the fields which once had been blanketed in snowy white. And in every garden, sharp green spears thrust upwards through the soil, bearing the promise of bloom and growth. Already a few brave blossoms of nínim hung drooping from their slender stems, suspended above the ground like white tears falling upon the snow.

This day Lord Veryacano informed me that Daegond is now Sergeant of his Order. Lord Veryacano never had the slightest difficulty filling up a vacancy.

We gathered at the appointed place, at the appointed time, and I uttered a few words of encouragement, as some faces seemed a little pale and anxious. I said how it will suit the rest of our noble House, and our Lord Anglachelm’s high authority, if we learned the art of defense and fighting. Then I said how advantage favors the well-practiced hand, and it would please me to see one or two of our Order strike a solid blow above the girdle.

Elvealin passed by him in the hall carrying a large crate. She was not a weak girl, and her arms were as strong as pine branches. Still, she was delighted by his courtesy. Parnard taking the crate hurried to the chamber where she directed him, and laid it upon the floor, convinced that he had injured himself.

“What, pray, is inside this box?” he panted, dabbing at his brow with a handkerchief.

This morning I went to the Forges to see Lord Vorongwë set out leading a goodly number of people southward for our Lordship, and the Hound amongst them. The Fountain Lord ordered the company to make haste and not to wander from the road, and if anyone went missing he would not give orders to look.

Sir

The morning has given me a little less unquiet than last night, when the sight of you made me very tired. I have reflected on matters since, and now I wish to better explain my indignation and dissatisfaction.

Parnard looked over the receipt, comparing it to the lot just delivered. Supplies for seven at least: too many elves, Lord Anglachelm said. He imagined a squeaking wagon creeping across a muddy, rutted road carrying the load of barrels and crates. How secure were the roads leading south?