I saw Rainith and Lord Belegos wander off together, she looking betwixt us, and making a great show of choosing his company over mine, which vexed me. They went one direction, and I the opposite, Lord Belegos noticing it, and giving me a distracted wave before departing. I strolled through the wood, my thought soon returning to the Lady Danel and the Lord Estarfin, and was occupied with how they fared on its outskirts, and why they would not deign to enter the city. It was not long before I came across a group of soldiers standing around the base of a huge tree. We shared news, but they had little to report that I did not know already. Hearing I was from the Greenwood, they took me up into a talan to speak with one of their commanders, a Lord Bahanneth. I gave full report of the roads, and talked of the Valley and the Greenwood, and of my travels across the Wilderness, and of rumours and tales of far East, which did amaze and entertain him all the more as he is assigned to a remote post. We shared several glasses of glorious wine, a red with a golden rim, which smells of plum, and flowers, but it is not too sweet, but very rich, and very strong. I thought that it would please Lord Estarfin, who was probably craving wine by now, as before I left his company he asked that I buy some, and gave me his entire coin purse - a very friendly and generous present, or so I thought. But Lord Bahanneth was kind to fill my wineskin from his supply for nothing, so I left my host very merry, and set out to find the Lady Danel and Lord Estarfin, and came upon them not far from where I left them at the fringe of the wood.
Mighty pleasant and grinning was Lord Estarfin, and I surprised him with the wineskin, and laughed when he asked what it was for. He took a little sip, and passed the wineskin back; but I taking it, showed him how the elves of the Greenwood drink wine, to give him a good example of how to do it better. He laughed at the sight, and I laughed to see him so merry, and together we laughed loud and long. By now I was made very merry, and was pleased to find the Lord Estarfin in such a happy mood, and unlike his usual grim and forbidding self, and so very open and friendly to me. Lord Estarfin said I would have to fetch more wine from Sogadan, which made me laugh again, but the Lady Danel cried out in anger not to mention the vintner’s name, and she called my friend a gossip. She told me he hath done great ill, and spoke untrue words about her, that have turned all in the Valley against the Lord Estarfin; but Sogadan never said anything to me about it. He is the most idle, talkative, blabbering prate of an elf that ever lived, and I wondered if Sogadan had spread these hurtful rumours about Lord Estarfin because of our friendship. I was made sore troubled that I might be the cause of this distress of the most noble lady and Lord Estarfin, and began to apologize for Sogadan, and told Lady Danel that he could not help his mischief, as he is cooped up in the Hall of Fire, but alas! - she remains sore angry, and I am full of doubt and misgivings for him.
Lord Estarfin refused the wineskin, saying he had an early drill in the morning with Lord Veryacano, and burst into laughter. It made me laugh anew, and I looking over at the Lady Danel, saw that she was not laughing; instead her eyes were bright as dwarf-steel, and they flashed a sharp warning. Her look and her grimace quite killed the merriment in my heart; my laughter died on my lips and my smile faded, but Lord Estarfin was still smiling just as broadly. Smiles often hide the truth, but the eye doth not deceive, so I looked closer into his eyes and saw at once it was true. There was no helmsman at the deck of this ship, his place was abandoned and empty; there was no guiding light shining in the harbour; no hitch holding the boat to its mooring. The Lady Danel gave me a knowing look, and bade me find a more secluded place for us to rest, so I took them to the roots of a great mallorn on the eaves of the forest. Lord Estarfin must have been very tired, for he cast himself immediately on the ground and did not speak for the rest of the night. I kept a weary and silent vigil over him with the Lady Danel, fearful to speak and disturb the lord’s troubled mind; but as dawn approached, I grew restless, and turned to the lady, and asked her what we would do to help him who was still lying before us like the dead. Surely we would be espied by someone, if we staid there, and they would come up to us to see what it is that we do. We wondered how we would get Lord Estarfin to step foot inside a place where he did not wish to go, and where the Lady Danel said he may not be welcome. I offered to get help, perhaps ten to twelve stout soldiers: mighty fierce these ones become when they lose their wits entire, but the Lady Danel thought this was a bad idea, as she was very loath in having strangers know of his condition, and said he might think they were attacking him.
It would be grievous indeed if my kindred were slain in the Golden Wood because of his wild fancies, so I offered to drag him into the city, though I would rather not lay hands on him if I could avoid it; but then the lord stirred and sat up, looking very confused, and tore at his hair. We told him that we needed to go to the market for wine and food. Lord Estarfin chuckled as if pleased, and he must have been hungry, for we arrived at the gates of Caras Galadhon in good stead. With some degree of difficulty, we persuaded him to leave his weapons with the wardens for safekeeping, telling him that his sharp weapons might injure one of the merchants or tradespeople in the crowded market. Finally, Lord Estarfin laid his bloody spear aside with a frown, but quickly forgot his irritation, and walked grinning through the gates looking as cheerful as I have ever seen him, and as any one could ever be methinks, but oh! - how pale and sorrowful were the faces that followed behind him in that place of light and music, where voices clear and sweet sing high in the trees above.
