Gwanûr,
How fare thee? I have been reading The Traditional Manners and Etiquette of Couriers and that is one of the listed formal greetings messengers can use. I am not sure if I would like to adopt it for myself, but you can consider it for your use. No doubt, Master Gollhendron would encourage you to do so. Your tale of Master Gollhendron and Paen amused me greatly. I have already retold the story to all my good friends in the valley and they all bend over in laughter when I tell them of the mess your young gull left on Master Gollhendron's shoes! He should be more understanding of a young bird in training.
The only friend of mine who did not laugh is Gilfiniel and that is only because she is not the laughing sort, you understand. Still, she knows good humor and there was a small tilt to her lips when I described Master Gollhendon's expression as you recounted to me in your letter. I will tell you a little about Gilfiniel, for she has become a dear friend to me. She is a most trustworthy friend and a leader of the flock - her flock being the regular attendants of the Hall of Fire. She takes all note of goings on in the Hall with her sharp eye. But it is her prudence in keeping her lips sealed tightly which allows her to keep her status within the Hall. She tells me it is Sogadan who loosens their tongues and her that gleans the important information. As such, she is always well informed, whether it be the latest gossip or the best prices one can find at the market. Just the other day, she told me how a mighty tempered forge lady by the name of Ruineth rounded on the Lord Ambassador and knocked him to the floor! Yet the vintner Sogadan did not rise to the occasion to defend his friend. Can you imagine, the Lord Ambassador thusly treated?
I hope you will have a chance to meet some fine lords and ladies when Ada takes you on your first diplomatic trip as a courier so that you may tell me some good tales when you return. I had a chance to briefly look upon the lords of Vanimar yesterday, as they discussed a journey into Eregion. The Lord Ambassador pointed out Lord Anglachelm, the leader of our House, to me, and he implied that I was remiss in my duties for not knowing his face yet! It was an embarrassment to say the least, but I had not had the chance to meet the great lord yet as I was extremely busy settling myself. It is not an easy task to make a new home for oneself. So I have made it my objective today, when I have time outside my studies with Aearlinn, to introduce myself to every House member presently in the valley so that I may not be admonished thusly again. The Lord Ambassador says it is not my duty to follow the small company of our House into Eregion, but to provide them with one of my doves so that they may relay messages back to the valley with ease. I will send Alagos, for she is the best at hiding from unkind eyes, and it seems to me that our House wants all secrecy in this errand.
Now, I have also sent another letter, and that is from Curandir to the Lady Ningloriel. You must deliver it without opening it, he says. I found him a most rude individual when I first delivered Lady Ningloriel's letter as he scolded me in simply carrying out my task and criticized my ways as a messenger. But he seems to have righted himself and has introduced me to his sister, Lady Uilossiel as a way of restarting our acquaintanceship on better grounds. She is to be my instructor in literature as well as manners and etiquette. With her instruction and Lady Danel's, I am learning again, more properly this time, the details of the First Age. Do not tell Master Gollhendron that I have said so. And of these details, I am pouring over at great length with my darling friend Aearlinn. Lady Danel has tasked me to help her in being, as she puts it, more philosophical. So it takes us twice as long to review the same materials, for I oft put questions to her that she is hard-pressed to answer and we jest about it heartily for they are, what Master Gollhendron would call "silly questions." But I have learned from Lady Uilossiel, that there really is no such thing, and I begin to have more grounds for my assumptions that Master Gollhendron is about as learned as the stale and rotted woods of a poorly-made ship. Do not tell him I have said so.
Your little bird,
Emliniel
