There are a few odd blotches here and there, as from tears.
My dearest Elloen,
I craved -- no, I coveted -- to be the subject of your brush. And now I have been. I never dreamed that the sketches you made of me would lead to such majesty. I am afraid I was so overwhelmed this evening that I could not find my words properly -- what would the scholars and scribes say, if they knew? Yet are there words for the kind of likeness you are capable of?
I look so -- alive. I stand by the cairn of Themodir, yet I face the light (and Rámarille is like a walking pearl by my side, which I must show her). Were I a magpie, I might endeavor in earnest to make off with the diamond, so real does it look with the light glinting in every direction. And were the flower not purple, I might think it uilos, which some call simbelmynë, evermind. You have even captured my habit of absently tucking herbs and simples behind my ear.
I am thrilled and beyond proud to be the recipient of such riches. Your painting reminds me that I must always keep looking to the light, keep moving forward.
In a day or so I shall send some careful movers to place your artwork in the Pillar Hall -- maybe not right in my office, but near it. That way, I need not choose between my late husband and my dear twin star, chosen for me by V[LARGE BLOTCH] For who could properly make such a choice?
I thank you with the entirety of my heart. You have created grandeur in these fading days, something for which we all hunger.
Yours until beyond the Ambar-Metta,
Airesarë Celulinda "Manadhlaer"
The letter is sealed with the imprint of the Order of the Pillar.
