It was past sunset when Lumenire returned to the Windview Estate, her recently purchased property in Bree. After unburdening her horse and setting it loose to browse in the coral, she pulled off her riding gloves as she walked across her lane to the main house. Opening the front door allowed the warm light of candles and fireplace to spill out across her. The scent of baked bread and roasted meat followed, revealing that her housekeeper knew when to expect Lumenire’s return and would have the house welcoming.
The budding young woman popped out of the kitchen at the sound of the opening door. She wore a bright smile and happy eyes, and a plain dress under an apron across which she wiped young and lovely hands. “My Lady!”, Fetcher exclaimed, “You are just in time for suppah.”
Luminere smiled warmly at the girl. “Thank you, Tessa,”, she replied, preferring the girl’s real name over the humiliating moniker affixed by those in Tessa’s rough past. “I shall change and be right in.” Being Elf, Lumenire had a distant regard for this local daughter of Men who tended the house, but she was willing to fondly appreciate Tessa’s thoughtful and trustworthy service.
While Lumenire was in her bedchamber changing, a knock came to the door, and she listened as Tessa opened the door and exchanged quiet words with a male visitor. She finished dressing as Tessa led the fellow into the parlor and, after bidding him sit, quickly stepped to the bedroom. Lumenire replaced her traveler’s riding hood with another dark cowl that matched the robe she had just donned and hid her telltale pointed ears. Opening the door just before Tessa knocked, she asked, “We have a visitor, Tessa?”
“Yes, My Lady!” Tessa replied with an excited whisper. “And I ‘spect he’s an Elf!”
Giving the girl an amused nod, Lumenire gestured for her to lead them back to the parlor. There, rising from a comfortably padded chair, Captain Teahesto offered a polite bow and a curious look at Lumenire’s garb, especially the cowl. “I trust I am not arriving at an inconvenient moment?”
“Not at all … my lord. It is good to see you after so many … years.” Lumenire was carefully couching her words, and Teahesto deduced it was for Tessa’s benefit. The girl was a bit flustered being in Teahesto’s presence, thinking ‘him being an Elf and all’ as she would later gossip, but managed to regain enough composure to ask if she should set another place at the dinner table.
“Don’t bother, Tessa,” Lumenire quietly answered. “I will tend to that. You may take the rest of the evening off, dear girl. The Captain and I have some catching up to do.”
Tessa’s eyes widened at the word ‘Captain’, her young romantic Mortal imagination leaping into a full gallop. She quickly doffed her apron and tossed it on its hook just inside the kitchen entryway as she skipped to the front door. “Should I come by tomorrow at the usual time?”
Pausing a moment to decipher the young woman’s question, Lumenire cast a chagrined look and lop-sided grin at Teahesto. “Yes, my dear, the usual time.” Tessa’s giggle preceded the soft click of the door closing behind her.
“Come with me to the kitchen, Captain, and let us see what Mortal fare awaits us.”
In the kitchen, they fell in together to gather the meal for the table. Perhaps the melodic traditions of the Eldar included wordless steps to be followed, but for whatever reason, they gracefully and flawlessly set down platters of food; an herb-roasted and split chicken, roasted potatoes, nicely steamed vegetables, and freshly baked plain bread. Lumenire handed Teahesto a bottle of white wine and a pair of goblets. While he was busy with the Opening and Pouring, she pulled out the plates and dinnerware and neatly laid them on the table. Butter, salt, and pepper finished the dinner setting, and the two Elves sat. Lumenire paused to consider the nature of Mortal meals. They were wholesome and not unpleasant to the palette, but always seem to be prepared hastily, without enough respect for the bounty, as if to subtly reveal yet another measure of the Mortal life’s brevity.
As they passed their plates to each other for portions, Lumenire asked. “How did you find me?”
Understanding the question to also state an intention to be hidden, he answered, “I’ve been following you for several days, now. This seemed to be the place where you would… go to ground, so to speak, and it follows that it would be the most appropriate place to approach.” He waited for her to consider his answer before commenting.
She paused to observe him closely as she recalled her activities over those several days, masquerading as her errant sister and leader of an Orc tribe squatting in the Ost Alagos ruins east of Chetwood.
“I’ve been looking into my sister’s death, ellon”, she answered quietly. She held his gaze while sipping wine carefully through tightened jaws.
Surprise and empathy washed over the Captain’s face. “I’d no idea you had a sister.” He folded his hands onto his lap and leaned forward to listen.
“We didn’t talk about her much. She was not…traditional. After beginning her attunement, she decided it unjust to follow the Order’s most prime concern, keeping the rune-stones out of the hands of Mortal men. Her romantic notions of the long-lost Numenoreans clouded her judgement and she left the Order to be amongst their descendants.”
Teahesto’s brow began to knit as he saw an uncomfortable parallel between Lumenire’s tale and recent events in the Wildwood. “What was her name?”
“Gilmorwen.” She paused to examine the Captain. She set down her wine and leaned toward him. “Why are you in these lands, ellon, and what would you know of her?”
“I know an elf-maid of that name had come amongst the Dunedain of the north and married the head of one of the minor houses…”, he began.
She nodded and overtook him, saying, “…and begat a son. She kept in touch by letter for a while, telling me how they were considering her counsel to unify the lost kingdoms of Men. Her husband passed, as Mortal’s do, but when she continued to press them into unification through conquest, they resisted, and her son agreed with them. Men are not always fools, so it seems. Her last letter relates her disappointment and rage, and her abandonment of them and her own son. Much time passed before I heard of her again, and only by rumor through the eyes of the Order. She had returned to the North Lands, not as counselor and mother, but as invader, leading a motley assemblage of men and orc-kind to revive her dreams of conquest as a powerful rune-mistress. Her son and his Mortal wife attempted to dissuade her, but instead of heeding them, she had them executed.”
Teahesto remained silent through the long moment that followed, as she stared sadly and unseeing at her plate of cold food. “Too long I tarried from coming here to find the truth, but when I do, I discover that she has been murdered. Rumors of Rune-show from the top of Ost Barandor led me to her body, burned and robbed. Thus has the last of my line left these lands, but still I am obligated to find her current set of rune-stones, resolve how she came to them, and determine who helped her complete her attunement.”
The Captain let the moment grow before clearing his throat and murmuring to her, “No, Lumenire. Your line continues here. You see, Gilmorwen has a grandson, and he yet lives…”
