Laureanis walked down the gently sloping hillside to the bubbling lake in the heart of Hidhuinen, a serene and secluded spot in the Rivendell Valley where many creatures of the woods came to quench their thirst. She was carrying a book in hand she had loaned from Elrond’s Library, like the first time she had seen Maglor sitting in this very spot half a year earlier. This time she was not startled to see the hooded figure sitting down by the pool, listening to the sound of water bubbling up from the ground. It was as if she had expected to find him there.
She sat down next to him on the grass by the pool and nodded to him, laying the book gently on her lap. They sat there like that for a long moment, both silently brooding in their own thoughts.
”Why have you not looked into Delossad yet?” Delioron asked at last. His voice was remorseless, flat and calm.
”Because there is nothing to investigate in Delossad”, Laureanis replied calmly. ”Sara Oakheart, whoever she was, must have left back to wherever she came from days ago; Mordor or Angmar.”
”You don’t know that. Even if it was true, there could still be answers there to questions that need to be answered. About who Sara Oakheart was. About why Maglor had to die.”
”Why did you come down here?”
”I wanted to talk to you.”
”Is there something more that need to be discussed?”
”About Sara Oakheart.” His cold, gray eyes captured and held Laureanis’ eyes and the changing light within them. ”Don’t you even want revenge?”
She stared at him for a moment before she spoke again. ”Because she is the one who killed Maglor.”
”Almost certainly”, Delioron said. ”Who else could it have been?”
”What would you do about it?”
Delioron did not speak for a long time. His large hands rested cupped on his knees. Finally he said:
”I could kill the old hag for you. I could avenge Maglor for you.”
Laureanis closed her eyes as if she was in pain. ”Why would you do that?”
”Because it is what I do”, Delioron said. ”It is what I could do for you. For Maglor.”
”Is it such a small thing for you? To take a life?”
Delioron said nothing.
”No”, Laureanis said after a moment. ”I don’t want you to kill her. And I don’t want you to go there.”
”Then what are you going to do? Delioron asked.
Laureanis said nothing. She could not tell him that. Not now.
