Through Sorrow to Find Joy by Dawn Felagund

Speak Faster

Nerdanel meets Ælfwine on Tol Eressëa. A double drabble.

I blame Oshun for this one, as her comment on my Nerdanel ficlet The Pendant in the Stream sent my mind spinning off in all sorts of weird directions and gave me this ficlet.

2011 MEFA nominee--thank you, Elleth! :)

When he sees me crest the hill, he rises to meet me, offers me a hand to help me down stone stairs I can navigate perfectly well on my own.

"Lady Nerdanel." He fumbles a little, knowing enough of my story to be uncertain as to how to respectfully acknowledge my role in the turbid history of the Noldor that he desires to understand.

He leans forward, elbows upon knees, as I speak. His fingers meet and bridge and contract in and out, in and out, like some quick-breathing creature. He does not interrupt, but I can sense the questions on his tongue, waiting to leap out at me. I can sense the urgency in him, too. Every thump of his heart is one less moment he has to know, to understand.

Would I have known the tenure of my own happiness, would I have done differently? Would I have been quicker to act and longer to linger? Would I have cared less for silence? For the work of my hands? Would I have drunk deeper of joy when it was mine to have?

Not for the first time, I envy the certainty of mortality. In empathy, I speak faster.