Niphredil by Dawn Felagund, Grundy, , Idrils Scribe, , Nienna

Ancalimë

Written by Nienna. Illumination by Dawn Felagund.

ncalimë watched the ships docking in the harbor. She had recently taken on the task of overseeing the goods brought from overseas and helping to bring them across Númenor, as she was to be Queen soon and wanted to have a sense of her kingdom’s most important trade. She ambled down to the dock, leading her horse beside her and enjoying the feel of the early autumn winds on her arms.

 “Maybe I can listen to the evening birds while I ride and when I settle in for sleep tonight!” she thought gladly. 

Lately she had been sleeping outside whenever she could. She figured she might as well do it now, before she became Queen and ended up stuck in the stuffy city. Not that she wouldn't spend time outside then, because of course she would. She would make sure of that! But all the same, she knew she wouldn't have quite the freedom that she had now. And she was glad of this, she really was. She was incredibly grateful for the chance to rule over her people, to make changes and improve lives. But that didn´t mean she wasn´t savoring the period of life she was in now, or that she wouldn’t be sad when it ended. 

The sailors and stevedores started coming out of the ship in droves. Ancalimë led her horse into the barn, and then started looking for Abrazân, the manager of transportation. At last she found him at the edge of the boat, talking heatedly to someone else. She waited a minute for him to finish, and then approached.

When he saw her his mouth widened into a big smile as he said, “Ancalimë! Good to see you!”

He patted her on the back and gave her a somewhat crumpled list. She saw that it was a copy of the official log of all of this ship’s items and where they were to be sent. 

“We have an item being sent all the way to Valinor,” said Abrazân. “Narvi’s craft. It is supposed to be quite good, although I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet myself. Anyway, the lady Celebrían specifically requested that you transport it. Would you be willing?” He paused for a moment and looked around pensively. “It’s a longer trek than normal, I reckon at least a few months. But you’d get to visit your homeland, right?” 

“I’d love to,” Ancalimë responded quickly. “I’m honored that Celebrían would think of me.”

As usual, most of the items were headed to the big markets in Arandor. This time, there were also some hardy trees, transplanted from the Blue Mountains, as it was thought they might grow well in Forostar, and some luxurious velvet fabric for all the noble families in Armenelos. “Possibly even for my coronation,” she thought somewhat deliriously. 

She scanned the list for Valinor. It was certainly not unheard of for her people to transport items to Valinor, but it was not an everyday occurrence. It had been… well, it must have been six years since the last shipment had come towards Valinor! “Delicate Niphredil circlets in a sturdy Dwarven box, as well as a wooden box containing live Niphredil bulbs, to be sent to Finrod and Amarië,” the description read. Ancalimë could not believe she was transporting an item for Finrod and Amarië themselves! She had read all about Finrod, even outside of her schooling, just for fun, which was something she rarely did. She couldn't wait to see the commission for herself! 

She carefully walked onto the ship, easing around the flurry of people. The goods were separated into sections by where they were going, for the sake of the transporters, so, being the only Valinor boxes on this ship, they were pretty easy to find. 

Ancalimë sat down on her knees, closed her eyes, and gently ran her hands along the side of the stone chest. It was cold, as only stone could be, but also had a depth to it, so that she could move sideways and feel the thickness of the material behind it, almost dizzying. Patterns were carved in deep, so that she could almost see them through touch. The whirling, winding patterns…. and geometric ones too, sturdily whole where the winding ones were open and unfinished. She opened her eyes to see that the box was even more beautiful than she had imagined or quickly glanced. The top was carved with a large emblem of Dúrin, surrounded by the seven stars. The sides were full of thick and somehow three dimensional looking squares and diamonds, mixed with swirling filigrees.

It took Ancalimë a minute to notice the simple wooden box next to it. When she did, she opened it and saw layers of soil and straw covering what must be niphredil bulbs inside. She carefully reached inside, pulled out a bulb, and rolled it between her fingers. A little bit of dirt fell off as she did so, and landed in the basket. A wave of strangeness and wonder washed over her, similar to the feeling she sometimes got when looking at her reflection, as if through another person’s eyes. “I am touching something from Middle-earth,” she thought. Not that she hadn’t before, of course, as many of Númenor’s goods were made in Middle-earth. But this was different somehow, to be holding something physically from the ground. The niphredil bulbs were a relic of another world, a world which she had never seen and might not ever see, but which held all the stories she had grown up with. Middle-earth had always been a landscape of her imagination, airy and far removed, and littered with personal significance built up through the years, but the bulb and dirt in her hand brought into sudden focus how very real and alive it was. Ancalimë brought the bulb to her lips to feel its smoothness more fully, and then put the niphredil away. She carefully picked up the boxes, held them to her chest, and walked off of the boat.

Ancalimë tacked up her horse to one of the carts stored nearby, and gently placed the boxes inside. She tied them in place very tightly, and even tied multiple ropes crossed over it in all different directions. Maybe it was a bit excessive, but these were much too precious to leave any chance of damage through bumping up and down. She climbed onto her horse and set off towards Eldalondë, thinking still of the niphredil that she carried.