argh thats heartbreaking. they were so happy... oh no...

very fluid writing, almost poetic precision, such verve and confidence. impressive. :)

Wanted to comment earlier. I read this soon after it was posted and liked it very much. It's beautifully crafted. But having a fairly profound ignorance of Numenor after the Age of Sail--until the end game, I worried I was missing something big.

I did follow the politics. And I love the characters and their dialogue--really natural and authentic. It kind of read like a really literary mystery novel.

The story itself is smooth--read for me like original fiction. Anyway, I looked up the canon sources and it didn't tell me much new. But I definitely felt like they was a told of background in your that wasn't in the story in that case. Wondering if you have written anything else in this story verse.

The ending is terrific and really dark!

Minastir watches his son leave, staggers to the other side of the room, and limply slides down the wall to the floor.

As he weeps, the King of Númenor stares West.

An interesting combination of ideas--the suggestion that Numenor might still have taken quite another path at this point and the suggestion that there are fewer crown princesses than you'd expect, which I've seen raised before, once or twice.

I really like your OCs. And your Ciryatan is interesting; how he is both unscrupulous and racked by grief. I felt for Minastir as well, in that brief final scene.

Wow. That was one heck of a turn - and I didn't see it coming at all. Road not taken, indeed. I wonder how different the history of Numenor might have been for Tarmanis as ruling queen...

I did not see the twist coming at all. Somehow, I'd hoped that things would work out for the best. I loved this glimpse into this era of Númenor.