The Small and Secret Things by Dawn Felagund

This Place

It is said that Amandil set sail in a small ship at night, and steered first eastward, and then went about and passed into the west. And he took with him three servants, dear to his heart, and never again were they heard of by word or sign in this world, nor is there any tale or guess of their fate.
--Akallabêth

The fate of Amandil …

We must be nearing Aman. We must.

The seas have grown tortuous in a way that defies what I know of water. No longer are there tides but paths carved upon the water, and try as we might to escape, the ship twists and cants upon them, and cold mist writhes into our throats.

What is this place?

There is a shadow on the horizon. Land? It stretches, fills our sights, and we press to the rails and stare. Nay, it is the sky. The black sky, indistinguishable from the sea.

But--panic touches my heart--where are the stars?

Chapter End Notes

Today's Word:

tortuous TOR-choo-us, adjective:

1. Marked by repeated turns and bends; as, "a tortuous road up the mountain."
2. Not straightforward; devious; as, "his tortuous reasoning."
3. Highly involved or intricate; as, "tortuous legal procedures."

Tortuous is from Latin tortuosus, from tortus, "a twisting," from the past participle of torquere, "to twist."