[Merri]

Elanor had finished her stew, and the boy had been called back to his duties, so once again, she was left to her own thoughts and fancies.

She had been living alone in her large hobbit-hole since her dear mother died last year. Shortly after she was born, her father set off over the mountains with a group of dwarves and elves on some secret mission, never to return. She and her mother had given up all hope of his ever returning, and her thoughts turned to him.

What had happened to him? Was he still alive? And if so, where? Why hadn't he returned? Was he a prisoner of the Land of Mordor?

Elanor pushed this last question out of her mind. This could not be. But she distinctly remembered Gwain the dwarf's return. He was the only one who ever came back, and he would not say a word about what had happened to him. Why would he not say a word? Exactly what had happened on that journey that began sixteen years ago?

She had a strange hope that she might find out more about him on this journey of hers, for she was going over those same mountains that he had gone over so long ago.