[Amanaduial the archer]

Narisiel fixed Maegisil with a flat look that verged on skeptical as he seemingly put down his own wish. But her gaze seemed to make him almost uncomfortable and, with a quick smile, he looked away hastily, staring out of the window. The smith did not speak for a moment, surprised, and finally answered, hoping her look had not been misinterpreted to cause offence. "Maegisil, you are absolutely correct when you say that it would be of no matter to me - but if it was not of great matter to you, I do not think you would have sought me out.”

Was that a faint blush on the other elf’s features? “It is just a gift–”

“I take pride in my work, Maegisil,” Narisiel interrupted firmly over Maegisil’s protestations. “Besides, you were right when you said I had a particular interest in crafting jewellery – no matter the other commissions I have, as I said earlier, if you had given me another weaponry job, I would have had to have you hounded out of my shop,” she added, deadpan. When Maegisil looked unsure, she cracked a grin, smiling sincerely at the other. “It would be a pleasure, Maegisil, a pleasure.”

The elf-lord’s counsellor smiled gratefully and turned his eyes back to the rich selection of jewels in front of him, the luscious items of Narisiel’s trade. But as he did so, Narisiel saw his eyes flicker over to the window once more, in the direction of Celebrimbor’s palace, an action that was not missed by the elf woman – and maybe it was not meant to be, she sceptically added to herself. “A meeting with your Lord, Maegisil?”

The other smiled knowingly, giving a small shrug, then looked back to the cupboard, running his fingers through a delicate filigree box of rubies, glittering like the teardrops of the setting sun. Turning back to business, she ignored this and began to question the other on what sort of gift he wished to present his wife with. “A necklace maybe? If it is a precious gift that can be easily worn and on show most of the time, maybe this would suit…or a more discreet pendant maybe, although those rubies would perhaps not be the best for such a piece – they are really more– ” she faltered slightly, then continued, “–more suitable for setting in a ring.”

Maegisil nodded thoughtfully, apparently unconcerned, but Narisiel was finally unable to resist asking the question that had been nagging at the corner of her mind: concerning Celebrimbor. She had not conversed with the elf-lord for long months now, and had not seen him on a more personal basis for even longer – it seemed she was only summoned for occasional, puny matters which barely related to her status as one of the master smiths – almost as if Celebrimbor was trying to skip over the fact that she was a smith at all. But although it was a distant relationship, Narisiel was nonetheless fond of the other, and when he had been almost an invisible figure for so long, she was concerned – not only for his wellbeing, but for the political climate that may have reduced him to silence. She was the lord’s advisor as much as Maegisil himself, after all. Hesitating, she voiced the question, her dark eyes serious and maybe even a little anxious. “How…how is Lord Celebrimbor, Maegisil?”