[Imladris]

Lira twisted the rough strands of Merkaliel's mane around her fingers as she decided to tell Esgallhugwen her simple story. "After years of wandering between Lothlorien and Imladris, I was living with my mother and father in Mirkwood when Sauron's evil legions attacked the forest. I was a healer there and I saw so many fair elves die, elves that should have lived to see the beauty of the Valinor." She stopped as she remembered the death and destruction the orcs had caused. "Shortly after the Ring was destroyed, my mother and father left for the Havens so they could depart to the Valinor. They begged me to go with them, but I could not. I loved Middle-Earth and I could not leave it yet even though the fair realms of the elves would fade. Thrice I have journeyed to the Shire and made my way to the Grey Havens, and thrice I have returned to Ithilien."

Lira sighed and turned her face towards the stable doors. The piercing rays of the sun shone down upon the green grass which sparkled with the dew. Flocks of birds sang in the trees, glorying in the sunlit morning. A passionate love for this land stirred in Lira's heart and she realized that this would be her fourth journey to the Havens, and that it would not be completed. Soon she would return to Ithilien, or what remained of Lothlorien, but not now. It had been long indeed since she had tarried in the land of the Little Folk and she was not yet ready to leave.