[Durelin]

Expecting such a question, Maegisil smiled slightly as he turned to Narisiel, drawing his eyes away from the jewels. Yet when his gaze rested on the elf woman’s face, his smile disappeared, remembering, and seeing the graveness in her stare. He wondered how long it had been since the two had spoken, and he briefly considered what might have gone on between them. But tossing his musings aside, he sighed, and he dropped his eyes to the floor.

“My lord is…well, has been…quite distraught, over many things. Most likely you assumed this…” he paused, looking again at Narisiel. Letting out another sigh in a long and troubled breath, he settled his mind on telling her what he felt in his heart. “I tell you with all sincerity that I have not seen him so overwhelmed by events in all the years I have known him.”

Narisiel seemed to expect this answer, just as Maegisil had predicted her question, and yet she remained silent. It could not have been a surprise to her that Celebrimbor was so disturbed by the Rings and what were seemingly the repercussions of their creation. She appeared equally troubled; her mind did not appear at all at rest, and Maegisil doubted that the craftswoman had made a ring in over a hundred years.

“And yes, a necklace would be perfect,” he said, breaking the silence, and changing the subject momentarily, “I doubt my wife would wear a ring, for fear of losing it.” He chuckled lightly, but his light-hearted voice and expression did not reflect his true thoughts or feelings at all. It was not his goal to change the topic of conversation completely, but he knew that a temporary change of subject would garner a response from Narisiel, as would the mentioning of a ring yet again; or so he hoped.

Maegisil’s words did appear to have some kind of effect on the other elf. Perhaps it was specifically ‘for fear of losing it’ in conjunction with the mentioning of ‘ring’ that caused her to seem so anxious, but the elf-lord’s servant realized he had opened up yet another thought in Narisiel’s mind, one which had been kept locked up for at least a century.

“Your talk of losing rings…”

“Has nothing to do with the Rings,” Maegisil said, cutting her short of asking any questions. “The Three, at least, are safe. You know about the others.”

She nodded slowly, staring at her cupboard of jewels but not really seeing any of them, thoughts crowding her head, and trying to pick out which one to voice next. Maegisil spoke first, though, as he suddenly realized he had not verified his reasoning behind part of his last statement.

“Did Lord Celebrimbor not speak to you concerning the Three Rings?”