"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

"Think you can ride? I can hold you, if that's easier than doing magic."

"I could magic myself to a horse if I had to, but it would be easier not to."

He picks her up and settles them on a horse. "This I can do. Let's go."

Would it be awkward to ask him for a hug? It probably wouldn't help with the whole "my species are adults at this age, honest" thing, but if they thought her a child they were at least treating her like a child with the agency to make her own choices...

He hugs her, quite naturally, without changing his grip on the horse.

"Ah. One ability we have that Men do not is the ability to hear the thoughts of people around us. I should likely have mentioned that sooner; I'm aware Men are generally unfamiliar with it."

Oh. Huh. So it's not purely communicative telepathy. Whatever, it's convenient right now.

"Do you have prayers for the dead? They're more similar to you than to me, or to any Shemeshite."

"May Mandos judge them justly. I've never found it...particularly reassuring."

"'Just' isn't the kindest thing to wish the dead, no. Who's Mandos?"

"The god of the dead."

"My religion only has one god, but even if we're right I don't think there's any particular reason to expect his reach extends here."

"If Eru created your realm it would be surprising if the Valar did not know of it. Though they might know and not tell us. We're on bad terms with them at the moment."

"We call ours Aten and believe him to be primarily embodied as the sun. I don't think praying to him for the souls of those orcs is likely to help, but it can't hurt..."

"As you see fit. I am reasonably sure that their souls go to Mandos, where at least they'll have a great deal of company. I've lost two sisters and a brother to this war."

She shrugs. "Religion is religion. I'm sure there are people back home who would insist that Aten's reach must extend here, or that your gods are false idols, or what have you. I don't think it will do them much good to pray to my god but it might help me."

The concept her thoughts are conveying doesn't make much sense - as if the Valar's existence is up for debate, rather than just their qualifications or abilities or goodness -  but it seems the wrong moment to insist on the point. 

"As you wish."

They're making good time towards Eithel Sirion.

"Actually, come to think of it, if his reach did extend here--whether solely because I was here and one of his or not--I'd be...disappointed...if he didn't appoint me a prophet nearly on the spot, but I suppose that could just be pride."

"What's a prophet?"

She should also braid her hair, because it's now fluttering into his face in the wind and it's making him deeply uncomfortable. "And do you need something to tie your hair back?"

"Oh, if it's getting in your face I should probably do that. A prophet is a servant of Aten who acts as his mouthpiece. The vast majority of them were mages--it was said that he touched them so that they felt no pain from their workings nor felt its shadow across their souls, and carried them up into heaven bodily 'when it was their time'--not sure what that means. I have no idea whether it's true, though, a lot of Scripture is metaphorical."

"Well, it'd certainly be useful if you could perform magic without negative effects. I don't have ribbons, I have some twine?" That's not strictly true; his own hair has golden ribbons braided in.

"Twine works." She twists her hair into a knot at the base of her skull and holds out a hand.

He hands her the twine.

She ties back her bun. "Sorry 'bout that."

"You don't need to apologize. Can you enhance your vision - Men's is much inferior - with magic so it matches mine? You'll be able to see our destination."

"Um...probably. How's it better, specifically? I don't want to make changes to my body I don't understand."