"Dwarves if they die you can't get them back, are you like that?"

"Yes."

Her hand closes around her sister's chip. "That is bad. I am sorry."

"How do you get them back?"

"The Valar can do it. When Ulmo visits you can give him these. Someday we will know how to do it ourselves but we don't yet."

"Oh."

"In Valinor I think the dead come back faster and also things are safer and it is hard to die. But I don't mind waiting really."

"...you don't?"

"...no?"

"Why not?"

"...because things happen and eventually she will be back?"

"I miss people I know who are dead. I think I would still miss them if they would come back."

"I miss her, if I could get her back now I would, but -" shrug. "We have all the time."

"I asked before how long you live -"

Both Elves look bewildered. "How long we live?"

"...until you die? We live about forty years -"

" - how do you know when you'll die? If you knew couldn't you just - not do whatever you died of?"

"We die of being... forty."

" - that is bad."

"I never really thought about it."

"We die of accidents. One time a person pushed another person off a tall place and they died but usually not that."

"One time?"

Faervel frowns in concentration. "- six times. Not the pushing, that was once, but people killing other people on purpose, six times among Elves. Orcs do it more."

"How many Elves are there?"

" - we have the problem again where I don't have the numbers."