Thank you for the notice. I do need to sleep on a daily basis.

More than us, I think. Though I'd trade you.

The sleep? I rather resent how time-consuming it is myself.

Our respective limitations.

And what would you do if you could trade me?

Brithombar, Mithrim, Eithel Ivrin, then probably fly to Valinor and plead with the Valar to come to the aid of our people.

I've been tempted to fly to Valinor, but I was told I'd probably be attacked for appearing without permission. And probably more effectively than when I was attacked for appearing here without permission at that.

Convincing the Valar to help us is one of the things I'd be better at than you. No offense. There aren't many of them.

No offense taken; you'd definitely be better suited to the job in any number of ways.

Before the quarreling overseas strangers came, when Mother was working herself far past her limits trying to fend off everything the Enemy was throwing at us, when we thought no help was coming, I thought about it. Didn't, because I didn't know what I was doing and I figured I should have a little more faith. I'd like to grow into more the sort of person who'd have done it.

I've never gone much in for faith and it's awkward having to pretend it in front of the converted orcs.

But help came, didn't it? The overseas strangers with the burning boats arrived just when everything seemed darkest, and the Enemy immediately threw everything at them, and we all survived. If I'd done that to my family it would have been for nothing.

I do not think the Valar sent them in order to benefit anyone involved.

Why else?

The Valar were angry at them.

So they asked them to earn their forgiveness by saving us? I...don't know the circumstances, but that seems possibly like a solution that leaves everyone involved better off. If there's a reason the Valar can't do anything directly.

The Valar actually sent them away with some sort of 'Doom' I don't fully understand fated for all their endeavors. I am loosely hoping that I can somehow manage to recategorize all of their most important projects as my endeavors somehow in such a way as to evade that, since as a complete outsider equipped with free will I may be constitutionally immune to the relevant form of fate or something, but I'm not sure if that will work at all.

...Oh. That sort of makes up for the not being able to make promises. Yikes.

Yikes is right. I didn't at all like what I heard of what happens if someone tries not to obey their oaths, anyway; I can make promises, I just don't stake my entire future on them every time.

Why would they do that??? The question trails off a bit oddly. Actually we should talk in the morning, she adds hurriedly, and then leans forward to say something at her end of the table.

...Loki doesn't follow up; seems like she's distracted. She goes and finds her room and goes to sleep.

When she wakes up the floor announces no midnight visitors, though there's a bowl of fruit next to the door.

Mm, fruit. Loki breakfasts and changes into a new dress and remembers two more things she was supposed to say to Elu and works on her spell.

Lúthien comes by significantly later in the day. "Sorry," she says, "everyone who'd drunk too much wanted me to do a dance first thing in the morning, except I'd probably drunk a little too much myself, so I was trying to sing myself into any kind of condition to help them and it took a while. Father is maybe possibly relenting on the "no refugee children" thing though I doubt he'll really budge until we have mother back. How are you?"

"I'm all right, although I really need a reliable source of paper so I can stop being so stingy with using what little I brought; I remembered two things I forgot to ask your father. You could have come to me about the hangover if your parents would have relaxed the requirement about magic use. Is the refugee children subject what had you distracted yesterday?"