"That's a good point. There's probably no practical advantage to you thinking as I do."

"So we will have to disagree," she says. "Let's go say hello to some children, then loop back around to the palace?"

"All right."

The residential area of Menegroth is the most labyrinthine yet. "In case it comes to a fight, somehow," she explains, and seems to know the name of every single ones of the hundreds of Elves who pop out to greet them.

And all that without writing. Loki is impressed. She smiles at miscellaneous Quendi.

They smile back. "You can probably do illusions here if you'd like, they'd be amused," Lúthien says.

They're delighted. There are cheers, a couple people start weeping, some of the youngest kids are nervous and cling to Lúthien's skirts.

"It won't hurt you," Loki tells the children. "It's just a picture that moves."

Lúthien nods in agreement, and they go solemnly silent. "Loki's a princess too," she tells them, "of a faraway realm called Asgard!"

"I am," agrees Loki. "I was traveling, and I became stranded in this realm and I won't be able to go home for a few decades, but there's plenty to do here so it isn't so bad." The fawn totters up to the children tentatively.

Ooohs and aaaahs. They're attracting quite an audience. "We should keep moving," Lúthien says sadly, "we'll block the corridors for hours."

"Okay." The fawn leaps behind the nearest obstacle to vanish there.

Disappointed sighs. Lúthien giggles. "If you ever just want to feel adored and popular, you can come down here and do things like that all day."

"I'll bear it in mind. It'd be fun."

"We used to let refugees in. A few people had been captured by the enemy and escaped, and they came and lived down here, and then one night -"

"I don't really care what you think about the Valar but I do care what you think about my father. He's not heartless."

"I don't think he is."

"I'm glad. We're nearly back. Anything else you wanted to see?"

"Nothing else I know to exist, anyway."

"All right." She turns a corner to a corridor decorated by the familiar silvery tree arrangement of the palace sector. "Thank you for suggesting that, it was lovely."

"It was my pleasure."

"I should probably go find Daeron and tell him that you think writing is very important, and ask people about pools and deer we can do without my mother. See you later?"