I haven't even bothered pretending.

Well, you don't visit his kingdom on a routine basis.

I expect if I ever set foot in Doriath's borders there would be a second Kinslaying.

Have I mentioned I don't like that word?

We have not actually had a conversation before.

My question was rhetorical. I don't like that word.

Because you don't consider killing Elves to be worse than killing Men or Dwarves or Asgardians or frost giants and it's annoying that it's privileged that way?

It fails to capture the concept I consider relevant in both directions. No one refuses to kill orcs because that would be kinslaying. No one's willing to agree that it would not be a substantial wrong apart from my strategic value to kill me just because I'm from another planet. At least not now. I assume my honorary kin status would evaporate if I got someone really angry.

It doesn't mean the same thing as 'murderer', no. I can't think how anyone would kill you but if they somehow managed it people wouldn't call them a Kinslayer and would call them a murderer.

And yet, 'Kinslayer' is the one that gets bandied about as the unthinkable atrocity when it applies.

People mostly kind of suck.

Yep.

I mostly don't dwell on it because I'd get sick of working day and night to save them.

Oh, I don't have that problem, I just dwell on how much better a person it makes me than whoever I'm disapproving of.

A snort of osanwë laughter. I don't think I can claim the moral high ground against most people who'd call me a kinslayer.

Solution may not be universally applicable.

If the war ends sooner because we reached Beleriand when we did, then once it's ended I think I'm going to give myself a clean slate. No one else will, but I luckily don't respect them enough to really care.

Sounds like a plan.

And the weeks pass uneventfully.

And off she goes to Doriath.

Where Maedhros and Lúthien are talking again. "Hello," they both say.

"Hi. How are you?"

They are well! They've been talking statecraft some more, she's introduced him to a lot of people, he likes them all very well, they like him less well but agree he seems fairly harmless and personable for a kinslayer.

"You are indeed extremely personable."