Hi. How are you doing?

Some of Thingol's courtiers are quite charming and some of them are a good challenge.

I've never actually seen him consult with anybody on anything, but maybe he just does it all by osanwë.

That's generally how it's done, yes. Gives the impression of omniscience, means you don't need everyone crowded around, also vaguely useful if you don't want it obvious who actually has sway.

Does it give you any trouble figuring out who holds sway?

I've been here for almost two years and am only now confident I'm talking to everyone I need to be talking to. Of course, usually you have some diplomatic contact with a society before you get chained up in their basement.

Well, at least you've got it sussed out now. I'm really curious what the conversation looked like when they were deciding whether I could be an exception to their policy on free-willed things.

Regrettably I have no idea. They seem to mostly like you well enough.

I hadn't even been a princess at Lúthien yet at that stage.

Lúthien's fondness for you hasn't really advanced your standing politically in general; she's not taken seriously enough.

I was mostly joking anyway. Although she has been very indirectly helpful in producing wordings of things that her parents will like, I meant that when I mentioned it awhile ago.

She's smart enough. If I had a century I think I could end up having her running things, and that this would be a major improvement for both her and her people, but I don't have a century.

I'd offer to stall except for all the reasons I will not do that.

He snorts. Please do not stall.

Shan't. Do you want me to hold your Silmaril again?

He hands it to her, smiling. My father's Silmaril. I want nothing to do with the damn things and am just a sufficiently trusted instrument of his will.

She puts it in her very opaque pocket. If you prefer. - He asked after you. I told him you were holding up, I didn't know what else to say...

I am sort of tempted to ask him to help me engineer a way I can see Findekáno in the next ten years without anyone finding out, because he is good at problem solving and in general making people your co-conspirators is a good way to win them over. But it could backfire rather horribly.

I could pull it out if he asks something more specific like whether there's anything he could do to help you.

That's not a question I'd expect him to ask.

Shrug.

How's everyone else?

She runs through what she knows about the statuses of relevant everyone-elses.

And no tremors or trouble in a while. Makes me a bit nervous.

Me too, but not actionably.