Certainly. But having oaths around is not obviously helping to approach this admittedly lofty standard.

I understand why you'd be tempted to just be entirely rid of them.

Thank you.

If I were paranoid about my uncle I'd arrange to swear to someone regularly that I hadn't been coerced into any oaths, and when I couldn't make that commitment then they'd be able to panic. But I honestly don't think he'd do it.

Interesting. Oath deadman switch.

I can't outplay Maedhros politically but I can run rings around my uncle.

Father used to do it all the time, mostly just for fun, back when there was less at stake. Fëanáro's oblivious to subtext and has too much of a one-track mind and most things don't rise to his attention, it's hardly even playing fair. Once he realized there was a lot at stake he compensated for those deficiencies by not working through or with anyone who wasn't willing to write themselves over to him, but that's horribly handicapping too.

He's a very lopsided person.

And not an unlikeable one, when he isn't cornered and clawing through innocent lives as a coping mechanism for his own insecurities.

I like him very well for social purposes, she agrees.

You really don't have to be diplomatic with me; I put up with Maedhros, don't I?

...I'm not sure what you think I'm doing to be diplomatic. I'm not very good at it.

I mean that if you say you admire my uncle's leadership and think he's an excellent King, I won't take offense, and you generally needn't qualify your comments about the rift between our peoples as much as you've tended to in recent years. I don't know if you're fond of them or just reluctant to give us ammunition to dislike them or worried that you have to be neutral to be useful but if you were worried about that it's untrue.

I have mixed feelings about his leadership but I unqualifiedly like him very well for social purposes. I find the entire family decent-to-excellent company and they are of staggering instrumental value too. And I am worried that I have to be neutral to be useful but I already live in their city and taught them to make nukes and moved my adopted species there so I suppose there's a limit to how neutral I can seem on the subject.

We want the war won and the Enemy dead. We aren't going to let anything else get in the way of that. You don't have to be neutral to be useful, just - sufficiently opposed to serious misbehavior that they don't have a free hand, and you are and they don't.

Good, I'm glad what I'm doing is working.

Nonetheless, don't send them our regards, I think it'd best if he continue forgetting we exist.

I will leave you quite unmentioned insofar as I can.

Thank you, Loki. Maedhros you can send my regard and concern and generalized exasperated affection.

Next time I'm there.

And he waves and returns to the drills.

And she pops around passing messages where they belong and goes swimming instead of flying for a change and then pops back in the hole.

There are some minor earthquakes. The weeks are otherwise uneventful.

Earthquakes are sort of concerning but not something she can directly counter, unless they are known to have a source other than "Morgoth decided it was earthquake time".