I'm not sure humans can do it at all.

She keeps fiddling with the wire. What are humans good at?

Depends on who you ask. 'Adapting' is a nice answer. 'Outbreeding their neighbors and being dangerously reckless' is a less nice one.

Are you dangerously reckless?

Not me personally. Humans vary a lot, it's why we're good at adapting.

And do you want a lot of children?

I don't have a strong opinion on how many children I want. And apparently I don't need to think about it any time soon because the standard human age of marriage would be scandalously young here. She is talking to a small child and doesn't wonder to her if they have rings of protection or an equivalent Valar convenience.

I'm gonna have, like, ten. But not with a boy, I don't really like boys. Here are the frames, Ata, will this work?

Oh, is that a thing you can do here too, children without boys involved?

No, Mahtan says, but when you're fourteen and insistent on the point no one really corrects you.

Fair enough.

People are having large families, Rúmil says. Now that we're here and it's safe. I know the King always dreamed of it.

What, um, what exactly is wrong with the - queen?

They both sigh deeply. No one knows. She's been desperately unhappy ever since the prince was born, and always tired.

That's... known to happen after childbirth sometimes on my plane but not usually for so long...

The Valar are trying to help but they don't understand it and nothing they do makes it better. The King spent two years at her bedside, and now he visits once a week. He's desperate and terrified and it's hard on Fëanáro.

oh gods she's going to regret this Um. I stress that I have never actually taken a class in therapy. In my life. And I don't have any textbooks about the specific condition and even if I did I wouldn't be sure it was the same thing because it's not supposed to last that long. But. This is sort of the thing I was supposed to be learning to help with.

We should probably go back to the palace and talk to the King, Rúmil says.

Right... now?

Yes.

I really don't know if I will be able to help at all, Bella says. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up...

If there's a chance, we have to try. And perhaps that's the reason Eru brought you here, and specifically to the palace...

You think he brought me here?

I don't know. He could have, and maybe you can help us.

I guess I can try. I at least want to look through my textbooks so I'm not so totally unprepared, but if she's been like this for years and the Valar don't know what to do I guess I probably can't hurt...