Yes. When Fëanáro visits everything's so solemn and that's always seemed horrid to me, but it'd also be horrid if it were joyous.

This kind of thing is often nearly as hard as - or, sometimes, even harder - on the friends and family as on the patient. In an illiterate society nobody knows when you're quoting your intro textbook verbatim.

They all nod. Finwë's heartbroken. I think he told himself that everything we lost and suffered on the journey here was endurable only because it could never ever happen again, and then - years of slowly watching someone you love in great pain would be hard on anyone. And Fëanáro's of course too young to really cope.

Nod, nod.

It doesn't help that there's all the complications with the Vanyar and all the question over whether something's wrong with him.

The Vanyar?

Rúmil sits down heavily. Finwë and Ingwë founded Tirion together. Ingwë was the leader of one of the other host. The Minyar, they call themselves, the First Elves, but we call them the Vanyar, the fair ones, because they all have hair the color of Laurelin. Anyway, they decided Tirion wasn't close enough to the Valar and have asked to move to live on Mount Taniquetil itself, but the move has been demanding of resources and complicated and a little messy and it's all poorly timed.

Bella writes down all this interesting politics. People think there's something wrong with Finwë? she asks next.

No, with Fëanáro. Finwë's grieving and raising a child alone and not at his best, but there's nothing ill with him. But Fëanáro - well, people say that might be why his mother is dying.

It's a nasty thing to tell a child. People sometimes just outright die in childbirth at home if there's not a cleric on hand and nobody tells the child it's their fault unless they're the worst sort of vicious.

She nods. It's hard to keep anything from him if anyone's saying it, though. He hides and listens, and he's very persistent.

He's really curious. It's not a bad trait but it will mean he'll wind up hearing all those rumors, and a curious person doesn't go 'oh, when I eavesdrop, I hear hurtful things, better stop', they go, 'I must continue listening until I'm sure I've heard it all'...

Rueful laughter. Everyone knows there's a problem but no one has the slightest idea what to do.

Well, if his father would ever let him have privacy he didn't have to sneak around for that might conceivably help.

That's an Outer Lands thing. If someone went off alone that was it, you'd never see them again. Even here it's every instinct we have, not to let someone out of your sight even for a second, not to blink if it's just the two of you...

Yes, that's what Fëanáro said. Um, there's a concept in my world of 'introverts' and 'extroverts' and introverts really don't do well if they have to be accompanied all the time. I'm an introvert, mostly, myself, and I would have... probably wound up outright hating my parents if they would have never left me alone.

I'll suggest it, Rúmil says wearily.

And my world's seriously dangerous, too, I don't mean to discount how worried he'll feel about it, but I had my own room in each house with a door I could close behind me, and notebooks they promised not to read.

The palace has no shortage of rooms, at least. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Are you still nervous about the Valar? Because we should really introduce you to Lórien.

I am still nervous about the Valar but if it's important to introduce me to Lórien now and not later I can probably do that without it being too terrible.

It's polite, since we're in his home.

Okay. Um, what do I do? I was totally guessing the time I met Aulë, just sort of trying to follow my tour guide's lead.

There aren't really rules. Obviously you want to be respectful in their presence, and some people find 'be respectful' hard and confusing and much prefer to have an established social rule about what precisely you should do and say, so they're debating one and trying to get everyone settled, but it hasn't been settled yet.