Éowyn of Osgiliath, Lady of Emyn Arnen, Princess of the House of Éomund, White Lady of Rohan, Nazgûl-Bane,

To Éodild of the Eastfold, Lady of the House of Thorodraith, My Beloved Friend and Ally,

Greetings to you, Éodild, and to your brother Éotheod, lord in the Eastfold and collaborator in trade with us here in Ithilien!  Gladly do I send this missive, attended by gifts both rare and useful, with the blessings upon your new baby, Therédeod, scion of the House of Thorodraith and heir of your husband Híldaf's strong right hand.  I hope that the flannels shall prove useful, remembering well the chill of the winters in Mering, where the wind howls down through the valley and cuts through to the bone in its wrath; also Imilmeth my maid sends unto you these small knitted boots of fine wool, worthy even of a prince's little toes, to ward off the cold in his cot.  I hope that I shall soon be able to visit you, O beloved and sorely missed lady's maid, so that I may make the acquaintance of your son myself, and my children also shall foregather with him; alas, however, I too carry within me the fruit of my love for my lord, kicking beneath my heart and driving me to distraction with his (or her) propensity to stretch, so distending my belly I appear at times to be carrying a foal full-grown, and no child of men.

You enquired of me in your last letter, Éodild, how fared my children in their schooling, and whether I trained them in the ways of Rohan or Gondor; I may tell you now, my friend, that Fastred in particular begs rather to be trained in neither but insists that our friend Legolas (whom he has called since he began to speak "Lord Lassah") take charge of his education instead, learning his letters in Elvish, speaking in their tongue, and playing their music upon Legolas' lyre.  Fortunately for the future of Osgiliath I insist as well he receive a more rounded instruction, including Rohan and Gondor both, so that he speaks the three languages well by now, though he has attained but eight summers; we are experiencing difficulty however with his tutor in mathematics, for what he has learned from Legolas varies in function greatly and Iordred is continually complaining to me that my son writes his sums with the Elvish symbols and not the ones he is attempting to force him to use.  It does not bother me overmuch, for so long as he learns to keep his accounts in order it matters not which symbols he uses, in fact as lord of Osgiliath perhaps it would be wiser to keep his accounts obscured from peering eyes!  Hísimë speaks almost entirely in Elvish and Westron, and seldom in our own tongue, which concerns me; well do I remember my grandmother Morwen's difficulties in attempting to speak it, for she came of Lossarnach and was not native to our lands.  But Seimiel and Hirilcúllas assure me her Elvish is perfect in inflection and grammar, so that is some comfort, as she shall be a lady of Ithilien and our Elvish neighbors shall be constantly upon her doorstep.

Faramir has concluded his treaty with Malbeth of Celos and it promises to be profitable indeed for both parties; also in concert with this is Hallas' renewed fortune upon the Erui, which we hope shall enrich his fiefdom and give to him and to his Dirhael additional favor from their neighbors, who still look upon them askance since Eradan's treason.  But they are settling in well, indeed Dirhael seems eager to repopulate Lossarnach on her own; they have been wed but seven years, and already possess five children – though to be frank one birth was doubled – which increases Dirhael's popularity in their demesne, despite her uncle's sly ways, for the women of Lossarnach embrace such outward manifestations of marital felicity, and Hallas and Baldor are blessed also by it.  

It is a pity indeed you missed this year's Mereth en'Ehtelé, Éodild, for it was a celebration of unsurpassed grandeur, so rich in food and wine, music and dancing, merry-making and laughter one had scarce a moment to reflect upon the spring of only last year, when newly-sown crops withered in the soil, and trees bent and died beneath the blight which oppressed us.  Legolas has more than made up for that miserable time, for his storehouses have been replenished by his purchases of afar, of Dale and Carrock and Ninglor, who were not touched by the pestilence, so that their goods are fine indeed (though I wager highly over-priced; they are not above taking advantage of those in need I fear), and he shares abundantly with all who enter his high gate.  You ought to have seen the trestles full of food, Éodild, so laden down they did groan beneath the weight of the sausages and smoked fish, the white loaves and wheels of cheese, the nuts and dried fruits and candies and sweets, the roasted meats and gravies and platters of fancies.  And the subtleties, Éodild!  Why there was one shaped like a mountain, and emerging from a door in the center of the mountain there was a dragon made of red-dyed marzipan, spouting spun-sugar flames; another there was in form like unto a púkel-man, grinning crystallized gardenia-petal teeth at us and holding in his icinged hands an adze carved of hard green candy.  It was such a shame to eat of them, for they were most amusing and very cleverly and skillfully done, but the Elven cooks insisted, indeed beheading the poor púkel-man themselves, and breaking apart the dragon, so that we would eat of them and be satisfied. 

I was not able to attend to the dancing, Éodild, for I am far gone with child (and yes, my friend, I am staying close to home this time; I have no desire to repeat my last adventure in the wilderness of Anórien with Legolas and Hísimë), but that afforded me the opportunity to watch the revel, and see who danced with whom.  And let me tell you, though you will not believe me, that our friend Legolas danced with the same maid three times – my eyes did not deceive me; I saw it myself!  And it is all the more astonishing, for he has told me on many occasions he does not wish to wed, he has no interest in courting, he desires only to be let alone – yet there he was, his face alternately grave and surprised, turning this Laustairë about in his arms.  And hearken well, Éodild, for when we stood upon the dais together, with Faramir and Cirien and Araval, and the delegation of Mithlond was formally presented before him, with Laustairë curtseying beside her lady's maid Nardanë, Legolas bowed, and when he straightened again I chanced to look into his face, which was fixed upon the lady's; the contemplative expression imprinted there was caught by all, and the collective sound of Elven maidens' hearts breaking nearly drowned out the orchestra.  I have never seen him look so, Éodild; it was discomfiting to see him inarticulate, who usually slips wit upon a polished tongue and delivers riposte and repartee as a practiced fencer the cut of the épée.  And as for the maid I know little, only that she has been sent here to cement the alliance between the two Elven houses; she is fair to look upon, much like unto Undómiel, with hair of midnight and eyes that mirror the stars, lips red as berries and cheeks that blushed columbine-pink beneath our friend's startled regard.  She was clad all in blue figured with silver, in a gown of magnificent make, so that she seemed almost to echo the starry heavens, and Legolas was in the robe his mother Queen Edlothiel had sent, so that the two of them, when they stood together, in their splendor so overshadowed the rest of the assembly it quite took our breath. 

Faramir said later that Aragorn had had a letter from Lord Círdan her master instructing him to see to the joining of these two, though he did not say by what method; perchance no interference on their part will be necessary, for certainly they appeared to all in the Great Hall and upon the lawn to be fairly drowning in each others' eyes, to the delight of Faramir and Aldamir, but to the consternation of Cirien and Undómiel, who believe still in marriage for love and not for politics.  That is all very well, I suppose, though I am uneasy; perhaps because I have been married a decade this year I am less sympathetic to such romantic notions as falling in love at first meeting, but as Faramir reminds me, I have ever been prosaic in such matters, and believe rather this concerted effort to so marry off the Prince of Dol Galenehtar is born not of desire for his happiness and well-being (or even the well-being of his demesne) but of affairs of state and their treaty's fulfillment.  But some look upon me and my lord, and our union, and declare it to be a marriage of state only, not realizing the alliance of our separate countries was but an addendum to our love and our desire for each other.  If this issue between Legolas and Laustairë develops into a chronic condition I pray only that they shall find the same compromise Faramir and I did.

Fastred is pulling upon me; his nurse has released him, saying he is too impatient to get to the River, and asking me to deal with his temper.  I suppose I must do my duty as his mother and compel him to obey his nurse, lest he grow restive and she irritable, and this cloud our mealtime with discontent; I should rather we ate together in equanimity as we always do, drawing our little circle about us near the inglenook in safety and comfort.  Write to me, I beg you, Éodild, and tell me all about your baby; tell Híldaf Faramir and Legolas send their greetings, and keep well and warm in the Eastfold.

Éowyn