29. Commiserating 

After spending some hours searching the box of mementos (and there’s a few from Elladan and Elrohir as well), Galadriel excuses herself to walk in the garden. I follow after a few minutes and find her sitting under the arbor.

“I’ve a letter for you as well, my lady,” I say and hand her the missive that had come with the last package.

She takes it, smiling when she sees her husband’s handwriting. She holds it carefully as she continues to look out to the east.

“Do you know what I miss most?” she asks as I’m about to leave.

“Nay, Lady.”

“How he always picked at the lint on his robes when he was bored. It always annoyed me.”

“Elves have lint?” I ask before I can stop myself. I blush as she laughs. She pats the bench next to her, so I sit. “I miss her smell,” I say. “And her laugh, her smile, listening to her and the children making breakfast, holding her at night in my arms.”

She places a warm hand over mine on the bench. “I am sorry your loss, Panthael. To lose someone after so many years together is indeed a sorrow.”

“I’d known her my whole life almost, but even that is not as long as you and your husband’ve had.” I don’t have to say as she’ll see her husband again someday.

“The amount of time is not what matters, but how that time is spent. Did you love her well, Master Panthael, and did she know it?”

“Of course,” I say at once. I’d always made sure that she and the children knew how much they were loved and appreciated.

“Yet you have regrets.”

I nod. “Aye. I’m a coward.”

She remains silent as she waits for me to continue.