Chapter Text
Letter from Caranthir, Lord of Thargelion, to his cousin Finrod, King of Nargothrond
Greetings cousin,
May this missive find you safely, despite the coming winter. It seems that this one should be fairly mild, as much as can be said of winters over here. Still, I do hope that cave of yours will not get too damp and dreary as the days shorten. The Naugrim somehow manage, because they have those great beards and many layers of clothes to keep themselves warm, but I have seen the kind of clothes you favor and they seem unlikely to keep out the chill.
As for myself, I am making do as well as I can, given the circumstances. My lands are hardly as rich as yours and I am only making ends meet through careful and prudent management of my meagre resources. Nevertheless, I do not complain, for keeping careful watch over the Eastern Marches is the greatest honor one could hope for and my brothers and I are happy to sacrifice our well-being to ensure the safety of your line. Besides, you know I like to live frugally.
In fact, I would be perfectly content if Nolofinwë did not constantly renew his outrageous demands that I pay the taxes I supposedly owe him; why, I only paid them last year! Last time his collectors were there, I became afraid they would not leave my people enough to even feed themselves through the winter. I am sure you do not have these worries, being not only prosperous but also well in favor at Hithlum. However, I shall do my duty and pay what I alledgy owe gladly since that is all supposed to go toward the greater good of our people. So do not even think of putting a good word on my behalf next time you visit the Court – I would hate for you to feel obligated to do so just for the sake of our friendship and because I would do as much for you in a heartbeat.
I was actually quite moved that this friendship led you to take such a keen interest in my affairs. For you were well informed, I did receive a visit from Nelyafinwë just a fortnight ago. How fast news travels among well-meaning family members and how heartwarming to see how worried some of you are about our most trivial comings and goings. Nelyo was coming from Hithlum, where he had to attend to the Crown prince... 's business, as I am sure you know very well. Anyway, on his way back, he decided it was his family duty to visit his brothers... which in turn made it mine to receive him properly, despite the strain on my already deplenished ressources. I could not for the life of me, however, tell you if he had any news worth repeating: as a rule, I do not listen to a word my brothers have to say. I have mastered the art of looking attentive while letting my mind wander, which is how I have retained my sanity during all these years: after all, I have grown up with Kano, Tyelko and Curvo, who all manage to be remarkably annoying in their very own ways, so you can imagine the strain it would have put on my nerves if I had not trained myself to ignore them.
I have to conclude here, for my duties leave me very little time for leisure and idle chat. I hope to hear from you soon, and that you shall once more give me a detailed account of all your siblings' affairs – you know how I relish reading about them. Give my best especially to Angarato. I know he has been talking about me again lately, so he must be anxious to have some news of me but somehow, his messengers never seem to find me – but you know how treacherous the roads are in this part of the world.
Sincerely yours,
Carnistir
**
Letter from Finrod, King of Nargothrond to Caranthir, Lord of Thargelion
Dearest Carnistir,
What a fright your letter gave me! You are very cruel to play such a heartless trick on your loving cousin! My people will tell you in what state it put me! Why, I was running along the galeries of my palace, halfway out of my mind with grief, completely disheveled and with barely a few jewels on, as I cursed the Valar for their harshness toward our kind!
Truly, how else was I supposed to react to the fact that you, Carnistir Morifinwë Fëanorion, apparently paid the taxes you owed our uncle in full and in time? And not even under threat of war or grievous bodily harm too? Well, I thought that surely, you must have fallen prey to some kind of spell that had clouded your mind and altered the very shape of your soul! Or, perhaps even worse, that some fey servant of Morgoth had spirited you away to a dark dungeon and had taken your place, fooling even those closest to you, waiting for his chance to sow discord among us, ruining the valiant effort you have made this past decades to promote the unity of our House! How I wept, cousin, you won't imagine. And I almost tore my hair out (or at least slightly messed up my braids – you know how long those take to do properly), wishing that such misfortune had befallen me instead of you.
However, when at last I calmed down sufficiently to recover my wits, it dawned on me that the letter must have been of your hand, and you must have been in full possession of your mind while writing it. For who else would as skilfully evade the most innocent of enquiries while graciously insulting everyone within a hundred miles of your dwelling? Do not think I did not see the few barbs you destined for me in particular, while at the same time subtly enticing me to talk to our uncle and get you a tax cut. But I shan't hold it against you, for I am too delighted by your style!
I may even do as you wish and put in a good word with the High King for you; although, I am not sure whether it will be of much help to you: I am myself in hot water over late payments this year. I have been experiencing a temporary deficit in my coffers, but it was for a good cause! I commissioned a necklace to the Naugrim... Oh, wait till you see it! I am quite in love! The Naugrim demanded a scandalous sum for it, and then raised the price again after showing it finished to me, but at this point, I would have sold Orodreth for it, if I had thought him of any value to them.
Despite being convinced that I am fully justified, I feared that our uncle might take it the wrong way if I appeared in his Court so beautifully and expansively adorned while being late in paying what I owe him, so I have been making myself discreet and intend to do so until spring. But I am still curious about what is going on there, which is why I asked if Nelyo had any news. I should have known you'll slip around my question like an eel, but who else was I supposed to ask? Tyelko doesn't write and Makalaurë writes altogether too much (and just thinking of asking Curvo gives me a headache ; that one could go through a corkscrew sideways and never touch the sides). And I can't ask Nelyo either: gossips are so much more amusing when heard from second and third hand! Now, I am not asking you to betray your brother by giving me the plans of Himring (what would I do up there anyway? I am quite done with the cold and my current wardrobe is not suited to the weather up there), I just want some saucy piece of news. So, do not be a suspicious bastard, and entertain me!
(By the way, I do know how Nelyo “attends” to the crown prince. You forget that, as the third “First born son”, I often shared a room with the two of them back in Tirion, whenever we were all invited to Grandfather's palace. It was an education, let me tell you. I learned a lot that I am still using today. If you ask me kindly and humbly, I may even impart some of that wisdom to you, young one. All in friendship, of course).
It is now time for me to say my goodbyes to you, cousin. I shan't annoy you with tales about my siblings, since you asked about them so nicely. Angarato wishes all kinds of things for you. Please send me another letter soon, sparing no detail of what Nelyo told or what you may have heard from another source (I know Kano is always well informed, but he is so pompous about it, it is absolutely dreadful. I'm sure you won't want me to suffer through that when you can entertain me with your wit).
Take good care of yourself, cousin,
Yours,
Ingo