"... he appeared the other day from Tirion."

"Does he have kin among the Teleri?"

"Have you ever heard him speak of his parentage?"

A pause came in the conversation. Náretarnon let out a breathy laugh to smooth over the edge in Curvo's voice. "All we speak of is silver smithing, he has a passion for it. One doesn't simply ask a stranger where his people are from."

"Perhaps here in your city, but in Tirion things of that nature are important. Blood is important." The sheer ring of iron being sharpened seared the air. "But you believe the best of all folk. You are too good, Náretarnon."

"And you are too suspicious, cousin," Náretarnon replied brightly.

"These are suspicious times."

Náretarnon cleared his throat. "Sister? You can come out, I know you are there."

Luimëníssë cringed and stepped out from the doorway where she was hiding. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, she had only been passing the alcove leading onto the balcony that overlooked the rose garden. She was due to meet Artanis to take her pearl diving for the first time. 

But their voices had stopped her cold in the corridor. A name caught on the salty breeze and left her breathless. Her brother had mentioned it. 

Rembano. She heard them say his name and, like a moth to the flame, she was drawn.

As she appeared, her brother wore an amused expression, an eyebrow quirked. Curvo didn't look up from the fine sword he was sharpening at the railing. Luimëníssë played with the sheer fabric of her light gown and gave a shrug.

"What were you doing out there lurking in the shadows like a child?"

Her face flamed at her brother's words, especially in front of Curvo. Though he had seemed less snappish of late, she was still hesitant around him. Moments like these in particular when a dark brooding shadowed his countenance. 

"I was curious about metal smithing," she blurted.

Náretarnon did not look convinced and Curvo scoffed, the deadly blade gleaming against his thigh. "You taking up an interest in metal working?"

"Well, rings perhaps."

"Rings..." Náretarnon crossed his thick forearms over his chest, his dark curls pulled high on his head in a mound to keep out of the way when he worked. "What kind of rings?"

Perhaps this was a moment to have a few questions of her own answered. Ever since the Feast of Pearls, when she wasn't in the sea, Luimëníssë had worn the pearl ring belonging to Rembano on a delicate chain around her neck. She produced it from under the neck of her gown.

"This kind of ring, perhaps," she said, approaching them. "It's too big. I was wondering if I could find another like it somewhere else or perhaps have the band made smaller?"

Náretarnon broad brow furrowed as he studied it. "I'm not sure. Jewelry isn't something I'm very proficient in yet, but Curvo here, he's a genius with anything he touches. Perhaps he may give you a better answer."

Curvo peered up at her, impatience humming in his earthen eyes. They flickered over the ring. His lips parted as he stared hard at the piece. Rising to his feet, he halted in front of her and lifted it in his hand. His silken black hair was looped in a series of braids away from his face, his scent sweet with sweat since they had recently returned from the forge in Alqualondë.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, running a thumb over the trio of pearls.

Luimëníssë hadn't held his attention this intensely even when she was rescuing him from drowning. 

"I- I found it."

"Where?"

"On the sea cliffs, years ago."

He met her eyes, a sardonic grin gracing his mouth. He let the ring drop from his fingers, it landed softly between her breasts. "A very precious finding."

Luimëníssë swung her gaze on the sea, feeling very naked in front of Curvo. He had a way of looking at her that made her feel as though he knew all her secrets. He was as unpredictable as the sea, one moment vicious, the next vulnerable, and then secretive as a mollusk.

"Luimëníssë?" Artanis stood at the entrance to the balcony. She spoke to her, but her glare was only for Curvo. "I thought we were to meet in your mother's salon?"

"I apologize for my sister," Náretarnon interjected, giving Luimëníssë a friendly shove in the shoulder. "She was waylaid by a discussion of metal smithing."

Luimëníssë rubbed her arm and met Artanis in the corridor. "Come, let's see if the tides are favorable for our outing."

Swiftly, she took her hand and led Artanis towards the archway leading onto the path of white stones that curled down to the water. 

"What were you speaking of with Atarinkë?" she asked, a note of what sounded like suspicion in her voice. Luimëníssë recalled what Curvo had said about these being suspicious times and wondered if that even extended to her golden and eloquent kinswoman.

Luimëníssë surveyed the turbulent cove waters. "I was asking him about a ring of mine, that's all."

"Take care with him," Artanis said warily. "He is not one to be trusted, he is too much..."

"Too much like his father?"

Artanis's pale eyes widened. "Where did you hear that, little Luimëníssë?"

Luimëníssë tried not to let the word 'little' bother her, though she was growing weary of being treated like a child. "Curvo told me himself."

"Curvo? When did you start calling him that?"

"I'm afraid to say it, but our excursion will have to wait for another day. I don't like the way these winds look, a gale might sweep out from the east and we don't want to be too far out if that does." Luimëníssë shot her a playful grin. "The better pearls are farther out, but don't mention that I know that to my mother."

Artanis let out an uncertain laugh as she followed Luimëníssë up the pearly path back to her home. But she didn't ask anymore questions.

"Are you busy this afternoon?" Luimëníssë asked casually as they sauntered through the rose garden.

Artanis thoughtfully shook her bright head. "Nothing other than our pearl diving."

"Would you like to go into Alqualondë? Perhaps meet with Írissë and meander the streets to pass the time?" Her voice was casual enough as she plucked the petals from a rose. 

With a firm nod, Artanis smiled gently. "Yes, that sounds lovely." She climbed the marble steps before Luimëníssë. 

With a clandestine smile, she pressed the pearl ring to her lips. Her gaze drifted up to the balcony where her brother and the Fëanorian had stood. Curvo still rested on the railing, the sword gleaming in his hands. He ran a cloth down it's vicious edge and met her eyes, his prominent lips tight, but his eyes alight with questions. Lifting her chin, Luimëníssë caught up to Artanis as they returned to their chambers.  

***

Írissë gave an exaggerated yawn. "The sea is lovely, but Alqualondë is so... insular."

"Enough of your thinly veiled snobbery, cousin," Luimëníssë chirped with a wily grin. "What you really mean to say is dull."

"But it's more amusing to hide meaning behind my words," Írissë added with a bright laugh. "It's a challenge, like hunting."

"And what are we? A couple of deer? You planning on skinning and gutting us later?" 

Artanis winced. "Really, Luimëníssë. How graphic."

"And yet amusing coming from her. She jumped at the smallest sound around me when we first met, now she openly challenges her Noldor cousin. Tell me, little Teleri, when did you become so bold?"

Luimëníssë picked a plum from an obliging tree on a street corner and threw it at Írissë's smirk. Her cousin skipped out of the way with a mocking laugh. 

"I am not little. I am fully grown. I am weary of people telling me how small I am, or how young I am. You all sound like my mother."

"We are only jealous of your beauty," Írissë replied, sweeping her pearly skirts up in her hand to avoid a puddle.

Luimëníssë rolled her eyes. "That didn't sound very sincere."

"Ignore her," Artanis replied calmly, stopping at a vendor's table arrayed with multicolored silks. "Írissë, wait a moment. Here is that shade of blue I was telling you about."

With her cousins occupied at the vending table by the waterside, Luimëníssë walked towards the gently swaying docks. The swan boats were lined along the city edge, the black eyes of the birds staring at the pearly spires and curled towers beyond. The faint clanging of metal echoed a couple avenues over. They were close to the forges, but Luimëníssë had known that of course. Giving a side look towards the other two maidens, who were busy discussing lengths of gowns and cloaks with the silk merchant, Luimëníssë slid down the alley that led towards the metal crafts dome.

A blossoming fountain bubbled near a translucent pool in front of the gleaming metal smith dome. Twirling the pearl ring around her finger, Luimëníssë rounded the rippling water, the edge rimmed with sapphires. Careful to hide behind the fall of water, she peeked towards the open archway of the dome where several smiths were hard at work. 

Rembano loomed before a black anvil, raven hair tied in a queue behind his thick neck. A luster of sweat coated the column of his throat and pooled in the hollow above his breastbone. His shirt ties were loose. The hammer bounced off the glowing piece of metal that he held with a pair of tongs. She watched as he hit it with another powerful blow, a stray piece of hair drifting before his eyes. He blew the strand from his golden vision and glanced up at her. 

Luimëníssë stood suspended, her first impulse to run. With an odd half smile, he set down the tongs and crooked a finger. She obeyed without thought.

"What are you doing here, Silver Bell?" He wiped his face with a kerchief then tucked it into the leather apron around his waist.

The heat of the smithy was nothing compared to the absorbing presence of the ellon. He throbbed with his own radiance, engulfing her in his warmth. Luimëníssë kept the anvil between them, playing with the gauzy blue fabric of her gown with one hand, her other grasping the ring at her breast. 

"I came to town with my cousins, they are looking at fabrics for dresses."

"And that does not interest you?"

She shrugged. "Sometimes it does. But not today."

"Have you acquired a sudden interest in metallurgy?"

Again she shook her head. "I have a request. A favor."

"To ask of who... me?"

Silence followed. He tossed the smoldering piece of iron into a nearby bucket of water. It hissed, the steam drifting over her skin. 

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that asking favors of strangers is unwise?"

"But you aren't a stranger," she answered, gaining the courage to meet his strange eyes. "I've know you since I was a child."

"Have you?" 

He moved past the anvil. The other elves at work didn't appear to notice the tension between them. It was as if they had become invisible. His gaze drifted down to the ring hanging around her neck. He picked it up and slid it to the knuckle of his forefinger, tugging her close to him till his face hovered a breath over hers.

"What is your request?" He spoke in a low voice. The power of his alien presence blistered into her. "I can deny you nothing."

"The ring," she whispered past her parched throat. "I would like to be able to wear it."

"I cannot remake this one. It is special. It only fits my finger." He slipped it between the crevices of his fingers and drew her so that their bodies pressed together. Her heart thundered with humidity. "But I will craft one for you alone. Will you accept me?"

"Yes." How could she not?

He rested his nose against her as he released a ragged breath. "Meet me in the cove before your father's house in two days. At sunset."

"Yes."

"Luimëníssë! Where are you?" Írissë's voice drove into her being like a barrage of arrows. 

She jolted and Rembano retreated swiftly, his movements casual, his appearance like that of a common Noldo and not a living jewel of flame.

"I believe someone is looking for you," he commented as he picked up his hammer. "You should go to them before you have to answer uncomfortable questions about me."

"Yes, you are right," she replied, drawing a shaky breath before leaving the smithy without a goodbye.

Írissë huffed in annoyance around the corner of the fountain square. Artanis, however, gave her a probing stare. Luimëníssë dragged a hand over her face, imagining soot stains on her skin, her hair scented with smoke. She felt hollow and frail, the energy drained from her body by the fever of his nearness.

"Where were you?" Artanis wore an expression rife with misgivings.

"I peeked into the forge and was enjoying the fountain in that square." Luimëníssë shook out her tingling hands as she moved past them. "I think I might walk home."

"Walk? I thought you were returning with us to Lord Olwë's for evening meal?" Írissë cocked out her hip, her mouth pulled tight. "Are you well? You seem a little unsteady."

"Just a little restless, I think I might walk the stretch of sand home. Artanis, can you see that my horse is housed at grandfather's for me?" She didn't dare meet their questioning glances before striding away.

She cast off her slippers as she approached the rushing water at the shore, not bothering to retrieve them. Her gown plastered to her legs as she waded into the surf, the violet-silvery glow of Telperion glistening like ice on the waves as they crashed into her.

Luimëníssë slipped under the surface, the cool waters hissing through her veins till bubbles like steam floated up around her body. The mystifying heat that Rembano had ignited in her flesh was damped down, but still churned like a dull piece of coal, her hunger for him filling the cavity of her heart.

How would she survive two days before she saw him again?