Can't believe Erestor lost his wife!

Beautiful, evocative writing and realistic characters.

nice job

like

... I actually teared up reading this. Superbly done.

Just girded the loins enough to read this. Beautifully done, I'm wrecked here. Not a single thing to jar me out of the story. I love Erestor's mind at the end - if she's stupid enough to die needlessly she can damn well wait for him to get there in his own time! Thank you for writing. this.

Well done. This is a satisfying end to a profound and insightful study of grief in an immortal context. Erestor emerges with an admirable resilience that makes the other characters look like children indeed. Thank you for this heart-wrenching story.

This is absolutely gut-wrenching, and I have sat here, entranced, when I really ought to be running errands. I love how evocative the writing is, how feelings are /experienced/ and not merely told about. Beautiful work. I feel all wrung out.

Beautiful and so very sad. Congratulations to you.

As ever, this is beautifully written and very touching. I confess, though, that I am a little at loss as to how things hang together - the tapestry, Doriath and the idea that Melinna wanted to die. Care to elaborate?

"to cut himself with questions until he bled too"

This is so well put and so true.

You have excelled here yet again. The relationships between the characters are so convincing, so vivid in their ambivalence, everyone wants to talk and yet not to hear about what happened. It was a good choice to tell the flashback the way you did, that worked better than using direct speech.

My, such a haunting story...just quite lovely...

I just want to say that I love your stories (however terrifying or depressing they might be, as this chapter was) and cannot wait for the next update. Your writing is beautiful. :)

Wow, this is probably the most beautiful story I've read in a while, or ever! It's weighing down on my heart but I just can't stop reading it!

The beginning with the fishermouse, ants and earwigs is wonderfully whimsical but oh so symbolic. And Erestor's wish to travel with Melinna before the terrible news makes me so sad... I've never read your stories or known anything about Melinna, but I can almost feel the same despair Erestor felt seeping through the letters. The Erestor here is just like a weary veteran in my view, and he just has to be robbed of his love and source of passion...But you are going to make this better for Erestor, aren't you?

His head was full of an older tiredness and a different dark.

Excellent sentence. And the description of the door is awesome.

As for the rest - oh, how painful, how grim.