"You’re not easy to find."
The ringing of Nerdanel’s hammer sounded around the stone workroom, echoing loudly along with the roar of the forge and hissing of hot metal in cold water. The lady bit her tongue, holding back the retort of explaining that perhaps she did not wish to be found. There was no need to be rude. As the steel under her hammer glowed, she worked quickly to slam it flat and broad, nothing more than a simple handle for her mother’s garden gate, but a task that desreved her full attention. Only when Nerdanel was wholly satisfied with it did she turn to look at the man who entered her workshop.
“Aye, but there are those far more elusive than I,” she finally answered, a cheerful smile brightening her eyes. The man before her was familiar to her now - the son of a noble house, he stood heads and shoulders above most others. Maitimo was one of the few people who was taller than him, and one of the few fairer than him, too. Nerdanel took off her thick leather gloves and wiped them on her apron before walking over to him and setting her hands on her hips, shifting her weight her left leg comfortably. “But now that you have found me, young sir, what might I be able to do for you?”











