Haleth's mouth thins a little. "You are daughter to Caranthir, then." It is not a question. Canien's mannerisms are identical, despite the difference in her face, the mixed lineage and female features. The smile is the same, the eyes. The resemblance is unmistakable, too much so for her to be anything but closest kin.
Well. It was part of Haleth's wish that Caranthir not be bound to her beyond her death, which would be mortal and long before his own; it is why she never lay with him. It is not that he did eventually find another love that rankles. It is that he loved another human.
Mixed feelings and confusion, all the things she dislikes, and Haleth remembers vividly that this is part of why she and Caranthir parted ways to begin with, as much as the Doom that plagues his life, and a host of other reasons. She lifts her head, gathering pride around her. Even if Canien is the elf lord's daughter, she is not at fault for events of the past.
And the rest of her words are an astonishing puzzle indeed, enough to distract even from this unforseen hurt, and Haleth considers them deeply. "Backwards in time," she repeats, then shakes her head. "I have never heard or even thought of such a thing, and it would seem impossible, except that if you are truly the lord Caranthir's daughter I have reason to believe you." Given Canien's apparent age she cannot have been born before Haleth met Caranthir, or else Haleth is no judge of Men or Elves.
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Well. It was part of Haleth's wish that Caranthir not be bound to her beyond her death, which would be mortal and long before his own; it is why she never lay with him. It is not that he did eventually find another love that rankles. It is that he loved another human.
Mixed feelings and confusion, all the things she dislikes, and Haleth remembers vividly that this is part of why she and Caranthir parted ways to begin with, as much as the Doom that plagues his life, and a host of other reasons. She lifts her head, gathering pride around her. Even if Canien is the elf lord's daughter, she is not at fault for events of the past.
And the rest of her words are an astonishing puzzle indeed, enough to distract even from this unforseen hurt, and Haleth considers them deeply. "Backwards in time," she repeats, then shakes her head. "I have never heard or even thought of such a thing, and it would seem impossible, except that if you are truly the lord Caranthir's daughter I have reason to believe you." Given Canien's apparent age she cannot have been born before Haleth met Caranthir, or else Haleth is no judge of Men or Elves.