Excerpt: By the Grace of the Valar

He saw in her eyes the moment she comprehended his meaning. The light of the Eldar which had always been bright sharpened until even he could hardly bear to look at it. Her happiness took his breath away, and yet at the same time the ache in his heart that he had been carrying for forty years expanded within him until he could feel nothing else. From the moment she had made her choice, he had dreaded this moment, and now it was here—he would lose her, first to his foster son and then to the Doom of Men. Ah, Eru—it was almost too much to ask a father to bear.