"Are you sure no one can hear us here?"

"They shouldn't, no. What's wrong? Is there a message from the Valar?"

"Wait," says Promise, apologetically. It's gentler than 'stop'; Elwing will still be able to breathe. "I'm very sorry about this but I need the Silmaril. Exclusively truthfully and exclusively to me, tell me what I need to know to take it away without any fuss."

She looks confused, then angry, then terrified. Then - "it's in a locked box in my room. I wear the key on my necklace. It glows even in the box, it doesn't glow too visibly if you wrap it with thick fabrics before you put it in the box and wrap the box. Everyone will try to stop you. I could tell them you're allowed but I don't think they'd believe I wasn't being somehow coerced, there'd certainly be a fuss. If you flew out over the water with it I'm not sure anyone'd realize what was going on, not if I told them I'd just given you some food for your people or something bulky like that."

"Will people notice right away if you're missing the key? How confident are you that you can sell the 'food' story until I'm out of bow range?"

"People will notice I was missing the key. I can convince them of the story but they'll notice something's wrong with me, they'll see - they'll hear -" she's clearly trying to move.

"I'm really really sorry about this. How heavy is the box when wrapped up enough not to be identifiable?"

"Fifteen, maybe twenty pounds."

"Carrying that I can fly maybe forty-five miles an hour. Can you reliably keep anybody from shooting at me long enough for me to get away?"

"I think so. If I distract them, tell them that it's urgent news and they should come in here so we can speak privately, make something up..."

"And you can do that after giving me the Silmaril and the key?"

"I can give you the key. I don't know how we'd get up to my room without suspicion. That'd make it harder to convince them you don't have the Silmaril."

"Is there anything else you keep there that you could invent an excuse to show me? Do you have a window, would anyone be watching the window from the outside?"

"No one watches the window but plenty of people might see it. I don't keep anything I'd be sending off with a stranger in my room."

Damn the lack of sorcery. "Could you realistically go and get it so I wouldn't have to go to your room or would that be just as conspicuous?"

"That would be less so, but only a little less so, and someone might stop me and see that it's a Silmaril. If you went up with me to see it, and then out through the window? And the people who I told that you were going up to see it were in the palace, and I ordered them to a secret meeting before a cry went out that you were flying off?"

"How confident are you that would work?"

"I don't know. It might. You could come play with the children while I slipped off and got it, I take it out to show them sometimes, and then - I can't think without moving."

"How much do you need to move to think effectively?"

"Usually I walk on the beach. I don't know."

"To the extent this will be inconspicuous to people outside you may pace in this room."

She doesn't stand up. "I don't want to think effectively."

"I am cooperating. I am not standing up to think of a better plan. There isn't. I gave you plans."

Sigh. "Which do you think has the best chance of success by my standards?"