As the longest night of the year approached an end, the people of Eryn Carantaur gathered to watch the sunrise.

Legolas, standing between Eowyn and Hentmirë, put his arms around both women. “Ready, gwendithen?”

Hentmirë, afraid of missing the moment (this being only her second time), kept her eyes fixed on the horizon and nodded, Yes.

Legolas smiled.

Then a flash of gold appeared above the mountains and Legolas squeezed Eowyn’s waist, and she touched her taper to her candle, and Hentmirë did the same; and, all over the city, people held up their tiny flames to celebrate the sun’s return.