"My brother still lives, as far as I know anyway," she replied. "But I have not heard news of those lands since I left. That wasn't the lover I wish vengeance for though. There is one thing you must know about elven love: we are only supposed to fall in love once. But my love was more...unusual than most." She took one of the lockets from under her tunic. "She was a human, from your city. We met when she got lost in the forest on an errand for Karolina. We were happy, we were in love...but I could not bear to watch my love grow old when I would not. But even when she married another we remained close. Until..." She let out a sad laugh. "The irony is, the day she died, when we were supposed to meet but I went off on a ridiculous wild goose chase, she was going to tell me that she couldn't bear to be without me, that she wanted to rekindle our love if I would take her back." She paused, tears pricking her eyes as she opened the locket and showed it to Daric, a surprise waiting inside: a picture of Ainur, the same woman the blacksmith had mourned.