Wonderful. My heartstrings are officially tugged.
I really love how you've given so much thought to an encounter between two characters who are not usually left on their own together.
There is so much poignancy in this story, but perhaps the most touching to me is the feeling of ambivilance towards the prospect of an ideally happy future. I think that given the nature of the lives the companions have lead, a future of security and utter peace must seem somehow daunting.
And of course Fflewddur's castle would have a leaky roof. That brought a smile to my face.
Thank you so much for adding this story to our collection!

Heh, Fflewddur is as funny as ever. I chuckled a great deal with some of his lines.

Great irony here, especially when Eilonwy compares the singing she heard to the ebbing of waves taking things away, like she sensed that was precisely what it was, while in that moment Taran made his decision to stay and in the morning they would be watching their friends sail away. That was beautiful.

And I loved the insight to Fflewddur's past love. It was sad but not tragic or "lost"; quite believable of him.

Earlier I was thinking about the departure of the companions and speculating on Taran's feelings should he recall his childhood and then I come to read this... (sniff) Now I'M wistful.

Seriously, this was wonderful. I'm faving it.

I had to read this whole thing over again just to immerse myself in the bittersweetness of it. It just transports me right into the middle of the scene and all the emotions involved...wistfulness and hope combined.

I like how this parallels Taran's experience on the same night - the ethereal song of the Fair Folk farewell. It's intriguing, that line about Eilonwy's having heard it before in a distant land. Where and when, I wonder?

So true about how she - and all of them, I guess - would feel about the Summer Country. The thought of paradise is a happy one but can be too intangible to compete with the comforting familiarity of home. Even those who believe in an afterlife don't necessarily look forward to going there.

Eilonwy and her similes. You've nailed them. The little fish with their cold fins - that's exquisite, though possibly more poetic than anything I've seen from her previously! Ditto for the branches-net for the moon. And the unraveling tapestry - that deserves its own essay for the amount of significance you squeezed in with six words, especially given what's going on with Taran at the same moment. Maybe it's even her enchantress blood planting that thought, in a sort of psychic connection to him...

That note about Fflewddur's arm being crooked - great detail. Yes, I can imagine he never feels quite complete without his harp now. And that's a fun little side-story about "the lady", fitting nicely with the wistfulness of the story. Friends and I have speculated on whether there's ever been any romance in his life.

Ok, I have a two-year-old begging for my attention, so I will return and finish this later...