"So I'm told," Maedhros says lightly, turning to examine the dice displayed in the window, "though I might argue that I am a perfectly reasonable height, and everyone else is just short."

He had, when he was a child, often enough that he could do it with a completely straight face and more than a little persuasiveness. It had been a surefire way to irritate his brothers.

"I would get the black and gold, by the way," he adds. "The craftsmanship is better."