Don't wait
any longer.
Dive in the
ocean,
Leave
And let the sea
Be you.
Rumi
"Sail? In this? "Tis not too strong a gale?"
The tall black-haired ellon stared incredulously at the knot of men and elves waiting impatiently beside the pier. A small sloop stood ready at anchor, creaking in the salt-tanged, rising wind that whipped hair and waves alike.
Out on Belfala bay swelling waves were capped by foamy white. Valar, just the sight of the boat's steady rocking made Elladan's stomach give a lurch.
"A fine day for flying before the breeze." Erchirion smiled and clapped a hand upon the tall elf's shoulder. "You will be fine, my friend . And besides it is tradition. The groom and his friends always go for a less-than-sober sail before the wedding."
Less than sober indeed seemed to be the goal from the look of the provisions already on the deck. Eomer and Lothiriel's wedding was but four days away and it seemed as if enough casks and bottles were loaded to last until the ceremony. In theory this was not a long journey. Just down the coast and back again. But though they would return in time for supper the idea still gave him pause. Supper was still nigh ten hours on and the thought of an entire day on a boat did not sit well.
Nor likely would his breakfast, he thought ruefully, watching as the mate rolled expertly with the swiftly shifting planks.
"Perhaps I will sit this party out." To Elladan's wary eye the boat did not look large enough for the size of their loud and boisterous party. Nor particularly stable.
The captain and his mate gathered at the gangplank, bowing and ushering the group on board. "Time is wastin' your Highnesses, my Lords."
Eomer and Faramir, Lothiriel's brothers and Aragorn all turned in unison, arms-crossed, waiting for him to make up his mind.
Amrothos, Lothiriel's youngest brother, appeared beside and tugged insistently at his arm. "Come my friend. You will feel fine if you keep your face toward the wind. If you feel unwell just go below."
The ellon's face blanched a little more. That was the last thing Elladan wished to do. By dint of hard experience he knew it did no good.
"You go ahead. I will be fine."
"Really?" Now Elrohir frowned uncertainly and bit his lip: clearly he did not relish being separated. "Perhaps I should stay behind. I would not want you to be alone."
Elladan sighed quietly. It had ever been his job to keep his brother out of trouble, but surely with Estel and Faramir on board someone would make sure he mostly kept his head? Bless Elrohir for his heart but he would not have him miss out in his account. "I will not be toren. I will go for a ride and then perhaps tour the House of Healing with Princess Ivriniel as she has promised. I will see you at eventide."
"Well then…" His little brother still looked uncertain but Elladan smiled broadly, gave Elrohir's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"Enjoy yourself," he said and watched with relief as the younger ellon turned and bounded up the plank to take his place upon deck.
As the boat cast off Elladan endured the good natured ribbing and shouts of goodbye but happily stood his ground. He and his brother may be twins, considered by most folk difficult to tell apart in form, but not so in their constitutions or their personalities. Elrohir loved the sea and sailing while his own stomach roiled at even the thought of stepping on a deck. Privately, Elladan thought his brother to be the handsomer of them both, an opinion shared by most ellith from the way they coquettishly tilted heads and gazed at the knight from under lowered lashes. Elrohir was a singer and a soldier; strong and handsome, fearless and fair, with their mother's free and elegant gaiety. Elladan knew he was more like to their father: careful and controlled, diplomatic by nature, given more to lore and introspection yet fiercely loyal with friends and fiercely efficient with their foes. And he did not share his heart so easily. That his twin took the attention in any room suited him quite well. It allowed him to watch more thoughtfully from the side.
Raising his hand to shield his clear grey eyes from the glint of sun upon the waves, Elladan stood and waved goodbye until the breeze that swept the scudding cloud took the sloop quickly away from shore. He felt no pang to be left behind. It was a rare thing in the past busy years to have time to oneself and the thought of a fast gallop along the bay's long stretch of beach was welcoming.
At the palace stables he gave a quick word thanks to the boy who had fed and watered his loyal mount before leading a frisky Gaeron out of his stall and into the bright sunshine of the day.
"Ready to run? " he asked, laughing when the big chestnut stallion threw up his head. No tack jangled at the move for he rode as the Eldar did: bareback. His old friend would take him where he asked, willing and with heart. Indeed from the jounce in Gaeron's step it seemed he was as excited as his master to be away.
The two rode south and east along the cliff top path. The waters of Dol Amroth's sheltered bay lay upon their left and the sun rose above the low worn hills of Dor-en-ernil to the east. This early in the still cool of the morning the light slanted low through the mist and glimmered where it touched the dew upon the grey-green leaves of oleander. They were wreathed in scent. First in the sultry, musky fragrance of thyme bruised by the passing of Gaeron's hooves and then by the sweet perfume of lavender that nodded lazily in the wind.
With the free sea-wind billowing his cloak of silver grey and whipping chestnut mane and raven braids alike they galloped past the fair tower of Tirith Aear and wound down onto the flat. Here about the wide sandy sheltered bay of Cobas Haven the land was lower, all mounds grey-green scrub amongst low dark rocks and broad grassy verge starred with yellow flowers. A few pinnacles of rock stood silent sentinel at the heads of smaller scalloped bays. It was a beautiful sight. One he had the morning and enough provision to enjoy.
As they pounded fast, sending sheets of errant wave spray to wet them both, the sea sparkled in the sun. Almost he could find the sight inviting, at least when perched solidly on horseback, but not inviting enough to cross. Unlike his grandfather and his uncle there was no great longing in his breast for aught more than a ride beside its pretty scene. The sea for him held no allure, it did not call, siren-like, eternal as the gulls, as he knew it did for Legolas.
And he suspected sometimes it did for his twin.
Soon their father would depart for the west, traverse the waters that had divided he and his long-dead brother for so many lives of men. Elrohir and Elladan had discussed the coming separation many times. They had chosen to not be parted, to not face the eternal pain their father so stoically endured. Elrohir, however much he loved the sea, would not go without him and he would not go yet. Perhaps one day, perhaps when Arwen passed (Eru may that be long away), but for now Elladan was not ready. There was much to do and learn.
Morning wore on and by a small rocky point he paused, reached for his waterskin and drank. The light was now so high and bright it struck sparks upon the water where the waves danced. Together, they picked their wavy carefully through the foaming surf, rounded the jut of rock into the next little cove.
At first when Elladan heard the sound he thought he heard the wave-song of the sea. A fleeting note of longing came to him, sighing low and gently of green lands and bright high cloud, wide green sea and possibility. They trotted some minutes more and soon enough the sound became clearer, more distinct, as if they approached a hidden source.
Thinking it some tumbling music of running water he looked around but spied no streams to hand. Behind the little bay lay only meadow, low cotton grass and mounds of pink star-flowers amongst the jumbled rocks.
Elladan shook his head and cocked an ear. The sound was no dream, he could the faint sybillation even though the wind had nearly died. Nothing stirred the nodding white tufts of cotton. No gull floated on the thermals overhead
Could it be that he finally heard the sea-call of which their grandmother Galadriel had spoken?
Heart-thudding with an inchoate excitement Elladan steered Gaeron along the strand and soon the song became a voice. Sweet syllables of Elvish fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody; a melody as beautiful as any he had heard in Imadris and yet he knew it not.
Gaeron trotted on, picking up his hooves and almost dancing amongst the waves. There were seastacks afore and surely the source was around the next pinnacle of sparkling grey? They made their way gingerly across the lose shingle and now words of Quenya, the High Elven tongue, grew ever more distinct. The strand afore seemed to shimmer, as if there was a golden mist above the bright shore and seas of foam, one that cast fleeting visions in the air.
Elladan whistled and Gaeron came to a halt, placidly waiting in the ebbing tide that swirled about his legs. The ellon tucked one loose braid behind his ear and listened. An elleth's voice, high and light, drifted sweetly, entrancing, weaving a spell of far off lands and heart's happy ease, all that was good and bright, that a fea sighed for, beyond the margins of the world. It was like a dream and yet one he had never known 'til then. In its gentle rush he felt an endless swell of desire, blue-green as the sea and golden as the morning sun. He let it flow over him, felt the very air throb and wondered for a moment if he might drown. Be swept away within the rising tide of longing.
He urged the big chestnut on, overcome with an eagerness to find the singer. They rode on and on through the brightening air, the high sun overhead now sparkling upon the woven nets of spray that twinkled on every bush. Thirst and hunger stole through his limbs but Elladan felt not the urge to slake either one.
The song… The song was what he craved.
Round yet another wildly tilting stack Elladan spied something darting amongst the waves. The sun glimmered on something bright and dark. A sea otter perhaps? But no, as the creature flipped again it appeared too large for such. For the first time in many hours gulls circled overhead, wheeling and diving into the water beside the form.
Intrigued, he dismounted and led Gaeron between the broken stones and across the coarse, wet sand to rest in the lee of a jutting slate grey block.
As the pair drew nigh Elladan had laughed at himself. Surely something was wrong with his sight for the flash and sheen he first took for dark glistening fur was actually the wink of a nacred bead of shell glinting in an ellith's long dark hair. She stood still for but a moment and her song (his song for he now thought of it as such), swelled high above. Then, quick as lightening, she dove down, a pair of slender legs kicked up and one bare ankle peeked above the waves, then it too was gone as she reached to pluck something from the sandy seabed.
It was then he realized the song had ceased.
Ah…she was a fisherwoman, singing as she worked. Elladan caught the rough edges of a net resting on the sand and a basket just beside. Perhaps the elleth was gathering mussels or oysters for a meal? As he watched, transfixed, she breached the blue-green surface and stood once more, a parcel of shiny oval shells in each hand.
Eru but she was beautiful.
Hair as blue-black as the sheen of a raven's wing fell loose about her hips. It was not bound like his in warrior braids but fell in a silken, shell-studded curtain to cover her naked skin. Her face was elegant and fair, graced with bright grey eyes and bow-shaped lips that shone wet and pink against the alabaster of her skin. Upon her throat and neck, water droplets like diamonds glinted in the sun.
She was, he thought, like one of Varda's stars fell to Arda's earth.
As he stood entranced, Gaeron shifting restlessly beside, the elleth placed her find in a net slung low across her back and dove again. He marveled at her ease. Elladan could swim, he had learned in the swift and cold Baraduin, but that was not the sea. The current here could be fierce but her strong, lithe body cut through the water as if it were but air.
He watched her surface but did not interrupt. It felt almost furtive to stand and spy her dance-like movements but he could not turn away. Who was she? Why was she alone with naught but the birds who picked at discarded shells for company? He tore his gaze from the water's edge but could see no path, no hut or habitation close to the shore.
Perhaps he should move forward and introduce himself? He wished to move but a heaviness, a lethargy, had stolen across his limbs and he merely stood, watching the ethereal creature dive and dive again.
When at last the tide had fully turned the elleth walked out of the darker water to lay her net upon the wet golden sand. The sea had calmed, lay smooth as glass and uncaring of the gulls' thin and raucous cries. The westering sun cast shadows now amongst the rocks and tinged her skin rose-gold.
An urge to speak, to call and ask to hear her song again grew stronger. Like the tide it pounded in his blood, darkling and insistent at the edges of his sight.
"Ai… beautiful one!"
She turned at his quiet cry and for the barest instant favoured him with a smile.
Suddenly he was squeezing through the looming stone, scrambling over fringing rocks, uncaring that the shale sliced into his palms. Desperate in his desire to close the gulf between. The loose ground below was slick, covered in a moss-green coat of weed and before he gained the free, shell-strewn shore he slipped: lost his balance and fell hard down onto his knees.
Cursing and grabbing blindly for purchase Elladan pulled up again. He stepped more carefully then, limping just a little from an awkward ankle twist and ignoring the bloodied rent in his riding breeches. Gaeron whinnied nervously just behind but stayed where he was bid.
At last he passed the rocky screen and the vista opened wide.
The beach was empty and she was gone…
.
Happy Birthday Lin!
Many thanks to Annafan for the terrific beta and to Lena1987 and Lucia for encouragement