THE TIES THAT BIND US
Part I: Beginnings
CELEBRIAN
Chapter One
All was peaceful in Imladris, the last homely house west of the Sea. If I had known the peace would be short lived, that more excitement would come my way, I might have taken a different course of action. In retrospect, marrying Elrond was the right choice, even if I sometimes wished it otherwise. In marrying a peredhel, and a lord at that, my fate was sealed. I was bound to have some excitement, wasn't I? In the centuries following the Last Alliance, I rarely thought of the other path I could've taken. The path involving the now king of Mirkwood. But lately, my thoughts had strayed to him more than normal. And that unsettled my conscience, for I felt it was betraying Elrond. Sometimes I tried to tell myself that we had gone our separate ways that our choices were made. The rest of the time I was consumed with questions: What if things were different? What if I had married Thranduil instead? I tried to imagine myself living in the palace, and quickly squashed the idea. Imladris was where I belonged, and was where I would stay. So it was a bit of a shock when the object of my thoughts turned up one day, but that is where my story begins.
It was a cold clear night in October when Thranduil decided to pay me a visit. Predictably, Elrond was at one of his many daily meetings, and I had just put my twin sons to bed. It was still fairly early, but Elladan and Elrohir had worn me out completely. I loved my sons, but sometimes they were hard to handle. Tonight for instance there was an incident involving a game of hide-and-seek and lembas making. Needless to say, a flour throwing war had ensued. And I had expressly forbidden them to make lembas again until they were older. Much older. Another nice thing about having two elflings who constantly demand your attention was that it distracted me from my rather morose thoughts as of late. But now that they were asleep, it gave me an opportunity to think of things I would rather not think about. Such as my less than perfect relationship with Elrond, how my own mother never returned my letters, and most importantly, how I wished for just one glimpse of Thranduil. It was on this night that I got my wish, but not quite in the way I expected. I was contemplating going to bed, when I heard a series of frantic knocking on the front door. I briefly wondered who would be visiting at this late hour. Elrond had the key, and I couldn't think of anyone else who knocked like that… Throwing caution to the wind, I hurried to the door. I will always remember what happened next. Behind the door stood a cloaked figure, or rather the figure was leaning heavily, trying to stay upright. The first thing I observed was that they were drenched and shivering violently. The next thing I noticed was the way they held themselves, with grace and elegance that only the Eldar possessed. Suddenly the light from a flash of lightning put the figure in sharp relief and I saw clearly.
"Thranduil? What in all of Arda are you doing here?"
The elf, for indeed he was elven, turned towards me, and in the weakest voice I had ever heard, but also with a tinge of the sarcasm that was Thranduil said "Aren't you at all pleased to see me? Or has Elrond corrupted you?"
Then he fell forward, causing me to quickly jump to catch him. It was then I noticed the cloaked bundle he held protectively to his chest. An elfling, a mere few days old was just waking up when Thranduil fell. I caught both with some effort, and cast about for a way to get them to the healing halls, or at least to one of the bedrooms, preferably without waking the twins while doing so… I suddenly wished Elrond would return, or someone would come and find us... The beam of light suddenly accosted my senses, almost blinding me in the process. Two figures stood out against the light, Erestor and Glorfindel, chief advisor and lore-master respectively. They were probably coming from the meeting place, which meant one thing. I had to get Thranduil out of the vicinity before Elrond returned. And I had the perfect opurtunity, with Glorfindel and Erestor here now. It was Erestor who noticed me first. He was at my side almost at once, but as it was with Erestor, he didn't question why I was there, or even why Thranduil was at our doorstep at this late hour. He carefully took some of Thranduil's weight off me, and Glorfindle gave me a reassuring squeeze to the shoulder, saying "Take the elfling; we'll take the king from here."
Nodding gratefully, I stepped away, still carrying the blanketed elfling. I descended the stairs and went into an unused bedroom which also served as a storage room. I was never happier that I'd saved some of the twin's old baby furniture than in that moment. Placing the elfling in an old bassinet, I sat down on a discarded chair to wait for news of Thranduil. I began to muse silently. I wondered for how long he had been in the storm? Did Thranduil even know how to raise a child? Somehow I couldn't imagine him being a good Adar, but maybe he would prove me wrong? My musings were cut short as a shrill cry rent the air. I had been neglecting my duties watching Thranduil's son, and he was not happy about it. I was no stranger to taking care of elflings; I had two already after all. So, I did what came naturally to me. I carefully picked up my new charge, and headed out in search of milk, for that is what an elfling wants the most in their first days of life.