The Sun of Winter

Love is like fire. Wounds of fire are hard; harder still are those of love. –Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

~Chapter 1~

Aiwë

Golden leaves waved against a coral pink sky. Fragmented gold light, soft and pale, painted itself across the light grey bole of a tree that hefted a platform on its shoulders. White walls began to darken as the indigo fingers of night began to arise. Upon a dais sat long cots, empty, with a desk sitting at the base of the low steps. Alone in the room stood a woman. Long, slender fingers wound themselves into strips of cream linen that rested in a basket of wicker. Many slipped and tumbled into heaps on the floor of a flet, high above the ground. With a cheery song, a tiny robin landed on the handle of the basket and gazed up at the hands that twirled the linens. When the blue gaze of the woman landed on the robin, it started with a squeak and flew off.

"How funny, robins do not appear to like my robin," A man garbed in thunder head grey and white commented dryly from a rounded archway. "Then again, my robin is different."

"Yes, one could say that…" The woman laughed, rolling the last linen and placing it back into the basket. She turned on the man and caught the soft, gold light in his silver hair and shadow his sharp features. He flashed her a smile before approaching and wrapping an arm around her small shoulders. She stared up at him and then smiled down at the floor. "Let me return this to the Chief Healer and then we can depart."

Rumil's silver hair flicked into her side vision and his hand gripped her shoulder tighter. Within her chest, tightness began to form. She could not explain it, or where it came from, or even how it started. She stepped free of his grip, and without a second glance, she started down the hall at a swift pace. Upon finding the Chief Healer, she returned the linens and watched the elleth stalk off to attend to others in the long arching corridors. With a turn, she bumped into Rumil's grey cloaked chest in a thud.

"Coruwen…" Rumil's voice came to her ear, flat and serious. His hands took her shoulders to peel her away from him. Coruwen glanced up at him, the tightness in her chest beginning to burn. He pursed his lips in thought, hands dropping to his sides. "Haldir heard from Lady Arwen that you are to be leaving with her in the coming days."

Her brows furrowed together in thought. Why would she leave Lothlórien? She gnawed at the inside of her cheek. The Chief Healer was running short of things to teach her, this she knew, and perhaps it was time for her to learn other forms of medicine. For many years, she had been under the tutelage of the healers in Lothlórien and learned much from them. The spark of a memory kindled in her mind, one of when she had cut her fingers on dozens of needles in practice.

With a shudder, Coruwen said, "I will look like I lost a battle with a long knife once again."

Rumil let out a merry laugh, and looped arms with her. "You shall do fine, sweet niece of mine. After all, it could not be worse than you learning to use a bow."

"Oh, it could be… I may have calluses upon my fingers like many of you, but none of you know the potential of needles." The two of them fell silent for a few moments; the only sound the sounds of their boots clicking against the floorboards. With a hum, she murmured, "Tell me, does Ada approve of this?"

He smirked with a scoff, "What do you think?"

Coruwen sighed, "He must not think highly of it."

"No, no he does not..."

"Will Lady Arwen convince him otherwise?"

Rumil chuckled, "If you desire to go, sweet niece. Then how could your father deny you?"

"Oh, in many, many ways."

He patted her hand softly and helped her down from the winding steps of the healers' flet. "Coruwen, Haldir knows he cannot keep you here forever." She threatened to open her mouth, but stopped short when his hands touched her lips in silence. "Eventually, all birds must fly."

"Even robins?" She placed her hands on her hips and smirked. Rumil threw his head back in laughter and then gathered her in his arms.

"Especially, robins."

He released her and then started off once again. Darkness fell in the blink of an eye and breath of brisk wind. Autumn had begun to settle into the world, and even her people had begun to see the change of seasons. As the leaves of the great trees overhead changed their golden tops and the winds bit with a bite colder than the grave, the elves of Lothlórien changed as well. Coruwen saw her uncle's cloaks change in thickness as well as their color. Once, Rumil's cloak had not climbed high enough to reach his jaw and it had not been the color of angered thunderclouds. And then a sudden burst of wind blew past her skirts, sending her closer to Rumil for warmth. Her hands clawed for his arm and found that he was far warmer than she.

"There is a reason robins are not winter birds," Rumil commented before he came to a stop. She halted as well, looking up at him curiously as he unfastened the clasp at his throat. The thick cloak slid from his shoulders and stiffened abruptly. As he fastened the cloak around her, he muttered, "Though it seems hard to believe that it is not winter yet."

"Yes… Autumn will be rather bitter this year," Coruwen replied quietly.

Rumil stood straight once more and then started off again in the direction of the edges of Caras Galadhon. The two were quiet until they came upon two ellyn speaking before the winding steps of a flet. Within her chest, Coruwen's heart leapt in joy. Out of the silver hair and grey cloth, she spied her father – fair and statuesque. At his shoulder was a brooch that held up a grey sash that crossed over his chest before it flowed into the same cloak that Rumil had given her. Haldir gave her a sideways glance before it settled back on the Chief Marchwarden, Gilion. Gilion gave Haldir a swift bow and slinked off, his hands fumbling to settle his hood back over his head.

Rumil smiled crookedly. "I have brought our little bird home, brother."

Haldir turned and he wore no expression upon his face. He always had that way – slight of expression and silent – ever since Coruwen remembered. Though slowly, Haldir smiled as he approached her to take her hand in his. A brief burst of emotion took her and she embraced him. For a weeks' time he had been gone, keeping the borders of their land safe from harm, and she missed him. Her father chuckled lightly and stroked her back.

"It is good to see my nightingale once again," Haldir whispered, releasing her. His eyes searched her, their color a stormy blue that differed from the bright silver of his hair and grey of his garb. "How have you fared, sweet one?"

"Well… I have been well, Ada - but what about you? Word has not reached me for nearly a month," Coruwen stressed, her voice cracking lightly with worry. Behind her Rumil laughed brightly, but Haldir paid him no mind, for his smile faded.

With a shake of his head, Haldir began, "I have fared better, my daughter. Though seeing you," He touched a wavy lock of her hair as if presenting it to her. Their hair color was quite different; Coruwen's hair was the color of the sun and Haldir's silver. He twirled it once and let it rest back on her shoulder, saying, "Seeing you brings me great joy, as it always has."

Her tongue felt like lead in her mouth suddenly as her heart swelled in emotion. There were days she would spend with either of her uncles or in a fit of worry alone without anything to quell the drowning fear. There were rumors, whispers throughout Lothlórien of the ellith that would lose their loved ones to the darker forces that crawled down from the hills every once in a while. She suppressed a shudder as her father and uncle turned their backs on her and started up the walkway. As she followed them, thoughts began to churn in her mind like the roiling sea. There were thoughts of her family that lingered in her mind, ones that took the shape of the rumors that floated in the wood. They were impossible to believe, yet what she had seen in the healing houses told her different! Her eyes screwed themselves shut in an instant with her fingers digging into her uncle's cloak.

"Nightingale?" Haldir's voice drew her out of her worrisome thoughts. Her eyes peeled open to gaze up at her father, who had stopped at the base of the winding stairwell with a hand rested up against the smoky grey wood. His stare was hard. "Does something trouble you?"

"No," Her nerves began steel as she spoke. "I was merely thinking."

Haldir's gaze swiveled to Rumil as the latter moved to stand beside him, lantern in hand. The soft light lessened the sternness in her father's features by only a hair, but it did not take the serious curiosity from his eyes. He hummed and turned on his heel, stalked into the flet and left Coruwen to stare up at Rumil shyly.

"May I ask what you were thinking of, robin?" Rumil asked. As he moved toward her, he shifted the iron lantern in his hands to place it on one of her white knuckled hands. She was shaking; something she had barely noticed until Rumil's hand rested on top of hers. Shame washed swallowed her as she hung her head. "Coruwen…?"

"It is nothing, Uncle," She took his hand in both of hers, giving him a soft smile. "I have always thought too much."

"That I cannot deny," His laugh was infectious and she laughed with him for a moment – albeit brief – before following her father into the flet.

~.~.~

Haldir had always known that Rumil eavesdropped. Perhaps he was more troubled than his daughter in this one regard, and did not wish for anyone – not even Rumil or Orophin – to know about it. But now his little brother knew and had told Coruwen. Anger rushed through him – how could he let himself be so ignorant to his own brother's musings? Now, it seemed, that Coruwen desired to take up the request he had heard the other day. A soft thump drew his gaze up to his daughter, who had taken up her bow to practice archery.

Haldir sat far from Coruwen's hearing and watched her intently, but said nothing. He propped his chin on the heel of his hand, watching her cloak sway as she drew another arrow back to her cheek. In the sunlight, Coruwen's hair was shining gold and tumbled down the back of the cloak his brother had been kind enough to lend to her several days ago. She moved to the side, and the ivory cloth of her dress twisted with her. She whirled, fingers snagging another arrow with fox-like speed so that the delicate point of the arrow fell on a raised, knotted root.

He smiled when her arrow met its mark in the root. He remembered her as a child, trying to hold up the long bow of the Galadhrim. However, such moments were short-lived whenever she saw a wily red fox or a tiny chickadee. Haldir inwardly groaned; she was a difficult child when it came to learning to use a bow, but when she learned the history of this world, medicine, or sewing – she focused on the endeavor. Passing a hand over his face, he made to stand, but was stopped by a hand that gripped his wrist. His eyes snapped down to the hand to find it was Rumil who held him still.

"Rumil," Haldir said in relief. His brother's grip fell as he came to sit beside him on the log. In his brother's eyes, he saw the glint of mischief. A frown tugged at his lips. "What is it?"

Rumil smirked, "You should let her follow Lady Arwen to Imladris."

It seemed in that moment that Haldir's fear took shape. A lump formed in his throat, but did not stop the iron from staying in his voice. "I cannot allow that."

"And why not?" Rumil's gaze bored into his own. He noted his brother's eyes – their mother's eyes – and the firm, unshakeable belief within. "She is hardly an elfling anymore! She needs this, Haldir. She needs to be free; she needs to see other places other than Lothlórien."

"Rumil, I have discussed this with you," He did not know what flew faster; his words or his brother's hand. His younger brother was known for his quick temper, but Haldir never had been on the receiving end of his blows. Until now. His hand rested on his aching jaw and he refrained from cursing. "What good would come from sending her away?"

Rumil's expression did not change. "You cannot protect her forever. Imladris is a safe haven, and she will meet new people." Rumil's voice shook, "And perhaps, she will meet a lord who will love her. But she will never get that chance if you keep her caged!"

Caged, the word rang through him like a bell. He had always named Coruwen after birds, a symbol of freedom, yet here he stood keeping her from that freedom. His hand rubbed the welt on his jaw and drew himself up. Rumil glowered up at him, daring to strike him again should anything foolish leave his lips.

"You are right, little brother," Haldir admitted through his hand. Confidence spread in his brother's features like wildfire. "When does the Lady Arwen depart?"

"At the end of this week…" Rumil cocked his head to the side. "May I ask why?"

Haldir observed his daughter once again as she loosed another arrow on an imaginary foe, gold hair flying about her like tongues of fire. Through the pain that stung his jaw, he smiled. "Send her to Lady Arwen… Let us see if we can find her a parting gift…"

~.~.~

The houses of healing were busy the following day. Marchwardens, hunters, and the occasional ranger were seen this day, filling the houses with voices that could have misinterpreted as war clamor. The wardens that returned from the borders were injured by an ambush of goblins that had descended down from the Misty Mountains. Arrowheads of crude steel and unrefined handiwork were pulled from the limbs of the wardens and there were a few that had passed on as well.

Coruwen observed a wound made by a goblin throwing knife, the root of the problem lying on the table. The knife had imbedded itself in the ellon's shin and left a gaping wound in its wake.

"Will it need to be stitched, lady healer?" The ellon warden asked above her. Coruwen stood and gave him a slow nod. The silver haired warden sighed, "Another one – how amusing…"

She turned and fetched a needle and stitching thread along with numbing herbs that had been crushed to make a poultice. Kneeling, she began to rub the poultice onto the wound and saw the man flinch.

"I would ask you not to move, but seeing as that is fairly unlikely…" Coruwen began but let her words fade. "This is not your first wound?"

"On my shin, no. My lady wife would have my head if she knew about this," The warden chuckled dryly and then grimaced. "The orcs came out of nowhere."

"My uncle tells me it was an ambush. The orcs and goblins seem to be growing braver every day," Coruwen replied, finishing off the last stitch and then grabbed a roll of linen to cover the wound. "The world begins to darken, I am afraid to admit."

"Aye, sadly…" He rolled down the leg of his trouser before giving her a smile. "Thank you, Lady Healer."

She returned the smile. "It was a pleasure helping you, kinsman."

She stood and offered a hand to the warden, but he shook his head and stood on his own. She adjusted her skirts nervously after the warden left, finding her stomach to be knotting tightly. Her fingers wound themselves into her sleeves in worry.

"Pardon me," Came a soft voice from behind her. Coruwen's eyes snapped up to a woman dress in periwinkle blue and shimmering white with long, soft waves falling down her back. Coruwen oddly recognized her, but could not place where she had seen this elleth. "Would you be Lady Coruwen?"

Coruwen nodded, "I am. And who might you be, my lady?"

The elleth smiled and entered the room, the beads on the white fabric flickering like tiny stars. The closer the elleth came, more of her features became clear. Her eyes were grey, her features fair and bearing resemblance to Lady Galadriel. Her heart pumped ice into her blood and a lump formed in her throat.

"I am Arwen, daughter of Elrond. I have been looking for you, Coruwen," Arwen said with a smile.

Within, Coruwen's mind fretted and paced, yet she could not do so before the lady Undomiel. Her hands trembled and she forced them to knit together, yet still they shook like leaves in a forceful wind. Gently, Arwen laid her hands over Coruwen's and laughed quietly.

"I have a request," Arwen began and Coruwen met the lady's grey eyes. "I would ask you to follow me to Imladris and study with me under my Adar. I have spoken with your father as well as the Chief Healer of these houses and learned that your studies need to be turned… elsewhere."

Coruwen let out a nervous, airy laugh, "Yes, your sources are correct, my lady."

Arwen took her hands from Coruwen's and folded them behind her back. From her noble air, Coruwen felt a strange trill of confidence ring through her. Setting her shoulders, she smiled.

"Then would you follow me to Imladris in the coming days?" Arwen asked.

"If your Adar would have me."

Arwen laughed and nodded. Her laughter was bright and merry, a bell that sang on the highest peak. When she laughed along with her, Coruwen found that the two had similar laughs. And within herself, she frowned in thought and in wonder.

"My brothers and Lord Glorfindel will greatly enjoy your company, Coruwen," Arwen started to leave, and then cast a smile back at her. "We leave early on the morrow, my friend. I suggest you get some rest."

"O-Of course, Lady Arwen," Her voice became shy and small. If she let her emotions show on the outside, she would have been laughing and louder than the two had before. Before she left, Arwen scolded her about the usage of Lady around her, since they were to be studying together. She had nodded and waved farewell to Arwen before she smiled to herself. There was a feeling, though very small, within her that whispered of the coming days and how she would not sleep this night.

A/N: Hello everyone, been a long time since you saw anything updated here, huh? This story was once called A Marchwarden's Daughter, but I'm sure many of you knew that. I decided when the newest Hobbit film came out, and through writing Dragon Queen, that this story needed to be changed and re-written to fit Coruwen better. The premise of the story remains the same, but certain things will be more fluent...

There are some rules I want to apply here:

-Flaming or negative comments are not tolerated in any fashion.

-I gladly take constructive criticism, but if you deem it too harsh, please send me a PM.

-And please enjoy the story

If you want to follow me on Tumblr and get the inside scoop on I'm doing, or want to ask questions, then look me up! And as always, if you enjoyed this, please leave me a review, favorite, follow, and share with friends!

Until Next time -Angel