Chapter Two

Armed with a newly warmed bottle of milk courtesy of the kitchen staff, I settled at the dining room table, to wait for news of Thranduil. It was lucky that the table wasn't used that often; only for small councils and meetings, so I had no chance of anyone unwelcome finding us here. Namely Elrond. I just hoped Arestor and Glorfindel could distract him long enough for Thranduil and me to come up with a decent plan. A reason why he had turned up to his worst enemy's house in the midst of a storm that, hopefully, wouldn't involve me.

My thoughts were interrupted, yet again, this time by the feel of a hand on my shoulder. I reacted on instinct, batting it away with my free hand.

"Tsk, tsk, is that any way to greet an old friend?" I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment, for Thranduil stood behind me. It then occurred to me that he was actually here and not in bed, where he belonged.

"Why on Arda are you not in bed? And how long did you subject your poor son to that storm? Did you ever pay attention to how cold it was? You could have died the both of you! If you do that again, I'll… I'll…"

I suddenly noticed that my attempt at ranting had failed miserably. It must have had some effect on him however, because he had the decency to look sheepish.

"I'll admit it wasn't the most brilliant of plans, but I had to leave, too many memories in that place…" He shivered, and I was almost positive it wasn't from the cold. Then it occurred to me, the constant threat of dark creatures had finally driven Thranduil to find some other refuge, and I knew that he thought the best course of action was to bring his son with him. I could not blame him, if Elrond needed to relocate, then I would not leave Elladan or Elrohir to fend for themselves. Whatever happened, with Elrond I would go and with him I would stay. I then couldn't help but notice Thranduil's hand had not left my shoulder, but then again, I felt I needed the comfort he could provide.

I mentally shook myself, we had to come up with a plan to get Thranduil and his son away from Elrond, and I was acting like a young maiden smitten with her first love? What was wrong with me? But then again, I hadn't seen Thranduil in so long… It made sense to me why I would act this way. My thoughts were again interrupted by a hand being waved in front of my face.

"Celebrian… Celebrian? I've been trying to say something for the past five minutes, what is troubling you?"

His question hung in the air, unanswered. Could I possibly tell him about my failing relationship with Elrond? Could I tell him about how I really felt, of how I spent sleepless nights regretting my path? About how I sometimes imagined Thranduil in my husband's place? That last confession had me reeling at the sheer force of it, not to mention it was true. I suddenly knew what I had to do. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Thranduil, readying myself for the inevitable, when a flicker of movement from behind the drapes covering the windows caught my eye. There were only two possible persons who could be behind the drapes, as they were too small for anyone else. I turned back to Thranduil, as if nothing was amiss, but in reality, I waited for one of my sons to come out from the drapes and explain why he was eavesdropping, for he must have a good reason. I waited for the couple of seconds it took for the drape to move a side, revealing my younger son, Elrohir, clad in typical night attire, and looking rather guilty.

I could do one of two things, berate him for spying on us, or actually find out why he was here in the first place. I chose the latter, no matter how much I wanted to yell at him, I knew it would not help us in any way. I turned my attention away from my unexpected guest and towards my now shaking son.

"Come here penneth," I said in as calm a voice as I could. "Did you have a bad dream?"

At the mention of a bad dream, Elrohir ran flat out the rest of the way towards where Thranduil and I were seated, and threw himself onto my lap. I automatically began stroking his dark tresses, hoping to sooth and alleviate his fears, whatever they may be. It was common knowledge, at least among our extended family, that Elrohir had inherited his adar's gift of foresight. It was not until recently that my husband had deemed Elrohir old enough to start learning about how this would affect him, and the flip side to his gift. Or curse, as the case may be. For it was definitely showing its negative effects right now… I pushed those thoughts away, and focused on the task at hand.

"What did you see?"

This was the wrong thing to say, but for my credit, I was curious. As soon as those words left my lips, my son became even more withdrawn, and promptly turned his face away from me. "I am not mad at you for spying on us; I'd just rather you told me what is wrong…"

"Ada told me not to tell you what I see…"

This was news to me. On one hand, I appreciated Elrond sparing me, but on the other, this gave Thranduil even more reason to hate him. Which I couldn't have, not at all. I now wished it had been Elladan who was hidden behind the drapes; at least that little tidbit of knowledge would not have been said. I now wondered how this would turn out, would Thranduil ever put aside his grudge against my husband? Or would Elrond make me chose him over Thranduil? The room suddenly felt colder, less inviting and I automatically pulled Elrohir closer to me. I desperately hoped through all of this, my sons would not suffer in anyway, that they would stay children for years to come. I vowed then and there to protect them at all costs from whatever might come our way, for if I was unable to do so, I feared the world as I knew it would end.