Training grounds close to the House of the Hammer of Wrath:

"Left! Right! And swirl around!"

Ever since her first arrival to Gondolin, Maeglin had tried to keep training herself in self-defense with the sword she had forged with her own hands. Anguirel, the black blade which Eöl had forged from an iron meteorite, was a too painful reminder of her father and it was also too difficult to handle for someone of her body build, originally meant for a strong male Elf like Eöl.

But this was yet another area where she and Turgon crashed. The King did not want his niece to even hold a weapon after seeing her sparring against the workers of her own House, and more than once the same soldiers of the House of the Mole actually had needed to forcefully remove people who were suspected of spying for the king's eyes about Maeglin.

"Guard your back more to the right, Maeglin!" Rog barked at her, being present today to see if there was anything she needed to fix in her battle style. He was a stern teacher, not showing any mercy whatever it came to just words or showing how to do a movement correctly.

"I feel like I am back in the forge as a apprentice…."

It was then she heard something new. The sound of heels touching against a wall repeatedly, as if in impatience. Rog seemed to know who it was.

"No, Rûsa. Your ruined leg will not thank you for any crazy movements you might attempt to do," Rog commented over his shoulder without even looking away from the soldiers who was busy training.

And indeed he were up there on a small wall between two of the houses, covered under a hooded cloak to protect him against the sun, there was some footsteps in the wall not far from where he was sitting and watching the training ground.

"Rog is right. Your injuries is mostly healed but you would only set back months of recovery if you tries to do something before we know that it would not be good for your leg," Maeglin added in, looking straight into the only other known pair of black eyes here in Gondolin apart from her own. Rûsa honestly looked annoyed, but he did not move from his place.

Once the training was over and she had washed herself off in the guest baths along with a change of clothing, Maeglin went back outside to see if Rûsa was still there or if he had returned inside.

"Hm?"

While he clearly did not disobey the order to not do any "crazy movements" that could ruin his recovery so far, Rûsa was instead holding two of the more lightweight swords in both hands, moving slowly while keeping full focus on what he was doing.

"So he is not a beginner warrior….that could explain a lot of the older scars on his body, they must be from battle training with the orcs in order to teach him how to fight quickly in order to either avoid injuries or another form of punishment…"

However, Rûsa's focus was broken just as he turned around to avoid hitting his head on the low branch from a tree, and Maeglin, who had her back turned to him because she thought someone called her name, heard a strange sound that could have been mistaken as a very strained meowing from a cat, because of the damage to his vocal curd. The reason for his strange reaction was a spider crawling along one of the swords towards his hand.

"Stand still," Maeglin commanded, recalling how Rûsa had actually frozen in terror, paling so much to almost fainting, once before at spotting a small spider running across the chamber where he had been in earlier during his recovery. Similar reactions over the following months had revealed just how deep his spider phobia.

Picking up a small stone, Maeglin adjusted her throw so the spider was thrown off the sword, into the grass somewhere. Some color returned to Rûsa's face in relief that the spider had disappeared.

"Can you try to move?"

Sometimes his terror of spiders made Rûsa freezing in his movements under the first few moments after seeing one, so Maeglin had to gently push him slightly in order to make him move.

"...I…"

"Do not apologize, you are hardly the only one around that is scared of spiders for whatever reason."

It was unlikely that Rûsa would have the same focus as before, so he might as well finish.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Turgon was not in a good mood. He had no idea how Maeglin seemed to have learned about his plan to find her a appropriate husband, but surely she had to understand that the longer she remained unwed, the greater the risk of her falling into some kind of scandal similar to Aredhel?!

"Are it that hard to make her understand that her social reputation is already bad enough as it is!?"

Damn Aredhel and her inappropriate taste in men, never caring for how many marriage offers she had ruined for herself in her youth by running off with their Fëanorian relatives into the woods without a chaperone to ensure that she did not ruin herself before marriage and then returning home with muddy clothing as if she was but a mere commoner. And just how could she fall in love with a such Elf that would not hesitate to kill both his royal wife and the daughter born in the very questionable marriage?

"An Avari, of all people, to end up married to!"

For all of that he loved his sister, Turgon had always wished that she could be just a little more acceptable feminine in her behavior, often feeling ashamed of Aredhel showing up fresh from a hunt in the woods. And there had been so many fine nobles at the royal court of their grandfather Finwë in Tirion, who could have been a fine husband to the daughter of Fingolfin.

"Why did my sister have to make Maeglin harder to married off, just because of the blood from her sire?"

He had to find a way to set up a meeting at least between his niece and someone of her suitors, controlling the surrounding so Maeglin could not escape as soon as it was the earliest allowed time to leave a event at court. The sooner Maeglin got married and busy with the responsibility of being a mother, the better.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Even if Rûsa was about the same height as herself, Maeglin could guess that he might have been a little taller, had he only gotten proper nutrition as a child. Among the Noldor, very tall females was rare, she only knew of princess Galadriel, still keeping her royal title by marrying a prince from Doriath from what Eöl once had heard and lady Maedhros, the only two female cousins to her mother.

"By giving up her Queenship so my grandfather could take the crown and lead as High King over the exiled Noldor, she also gave up the right of being addressed as royalty for her whole family, though that never seemed to be important for them in Valinor, according to what ammë said…"

"Maeglin, I think Rûsa have enough of that cream on his face against the sun," Rog suddenly spoke, and she realized that she had been adding on a little too much in her absentmindness. Yet Rûsa simply looked at her without a word. Was it because his skin had been so horrible dry before? When she, Rog and Salgant had arrived to the healers who had their base at the iron mine because the worker could get caught in a accident of some kind, it had taken them several long baths just to remove all the dirt and other nasty things off his body, and the water had needed to be changed several times.

"Sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts."

This time, she managed to make it the right amount so Rûsa would would be protected from the sun.

"To see just how pale his skin actually was…." Maeglin thought, recalling how even Eöl had seemed healthy despite staying away from the sun, and yet neither he or Maeglin had been that pale despite living under the sun-blocking trees of Nan Elmoth and that their skin was sensitive to the sun. Rûsa had been unhealthy pale, needing to always cover his skin so he did not suffer those painful sunburns.

Because of his ancient age, Rog was not bind to what was slowly starting to happen between Maeglin and Rûsa. Neither one was fully aware of it yet, but Maeglin would likely be the one to realize it sooner, thanks to actually having daily contact with other Elves where she could see the signs with her sharp glare. Rûsa would need a deeper enlightenment of what love meant and how many different forms it could take, but there was no doubt about the way he looked at Maeglin:

With careful guiding, there was a high change of that Rûsa would not just have a crush on Maeglin, but possibly going deeper if their feelings was the same.

"That would be a fine lesson for Turgon, showing that is Vanyarin-based view on proper behavior and suitable marriage matches is not shared by everyone in his surroundings, or even those who was his own close relatives. Aredhel tried to make him see the faults of such expectations, and Maeglin will never bow down to a such role as a passive wife whose only goals is a suitable husband and children to raise."

Rog had seen many different types of females over his long life, and knew that Maeglin was one of those She-elves who had a specific type of husband they wanted to marry, even if they were not aware of it themselves.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

During the afternoon Maeglin was at one of those tea parties that was obligatory for her to attend, no matter how much she tried to minimize the times she actually appeared as a guest.

This invitation had came from Egalmoth, Lord of the House of the Heavenly Arch and written by his own hand, with the request that she would be present mainly to avoid the rumours that she was shunning the upper class sociality for minging with the commoners and working class instead, because of her upbringing.

"This is so a waste of time…"

Maeglin hated to spend time with the nobles of Gondolin. Those who had been alive from before the city was built, she could at least speak with about what they missed, but those who had lived their whole lives in the closed-off city without even knowing what they had never been taught about…

So sheltered from the harsh life outside Gondolin that it was not even funny, in the eyes of the half-Avari princess who had lived her first eighty years of life with knowing Gondolin only as a secret tale whatever Aredhel told of her family and life before marrying Eöl. Maeglin could not imagine many of them being able to easy adjusting to a life without the comforts found here in Gondolin and being safe from Angband.

"At least Egalmoth paid me a big sum for crafting a new jeweled hair comb for both his wife and daughter as compensation for having to be here…"

Looking at the clocktower, Maeglin mentally groaned in displeasure at seeing that she had to stay for over two hours more.

Meanwhile, Rûsa kept himself busy by trying to finish the drawing of Maeglin he had done earlier, even taking time to try making it as a base for a actual portrait, like the ones in a gallery he had seen here in the house once he was strong enough to be able to walk without being held by someone else.

"So easy it is to lose myself in the colours….I can find myself relaxing in a whole different manner than what I never did before…"

Ever since he had been saved by Maeglin, Rog and Salgant almost five months earlier, Rûsa had tasted the forbidden fruit that was a life of freedom. Granted, his injuries made it also likely that he might have switched the chains of a slave to another set, because Rog had revealed that no one from Gondolin was allowed to leave the valley where the Hidden city had been built, but at least the trio tried to make his new life better than what he once had lived with.

"But it is still foolish by the King to not have a escape plan ready, for when they will end up being found eventually...Sauron always ranted about how Gondolin was the last Elven Kingdom Morgoth wanted to destroy…."

Even if the city was well hidden and guarded against outsiders, Rûsa did not doubt that the Dark Lord would find it at some point. For no matter how carefully hidden, Morgoth would search and search until that his prey was found.

But until then, Rûsa wanted to enjoy his freedom as best as he could. No doubt that Sauron would force him back in the training area with the orcs, despite his ruined leg, and he wanted to avoid thinking of that.

The faint memories of whatever he had been conscious long enough to drink water or getting spoon-fed soup, as the fever fought a war inside his body. The inner fear of that he would find himself in the harsh care of orc healers, only keeping him alive on the orders from Sauron.

But the blurry images of Maeglin, when he slowly had started to recognize her face, told him otherwise in the mist inside his mind. Even her most simple clothing was nothing a fellow slave in Angband would wear, and nothing about her had hinted to that she actually was a lady of high birth.

Rog and Salgant had helped out as well, both with caring for Rûsa and giving him food dishes that were easily digested for someone who had been so ill from malnutrition, making sure that the healers of the House of the Mole did not make things worse for the secret patient under their care.

But it was Maeglin who Rûsa had wanted to see the most, once he grew strong enough to be awake in longer periods. After all, she had saved his life by finding him, and he wanted to know who she was.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

The next morning:

As usual, Maeglin always had a headache the morning after being on a such party. She avoided alcohol because she hated the taste, and now was rather desperate to do something useful instead.

"They are using too many sugar beets in the food here….just how much sugar was in those sweets the servants served alongside the tea..."

Hopefully Rog was in his office, he always had suggestion for whatever she might craft in the forge if she felt out of ideas or just anything to escape whatever it was, troubling her mind.

"...Maeglin?"

Slightly uneven footsteps, and indeed it was Rûsa who came after her, slightly out of breath as his ruined legs seemed to be a bit stiff today, making it harder to walk faster.

"Oh, Rûsa, is there anything you need help with?"

Even as he had learned a lot since his secret arrival, there was still times when Rûsa felt unsure about something and needed to ask.

"...no….for you."

He was still gasping for breath as he gave her something, a canvas that had been rolled together in order to be easier to carry. When Maeglin rolled it out, she saw a watercolour portrait of herself from a side-view.

"Did you….create this?"

It was unbelievable. It was only about two months ago since Rûsa had discovered how to paint, when he was strong enough to move by himself again. But that he held a such hidden talent was amazing, for in this portrait Maeglin could imagine a promising future as a artist. If only he had not needed to be hidden from her uncle like this…

"Thank you, it is wonderfully made. You have done well on it even if you has never been taught by a teacher," she smiled at him. In response, Rûsa pointed with a finger against his eye before making a sweeping move around the corridor, as if trying speak without words that he simply had watched his surroundings and how she must look like from different views. Well, that much was true, Maeglin guessed, given that he had difficult to speak and had to think differently due to how he had lived.

With a nod on her head towards the garden, Maeglin offered him to come along, if he so wanted.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Author's note:

If Turgon comes off as a bigot against Eöl, it is because I imagine that his view on his brother-in-law was deeply painted by Eöl trying to kill Maeglin at being told that he either had to stay in Gondolin or die, and Aredhel ending up as the one to be struck by the poisoned dart instead. Very doubtful that either one got a good first impression of the respective brother-in-law