7. Old and new bonds
"Your…son, Nelyo?"
At the question spoken by Indis Rûsa were quick to hide himself behind Maedhros' skirt again.
"If it is the father you are about to ask about, step-mother, I would NOT recommend to ask about how my younger grandson was conceived. It is a rather touchy subject even after all those years," warned Feanor as Rûsa dared to peek out from where he was hiding behind his mother. For once, nobody bothered to remind Feanor about the voice he had used against Indis. If it was so that Maedhros did not want to talk about Rûsa's father, why nag about it?
"Well, if this young one was the reason for you not arriving earlier, then I can understand that you did not want people to mistake him for a new Feanorian...ah."
Even if Finwë had knelt down on the floor and offered a hand with the palm upwards as a sign of peace, some of Rûsa's old survivor instincts as a slave took the upper hand. He recoiled and hurried over to one of the large marble pillars, where he hid himself again.
"Sorry, my cousin does that a lot when it is a lot of new people that he does not know…," excused Celebrimbor. It was in that same moment, as Finrod noticed something else as well.
"Hm? Beloved Amarië, where did Saira go?" he asked to his wife. A sudden cry in surprise were heard from the pillar where Rûsa had hidden and he came out in the throne room again, being chased by a slightly older-looking, golden-haired little Elfling in a white dress right on his heels.
"And naturally you have spawned a kid as well with your own Vanyarin wife, cousin, Based on how she looks, I take it that she must be the literal result of a celebration of Sauron's defeat?" commented Curufin at seeing how similar the girl was to Finrod.
"Ha, ha, very funny, Atarinkë," answered Finrod in sarcastic intonation to his cousin while Rûsa quickly climbed up on top of a protesting Celebrimbor.
"Ow, ow, watch my robes and circlet, Rûsa!" groaned Celebrimbor before Rûsa set himself steady on his shoulders. Then the girl looked sweetly at Finrod:
"He is awfully shy, is he not, Atto?"
"But perhaps he won't be so shy if you greet him carefully," suggested Amarië with a smile to her daughter as Maedhros freed her nephew from her son and put Rûsa back on the floor.
"Behave yourself, honey."
Just like her mother had suggested, little Saira tried to be friendly.
"Hello, Rûsa."
Since Rûsa was not very used to girls outside the females of his family, he backed away and hid behind Maedhros again.
"Aren't you going to answer her?" asked Maedhros, at which Rûsa shook on his head.
"You're not afraid are you?" smiled Rainiel, causing her husband's nephew to shake his head frantically, then gulped nervously while some of his uncles rolled their eyes over his behaviour.
"Well then go ahead," commanded Celegorm and gave Rûsa a shove in the back towards Saira, earning himself a rather painful slap on the fingers as thanks from Rûsa. Seeing the small Elfling daring to slap one of the Sons of Feanor, caused some laughter from the rest of the family.
"Come, lets go out on the balcony and to the dinner that is waiting there."
~X~X~X~X~X~X
As Rûsa was an unexpected extra person at the dinner table, Maeglin used the excuse to go and bring an extra plate and cutlery for him to get away for a few minutes. Once she was at a safe distance from being seen or heard, did Maeglin allow herself to sink to the floor with her back against the wall. The shock of seeing Rûsa alive, even in the body of a young elf, had nearly caused her to faint earlier.
"Maeglin? Is something wrong?"
It was Rog, fitting in for a younger relative working in the palace kitchen who had gotten his arm broken earlier that day, who had shown up behind a corner in the corridor.
"Not really. I just got a minor shock over seeing something in the throne room earlier. And could you please show me the right way to the kitchen? We ended up being one plate short on the dinner table outside on the balcony."
"Ah, they must have miscalculated in the chaos when my poor great-grandnephew slipped on the floor and broke his arms while trying to not drop the wine glasses."
Maeglin remembered the scene rather well, after all, the poor young Elf had freaked out in fear that he would get fired for getting the wine glasses crushed despite that it clearly had been a accident.
"Has your great-grandnephew calmed down now?"
"Yes, although he still needed a large cup of calming tea to soothe his poor nerves. He really was afraid that it would cost him his job."
They continued to chat on the way to the kitchen.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Although Rûsa found the view from the balcony nice, he still did not really like being able to see almost all of Tirion. It reminded him about how he had run out on a similar balcony in Gondolin in an attempt to see if he could spot Maeglin in the chaos beyond.
"Please just try and sit down for now," begged Maedhros as she lifted him upon a chair. Rûsa was not really aware of it, but his body language really told everyone that he was not very comfortable in being around here. It was clear that Rûsa remembered the Fall of Gondolin from the way he cast glares around the balcony every once in a while, as if he half expected the large city to suddenly burst out in flames.
"Is it the first time Rûsa is outside Formenos?" asked Fingon to Maedhros, taking a chance to talk to his cousin and close friend.
"No, he has come along on small family trips in the lands around Formenos, but this is the first time he is this far south. And Tirion is far larger than what he is used to…"
They could not reveal the real reason behind why Rûsa was so uncomfortable, not in front of the family.
"In fact, his behaviour reminds me about my own first reaction when Nanaeth and I left Nan Elmoth," said Maeglin as she came back with an extra plate and cutlery for Rûsa. Out of habit from her first life in Middle-earth, she slipped into a bit of Sindarin when she spoke. After all, it was the language Maeglin had grown up with during her childhood.
"Thank you," muttered Rûsa, not daring to look up on her, when Maeglin placed the plate in front of him on the table. Hearing him speak the language of the Avari Elves, naturally caught attention. Unexpectedly, it was Eöl who spoke first, in the same language no less:
"Are you fathered from someone in the Wood clan? You have that movement of the tongue as that clan uses."
"I am the youngest of ada Taurion's fifteen baseborn children, sir."
"I see. The youngest son, I guess, the one who is said to be raised by his Noldorin mother."
Nearly everyone stared in disbelief, since Eöl normally rarely spoke a word and tended to make himself invisible in the background even when it was only the closest family as now.
"Inherited his grandfather's skills of language, huh?" asked Angrod in a joking tone.
"…pretty much, yes."
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Now the servants arrived with the dinner. As a starter, it was a green pea soup with a piece of bread. This was food that Rûsa knew very well back home from Formenos, so there was no fuss about the food. The main course was cooked chicken and salmon in two different dishes and accessories. On the other hand, Rûsa got a serious shock at how strong the salmon had been seasoned with fairly strong spices.
"A-are you all right, Rûsa?" wondered a worried Maedhros when her son hid under the table, his gagging sounds being heard by everyone.
"Who in the kitchen staff seasoned the salmon?" complained Gil-galad when he took a own piece of the salmon to check and nearly got a similar reaction at the strong taste in his mouth.
"Clearly not the normal cook, based on the spices."
"We do not use much spices in Formenos as it is so far north, Rûsa is more familiar with dishes without spices…"
By now, Rûsa had washed out his mouth with a big glass of water to get rid of the strong spice taste, although he still blushed rather strongly in all of his face because of how hot it had been for him. Unsurprising, he had lost his appetite for the rest of the family dinner as a result and did not even want to taste the dessert, which consisted of fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Finally, it was over and Feanor's family could arrive back home to their old house in the carriages.
"Well, that went pretty well for being our family, or what do you say?" asked Maglor when they went inside the house. Agreements could be heard from different parts of the house, where everyone was.
"Well, I will put Rûsa to bed. Hopefully things will go well tomorrow again, seeing that we need to be present at the royal court too…"
Rûsa muttered something in his sleep, where he was laying against Maedhros' shoulder as he had fallen asleep in the carriage on the way home.
"At least he should be cheered up at seeing his father and older half-siblings tomorrow at the festival."
"Yes. Good night, everyone."
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Meanwhile, Maeglin and Rog had met up at an empty balcony in the palace.
"So princess Maedhros' son is the Elf that you was a…a concubine to in Angband? And he was born during her captivity there?" asked Rog as he handed her a glass of ice-water.
"Yes…but Rûsa never touched me in "that" way after the first time, when he was forced to take me against the wishes of us both. The closest we ever came to it afterwards during that month, was to pretend that we had sex whatever he sensed that someone was spying on us. In an odd sense, I guess that I was really lucky for a female slave in Angband, ending up as concubine to a honest male Elf instead of being taken to the breeding cells as lady Maedhros was. Also, Rûsa planned and covered my escape from Angband, so it would not be noticed that I was gone until several days had passed. Still…it is going to be so awkward for us both over the next days. I could see on his body language that he did recognize my voice, so…"
Rog nodded, letting Maeglin speak at her own pace so that she was not stressed to reveal what had happened during the family dinner. He took a deep sip of his own ice water.
"You two managed to break the ice between you both in the Halls of Mandos, I hope?"
"Somewhat. We came to a agreement that we would try to become friends, at least. Oh, for heaven's sake, it is going to be so awkward…"
Rog gently patted Maeglin on her head in a friendly way. Between the two of them, words were often not needed. Simple small body language fitted them better than talking.
"In that case, I am sure that you and Rûsa will be able to find a fitting path together, be it as only friends or something else. If he showed himself to have a honourable heart from the beginning of your past…relationship, then surely can't have changed too much from what you remember him as."
Maeglin smiled sadly at Rog, grateful for his support and understanding. In many ways, Rog was the father-figure Turgon never had been able to be for her after that she had been orphaned in the First Age. For all of Turgon's kindness, he had never truly been able to bond with Maeglin and gotten into the dangerous path of seeing her as a younger copy of his little sister, meant to be protected and hidden away from the world outside Gondolin. In contrast, Rog had openly taught Maeglin new skills in the forge and freely accepted what she had to share as well.
"Thanks, Rog."
"You are welcome, Mole princess."
It had been Rog who had started with that nickname after seeing her caring for a injured mole, and others had picked it up with time. Maeglin did not really care, it simply was a title among many others she had carried in both of her lives.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Pain. Pain everywhere. It hurts in every single part of his body where he lays on the cold stone floor on his left side, the chains makes it impossible to move because of the weight on his wrists and ankles, it even hurts to just breathe. The sound of a key being turned around in the lock. Light from a torch as the door is opened. The light hurts his eyes, and he quickly closes them to avoid more pain.
"He has been very quiet the past days, you say?"
The figure shakes his head, long golden-red hair flowing around his black-dressed shoulders by the movement.
"Rûsa, Rûsa, you really are like a spoiled little child at times like this. Stop being so hopelessly stubborn…"
Sauron is carrying a bowl with simple porridge in one of his hands. Against his own will, Rûsa raises his head as reaction on the smell of food after days of privation.
"I do admire your bravery when it comes to being so protective of your escaped concubine and her whereabouts. But is this really doing you any good, Rûsa?" the fallen Maia says, watching him carefully. At the touch of a hand against his mouth, still so horrible sore and painful after having getting seven teeth pulled out without any painkiller, Rûsa flinches away, turning his head and gritting his remaining teeth.
"The guards can make you eat, if they have to. I'm sure we both rather prefer that they didn't have to, of course," Sauron adds delicately, knowing very well that Rûsa hates to be force-fed.
"Or would you rather see sweet little Maeglin having terrible guilt-feelings if she ever was to be recaptured and learning that she is the indirect reason to why you are here in this cell right now?"
The thought of Maeglin's possible guilt, finally forces Rûsa to surrender, at least for now, and he lets Sauron get up in a sitting position against the wall so he could be feed the first food he had in several days.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Rûsa awoke with a gasp, sitting up in bed. He gasped heavily for breath, trying to calm down his hard-beating heart.
"A nightmare…"
He had not dreamt that nightmare since his healing in the Halls of Mandos. Had it re-awoken because of that he had met Maeglin again? A sudden push in his back made him focus on something else.
"Stop kicking me in your sleep, little cousin, or you soon will kick me rather painfully in a place lower than my stomach…" growled Celebrimbor from where he was sleeping. Because of how many they were in the House of Feanor those days, some of them had needed to share beds.
"Sorry…"
Celebrimbor turned around to his other side, falling asleep again. Rûsa laid back on his back, but he could not get back to sleep. Instead, he carefully climbed out of bed to go down to the kitchen.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Down in the kitchen he headed towards the blankets where Huan rested, and Rûsa sat down against Huan's side.
"Maybe if I sit down here for a little while…"
But Huan was not in the right mood for having a small Elfling curled up against him at the moment, not to mention that he knew that Rûsa should be sleeping in a bed at this time of the night, so Huan rose from the blankets and picked up Rûsa in his nightshirt by the collar, easily carrying him back upstairs.
"Hey! Put me down, Huan!" Rûsa hissed in a angry protest, trying to get free without causing too much noise that would wake up everyone. Finally Huan dropped Rûsa into Maedhros' bed where Maedhros, instinctively after six younger siblings, raised a arm and pulled her son close to her under the blanket without waking up from her sleep.
"You are not getting any food from me tomorrow as thanks for this, Huan…" promised Rûsa quietly for himself as Huan left Maedhros' chamber. Soon he fell asleep, being comforted by the body warmth from his mother.
