Grey Dawn 10
A few days later Mith and Celebrian were sitting in their room, curled up with a bowl of sweetmeats and some wine, winging about tradition. Mostly the one where they had to be separated from their betrothed's for a year before marrying them, to give a minimum time scale. By the looks of it, their parents would be insisting on a longer time period, plus a bit of time after the separation for preparations for a suitable pair of royal weddings. The decade would probably have turned before they actually got to marry. Alright, a few years wasn't really that long to an elf but when you wanted to be married and weren't allowed to be, even a few weeks seemed a long time.
"What are we going to do with all this time alone, Mith?" Celebrian asked disconsolately. She had been hoping for more time with Elrond before they got separated. Well, they had the rest of the week with their beloved before both parties left for home but still...
"Dunno exactly, though I do have a few ideas." Her blonde sister turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "I was thinking of suggesting he found a way to officially break the bond between Ivochyl and whatever-his-name-was, you know - her pathetic excuse for a husband. Then she will be free to marry someone she loves. It would be interesting, if nothing else." Celebrian's eyes had lit up.
"Mith, you are a genius! That would be fantastic!" Celebrian hugged her sister and then the pair got down to what they apparently did best – plotting.
XXX
"Thranduil? Do you have a minute?" Mith asked the pensive looking king. HE looked up and smiled at her.
"For you Mith, I have the rest of eternity." HE said with a roguish grin. Mith laughed and led him off somewhere private.
"Celebrian had this little idea, but we sort of require you to carry it out." He looked at her suspiciously. "You know Ivochyl is not happy? Well we sort of thought of a thing we think will make her more happy" Thranduil raised his eyebrow enquiringly. "WE thought that maybe, if you looked through the Laws of the Greenwood then maybe you could find something that makes it possible to officially break her marriage bond. Then she would be able to find an elf she loves to marry. We thought that would make her much happier." Mith looked up at her beloved with wide eyes and adorably caught lip. Thranduil was too busy staring into space thoughtfully to notice though. After a few moments he spoke.
"If there isn't such a law, then I shall make one. Maybe that will go a way to earning me her forgiveness." It was Mith's turn to raise an eyebrow. Thranduil smiled slightly at her "I do love my sister you know, and I want her to be happy. I always felt a bit responsible for not standing up to Ada about it. He really was terrible to her." Suddenly he kissed Mith and swung her up into the air, laughing. "I do love you Mith!" he said as he brought her down into his arms for another kiss.
XXX
"If it does not cause any problem, I would like to stay here in Lorien for a while. Apart from anything else I think I would like to get to know my future sister in law better, not to mention stop her from blowing up at her separation. Plus I can tell her all sorts of embarrassing stories about Thranduil when he was young!" Everyone laughed at the last point Ivochyl made. Amroth smiled at her gently.
"You are more than welcome to stay Princess, especially if you will also share those stories with me!" Everyone laughed again. Though relations with the Greenwood had been significantly improved in the visit, things could still be quite tense and whether these crack were funny or not, they all got a laugh (if sometimes a little strained).
Mith and Thranduil smiled at each other however, her staying with Mith just made it easier for their plan to go ahead without Ivochyl finding out before they were ready. Eeryone took the exchange of glances a love struck couple looks and there were many of the looks people passed round when people acted love struck – somewhere between amusement and exasperation.
Four days later the Thranduil's party left for Mirkwood and Elrond's for Imladris. Their leaving the golden wood was companied by many fond farewells, promises to write often and the other things that accompanied farewells when the time spent apart would be long. There were also a few helpful tips to Thranduil on the subject of his letter writing style, along the lines of 'please don't put any thee's, thou's or any high speech in fact'. Mith wasn't sure whether she should hold her breath on that one.
That evening Mith, Celebrian and Ivochyl curled up together with more sweetmeats and warm wine, comfort foods in other words. There seemed to be huge potential for great friendship between the three.
XXX
_In Greenwood, a couple of month's later_
"Why do you want to do this my king? What purpose would it serve, and it is an affront! An ellyth should be loyal to her husband and lord!" Thranduil rolled his eyes as the pathetic arch conservative that he hadn't convinced to sail yet yabbered on. He had always found the ellon tiresome but he was too highly thought of by influential families to get rid of. He suddenly perked, if this annoyed him enough then maybe the annoying old (insert insult here) would go and sail, leaving him in peace.
"Why I want to do this is really none of your business, I am king and my rule is absolute. I want my sister to be free of that pathetic excuse of a deceased elf father forced her to marry. Since it will also allow for others, both ellyth and Ellyn, to be free of unwanted spouses. This is not the years of the Trees (AN: the closest I can think of to the dark ages) and we are civilised you know, I have this strange thing about my people being happy so, whether you like it or not I am going to make it possible for people to free themselves of unwanted mates." The officious lord who probably thought soap and writing and strange things like that were new inventions that might prove dangerous and shouldn't be trusted stared at his king before storming out of the chamber with a cry of 'Outrageous!'. Thranduil smirked. That had felt so good. "Any other objections?" he asked pleasantly. No one took him up on that.
XXX
That night Thranduil sat down and looked over the law. Yes, that would do it. He had to laugh, this law was getting better and better, the officious ass he announced at dinner that he and his entire family were packing up and sailing to Valinor. One or two other thorns in Thranduils side had decided to go with him in the same party. Several thorns in his side would be gone and his sister made happy and free, what more could he want?
_Back in Lorien_
Much to the shock of the Lorien elves, to distract Celebrian and Mith, Ivochyl had suggested that they go train with weapons. When the two in question commented that they had no more than a basic grasp of fighting then the golden elleth had decided to train them. Most of the males had a heart attack when the three ellyth came down to the training fields in leggings, tunics and armed. When one of the younger (and stupider) Ellyn made a not particularly quiet comment about the ellyth fighting Ivochyl gave him what she refered to as an 'object lesson'.
It was almost painful to watch her deflect his clumsy attack with ease and reposte with insultingly easy moves, leaving a number of painful, humiliating but not serious injuries on the insolent young ellon. No one made any rude comments after that, or at least not in hearing distance of Ivochyl.
They were in the training fields practicing again when a Mirkwood messenger galloped into the city at breakneck speed. Shortly after, King Amroth called the ellyth to him at Cerin Amroth.
THe messenger was still out of breath when they arrived in the King's office and the King himself seemed to be in an advanced state of shock himself. The messenger bowed to Ivochyl and raised a letter to her.
"Princess Ivochyl, a letter from your brother. I advise you sit down before you read it, Lady, for if it contains what I believe it to, then the shockwaves are only beginning."