Daughter of the Sea 10
Every person who had been at the council watched Aista now, usually slightly pale. They didn't seem to be dealing with having a daughter of one of the Valar around too well. It had not taken long for that secret to get round the rest of Imladris either. The looks many gave her verged on reverence.
Aista found one of the more isolated parts of Imladris to think without being stared at. In the afternoon after the council meeting, shortly after lunch, her presence in Lord Elrond's office had been requested.
She'd entered the large office to see Gandalf and Sartamin sitting on chairs on one side of the room, and another empty one opposite them. Elrond sat behind his desk, still looking shell-shocked at the revelation of her heritage. When she entered, both Istari bowed to her.
"Princess, I have not seen you in far too long," Sartamin greeted her. She had smiled and hugged him. "Where have you been all these years? I have been looking for you, yet could not find hide nor hair of you." Aista grinned.
"With my parents in father's palace in the outer Sea, didn't father tell you?" Sartamin's expression confirmed that Ulmö had not. Before they said anything else, Elrond interrupted.
"Parents? I thought you said your mother was dead?" Aista laughed again.
"She was." At the raised eyebrows from all three males in the room, Aista elaborated. "When the rest of the Valar found out that father had a wife he'd taken from this world and hidden in another so they wouldn't find her, they went to find her and drowned her in the cove at the back of the house for some reason. Probably fear again. They're good at homicidal instincts and fear, especially together. The fact that father is so estranged from them and obviously wanted to keep her hidden probably added to their reaction. Either way, when father found out, through Sartamin, he went to Mandos and bullied him or whatever – he didn't ever explain exactly how he managed it – until he got mother a new body, at which point he took mother back to his palace and actually lived with her there, whilst hiding me from his family."
Her father's Istar did not look amused.
"It would have been nice if he'd told me about this. Almost as nice as it would to have been told he'd found you and taken you back to his home." Sarta sounded rather annoyed for some reason. Aista raised her eyebrow at him.
"I think father needs to take a course in telling people things." Both laughed again. Suddenly remembering something, Aista turned to Gandalf. Her tone turned rather sarky. "That reminds me Olorin, thanks for ratting on me to Manwë, I really appreciate the opportunity to have to defend myself against the Lord of the Valar while hoping he doesn't decide to pre-emptively kill me just in case. Absolute highlight of my life, that one."
The elder Istar had the grace to look embarrassed at least.
"He is my Lord, Princess, I could hardly keep the discovery of Ulmö's daughter from him." Aista smiled wryly at him.
"I know, but you could have tried to put things in a way that wouldn't send him off on one. Your Lord can be a bit of a bastard at times." Elrond started choking slightly. All three looked at the Peredhil Lord in amusement. His shock was highly amusing, though neither Istar would actually admit to the Lord that only another Valar, or in this case a daughter of the Valar, would actually be so rude about Manwë.
Aista grinned. That had been an interesting conversation.
XXX
As she watched the Fellowship leave Imladris, she absently wondered why they were starting travelling in the early evening. Arwen stood beside her, waving her love off.
For the next few days, Arwen was singularly mopey and Aista decided to take action to deal with it.
Elrond looked surprised when she walked in to his office, smiling slightly. The Lord was looking every one of his over six-thousand-years that day, and his human heritage was showing in the slight lines on his skin.
"Elrond, would you mind terribly if I were to steal Arwen and take her to Lorien? She's a bit down at the moment and I thought the change of scene would do her good." Elrond smiled tiredly.
"Do what you wish, just take a large guard. I might not like Arwen marrying a human too much, but I'd rather lose her to a human husband than an Orc." Aista smiled slightly.
"Don't worry, Elrond, it will all be fine. The Valar are transient backsides at times, but they wouldn't let one as faithful as you suffer so. I can't tell you exactly what their plans are but don't give up just yet." Elrond smiled at her, already seeming to have more life in him.
XXX
Aista kept her hood up as they rode under the golden eves of Lorien, following Arwen and not wanting to give away who she was just yet. The Marchwarden and his guard had been curious about Arwen's hooded companion, but a combination of Arwen's assurance, the cloak's magic and Aista's own had stopped them being too curious.
Upon arrival, as Aista had suspected, they were taken straight up to the talan she'd met her father in to meet the Lord and Lady. When they got there Arwen was greeted cheerfully, though with the usual restraint both Celeborn and Galadriel characteristically showed. Once they had finished greeting their granddaughter, they turned to Aista curiously. Smiling, she dropped her hood.
Their reactions were the ones she'd been hoping for. It was probably some of the most visible shock she'd seen on either Elf's face.
"Aistanen!" She grinned and bowed formally at them. The single word from their Lord had caught the attention of all the other Elves in the meeting hall and they stared at the elleth everyone had assumed they would never see again.
"You'll be glad to know I no longer need magic lessons, my Lady. My father, and his family to a lesser extent, has ensured I am well trained now." Galadriel smiled at her.
"I look forward to seeing everything you have learned, maybe there will be things I've never seen before; your father seems to have an exceptional grasp of magic." Arwen grinned at her.
"I would expect Lord Ulmö to have a pretty good grasp of magic, Gaernaneth." Several Elves spluttered at that comment.
"Pardon?" Celeborn asked.
"Oh, I thought you should know what the entirety of Imladris now knows, that Aista's father is the Valar of the Sea." Galadriel closed her eyes.
"Teaching you would have been so much easier if someone had told me that before I started lessons." Aista laughed.
"If I'd known, Lady, I would have told you. My father seems to have a problem with telling people things. If you want someone to be irritated with, go for Gandalf, he did know and was the one who told the rest of the Valar I existed, and thus is the reason I had to go away."
The conversation went on late into the night, as Aistanen and Arwen caught up with Celeborn and Galadriel. Eventually though, Galadriel remembered that both Aista and Arwen had been travelling for a while and sent them to bed.
XXX
Aista watched impassively as the eight remaining members of the Fellowship flopped down on the beds and fell to sleep. None of them had noticed her there watching them in their exhaustion and grief.
They had said Gandalf was dead, but Aista was having trouble believing that. She didn't know exactly what it was, but her senses told her there was more to it than that
With a thoughtful frown, she moved away from the group to her talan, attempting to work out what was wrong. Either way, she was going to kill that Istar next time she saw him. Whether that was in Arda or in Valinor, she didn't know, but she objected to the widespread pain that was happening at his death. Not to mention that going up against a Balrog was a very stupid idea.
As she reached her talan, she stood on the balcony and joined the song of mourning, adding another layer of beauty to the music.
Yes! I'm back, sorry for taking my own sweet time updating. I shall soon be going back to uni which should get me back to regular posting (boring lectures, wifi and a laptop combine = Celi actually remembering to post).