11. Unpleasant rumours

The new day was not many hours old, when the Vala Estë showed up in Formenos. Being the healer of hurts and weariness, she was the most needed power right now after the yew poisoning of Maedhros.

"The poison was hidden in the nut cookies, you said?"

While she promised that Maedhros would soon be healed from the poisoning attempt with enough healing sleep, Estë frowned in worry as she looked over Yuë. The poor babe was almost too young to survive outside the womb, and despite the Elves never getting ill, there was very little doubt that poor Yuë would be sickly in health if he managed to survive. It was even pointed out directly that he had weak lungs when Yuë started to cough rather violently and had to gasp for breath before Estë managed to hold him in such a manner that he got air more easily along with the coughing fit passing.

"I shall be honest, even if it is painful to have to say it: Yuë is currently caught between life and death because of how premature he is born. Not only is he affected by the poisoning of his mother, but even if he were to survive, it will be a very difficult life for him with a frail health and others seeing his premature birth as proof of that the Allfather actually has chosen to punish the House of Fëanor for the Kinslayings after all."

"Great, as if we do not have enough trouble already after our Rebirths with all the rumours about who Rûsa's father is and the protests about Nelyo marrying Rog as her second husband?" Fëanor muttered in a bitter voice, getting a warning glare from Nerdanel as Rog carefully washed Maedhros' feverish face with a wet rag. The fever was a result of the fight she had fought against the yew poison, and as it was now, she was very weak. Estë did not answer him, instead she seemed to focus on Yuë's face and throat.

"There is another problem you will have to face…Yuë is mute. The yew poison damaged his vocal cords and lungs, and he is too frail right now for me to be able to heal that without causing him extra pain…"

They all looked at each others in worry. It was enough trouble with trying to keep such a small premature baby alive and growing healthy, learning that he was sickly added a lot of other problems that they had to face.

"He does his best to suck, but it is not much he manages to eat before he gets tired…" said Rûsa in worry as he took back Yuë to try and feed his brother with a very small milk bottle. Because of that Maedhros still could have some of the yew poison in her body, they had not dared to try and bottle feeding Yuë with colostrum from her. Lucky, there had been another She-elf who had given birth yesterday as well and who had offered to share her milk until that they were sure on that Maedhros really was free from the poison. Just like Rûsa had said, poor Yuë did not have much strength to feed from the small bottle despite that he clearly did his best to suck on the teat that belonged to the bottle to get milk.

"I will strengthen his Ósanwë, since you otherwise will have difficult with his muteness and he is far too little to learn any other way of telling what he needs."

It took only a few moments for Estë to so once Rûsa had finished bottle-feeding the small baby, but Yuë did not like it very much and tried to move around in the blanket as protest.

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

The next following days, were hard on the whole family. Not only was it obvious that Yuë would have to stay in the healing wing for a very long time until that he was strong enough to be able to be brought home to the rest of his family, it was difficult to know when he risked having a coughing fit or some other trouble with his breathing.

"Ow! Careful there, Rûsa! Are you trying to break my fingers?" asked Celebrimbor, having been requested to help his cousin letting out some stress and worry by a training match, and dropped his wooden sword to the ground in reaction to the rather painful hit he had been given. To his surprise, Rûsa actually let go of his own training sword and fell down on the knees, actually shaking in fear as he looked on his own hands. For a moment or two, he had really felt himself fall into his old personality as the Warg Rider and barely manage to stop himself from breaking his cousin's fingers.

"S..s-sorry…"

Rûsa knew that the event with Vanë had caused a lot of trouble in his mind, and the endless worry for Yuë's frail health did not help. He did also remember Seth's warning about that the Warg Rider had started to reawaken inside him, which could make him a danger to his own family.

"Come, Rûsa, lets go back inside. I do not think you are in the right mind for training today," offered Celebrimbor with concern in his voice. Something clearly had Rûsa since that nightmare event in Valmar, and it was not just the stress over his sickly little half-brother who fought for his life back inside the healing wings.

"N…no. It is not the best of days for me today, indeed. It has happened so much around me lately in such sort time…"

Hesitantly, Rûsa allowed his cousin to help him back up on his feet. He did not really feel all right and privately was happy for the suggestion that they stopped for today.

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

Celebrimbor brought Rûsa inside his and Narvi's home, where she was found forming a small statue of Celebrimbor from shoulders upward.

"The kitchen fire is lit, so just to set on some water if you want tea. I can not leave my work at the moment, I want to finish this."

It was the last few, finer details on the statue that Narvi wanted to fix. While it was not up to Nerdanel's ability to make her statues look like they were alive, Narvi no less showed her own skills and had caught her husband's likeness very good. As Celebrimbor fixed some tea for Rûsa and himself, Narvi finished the last touches on her work.

"How is little Yuë?"

"He fights for his life every breathing moment. If it is not the family stubbornness that shows up again, I do not know what it is."

Putting down her working toys on the table where she had made the statue and removing her leather apron, Narvi went to bring some biscuits that they could have to the tea.

"Not to discourage any of you two, but I have a strong feeling that the poisoning of lady Maedhros and Yuë's premature birth will be the reason for new unpleasant rumours as we speak. A similar event once happened in Khazad-dûm a few years after I had moved there, someone of the Dwarven Lords was very displeased over that his only child, a daughter who was barely of age at the event in question, had not been chosen as the future Queen and tried to get rid of the back-then Crown princess Ragnhild with poison when it was learned that she was pregnant with the future Durin II's child. She was lucky to survive the attempt on her life, but her poor baby sadly was lost in a very late miscarriage and as an extra insult to their grief, it would have been a princess that she would have birthed otherwise."

"And a horrible deed to the Children of Aulë as a whole on top of that, seeing that Dwarrowdams are only 1/3 of their race. Any daughter born to a Dwarven couple, no matter their social status, is worth far more than any jewels, gold and gems that they otherwise creates. The Dwarrowdams are seen as a hope for the future, not only in possible marriages and as mothers, but as reminders that the Maker loves his children," added Celebrimbor from where he was sitting. Rûsa did not say anything as he listened on the tale. He knew that in many ways, it was very dangerous to be a royal; the event with Vanë's attempt to force him into marriage was a good example.

"How did it end?"

"The Dwarf Lord was executed for his crime against the royal family; his horrified daughter had openly disowned him at the trial and exiled herself from Khazad-dûm in shame over what her sire had tried to do, her mother had already died a couple of years earlier in a sickness. From what little I know about her fate, she ended up in Orocarni and never married."

His mug of tea in his hands suddenly seemed very interesting to Rûsa as Narvi spoke, and he quickly drank some tea to think of something else.

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

In Tirion Finwë and many others in the Noldorin royal family had gotten the horrible news about what had happened to Maedhros and that Yuë had been born premature as reaction on the yew poison.

"Why…why is it always them who become a target for people's hate about the Kinslayings…?"

Had he not already been sitting down on a chair, Finwë would have collapsed from the shock over what the unexpected letter from Fëanor revealed. He was not the only present family member who was close to tears in horror over that someone could attack a pregnant mother and her unborn child like this.

"Forgiveness…so hard to earn, so hard to give…" whispered Finrod as he held his arms around Amarië, who was crying over what had happened in Formenos. Turgon had left the chamber earlier, mumbling something about "needing to pray in the chapel alone" as he had remembered all the harsh words he had spoken about the Fëanorians and Rûsa in the past. Looking at the letter in his hand again, Finwë spoke:

"Indis, my dear. Please request one of our scribes to come here. I have something that needs to be spoken aloud out to all of Tirion. Even if my first-born might be wrong in who it was that poisoned Nelyo, we still need to hand out an official warning about future attempts like this. These kind of attacks against the House of the Noldirin Crown-prince has to stop; I will not allow this to happen again!"

There was a hidden, cold fury in his voice as he spoke, a kind of voice that Noldorin soldiers in Middle-earth during the First Age had quickly learnt to obey without question from Finwë's exiled family members. Now the Noldorin High King himself would make people remember who some of the greatest heroes of the First Age was descendants of.

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

Naturally, it did not take long before Finwë's official warning was known in all of Aman. At first, many political enemies to the House of Fëanor did not really think that he was being serious and that Finwë was just making an unneeded big fuss over Maedhros' "temporary illness" as it was called in public and that Eru himself had finally punished Maedhros for her past sins as a Kinslayer in the First Age by letting her suffer by with a weak, premature child that likely would soon die anyway. That kind of callous talk about Maedhros' family, however, was quickly and brutally punished by the Noldorin royal family; not only a public humiliation at the Main Square in Tirion, but they were also forced to wander barefoot, as penitents, all the way to Formenos to kneel and literally beg the House of Fëanor for their forgiveness. Something that turned out to be much harder to be given than one might think, since neither Fëanor himself or his children forgot an insult so easily.

"We will forgive those rumours about my poor daughter and her youngest son when it turns out that it is more offspring from a marriage between an Elf and a Second-born than what is known!" Fëanor snarled at them in barely restrained anger as he was held back by two of his sons. To show their official city ruler's point about what he just had said, the gate guards of Formenos actually slammed the heavy city gate shut in the face of the outside Elves.

"Don't let those people from Tirion enter Formenos as they want!" Fëanor's voice was heard commanding from behind the shut gate. One reason to that order was to show that his family did not forgive insults so easily, but another reason was also to prevent impudent political enemies in Tirion from coming to Formenos and boast to Maedhros in her current grief over Yuë's premature birth that at least their wife had given birth to a healthy, full-term baby that clearly was not the "result of past sins". Such visitors was the last thing Maedhros and Rog needed now when their youngest child were fighting for his life with every breath.

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

On the other hand, when former allies from the First Age and good friends learnt what had happened to Maedhros and that her youngest child had been born premature, a lot of far more welcomed get well-wishes, Dwarven tips for how to treat both mother and child at a premature birth and small gifts arrived to Formenos in a very quick order. Unsurprisingly, several of those gifts, especially those that came from the Dwarves and the Avari Clans, were different kinds of amulets that was meant to help Yuë in different ways, from growing more healthy to become stronger. Even if the members of the House of Fëanor normally did not believe in such things, the meaning behind the amulets was still welcomed.

"Anything that could help Yuë to get better in some way is welcomed," said Maedhros in a hopeful voice as she tried to nurse Yuë. He was still very small, but now his sucking had gotten a little bit stronger since the premature birth and made valiant attempts to nurse from his mother while she had a filled milk bottle close by, just in case he turned out to not have the strength to nurse.

"Aye, in that you have a fair point," answered Caranthir as he finished making a baby mobile from some of the amulets that had been sent as gift for Yuë and hung it up above the incubator so Yuë could have something to look on if he woke up but was not hungry or needed a new nappy.

"Is there any need of help here?" asked Rána as she looked inside the room. Maedhros shook on her head in answer, while keeping a watchful eye on Yuë who had started to get sleepy and therefore nursed more slowly.

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

Meanwhile, things had turned notably different in Valmar over the last few weeks.

"Again?" Ingwë asked in a tired voice when he found, among his daily letters with requests from his people, a complaint from a set of parents who had discovered a son of theirs in the middle of running away from home in the middle of the past night because "he doesn't want to marry a properly-raised young lady in favour of a girl from the Avarin Wood clan!" as the horrified mother had written, clearly being very scandalized over her son being in love with a non-Vanyarin girl. Ingwë sighed deeply, before he closed the letter again.

"Really, is it that hard to understand that the newer generations do not want to repeat the lives of their parents and grandparents when it comes to marriage? There are a very limited number of marriage chances if you only keep your marriage goal to your own social status over time. And what exactly am I supposed to do about the increasing number of youngsters trying to run away after the event with Vanë the day after the Spring Ball? Order Valmar to shut its gates and lock my people away from the rest of Aman in the hopes that no one will wonder why? No, it would rather make people starting to wonder what really is going on here."

Sometimes Ingwë wondered where it had gone so wrong, when his people had started to become so painfully pious that they flat out refused to tell their children how things really had been at Cuiviénen when the first Elves had Awakened. And the most pious moral guardians among the Vanyarin sometimes complained that the Noldor and the Teleri was too reckless when it came to welcoming the Sindarin and Avarin Elves into Aman?

"…when did my people turn into such bloody pious peacocks to hypocrites? And they have the nerve to wonder why their strictly-raised sons and daughters have started to look dull and boring as possible marriage partners when the Sindarin and Avarin youngsters suddenly bring in a lot of fresh air on the marriage market with their cultures from Middle-earth!" Ingwë muttered softly to himself in frustration. He had done his best to teach his own children and grandchildren to be open-minded about non-Vanyarin Elves, always telling them that acting high-and-mighty against others would come to bite them eventually. As far as they knew, all this scandal with Vanë was a perfect example on what Ingwë had meant in that.

"My lord father, do you need some help?" asked Ingwion as he entered the royal office. Without a word, Ingwë pushed the remaining letters from his people to his son.

"Another set of parents being scandalized about a possible Avarin law-son or law-daughter? I do not see anything bad in a mixed marriage…I mean, many of the Noldorin royal family members are the result of such marriages…" said Ingwion as he looked on a small painting behind his father, which was of the House of Fëanor and its current members and had been made a couple of years ago. Ingwë had requested the painting as a sign of that he did not hold the events that had happened during three Kinslayings against them.

"And yet only princess Maeglin and princess Cúwen are known to be half-Avarin by their fathers currently. On the other hand, there are several reasons to why they are the only ones so far…but I do not doubt that it will be a change in that soon. After all, times have changed since the Years of the Trees and the First Age; the Noldor, the Vanyar and the Teleri are no longer the only Elves here in Aman, we need to become more open-minded and trying to forgive past sins or we will never be able to free ourselves from the Dark Lords' honeyed words of hidden poison," Ingwë confided to his son, focusing once more on the paper work in front of him as Ingwion turned around to leave. He wanted to at least get some of it done before luncheon today.

"Oh, and Ingwion?"

The Vanyarin crown prince stopped in his movement; with his hand on the door handle, in case it was something important that his father wished to say.

"Yes, father?

"You are among the night guards tonight, right? Let the youngsters actually leave Valmar if you spot anyone sneaking around on the streets; their parents need to learn the harsh truth that they can't shelter their children all their lives before the children leaves the home for a marriage. After all, it is better that the young ones get a chance to see the world outside their parents' control and learns that not everything is happening as they have been taught their whole lives."

"As you wish, father."

Ingwion bowed before he left the office. Smiling to himself as the door was closed, Ingwë dropped his quill in some ink and started to write on a get well-letter to Maedhros where he wished both her and Yuë good health despite how things had started in his young life.

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

Author's note: Khazad-dûm is better known as Moria from LOTR. The exact reigning years of king Durin II is not known, but I like the idea that Narvi was more or less contemporary with him and that the Doors of Durin were built in his honor. Seeing that Tolkien often used old Norse names for the Dwarves, a name like Ragnhild seemed to fit for a Dwarf Queen as it is a name that can be found already from the Viking Age on Runestones. The Orocarni is a mountain range in the far east of Middle-earth, inhabited by four of the Dwarf clans.