Etyanárë chapter 11
Over the next few days, the two carried on courting secretly. Meanwhile they also carried on stocking up Silari's hiding place. She had been a little unsure about showing him her hiding place at first, but as she had grown used to the presence of the ancient Elf-lord, she had grown rather less skittish.
During that time, several gifts appeared in her sitting room and she did not have to think too hard about where they came from. The twinkle in Cirdan's eyes told her all she needed to know. For an Elf who was either an unbegotten one, or born of an unbegotten one and therefore way over 10,000 years old, he sure could act like a child at times. It wasn't that she minded, it was just that she found it a bit peculiar.
The night before the arrival of Galadriel and Celeborn, they were all sitting at the table over dessert when Elrond spoke to Silari.
"Silari, I know you do not like parties and such, but the one tomorrow night for Galadriel and Celeborn I expect you to be at. They both want to see you as they are fond of you and, just in case you forgot, you and Galadriel are actually cousins so it would be nice for you to actually be there to greet her." Silari nodded and grinned. Then Cirdan spoke up,
"Don't worry, Silari, I will protect you from anything scary!" He was grinning and anyone could tell he was teasing her. Most of the room seemed a little confused as the pair had not shown any great familiarity yet, but Elrond's eyes were widening significantly as he realised that what he had just said was dangerously close to giving away who she was and, to his knowledge at least, Cirdan did not know her heritage. Silari caught the steadily widening eyes and grinned at him.
"Don't worry Elrond, he already knows." That made everyone in the room go bug-eyed.
"How? When?" asked one very shocked Elrond.
"Oh, a few days ago I was looking at Ada's things and fell asleep. I was woken up by Cirdan knocking on my door and I invited him in before I realised that I still had Ada's things out because I was still asleep. Cirdan looked at some of the things and then worked it out." Slightly abbreviated and conveniently forgetting a few details but oh well.
Elrond looked at the two Elves in surprise. Both were staring back with carefully neutral looks and he could clearly tell that there was more going on than either were mentioning, but he also guessed that they were not planning on telling him anymore.
"You both seem to be taking it rather well, better than I would have thought you would. After all, Silari is still here and hasn't run off yet."
"She did offer to, actually, but I stopped her." Cirdan was treated to a death glare from the elleth in question.
"Any particular reason why?" Erestor put in slyly. Both Elves went an interesting shade of pink and suddenly seemed very interested in dessert again. Suddenly one of the Twins wolf-whistled, obviously having worked it out.
"Aw, Cirdan fancies Silari, and if her expression is anything to go by then the feelings are reciprocated!" crowed the other twin. Both Silari and Cirdan became even more interested in their dessert.
"Is that true, you two?" asked Elrond. Too embarrassed for words, the pair nodded. Someone snorted, clearly trying to hold off laughter and the very embarrassed pair looked at each other before dropping their spoons and exiting as fast as they could.
Inside the dining room, both Twins burst out laughing, while Glorfindel, Erestor and Elrond merely chuckled slightly. Arwen just wore a mysterious grin, having noticed something happening between the pair before. Eventually the group recovered their composure.
"Silari and Cirdan, who would have thought it?" chuckled Glorfindel. Like the rest of the group he seemed to find it immensely funny.
No prizes for guessing the topic of conversation for the rest of the meal.
XXX
The next morning Silari woke early, determined to get her food and get away before the Twins saw her as she just knew that teasing was coming. When she got out into her sitting room, she found a couple of parcels on the table. With them was a letter. After a second's thought, she opened the letter first.
Dearest Silari,
Please wear these gifts at the feast tonight for me.
C.
She grinned delightedly, she had never thought romance could be such fun and she was actually beginning to look forward to this feast. She looked at the two parcels before choosing to open the smaller of the parcels.
Inside was a silver circlet that was ornate and totally stunning. She was not sure how, but it seemed to have a sea theme. There was nothing particularly sea-like about it, no shells or waves, but somehow the swirls and whorls seemed indicative of the sea. She gently placed the box down without closing it and opened the second package. And let out a little squeal as the soft silk tumbled out of the paper.
Inside was a deep burgundy gown. Eyes wide, she held the gown to her body and went to the mirror. She smiled, seeing that it would look absolutely beautiful on her. She then gently placed the gown on the bed, hugged herself and twirled around her room in joy.
She was late for breakfast and she did get teased.
XXX
That night she dressed in the low-cut gown and Arwen braided the circlet into her hair. The two were getting ready together, enjoying the time alone.
"Did Cirdan give you this circlet?" Silari nodded shyly, her face going pink again. "You do know that the circlet is as close to marking you as his own as he can get without actually doing anything?" Silari spun round and looked at Arwen with a raised eyebrow. "That circlet is as close to the one his wife would wear without actually being the one his wife would wear that he could have had made."
"What is different?" Silari asked, dead curious to know.
"A few jewels, the odd whorl, not much and definitely not enough to prevent mistakes being made." Silari tried to resist grinning as a warm fuzzy feeling filled her that someone would actually want to claim her.
Shortly after, there was a knock on the door and Silari went to open it. When she saw it was Cirdan, she forgot that Arwen was there and flung her arms round his neck, kissing him soundly. When he pulled back from her he stroked her cheek and kissed her again, this time more gently.
"You are beautiful, my Silari." She grinned; she was definitely liking this whole romance thing. As she was staring into his eyes, wearing a gooey expression on her face, she felt something cold round her neck. She looked down to see him fastening the ends of a necklace. She touched it with her hand and then pulled away to go look in a mirror.
The necklace was made of pink river pearls and rubies and draped gently over her chest filling up the copious amounts of bare skin before the neckline arrived. She couldn't help it; she flung her arms round Cirdan's neck again and kissed him. Their passionate moment was ended abruptly by a significant cough behind them. Since Elves didn't cough, it was pretty clear Arwen was not clearing her throat.
"If you two love-birds don't stop, then you will be late for the feast and, since I am on chaperoning duty, so will I." Silari raised an eyebrow.
"Chaperoning duty?" Arwen just looked innocent and shooed them out of the room.
XXX
The feast wasn't so bad as Silari had expected, Elrond having arranged for her to be beside Cirdan who was very solicitous to her throughout. The major downside was that the Twins particularly seemed to find it a great opportunity for teasing.
Galadriel and Celeborn seemed to find the new relationship rather interesting as well and seemed to be holding back on the teasing with great effort. Everyone else in the hall seemed totally shocked that Cirdan of all people had claimed their Lady Silari.
There was dancing in the Hall of Fire after the meal, though Silari had a rather limited pool of partners owing to the circlet she wore and the possessive hold Cirdan kept round her waist. Actually, she could almost count the people who would dance with her on her fingers: the Twins, Elrond, Erestor, Glorfindel, Celeborn, and a few of the braver (and safely married) Elves of Rivendell.
It didn't matter though because she spent most of her time dancing with Cirdan anyway. After a few hours, the two went outside where many couples were and then to a more secluded part of Rivendell to enjoy each other's company in private.
Silari went to bed that night on a cloud and failed to notice that she had been shadowed from the moment she had left the Hall of Fire.
