Chapter 13 ended with:
Haldir stayed awake, ashamed at himself and thankful that his brother had been there to compensate for his flaws. Orophin might be irresponsible in some respect, but in this case, he had proved having much more empathy than Haldir, and had taken care of the situation without trying to give Haldir a lesson. Chastising Orophin had been a frequent habit of his, and one he would immediately stop. He had no lessons to give his brother, not having realized the distress of his own wife.
Chapter 14: A surprise visit
Valerie looked at herself in the mirror, her front, both her sides... She could not hide it anymore. It was starting to show... Three months pregnant, and Oropher was not even five months old, for crying out loud! What would people say?
A month before, she had realized that her missed periods two months in a row was not caused by stress as she had first thought, but by a new pregnancy. She had not told anyone, except Haldir, who of course had read it in her mind as soon as she had realized it. The following day, he had introduced her to Faelwen, a childhood friend of Orophin. She was a timid elleth, silvery blonde – who was not in this city? - with beautiful expressive brown eyes. It had taken Valerie about two minutes to discover that Faelwen was desperately in love with Orophin. Faelwen had spent the afternoon with them, staying with Valerie and Emily while Haldir played soccer with the boys. Rumil had managed to make an inflated leather ball with the other wardens during his last border duty. Faelwen had insisted to take care of Oropher, giving a break to Valerie who had gone to watch the soccer game.
"How did you like Faelwen?" Haldir had asked her that night.
"She is nice! She took good care of Oropher, considering she had not seen a baby in forever!"
"If you are in agreement, Meleth, I would like to hire her as nanny."
Valerie had stopped brushing her hair and had turned to look at him. "A nanny?"
"I thought that with the new baby on the way, and Oropher still being so young... And we have to consider that we will have a few more children in the future... But if you do not like the idea..."
"I love it!" she had interrupted. "Haldir, this is very thoughtful of you. I cannot even begin to express how much of a relief this will be for me!"
And Faelwen had started working for Valerie a month before, allowing her to rest and spend more time working on her medicine book translation for Elrond. She was also spending a few hours every week with Lord Celeborn. Emily was done translating History of the World and had tackled the astronomy book. But since Celeborn had put his hands on Emily's translation, he had requested Valerie to join him regularly to discuss the various things he had been reading about. He was finished reading about the Roman empire and their mythology. They had spent hours comparing the roman gods and goddesses and compared them with the Valar and the various religions in Valerie's world.
She had another appointment with him today, and decided to wrap herself in a shawl to hide her now bumpy stomach. Not that an ellon would notice! But she knew Nellethiel was suspicious. Valerie kissed Oropher, gave her last recommendations to Faelwen, and left for the royal talan.
When she was introduced in Lord Celeborn's study, he was sitting at his desk, reading Emily's translation but looking at the pictures in the original book.
"Lady Valarie! I am so glad you had time to join me today! This Middle Age period is fascinating! Do you not think that the Rohan and Gondor societies are approximately at that similar period of development?"
"It would be difficult for me to say, my Lord, I have never visited these realms," replied Valerie, sitting down on her usual chair.
"You will, my child, you will. You spent much time describing me what your profession was in your world, and I believe I could find some tasks for you one day."
"Would you care to elaborate, my Lord? I admit my curiosity is piqued."
"I will soon send a delegation to Rohan, to meet King Theoden. I think your presence in the delegation will help the negotiations. You are half-elven, but physically you look like a woman. They will prefer to deal with a woman than deal with ellyn. You see, we are in need of new steeds, and the Horse Lords of Rohan have the best horses in all of Middle Earth. I also want a new mare for my lady. I got word from her last week; she will very soon be here with my grandsons. But she was also letting me know that her favorite mare passed away in Imladris. She seemed very saddened."
"Her mare was gorgeous, my Lord. Do you not think your lady would appreciate a gentle white filly as a replacement?"
"They are very rare, and King Theoden will sell it at high price if he has one!"
"But maybe the Rohirrim will be interested in something else than gold or mithril? If you give me some time, I can think of items that do not exist here yet, and have your craftsmen create them as items for trade. Tools maybe?"
"They would be more interested in weapons, my child. The Riders of the Mark will not trade their precious horses for tools! Look at this picture here," he pointed one page in the Middle Age section. This is a very interesting weapon."
Valerie bend closer to him, and watched the image he was pointing.
"What are you two conspiring about?" asked a clear voice from the doorway. Both Celeborn and Valerie jumped from their chairs, having not heard Lady Galadriel enter the room.
"My beloved!" Lord Celeborn cried, taking his wife in his arms while Valerie peaked behind the lady to see two dark ellyn that were identical. Haldir had been right – Elrond's sons were impressive. They were tall and solidly built, fully armed and dangerous. Their long black hair was braided in complex patterns, their dark eyes were piercing and standing out in their pale faces. They were both stunning and scary. But at the moment, their expression was one of content, having successfully brought back their grandmother to Lorien without any difficulties.
"Valarie!" the Lady said with a smile. "How happy I am to see you," she said, giving Valerie a kiss on the forehead.
"My Lady, I am so glad that you are back. You have been greatly missed by all your people!" Valerie replied sincerely.
Galadriel's smile grew even more. "But... you are with child again!" she exclaimed. "That is excellent news!"
They all looked at Valerie, whose face became red as her hair.
"Yes, my Lady, I am three months pregnant."
"Wonderful! Can I introduce you to my grandsons Elladan and Elrohir?"
Both elves bowed to Valerie.
"I can talk for my brother," said one of the twin – Elladan? Elrohir? "when I say that we are honored to finally meet the elleth that will accomplish such great deeds!"
"Our father has been talking about you a lot. We all hope you will accept to visit Imladris to meet our people. Our sister Arwen is eager to know you," the second twin added.
"Lady Valarie will certainly accept your invitation," replied Celeborn, "but only after she comes back from her journey to Rohan. Of course, it will have to wait until after the birth," he added to reassure Valerie that her pregnancy would not cancel the project they had been discussing, but only delaying it.
"When were you planning to tell me?" asked Nellethiel, half-angry, half-thrilled.
Valerie had gone to the healing talan to be examined by Nellethiel, and Elladan and Elrohir were attending too, being renowned healers like their father, on top of being mighty warriors. Nothing would surprise Valerie anymore. Middle Earth was not boring, that was for sure!
"Nellie, I am sorry. I did not want everyone to fuss about it!"
"Fuss about it? You are about to give us another elfling from the prophecy, and you do not want us to fuss?" she exclaimed in disbelief. "What does fuss mean anyway?"
"Be agitated. Have you ever attended a birth?" she asked the twins curiously.
"We have assisted many birthing women, but an elleth? It has been a few centuries," one of them admitted, Elrohir, who was wearing dark blue today. Elladan was in black. Clothing was her only way of telling them apart.
"I do not understand why there are no other elleth in Lorien that wants to have a child. They all get emotional when they see Oropher, the kissing and cooing this poor child has to endure! And yet, none of them wants one of their own!"
"Val, your birthing was not exactly inspirational for the ellith of Lorien. Even the ellyn will not forget that night easily."
She sighed when Valerie raised her eyebrows. "We all have good hearing, Val! Everyone heard your pain, your screams, and the laundry staff talked about the blood-soaked cloths that I brought them after all was over. I do not think anyone is ready for such an experience!"
"Are you afraid for the next baby?" asked Elladan.
"No, I do not think so. That birth was the worse one by far, but only because the baby was not turned."
"Nellethiel can monitor the baby's position in the last few months, and call for us or our father to turn the baby before the birth."
"Thank you! I would really appreciate that. But you know what I really need from you? Birth control."
"What is that?" asked Nellethiel.
"Medication that prevents the conception of a child," replied Elladan. "Why would you need that? You only have not to wish to be pregnant!"
"If you are pregnant today," added Elrohir, "it is because both Haldir and you wished to have your second child at the same time, I mean, during the same sexual relation. Do you not remember when that happened?"
Nellethiel burst into laughter. "Let's just say Haldir and Valarie have sex many times a week, if not many times a day since King Thranduil was booted out of Lothlorien. Except when Haldir is at the border."
For the second time in the same day, Valerie blushed violently in front of the twins.
"Nellie!" she chastised her sister-in-law. Nellethiel was in dire need of a filter!
"Now just let us examine you," Elrohir said to change the subject. Valerie looked at him with worry.
"Lady Valarie, I just want to palpate your abdomen. I will leave everything else to my colleague Nellethiel, if that makes you more comfortable."
Valerie nodded. She was not exactly delighted with the thought of having one of the twins, whom she had only met hours before, check if her cervix was properly closed. She also thought Haldir would not appreciate the thought either. Better let Nellie do it later.
Elrohir started touching her stomach, pressing his fingers everywhere, trying to figure out what was going on in her womb.
"Your assessment is right, you are about three months pregnant."
"The question is, human pregnant or elleth pregnant?" asked Nellethiel. "The last time, she did not even carry Oropher for 40 weeks."
"It is a human pregnancy again," confirmed Elrohir. "I do not recall an elleth having a belly like this at three months. You will hold your next son in six months, Lady Valarie."
"Thank you, Lord Elrohir."
"Can we please skip the lord and lady titles when we are alone?" asked Elladan. "It makes us feel like we are our father."
"Sure, Elladan," replied Valerie. "Do you have plans for the evening? You could have dinner with Nellie, the kids and I," she suggested.
"I am very sorry, but we have to decline," he replied.
"Val, have you not heard the rumors about the Lord's grandsons? Even if they were to spend two months here, they would still have dinner with different ellith every night!" said Nellethiel.
"What can we do, the two most gorgeous ellith are already taken!" replied Elrohir gallantly.
"How long will you be staying in Lorien? I am almost done translating a book for your father."
"The medicine book?" asked Elladan. "He is so thrilled about it! How long until you finish it?"
"A week or so. Will you stay that long?"
"Yes, of course!"
Valerie had spent a lot of time with the twins that week, and could successfully differentiate them most of the times now. The differences were subtle, but when being observant, you could see that Elladan's nose was a little crooked from too many fractures, while Elrohir had a dimple on his right cheek when he smiled. Everything else was absolutely the same, at least to Valerie's eyes.
She had given them the original medicine book along with its translation, and they had started reading it, saying the minute they brought it to Imladris, they would never see it again. Lord Elrond was very protective of his books, apparently.
She was with them one afternoon when they were all called to the royal talan for an urgent meeting. Leaving the kids with Faelwen, she followed the twins, and they were introduced in the council room where the Lord, Lady, Haldir and an unknown ellon were waiting for them in complete silence and tension. The twins froze too at the sight of this elf.
Valerie smiled to the blond stranger, who smiled in return, and walked to her husband, who instead of greeting her properly, shoved her behind him in a protective movement. She did not have time to ask or read his thoughts, when he simply told her: "Valerie, this is Prince Legolas Thranduillion."
Valerie's warm smile vanished in an instant, replaced by anger and fear.
"Fear not, Meleth," Haldir said, "the Prince is not here to take Oropher away from us."
"The Marchwarden is right," the prince said, bowing to her, "I am coming for a peace offering, if you will have it."
She recognized some of Oropher's features in the prince's. Same hair color, same blue eyes. The Prince was looking at Valerie and Haldir, trying to assess if he had a chance to repair the damage done by his father.
"I am very sorry for my father's behavior. I was horrified to hear what he has done to you and your son Adam, Lady Valarie. Once he calmed down, back in Mirkwood, he could not quite believe he had done these things himself."
"Why did he not come here himself to beg for my wife's forgiveness?" asked Haldir, unsympathetic to Legolas' plea.
"Can you tell me you would have give him the authorization to come back to Caras Galadhon? It took me a day to convince you to let me in Lorien," commented Legolas, outlining Haldir's reluctance to let his Mirkwood kin penetrate the Lothlorien forest again.
"So Lady Valarie," he said, turning to Valerie after his exchange with Haldir, "I am begging your forgiveness on behalf of my father. Please understand the unbelievable joy the news of his rebirth has brought our people, and how my father only tried to bring him back home so the Mirkwood elves could see him in person."
Valerie moved from Haldir's back to his side.
"I understand, Prince Legolas. I cannot pretend that I understand how King Thranduil feels, but I can tell you this: if one of my children died, and was reborn years later, nothing would stop me from retrieving him to raise him once again."
Haldir was looking at his wife, bewildered that she could forgive so easily. He, on the other hand, was not going to forget this before another two centuries, at least. He exchanged a glance with Elrohir and Elladan, who thought exactly the same thing. They thought their new friend was being naive.
She is not naive, chastised Galadriel in Haldir's and her grandsons' minds. She perfectly understands that her role is to unite the elven folks. She is following the Valar's will.
"Now I am assuming that the purpose of your visit was not only to beg for my forgiveness, am I right?" Valerie continued, putting her delicate hand on Haldir's arm to ask him to calm down.
Legolas smiled. "You are very perceptive, Lady Valarie. This is not a request coming from my father the king, but from me. The Lorien people have the chance of seeing your children on a daily basis. It is not the case for my realm. Your arrival has brought us great hope, but will not hold as much significance until we all see King Oropher in person."
"Never in a million years!" cried Elrohir.
"Lord Elrohir, you forget yourself!" Valerie said coldly, while Elladan was elbowing his brother in the ribs. "Prince Legolas, I accept to visit your realm in the future. Although I will let my husband decide how this trip will be organized."
"You will understand, under the circumstances, that my wife and children cannot go to Mirkwood without an escort to protect her. Both during the journey and in the fortress," Haldir stated.
"You can rest assured that nothing will happen to your family while they stay in Mirkwood. I swear it on my life. But I am ready to accept any condition for this visit to take place, Marchwarden." The Prince was being sensible. He was already amazed that Valerie had accepted the invitation.
"Since Lady Valarie is with child, this visit will have to wait until she has given birth," added Lady Galadriel.
Prince Legolas looked at Haldir and Valerie with surprise, but held his tongue in check. Another king was released by Mandos, he thought to himself. Which realm would be blessed this time?
"Lady Valarie already had plans for a mission in Rohan after the birth of her child," announced Celeborn, who thought making King Thranduil wait a little longer would do him much good. "This visit will have to wait at least a year, if not more, Prince Legolas. Please make sure your father's impatience is in check."
Legolas nodded his agreement, disappointed, but hiding it diplomatically.
"Would you like to see your grandfather, Prince Legolas?" asked Valerie, offering the only thing that could bring a smile back on the prince's face.
"It would be a great joy, Lady Valarie. Thank you for your kindness."
It was amusing to see this warrior trying to hold Oropher, who, at 5 months, was active and trying to slip out of his arms like a slick lizard. Understanding this ellon would not leave him alone, he smiled at the familiar face of his mother and opened his arms to her.
"No Oropher, you stay with Prince Legolas."
"I do not think he likes me," Legolas told Valerie.
"Do not be ridiculous. He moves like that with everyone. When are you returning home?"
"Probably tomorrow. I have to get back to the fortress. Just like here in Lorien, there is increased orc and spider activity in Mirkwood."
"I am sorry to hear that. I still feel safe here, but I am always wondering if that will ever change..."
"Do not worry, Lady Valarie. There will always be elves protecting you, whether they are from Lorien, Mirkwood or Imladris."
"Thank you. I am looking forward to meeting your people, Prince Legolas."
"As they are looking forward to meet you. They need to see you and your elflings, Lady Valarie. They too, are in dire need of hope."
Valerie woke up right before dawn, unsure about what had woken her up. Oropher was not crying. Haldir was peacefully sleeping beside her. He had come back from the border earlier that week, to make sure he would not miss the birth. Valerie was now at term, and could give birth any day now.
She started to relax and was about to fall asleep again when she felt pain in her stomach. A contraction.
The picnic! she thought. She had prepared baskets so they could all have breakfast in the forest, one last time before the birth. She did not want them to miss the picnic while it could be hours before she was ready to start pushing. She left the bed and went in the kitchen to finish the baskets.
An hour later, most of her family was up. Haldir was getting ready when he got a strange vibe from Valerie.
"Is something wrong, Meleth nin?" he asked.
"I am having small contractions this morning."
He was immediately alarmed. "Should I get Nellethiel?"
"No Haldir! This is normal. A few days prior to the birth, women get contractions once in a while. It is a good sign! I will soon get my body back. I cannot stand being so big anymore!" she joked.
Reassured by her pleasant mood, he kept preparing the kids.
"Would you prefer to stay here and rest? We will be back in a few hours. You could go back to bed."
"I would love that, Haldir. Thank you. Will you ask Faelwen to go with you, then?"
"Maybe I should. We will pass by her talan before we leave the city."
"Would you mind also letting Nellie know that I have small contractions? I think she would like to know that I will give birth within the next few days."
"Of course."
The family left the talan, and Valerie was free to express her pain when it started being more intense. She had lied to Haldir. She had heard some women were getting contractions a few days before the birth. Not in her case. When she had had contractions, it was always the real thing starting. She hoped Nellie would take the bait and come immediately to her talan once Haldir had told her the news.
Indeed, Nellethiel arrived to her talan an hour later. Valerie was in much pain now, walking around the talan ceaselessly to activate the labor.
"Well, well, look who is only having mild contractions this morning! If I had known you were such a good liar, I would have come earlier! Why did you send Haldir away?"
"I was hoping that the labor would have progressed before they came back. I did not want him to be distressed for many hours," Valerie replied in ragged breath.
Nellethiel forced Valerie to lie down on the bed and she checked how dilated she was.
"Are you a nut case? What were you waiting for? Did you want to have this child on the floor like a she-orc?" Nellethiel could not believe how quickly this birth was going to happen.
"Nellie, I feel like pushing!"
"Well, push then! You are fully dilated!"
Twenty minutes later, Nellethiel was holding the newborn and ensuring that he was taking its first breath. Valerie was exhausted, and happy it was already over.
"Can I see him?"
"Wait a moment, Val. I am cleaning him a little."
When she was finally done, she delicately deposited the elfling in Valerie's arms. She watched him eagerly, wondering who he was. The baby was gorgeous, and tall for a newborn. She could not tell his eye color as he was sleeping, but his hair looked white. Not silvery blonde, but white as snow.
"Nellie, did you ever hear about a hero that was white-haired?"
"Not that I recall, no. But I have never inquired about it either..."
"This is probably a question I can answer," replied a new voice entering the room.
"Lady Galadriel!"
"I see my services have not been required this time!"
"No, my Lady," replied Nellethiel. "When I arrived, Valarie was ready to push. The baby was born before I could send for you. I hope you are not offended, my Lady."
"Absolutely not! I am happy to see you were able to manage a birth by yourself. I am proud of both of you. Now, show me this little ellon. I want to confirm my suspicions. I only remember one elf that had white hair."
Galadriel bent over Valerie's shoulder, and put her hand on her chest, as if trying to calm her beating hearth.
"Sweet Eru! He is back!"
"Who?"
"Gil-galad! He was called Spark of bright light because of his white hair! He was High King of the Noldor. He was killed by Sauron himself. A most horrible death."
He could have been king of all Middle Earth, there was only one thing that Valerie wanted to know. Galadriel read the question in her mind before she could express it.
"Gil-galad was never married, nor did he have children. So no one will come to Lorien to claim him, my child."
Nellethiel installed Valerie and Gil-galad properly in the bed, and they both slept while the Lady went to announce the good news to her husband. When Haldir arrived with the kids an hour later, he found Nellethiel in his talan, taking out all the little clothes that had belonged to Oropher.
"Nellethiel? Is my wife alright?"
"She is more than alright. Go see her, she is in your room."
He almost fainted when he saw the newborn in Valerie's arms. He recognized him immediately. He gave a kiss to Valerie and took the child from her arms.
"Is he Ereinion Gil-galad?"
"Yes, the Lady identified him formally."
"How did it go? Why did you not send someone to get me?"
"To be honest, Haldir, it went too quickly. He was born twenty minutes after Nellie arrived."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Lady Idril was visiting her friend.
"Is it true? You gave birth to King Gil-galad?"
"Where did you hear it?" asked Valerie.
"But it is the talk of the city! Congratulations to both of you! The Lady just sent a messenger to Imladris. Lord Elrond will be so pleased! He used to be in the King's household. Gil-galad himself gave Elrond Vilya, one of the three elven rings of power."
"You can tell him to keep Gil-galad's ring. I do not want any of these rings of power close to my children."
"Oh, I also have a message from Lord Celeborn. He inquired about how your Westron lessons are going. I told him you were almost fluent now. Honestly, Valarie, your language skills are amazing."
Haldir made a face to Valerie when she did not admit that Mithrandir had something to do with this.
"Lord Celeborn asked me to tell you that now that the baby is born, you should decide when you will go to Rohan for your trade."
"Can my wife at least recover from the birth? Is he expecting her to leave tonight?" asked Haldir, a little annoyed at his lord.
"I am sure he can wait a month or two," supplied Idril with a smile.
A/N: In the next chapter, Valerie and Haldir are going to Rohan...