32. Meeting the young Princes

The arrival of the Elves from Ost-in-Edhil was something that the two princes of the Line of Durin noticed from the adults around them. They were still a few months from turning nine years old, but for the two sons of the future Durin II, this was a major adventure that happened in their own home. And Elves, who they had heard adults talk about but never seen with their own eyes! Did Elves really not have beards, and being so much taller?

"Can we see them too when gamul adad meets them, adad? Everyone says that Elves look really different from us!" Ingvar asked his father, referring to the traditional meetings of the King and his outsider guests that Vern would do, as he and Rurik stopped playing with their wooden blocks to build various toy buildings.

"I see no reason why you lads must stay at home in the royal apartments. After all, I will one day do this duty, as you both."

Ingvar may be the legal heir born from Ragnhild, but if he were to not be present in Khazad-dûm for some reason like making a travel outside the Dwarven realm, then Rurik would act as his regent if none of their three parents were still alive and Ingvar yet had not married or fathered a child of his own.

"Thank you, adad!"

In his eagerness to follow along to the throne chamber, Rurik caused his fine braids to almost fly around his head. Because they both took after their respective mother, there was often no problem in seeing which of the young princes that was who.

"Rurik, slow down! I would rather not have to redo your braids to look acceptable again!" Hinata warned her son, having just finished putting her long hair in a single braid before twisting it into a bun and then secured the whole braid at the back of her head with hairpins and combs. In the Stiffbeard clan long hair was a sign of feminine beauty for their Dwarrowdams, so it was only natural that Hinata kept following that even now.

""Amad, do you want your full set so the Elves will see how true beauty looks like?" Rurik offered, already aiming for the open, rather large jewelry box where most of her hair accessories were laid up neatly.

"There is no need for all the ones your mother uses at really grand events, Rurik. Many of those Elves who arrived today, have been here as ambassadors in the past and some of them even witnessed our wedding," Ragnhild smiled, taking one of the hairpins from Rurik so it was not dropped to the floor by his eagerness.

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For Celebrimbor, it felt very pleasant to be back in Khazad-dûm. It was all so different from Valinor where he had been born and spent his youth in, and only with the Exile had he come to realize how insufficient the Elven cultures there would become with time, because while the Noldor, Vanyar and Teleri would have trade agreements and their own separate cultures and customs, it also came to the cost of not knowing what could be found in other cultures. But here in Middle-earth, where the mortal races, Men and Dwarves, had built up vastly different cultures depending on where they lived even if they did share a origin, there was a richness that Valinor was unaware of. He hoped that now with Númenór, the Elves of his birthlands would be a little enlightened about what they had missed by only witnessing the War of Wrath that was not exactly the best way to see other cultures.

"Master Celebrimbor, you look like you have got your eyes set on a very satisfying meal?" one of the female ambassadors asked with some uncertainty in how she would react to his behavior. Well, to be fair, she was born in the first years of the Second Age, and therefore could not know how he had felt drawn to the Dwarven crafts since the first time he got to witness their skill many centuries before during the First Age.

"I am just imaging how my late aunt Maedhros would feel at being here. She loved to be a guest in Belegost despite it only happening a few times and she would have enjoyed this visit too, that I do not doubt for a single moment, even if the Line of Durin the Deathless is not the same royal dynasty that she was familiar with."

That said, was not Belegost the home of the Firebeard clan? Celebrimbor had met Lord Azaghâl at some point before the Battle of Sudden Flame when visiting Maedhros in Himring and surely there was something about Crown princess Ragnhild that was a little similar to the long-gone Lord of Belegost? The colour on her hair and beard perhaps? Azaghâl had already begun to be gray-haired at that single time Celebrimbor met him, so his original colour had faded into something more akin to strawberry blonde. Even if Ragnhil were not a direct descendant of Azaghâl though one of his two children, a firstborn daughter joined by a son some years later of Celebrimbor remembered right, she still belonged to the same Dwarven clan.

Celebrimbor could not think of the past for long, they had to be in the throne room soon for the formal welcome by the King and his family.

While not being one of the ladies-in-waiting for Ragnhild and Hinata, Narvi still had managed to get herself a good place to witness the welcoming of the Elves from Ost-in-Edhil. Her dark green niqab was matching her dress, so only those who knew her personally, would know where she was standing. Otherwise, she looked like any other Dwarf from the East that covered up the whole body out of habit.

"Oh, Khelebrimbor is here too!"

She had gotten a letter from him, but not been able to figure out whatever he intended to take part of the journey or not. So it was a joy to see him again, it was almost nine years since the last time after all.

"Wow, you really have no beards at all!"

"How do you tell your males and females apart without beards?!"

Of course, the two young Princes was very curious about how different the androgynous Elves looked for them, and only the presence of the whole court to witness their every action as well some warning glares from their mothers, prevented any more inappropriate attempts to check the gender.

"We males Elves can grow beards, young ones, though I am sad to say that they needs to be of a very nigh age for that, and they will never be as magnificent as the ones grown by the Stone Children," Celebrimbor smiled at the young Dwarven princes, even bending down on one knee to come closer to their eye level.

"Wow, what beautiful eyes you have! They are shining like stars in the night sky!" Ingvar said when he saw something that stood out. In truth, having such lights in his eyes was a sign of Celebrimbor being born in Valinor before the Two Trees had been destroyed by Morgoth, and during the War of Wrath he had learned from Galadriel's father Finarfin that any Valinorian Elves born afterwards, did not share the same lights in their eyes. A true sign of an era that would never come again.

"Thank you, young prince, it pleases me much to see how you notice such details already, for that promises good for the future."

Personally Celebrimbor had a good feeling when he looked at the two sons of Durin. Only one of them would become his successor as the son of the legal wife, but Rurik still had the possibility of becoming an ancestor to a side line, that may prove important at some point that none of them knew now.

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With the royals bringing their guests to their chambers and promising to have a welcoming dinner together, Narvi soon was joined by her mother as most of the other Dwarves returned to their daily life.

"Amad, is it wrong that I want to seek out Khelebrimbor? I would like to hear his thoughts on my latest masterpieces, and as a smith he may have seen how stone and metal can craft something together."

Ala knew her daughter. This was a sign that she had some plan forming in her mind, and personally the widowed Dwarrowdam saw no problem with Narvi meeting with the Elf. After all, he had saved her life once and she had saved him in return not many years later, so they were no strangers to each other. At least, familiar to the other since they also exchanged those letters that Narvi hid so well from Odin.

"Just remove your niqab and set some nice beads in your hair and beard so you look respectable around the royal apartments, dearie."

Even if Narvi did not need to dress up in all her finest, it was general knowledge that you could not show up in front of the royals like you just got up off bed or something such that made one look like a slacker. They were the ruling family, after all! Some form of common sense and etiquette had to be followed.

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Author note: Gamul adad means grandfather in Khadúl, according to what I have found online

Narvi is wearing a niqab out of habit from her childhood in the Orocarni, her birth town is located near a desert and she knows that you must cover up all of from head to toe yourself as protection against the desert sun

Because Narvi is still not fully fluent in Sindarin and is more used to the Mannish languages of the East, she have a noticeable accent on certain pronunciations

The Two Trees of Valinor are Telperion and Laurelin, the Silver Tree and the Gold that brought light to the Land of the Valar in ancient times. They were destroyed by Melkor and Ungoliant, but their last flower and fruit were made by the Valar into the Moon and the Sun.

Minor shout-out to the Line of Durin during the Hobbit and beyond by what Celebrimbor means by Rurik forming a side-line: Dáin Ironfoot is the second-cousin to Thorin II Oakenshield, and his successor as King of Erebor as well Durin's Folk because Thorin was unmarried at his death and both his sister-sons died with him in the Battle of the Five Armies