(this chapter is linked to Rogercat's AU universe on AO3 where Maedhros is a female with a son born in Angband.

Chapter 3: A helping hand

The morning had been a glorious one, the sweet scent of summer drifted in through the windows as Elrond got to work. Celebrian had spoiled him this morning with some very delicious cookies she had bought and he grinned as he entered the small hospital. His assistant was already there, preparing the waiting room and some of the apprentices were busy cleaning some equipment. He did grant them a graceful nod as he strolled by, eagerly anticipating the first patients of the day. Since he kept the small hospital open every day he never knew what to anticipate and that was the thrill of it. Sometimes it was just routine things like removing splinters from fingers or helping kids getting rid of stuff stuck in their nostrils. Just simple and rather unchallenging things which did give some income and also felt rewarding. After all, when your kid has got a coin stuck in its nose everybody tends to get a wee bit hysterical and he sort of bathed in the gratitude of a lot of parents already. He had a reputation for being good with kids and the word was spreading too.

He went to the office to do some paperwork until the first elves did arrive, some days none did and those days were boring to say the least. He did read a lot though, old and very valuable books brought from the ancient cities and some made in Valinor. In some cases he had to wipe away tears of laughter because the author clearly had no experience whatsoever with the stuff he was writing about. In one book he had seen hobbits described as creatures covered with hair all over and having feet so huge they could use them as umbrellas when it was raining. He found the latest book he was reading and sighed, it was about herbs and he knew he had to refresh his knowledge on the subject.

He had been sitting there for a while when he raised his head, frowning, what was that racket? It sounded as if someone was re-enacting the battle of the last alliance in the front yard. Screams, hollering, shouts, loud shrill cries and he got up, a bit puzzled. He almost collided with his assistant who bowed and looked a bit shocked. " Uhm, my lord, a couple is here, and they have brought their…offspring!"

The way his assistant used the word told Elrond that he didn't see these elflings as normal kids at all. This day it was Faerthor who was assisting Elrond and the tall darkhaired ellon had an expression of pure horror on his face. Elrond frowned. "Offspring?"

Faerthor nodded firmly" Yes, offspring, I wouldn't use the word elf to describe them, orcs are way more appropriate if you ask me"

Elrond got up, still feeling confused. He followed Faerthor towards the reception room and the racket got even louder. He took a peek through the window and saw what could only be described as a veritable army of elflings who were all over the place. He tried to get an idea of how many they were and with a lot of difficulty he managed to count them. It was two Ellyn and three ellith, the youngest perhaps four and the oldest couldn't be more than twelve? He had never encountered an elven couple who had kids that close in age before, usually elves waited until their first child was at least in its teens before they had number two. Elven children are after all growing very fast the first year and then they slow down a lot and stay at the toddler stage for years. They could perhaps understand more than a human child of their age but that didn't mean that they didn't need to be watched and taught about life.

He entered the reception room and saw the parents, a vanyarin couple. The husband stood by the wall watching a painting Elrond had put up there and his face told the healer that he didn't approve of it at all. The painting was very dear to Elrond, Arwen had painted it and it depicted the meeting between Melian and Thingol, and both were painted in the nude. It was a gorgeous painting and very realistic too. The wife sat on a chair and Elrond's inner alarm bells went off immediately. This was one elleth in serious trouble. She was heavily pregnant and she did look like a mess. Her hair was unkempt and greasy, her skin pale and grey and her eyes was the worst thing, they were not shining and bright the way elven eyes are supposed to be. No, they were dull and empty and told only of pain, fatigue and a lack of hope Elrond found horrible. He wondered if this was what Miriel had looked like when she carried Fëanor, for this was one drained elleth for sure. She held her belly with one hand and there was nothing of the joy you usually expect from a mother to be, she just looked like a dying animal who has given up the fight and accepted its fate.

The husband hawked. "That image is inappropriate, you shouldn't show such lewd paintings to the public"

Elrond wanted to say that this wasn't a public place, and that art is art and not pornography but the father sort of turned around on his heels. "My wife complains about pains in her back and female parts, she is just being dramatic for sure but my mother did insist that we came here so here we are. "

Outside there was a sound of something being broken and the father sort of laughed, "My boys are a bit boisterous, but that is good. Strong lads. We have two so far, but I want to beat Fëanor when it comes to sons. This one is gonna be a female tough, so I will have to try again"

Elrond just knew it, he hated this ellon. The proud arrogance with which he spoke told the healer everything and the sort of dead expression in the wife's face revealed the rest of the sad story. I will have to try again? Well, it takes two to create a baby but obviously this poor female was just a broodmare. Elrond almost snapped but managed to keep his calm polite face. He smiled and felt very nervous, this was one very sick elleth. "I can hear that your children are very vigorous yes, could you please tell them to calm down a bit? I need some peace and quiet here to examine your wife"

The husband shrugged. "Oh, let them express themselves, raising them is an elleth's job and my wife is doing a very lousy one I must say. I didn't expect her to be that lazy when I married her but at least she is fertile he he he"

Elrond didn't believe his own ears, lazy?! More like half dead with fatigue! He managed to smile again, even though the smile looked as if he was trying to suck the last juice out of a very sour lemon. " So she isn't living up the your expectations you mean? Not doing her wifely duties?"

The ellon nodded, grinning widely. " Exactly, three ellith so far, what do you give me? I want sons, ellith are worthless unless you can use them to forge a good alliance with families in power of course. I am already trying to find a suitable husband for the oldest one"

Elrond felt that he had to count to one hundred, slowly! He had come across humans with that sort of attitude back in middle earth but he had never imagined that there were elves with that sort of thoughts. Well, they were vanyar and some vanyar families were extremely pious and regarded females as less than males in every manner. This had to be a gross example of just that, gone to the extreme. The husband scoffed. "Just look at her, she could at least try to freshen up a bit but no! Too bad the valar won't let anyone re-marry anymore, or else I would have gotten rid of her and found someone younger, you know? Tighter with perkier breasts and a narrow waist, now that would be something to take to bed, this piece of out-suckled meat is not exactly attractive anymore"

Elrond had to cough to mask his shock, what in Eru's name? He tried to stay calm even if he felt like shaking the ellon viciously for a while. "Ah, you shouldn't happen to be reborn now should you? "

The ellon raised an eyebrow. "Yes? How come?"

Elrond made a grimace, the wife stared at him with huge pleading eyes and he just knew it, this ellon would continue to impregnate her until she one day died! He had hardly ever heard of an elleth who had died in childbirth but this one? Oh she wouldn't survive more than one more birth, that was for darn sure. "Ah, I just thought you had an interesting accent."

The ellon grinned again, widely. "Yes, well, I am reborn indeed, but I cannot remember my previous life, I probably was someone important and Nàmo that dork didn't want me to reclaim my name and status"

It clicked, Elrond rolled his eyes. Reborn without memories? That usually meant one out of two options, either the soul had died so horribly the doomsman didn't want it to remember anything or the soul in question had in fact been an orc! Elrond didn't doubt even for a second that this ellon in fact had been one of Morgoth's orcs, and Nàmo hadn't managed to get all the wickedness out of him. Well, nobody is perfect, not even the valar. He tried to smile. " I am sure you were yes, now, I have to examine your wife so if you could step outside?"

The husband shook his head. " And risk that you make inappropriate moves towards her? I stay here!"

Elrond got really angry now, he was a healer damn it, not some hormone ridden youth ready to grope at any female available, and he was happily married too. He smiled again, a very narrow smile which almost showed teeth. " Fine, then you could perhaps assist me?"

He pointed towards the chair they used to examine females and the husband just grunted. "You are the healer, you do the job"

Elrond almost growled but managed to stay calm, he gently helped the poor elleth up on her legs and saw that she was trembling all over. She appeared to be terrified of her husband and Elrond swore to himself. This was awful, she was literally dying slowly and the husband did nothing to help her? Normally in an elven pregnancy the father will allow the mother to use his energy through their marriage bond, to strengthen herself and the unborn one, but this husband obviously shut her off and didn't contribute at all. No wonder she was so drained. A human female can easily go through a pregnancy even without a partner but an elleth can't, the creation of a healthy elven fëa and hröa requires the combined strength of two adults. Outside the racket reached new and unimaginable levels, Elrond heard desperate howls and what could only be the sound of a very angry donkey. Oh no, the ellon who delivered clean sheets and bandages to the hospital used a donkey to transport the huge hampers with clean fabric.

The door swung open and a very angry ellon entered, he was a huge sinda originally from Doriath and he had been one of Thingol's elite guards and gotten killed in the second kinslaying. Elrond knew he had a short temper to say the least and now his eyes were glowing in a rather unnerving manner. "Can the owner of those goddamn orclings outside please follow me? Before I forget myself and commit infanticide!"

The husband just shrugged. "Oh they are children, they are just noisy"

The owner of the donkey glared at him. "Noisy? One of those boys just tried to push a broomstick up the rear end of my donkey and got kicked, and a girl wanted to pull its tongue out. Come here before they harm themselves!"

The husband just shook his head with an annoyed sigh, "You have not done your job wife, you ought to teach them better"

He followed the ellon out the door and Elrond just stared, pushing a broomstick up the rear of a donkey? Those elflings would need some discipline soon or else they would end up in the halls rather quickly, as punishment. The wife sort of sobbed. " I am so sorry, I wish I could do more but….I don't have the strength and if I try to be stern he tells me I am a terrible mom"

Elrond patted her hand. "I think you are doing your best, it is he who isn't satisfied with anything"

She nodded, eyes lowered to the floor and Elrond did notice some dark shadows through the thin fabric of her expensive dress. Bruises? Oh Eru, what sort of an ellon beats his wife? Elrond walked over to the table and grasped a decanter of wine and poured a huge cup full. "Here, this is wine with no alcohol in it, it will give you some strength"

She trembled and took the cup, drank greedily and Elrond saw that some of the fatigue in fact could be caused by malnutrition. "Tell me lady, do you eat well? You are eating for two now."

She sort of sighed, didn't dare to meet his gaze. "No my lord, Angrion think I will go fat if I eat a lot"

Elrond felt more aghast by the minute. "So, he wants many sons?"

She nodded. "At least seven, he is bragging a lot about the two we already have, our daughters are nothing to him. We have been married for only twenty summers"

Elrond tried to give her a compassionate smile. "And you already have five and one on the way?"

She nodded. "Yes, nothing happened the first five years so he gave me herbs…to help me conceive. I have lost two elflings too, miscarriages. He was so angry then I thought…"

She didn't finish the sentence and he knew what she had been about to say, he felt his heart constrict within his chest. And herbs? He knew that the breeding slaves of Angband had been force fed such concoctions to bear more slaves for the dark lord, an elf will normally never conceive unless the fëar of the two parents to be are bonded. Had this scumbag in fact forced his wife to conceive? They were no match, there was no love there and that was for darn sure. Elrond helped the poor elleth into the chair and she blushed and looked mortified. "Tell me, how did you meet?"

He kept his voice neutral and warm and she blushed even deeper. "He came to my father asking for my hand, my family is famous for being fecund, mother is one of five siblings and I have three sisters."

Elrond clenched his jaw together, she was a broodmare, he was right. "Did you like him then?"

He kept an eye on the door, afraid the horrible excuse for an elf would return. He heard yelling and arguing from the front yard and smiled to himself. The tall sinda would never bow or cover in front of another ellon, and absolutely not a vanya. She shook his head. "I was afraid of him, but father owed money and Angrion had bought the debt and so father had no other choice."

Elrond shook his head in sorrow, no elf ought to act thus, this ellon was clearly faulty and was there anything he could do? He tried to concentrate on the patient. "You have pain?"

She nodded slowly. "My back, it feels like it is about to split, and my head hurts too, and I feel so dizzy. There is pain….down there too"

Elrond frowned. What the heck? He grasped her wrist, felt her pulse and it was not normal at all. He could see her heartbeat on her neck and there was a faint scent coming from her which really made him alarmed. Her blood pressure had to be through the roof and the scent? He started to suspect that she had eclampsia but that only affected mortal females, never elves? Unless they were so drained they virtually became mortals! He quickly lifted her skirts and started examining her female area and he was deeply shocked. He let her skirts drop again and washed his hands. "Tell me, how long have he waited before he has…made use of his rights after you have given birth?"

The elleth closed her eyes. "Usually just a few days"

Elrond almost dropped the bowl of herbs he was holding, was this ellon completely out of his mind? "And while you are expecting?"

She sighed, a very weary and thin sound. " Every night my lord, sometimes several times"

Elrond took a deep breath. "You are very ill my lady, in fact you are in mortal danger. You have a very bad infection which have spread to your kidneys and you have eclampsia too. This is your last pregnancy, you may not make it and I am brutally honest now. The birth will kill you if you don't get proper food and rest. I need to get you some medicine right away, the unborn could be in danger of being born blind or worse if you go untreated."

She bit her lip, sobbing. "But he wants many more sons…."

Elrond already knew that she was the equivalent of a slave, she had no chance of changing her fate. He had to act, and act now! That scumbag would never listen to reason, he was probably blind to everything except his own ambitions of besting the legendary Fëanor when it came to fecundity. He stared at the stack of jars in the shelves and a very devious idea formed in his head. It was unethical but it could save a life, or possible more than one and he didn't hesitate. He grasped some jars and found some goblets and other equipment. Swiftly he started mixing two different concoctions and he worked frantically. This was wrong, he shouldn't interfere with the fate of others but yet he had to. He couldn't let that beast ruin that poor elleth. She was completely ruined physically and he wondered if she was suffering from being incontinent as well, but being too shy to mention it. She would need centuries to recover and return to normal.

He finished with one dose of medicine and continued with the other one, it was simpler but no less efficient. He poured both of the liquids into glasses and filled them with wine. Then he made a third medicine and made sure to make it strong, she needed that. He also added a generous dose of pain killer. Outside the arguing had reached volcanic proportions and he heard words being shouted that would have made the bane of Durin duck and run for cover. He gave her the first glass. "Here, drink this, this will strengthen you"

He was lying and he wondered why he managed to keep his voice calm. The brew would sterilize the poor elleth forever, she would never conceive again but that was for the best, she simply wouldn't survive yet another pregnancy, even if she did recover from this one. Her fëa was too drained, and her body too damaged. She drank it all with a grimace and then he gave her the other cup. "This is for the eclampsia and the infection, it should work in a few hours"

She just nodded and obeyed, drank it with a lethargic expression that was terrifying. She had really lost the will to live and he suspected that the fëa of the unborn elfling was the one thing which kept her alive. He smiled and patted her back and helped her up again, got her over to the couch and she sat down with a grimace. Poor thing, she was ready to drop dead anytime. She had to have at least two months left but she looked as if she was at full term already and that told Elrond it was a huge baby. He found some candy in a closet and smiled. "Here, this will remove the foul taste"

She gave him a grateful glimpse and started chewing away at the candy, looking almost desperate for sustenance. But how in Eru's name was he to help her recover? That goblin of a husband would never listen to him, that ellon had made up his own truth and would fight tooth and claw to preserve it. He was standing there wondering when the husband returned, he looked like a thundercloud and the poor wife cringed, Elrond knew that this creature would take out his wrath on the poor wife as soon as they were alone so he put up the most fake smile he had ever worn and approached the ellon. " I hope he wasn't too unpleasant? That elf can be a handful"

He sort of held a friendly tone and the husband hissed. "He had the audacity to say that my sons were abominations, I will show him that idiot!"

Elrond nodded, pretended to be very compassionate. " Yes, that was very crass, they are such vigorous young ones."

He took a decanter and pretended to be pouring wine into a glass, then he gave the ellon the whole thing. "Here, this will do you good, it's on the house."

The ellon grasped the glass and tossed it back like water, the medicine did taste good and he stared at the glass with a pleased expression. "This was good stuff, got some more?"

Elrond nodded and filled the glass again, oh this ellon would never sire another elfling, and his libido would take a plunge too. One more cup and he would have to change his name, to Angriel!

But how was he to save the poor wife right now? The answer came and it was unexpected to say the least. The racket outside hadn't subsided at all, the kids were still causing mayhem and Elrond wanted to scream at them but he couldn't, it wouldn't be professional. Then suddenly they heard the sound of hooves and Elrond did walk over to the window to take a peek outside. He saw two riders who stopped their horses outside and he had to blink twice, was that really….?

The elflings still created a horrible racket and one of the little ellith tried to pull out huge tufts of hair from her younger sister, the sister answered by grasping a fistful of horse shit from the ground and smearing it into her attacker's face. The screaming was infernal to say the least. Then a voice sort of cut through the noise like a hot knife cuts through butter. "Be quiet you little weasels or I will warm your behinds and that is a promise!"

Angrion frowned and looked a bit shocked, who was this who dared to scold his children? The door opened and Faerthor entered. "My lord, Lady Nerdanel is here, with her grandson Celebrimbor"

Elrond rolled his eyes, perfect! Royalty visiting while the place looked like a veritable battle field. He didn't have time to ask his assistant to make them wait, the door flew open again and Nerdanel entered the room. Elrond knew that many had been shocked when Fëanor did marry that elleth, many thought she was rather plain and not a suitable princess at all, but at this moment she did look like a Goddess, tall and majestic with sparkling eyes and her proudly raised chin told anyone who looked upon her that she was a very confident and powerful person.

Elrond bowed politely and Angrion sort of stared, he hadn't anticipated to meet someone of that status and he immediately tried to smear a very servile grin across his face. Celebrimbor entered behind his grandmother, he was tall and imposing enough, carrying a very beautiful blade his grandfather had forged and he stared at the elleth on the couch with narrow eyes. The poor wife tried to get up but she was too weak and Nerdanel immediately rushed to her aid. "There dear, don't push yourself, you look like you need a good rest, be seated please"

The wife sort of slumped back into the couch and Elrond could see that Nerdanel was shocked by her appearance. Celebrimbor made a grimace. "Are you the parents of that wolf pack on the outside? I have never come across more….unruly children"

Angrion just smiled that wide grin of his and Elrond thought he resembled a rat, or some other vermin. "Oh they are just energetic, my wife is failing when it comes to raising my young."

Nerdanel turned around slowly and Elrond brazed himself internally, uh-oh, this was gonna be nasty! She cocked her head. "I beg your pardon? Raising children is a job for both parents, not just the mother!"

Angrion didn't even flinch, he wasn't aware of the trouble he was heading into. "She is just lazy, not doing what she ought to do. She is just giving birth to daughters so she doesn't deserve any better, I want sons you see, at least as many as those you carried for your husband"

Nerdanel turned her gaze towards the elleth, her eyes were dark. "You have five already? And one on the way? Two boys? And how long between them?"

Angrion smiled proudly. "Just a little more than a year, three years tops, she is slow at conceiving this one, but I am proud that I am virile enough to sire enough elflings to beat your husband"

Nerdanel suddenly looked rather terrifying and Elrond did look for a place to seek cover, her face was without any expression and her eyes like steel. He remembered that she was a sculptress and worked with marble, she was probably the strongest person in the room. "Are you telling me that you have tried to keep your wife constantly pregnant for several years? Are you insane?"

Angrion just raised an eyebrow. "It is a wife's duty to please her husband now isn't it? And you gave your husband seven elflings?"

Nerdanel sneered. " Oh yes, but he never wanted me to become pregnant again before several years had passed, we both agreed and wanted to try again and my oldest was almost an adult before the twins came, and they weren't even planned! And duty? What sort of ill begotten leech are you? Look at her, she is completely drained! I wouldn't have survived one more child after the twins and you strive for a whole little army of your own? Children are to be begotten as an act of love, not as a part of a competition!"

The last words came as a shout and Angrion sort of backed off a few steps, a bit shocked. He was used to meek and obedient vanyar ellith, not a noldorin princess with a fighting attitude. Nerdanel almost sneered. "I bet you don't even love her hah? Is she more than a broodmare to you?"

Angrion had gotten a wee bit pale, he sort of shrunk a bit. " Uh, I needed heirs, and she was unmarried, she ought to be grateful, not all would have married someone that plain and stupid"

Elrond started to fear that a new kinslaying would emerge there and then, Nerdanel was ready to roll up her sleeves and Celebrimbor looked furious too. The tall red headed elleth stared at Elrond. "She looks sick, how bad is it?"

Elrond took a deep breath. "Bad, she has got eclampsia and a nasty infection since he haven't been able to stay off of her, and well, she is slowly dying. She needs at least one month of complete rest, and good food"

Angrion almost growled. "Bullshit, she is just being a sissy, complaining about everything. She is more than strong enough for more elflings"

Nerdanel stared at Elrond again. "A month of rest you say? And good food? Well then so, I think I know what to do with this situation"

She grasped Angrion by his collar and lifted him off his feet, the elf squealed and kicked and looked horrified and Nerdanel gave him a very cold smile. " I will take your wife away until she has given birth again, she may live at my house to recover and you may take care of that horde of yours. I will see to her every need and make sure she has everything she can dream of when it comes to care and treatment, what you ought to have done but haven't"

Angrion tried to wriggle himself free. " You cannot do this, she is my wife!"

Nerdanel shook the ellon hard. "Wife you moron, not slave! And if I ask a polite favor of Manwë I bet he will announce that this so called marriage of yours is a fake and has to be annulled. A marriage without a marriage bond forged by love is no marriage at all"

Angrion was so angry and terrified he was beet red and Nerdanel sort of threw him at the wall. "Tyelpe, escort this…thing….outside and make sure he gathers that wild bunch of his and leaves. Or else I will write to Ingwe himself and ask him to throw this half orc into the deepest dungeons he has got, for at least an age"

Angrion growled. "You cannot do that, what power do you…"

Nerdanel slapped him across the face. "The power of being the wife of the Noldorin crown prince damn it, my father in law and Ingwe are very good friends, remember that"

Celebrimbor grasped Angrion by the collar and hauled him outside and Nerdanel sat down next to the shivering elleth. "Easy there, relax. You are safe now dear, he will never harm you again, this I swear"

The wife sobbed, she did look terribly young and Elrond realized that Nerdanel too had seen the bruises and the horrible condition she was in. After all, as a mother of seven the tall redhead probably knew all the signs of fatigue. She stroked the young elleth's deep golden hair and smiled. "What is your name dear? I am Nerdanel but you already know that"

The elleth tried to smile politely. "I am Haldamirë my lady, of Valmar"

Nerdanel shook her hand. "Worry not, I will make sure that you are taken well care off, and you children will be taken care off too"

Haldamirë sort of groaned. " Oh Eru, they are horrible, I have never been allowed to teach them anything for Angrion always says that I know nothing and are useless and that I only spoil them"

Nerdanel sighed. " Sweet young one, I will send a message to Manwë tomorrow, that beast has been using you, there is no love in him, not even for his children"

Elrond bit his lower lip. "She will need medicine every day, and medical care and after the birth I fear she may even require surgery, she has …damages"

Nerdanel sighed. "I will make sure that it is done. Now, I didn't expect this when I left home but fate does sometimes work in odd ways"

Elrond got curious. "Not to be too hasty my lady, but why are you here?"

Nerdanel smiled "Oh I just wanted to go for a ride and volunteered to follow my grandson, he has a small favor to ask of you, nothing large but he wants someone who knows the meaning of the word discretion. "

Elrond got a bit curious, Celebrimbor had been reborn at the same time as his cousin Rûsa and unlike him he had been returned as an adult ellon, not as a child. Could he have some problems with his new body? Outside the racket had gone away, and they heard a carriage leaving the yard. Celebrimbor entered again, wiping imaginary sweat of his forehead. "Grandmother, if I ever meet that elf again I swear by Eru I will geld him with a blunt blade! He is the most despicable person I have ever met, except from Sauron of course"

Elrond sort of chuckled. "That won't be necessary, I gave him a concoction that will leave him sterile, and probably impotent too, at least for a few years"

Haldamirê sort of scoffed. " You did? Oh by the Valier, that was bold. But I think he deserves it, he hasn't even been true to me"

Elrond frowned. "He has been cheating on you on top of everything?"

The wife nodded. "Yes, he has been having his way with almost all the female servants of the house, they usually leave within a month to avoid him, we have had to rehire new people all the time"

Nerdanel crossed her arms over her chest and she did look as if she was ready to take on a dragon. "Scumbag, piece of filth. I bet he is a horrible lover as well"

Haldamirê made a small whimper and nodded, beet red. "He…he thinks it is all about him, I could have been a corpse and he would still have…ah"

Nerdanel sighed. "He would still have fucked you right? I think that one is gonna get what he deserves rather soon"

Celebrimbor gestured at Elrond. "My lord, if I may talk with you in private?"

Elrond nodded and they left the two ellith alone, entered another room. Celebrimbor sat down and Elrond saw that he was a bit nervous. The tall dark haired noldo sort of sighed and then he stared at the healer. "This may come as a huge surprise to you, and I still haven't told anyone except from grandmother. Back in the first age when I was alive the first time I met someone special and I fell in love, we got married in secret"

Elrond frowned, in secret? Few elves did that, why? Celebrimbor continued. " Nobody would have accepted the union back then, so we never told anyone and then I died and you know that tale. But she is reborn too and we want to remarry and there is something I need help with"

Elrond tilted his head. "Yes? Why keep it a secret by the way? Was she of a different tribe perhaps?"

Celebrimbor took a deep breath. "Elrond, she was of a different race! I married a dwarrowdam, I married Narvi"

Elrond just blinked, a dwarrowdam?! Eru's nutsack, that was…surprising to say the least! He had to cough to hide his shock. "Uh, what can I say, congratulations? But what do you need help for then?"

Celebrimbor sighed again. "Listen, the dwarves have their own customs when it comes to weddings, one of the customs is a tattoo. Mine is gone but I need it remade and I thought that you could do it? I have a drawing of it ready"

Elrond blinked again, feeling as if this day was turning into something rather bizarre. "Right, well, yes, I do know how to do it, that is correct but are you sure?"

Celebrimbor nodded. "Completely, she is my one Elrond, and we do love each other immensely, I want to prove it to her by remaking our wedding mark"

He handed over a drawing and Elrond stared at it. It was their names written in Tengwar and Dwarf runes wrapped around a very pretty image of the doors of Durin. It was a nice drawing and it would be a very nice tattoo as well. "Uh, I do have some equipment but do you think it could wait for a few days?"

Celebrimbor shook his head. "No, I want it done now if possible."

Elrond nodded, fine, he just needed some wine first, to calm his nerves. "Do you want any sort of sedation then?"

Celebrimbor nodded. "Yes please"

Elrond found some numbing cream and Celebrimbor removed the clothes from his upper body. He was toned and muscular as most smiths are and Elrond had to admire the beautiful physique. He smeared the back with the cream and Celebrimbor grinned. "I have never met more boisterous kids, not even my reborn cousin is that bad!"

Elrond remembered his visit at Maedhros place and smiled. "So, how is Rusa doing these days? Is he growing and getting stronger?"

Celebrimbor rolled his eyes. " Oh yes, he is getting more energetic by the day. Sweet Eru, I haven't got any idea of how many times we have had to go looking for him. He has created so much mischief."

Elrond sort of compared the rather wild reborn elf with the kids of the vanyar couple and had to think that even if Rûsa had been a servant of Morgoth he wasn't nowhere near as bad as those kids. He was just curious and wanted to explore but those kids were in fact vicious due to a complete lack of discipline. "Do tell please, I need something merry after all that horror"

Celebrimbor nodded. "Well, Celegorm was tasked with babysitting him once, he forgot to watch the kid and had to go outside in pouring rain to retrieve him. Rûsa was running around in the rain, buck naked"

Elrond had to grin, the plains of Angband had been bone dry, real rain had to be something amazing to the reborn elf. " I can almost see that"

Celebrimbor grinned. "And then ada was to watch him and he took off, we had to look all over the city and Maedhros was getting hysterical when he showed up again, dripping with mud, carrying a huge live catfish! He had been to the river!"

Elrond raised an eyebrow. "The river, that is dangerous!"

Celebrimbor sort of jerked as Elrond started drawing the image with a pen before he could start using a needle. "Yes, he got scolded but the fish was delicious though, we had it for dinner"

Elrond grinned. "So you father isn't an ideal babysitter?"

Celebrimbor nodded sternly. "Nope, once he took the elfling to the gardens and forgot that the berries were in season and Rûsa ate fermented berries, he was sick as a dog for hours and he also fed those berries to the neighbors chickens, it was mayhem! He even gave some to Huan, Celegorm almost went ballistic for the hound was puking all over the place"

Elrond had to laugh "Oh dear, that must have been interesting to say the least."

Celebrimbor leaned forth as Elrond found the equipment and got ready to start. "Ow, yes, and then we have the one time when he was left asleep in the sun and got sunburns. That was partly my fault but ada did steal my attention"

Elrond could very well imagine that Celegorm and Curufin was the least suitable babysitters among the huge family. He started working and Celebrimbor hissed and tried to sit completely still. "Once he drank a whole bottle of wine and got drunk, grandad sort of cured him of that tendency though"

Elrond frowned. "What tendency?"

Celebrimbor chuckled. "He wants to taste everything, if a bottle was left opened he would taste it. Once he did drink the polish ada uses on silver, luckily it isn't poisonous."

Elrond shook his head. "So what did Fêanor do?"

Celebrimbor giggled. "He mixed a horrible concoction of all sorts of liquor, hot sauce, cooking oil, sour cream, milk, mayonnaise, cooking fat, and melted butter and poured it into a cup and left it on the table. Rûsa took the bait and since then he has never tried to drink other people's stuff"

Elrond cringed, that mixture did sound like a most horrible thing to drink yes. Celebrimbor sighed. "I still wonder how I am gonna tell everybody though, I guess they will accept it but I doubt that the rest of the elves will"

Elrond smiled. " Don't worry, if the love is real it will survive everything, even some prejudice"

Celebrimbor sighed and nodded. "Let's hope so"

After a couple of hours the tattoo was done, Celebrimbor's back was raw and sore and Elrond did smear a lot of healing salve all over it. The result was very pretty and Celebrimbor was more than pleased with it. Nerdanel had sort of bonded with Haldamirê, and she whispered to Elrond that yes, her husband had been beating her, and treated her like trash and Nerdanel was going to visit the Mahanaxar the very next day to speak with the valar in person. Angrion was back home with the kids and Elrond sort of feared the result of that. He promised to come immediately if his help was needed, Nerdanel thought that the kids simply would have to be removed from their father and placed in other families to learn how to behave.

Elrond got a wagon from a neighbor and Nerdanel travelled with the elleth while Celebrimbor rode behind them. Elrond didn't doubt that Nerdanel would transform the elleth completely, and he had promised to drop by as often as possible.

The yard looked as if a tornado had gone through it and his assistants had a hard time cleaning up the mess. One of the boys had been in the storage room opening almost every jar there was in there and mixing the content and that meant that a lot of very expensive medicine had to be thrown away. Elrond was almost fuming with rage when he heard about that.

Some days later he received a message from Nerdanel. She had spoken to the valar and they had all agreed that the marriage between Angrion and Haldamirê was to be deemed as illegal and wrong. The children would be spread out among good families until their mother was strong enough to cope with them and the valar had started a small investigation on their own. Elrond was right, Angrion had been an orc in his previous life, and Namò hadn't managed to get all the contamination out of his fêa. He was therefore sentenced to some years in the gardens of Lorien to be cleansed thoroughly. Elrond was asked to join the guards assigned to the mission of collecting him and bringing him to the gardens and he rode out in the morning, feeling a bit apprehensive. He had no idea of what he was about to face.

The house of Angrion and Haldamirê was a very nice one, large with a beautiful patio and it had to be costly but now it looked like a pigsty. There was trash everywhere, the pool was filled with blankets and clothes and the kitchen did reek to high heavens of spoiled food. Angrion lay in the middle of the mess on the remains of a couch, he was shivering like a leaf and someone had poured an entire canister of green paint over him. He did look like a goblin. Elrond had seen grown Ellyn cry before but never like that, it was obvious that Angrion had had enough. The elflings were asleep in various places, most of them were naked and covered with mud, food and unknown substances and they had completely trashed the place. Elrond had seen battle fields which looked more organized than this place.

The guards had no problems grasping Angrion, he was surrendering with glee, and Elrond had to grin. He had tasted his own medicine for sure, the elflings had gone completely wild without their mother around and he had been unable to control them. Again he had to compare these wild ones with Rûsa, and the comparison was in Rûsa's favor. These kids were just plain destructive. Angrion was crying with relief as the guards took him away and Elrond suspected that he had gone a wee bit insane after days in this madhouse. The elflings were taken away to some stern but loving families who promised to raise them well, and Elrond could breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn't their fault that their father was a complete moron.

Haldamirê was taken good care off by Nerdanel and she regained her strength although slowly.

She did give birth to a very healthy girl and survived the ordeal but she spent several decades healing before she returned to society. Nerdanel told Elrond that she wanted to join the servants of Lorien and that she never would marry again and Elrond did understand why. She had probably had more than enough of marriage for several eternities. Angrion did return from the gardens two hundred years later, he was a very changed person but Lorien and Namo had in fact erased his memories yet again in order to get rid of the last remnants of his rather orcish personality. Now he was a very humble and very demure person who made a living binding flowers and he seemed to be way more happy too. He never remarried neither and rumors said that he actually did prefer males and Elrond knew that the brew had done its job. Haldamirê was safe and so were the other ellith of Aman as well, the beast was tamed and it had ended well but for the centuries to come Elrond couldn't hear the sound of children yelling without cringing and remembering that day of utter mayhem.