Two youngsters start their explorations, then the grownups panic. Shotgun wedding in the works.

What Happens in the Dunes

No one gave us that talk since our Elvish guardians thought us too young. Perhaps if Elwing's parents lived, they might have noticed the signs of maturity creeping on her. Or given her Ada married young, perhaps not. My Nana expected my Ada to give me guidance there, save my Ada was more interested in discussing the Sea and his planned journeys with his son. Well, to be fair to my Adar, he did ask if there was a maiden I fancied on Balar. I replied no in all honesty, and we left it at that. I did not want to get Elwing in trouble for sneaking out at night.

It was not proper for Elwing's handmaidens and mostly male guardians to do so. Perhaps Aunt Galadriel could and would have, had she not been stuck in Balar sulking after a disastrous family dinner involving her Sindar in-laws and grilled waterfowl. I was absent from the event and my Nana's advice was to never bring it up ever until Arda breaks. As for Lord Cirdan, he was wise and a mentor for me in many fields, but whenever some lad asked about ellyth, he would admonish the apprentice and refer him to his parents. We believe Cirdan has never embraced any elleth in that manner, at least not then.

By some fluke we managed to work things out from those chance observations of courting couples, Edain and Elven alike. I suppose the waves and the moonlight might have something to do with why couples loved to have their trysts in the dunes, the same dunes where Elwing and I would meet. It was like everything just fell into place just as the Valie Yavanna intended.

On hindsight, it was not the wisest thing we did.

It was around this time my father's shipbuilding project was completed. As planned, my parents packed for a long sea journey and left on the Earrame. They were never heard from again for many a year. Yes, they missed our wedding in its entirety, despite what later scribes may claim. My parents never stood with me on that special day.

I thought of returning to Balar, Master Cirdan, and the half-built ship of our design. I dreamed of her beauty, sleekness, and strength on the waves. My dear Vingilote is all that and so much more now with the blessings of the Valar. The week after my parents sailed off into the unknown, Elwing and I met at our usual night-time picnic spot in the dunes. I was starting to miss my parents and Elwing gave me a hug to make me feel better. Hugging turned into cuddling and kissing. Out of all nights for Legolas of Gondolin of the sharp eyes and loose lips to lose his goat, it had to be that night.

He did not find his missing goat but spied us cuddling. He returned to the marchwardens' campfire in enough of a fluster for his lord Galdor to demand what was wrong. Legolas blurted everything about what he saw in the dunes out, in front of Galdor, Egalmoth, and about a half-dozen of Elwing's Sindar nobles.

After falling asleep in your beloved's arms, one does not appreciate being awoken at spearpoint by her irate kinsmen. Fists flew and curses too. Lords Galdor and Egalmoth managed to rally up enough Noldor to hasten to my rescue. Noses were broken, heads cracked, and eyes blackened. It was then that Aunt Galadriel stepped into the fray and commanded everyone to stop least we have a Third Kinslaying in Sirion. Little did she know her words will be prophetic. When Lady Galadriel speaks, everyone listens. Eru help them fools who do not heed her.

A weeping Elwing was whisked off by the older womenfolk to be grilled on what we did or did not do. I was placed under guard lest I try sailing back to Balar. We were both in trouble. In that moment, I sincerely wished my parents had remained in Sirion instead of being taken off Eru-knows-where by my Ada's sea-longing. Master Cirdan popped in to give me stern talking-to. He had sailed over to the mainland to check why I was taking so long to return.

A council was held. Elwing was marvellous once she had gotten over her fright. She declared before her kinsmen that we were hopelessly in love and she would have no other for a husband. Looking back, she might just be parroting the words of her famed ancestress. As my Edain friends put it, one has to make the best of a bad situation and her uncles looked as if they might arrange for me to fall off a cliff somewhere. The decision was made for the both of us to be wed, since by Eldar norms, lying with other was the same as marriage. We did not understand what we were getting into, seriously.

Lord Celeborn took me aside and gave a stern lecture on my new responsibilities as a husband and future father, which really took the shine off things. The hasty preparations for the wedding were a trial for me but at least Elwing seemed to enjoy the fuss her ladies were making over her. There were heirloom dresses and jewellery dug up. Given that both our people were forced to flee our homes under attack, it was a miracle so much survived from Gondolin and Doriath. Elwing enjoyed dressing up for the ceremony in fine silks. Me? Not so much.

My mates, at Cirdan's behest no doubt, decided to throw a party for me to bid farewell to my bachelorhood. One that involves copious consumption of dubious alcoholic drinks. After which, the lucky groom was stripped and lightly whipped with a willow switch for luck and dusted with soot. I do not recall much of the party, but I do recall being rousted from my bed with a monster headache so Cirdan and Legolas could scrub me down in cold water and get me marginally presentable for the formalities.

I sincerely believed we might have made it through. That was until her people decided to give her the Silmaril they had hidden away under lock and key all this while to wear for the wedding. When she cast eyes on that necklace, everything changed. The gem unsettled me from the very minute Elwing's old nurse clasped it around her charge's slender neck. I knew of its dark history and if the Feanorions were to call on us then, I might have willingly ceded it to them. The Feanorions have laid their claim to it, but I doubt they would be so foolhardy to attack us, being of Noldor extract as well.

Elwing? She was entirely bewitched. Even after the ceremonies, she refused to be parted from it for more than an hour, for fear it would be stolen. I do wonder if it was some weakness in the Sindar royal and Feanorion line that holding such a gem seemed to rob them of all good sense. Just consider the fates of the royal house of Doriath.

Author's Notes:

I am sure Elwing will write different spin on the wedding ceremony and marriage. Perhaps she edited it before sending it to the publishers.