The sun rose slowly from the rolling green hills in the east, and the
Havens were in an uproar. Norelda had stumbled back to bed in the wee
small hours of the morning, after carefully packing up her shell and all of
the contents of her box into the spacious leather bag and leaving it by her
bedside.
She slipped out of her trance as she heard the door to her room open. A high-pitched shriek snapped her completely to wakefulness, and she bolted upright, unhindered by the former weight of her abundant curls, to see her maid, frozen in place by her bed, and her father in the doorway looking like he was about to explode.
Oh dear.
However, instead of exploding as she had expected, her father simply told her very quietly to rise and dress, and then left. As she padded silently along the corridor to the dining room, she received some looks ranging from bewildered and slightly bemused, to amused and trying to hide a smirk, to utterly and completely shocked.
Cirdan was not in the dining room, and she ate in a nervous silence. A quick dash back to her room to collect her bag, and then out to the courtyard where the horses were waiting. Her father turned as she stumbled out the door. Not overly graceful, but there you go. She paused, blinking in the bright light. Her father held the reins of a lovely red mare.
Cirdan looked down at his wayward daughter, not unkindly, for although she was very frustrating, he loved the child dearly. She looked back at him, slightly nervous and obviously wondering if he was going to punish her for cutting off all her hair. He had decided that he wasn't going to make a big fuss over it, because it likely wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to her attitude, and he did not want their parting to be strained and bitter.
He scooped up the child into his arms and kissed her forehead. She was tiny, weighing almost nothing as he hugged her tightly before lifting her up onto the back of the horse. He tousled her short crop of hair and told her to write as soon as she arrived, and then turned away to instruct her escort.
Thus Norelda left her childhood home, her dearly loved Sea and her father, who was still slightly bemused at having a child, but loved her nonetheless. She turned east, to Imladris and the family and home of Elrond of the line of Luthien and Beren.
Arwen of Imladris, yet to be called Undomiel, was very excited to have her cousin come to visit. A shy girl, Arwen had no female elves of her own age to play with, so she could not wait for Norelda to arrive. The room next to Arwens had been cleaned out, an extra desk had been added to the lesson- room, and Arwen was wearing her favourite dark-blue dress to look nice for her new playmate.
She knew very little about Norelda, only that she had grown up in Mithlond beside the Sea, that she had red hair and was the same age as Arwen. The combination of red hair and the Sea seemed very exotic and strange to Arwen, who imagined her as being tall and beautiful, with skin as white as snow and a river of liquid fire down her back.
Imagine her suprise when, standing shyly half behind her mother and peeping out, she saw that the contingent from Mithlond escorted a short, skinny, grumpy looking girl with a mop of red hair that stood out in every direction, a dark, patchy tan and a knife harness that was too big for her slung around her bony shoulders over a filthy riding tunic.
Her mother, Celebrian, stepped forward to courteously greet their guests, but Arwen could tell from her tone of voice that the Lady of Imladris was slightly put off but her new fosterling's appearance. The child returned the greeting in a clear, piping voice, looking around, clearly fascinated by her surroundings. Arwen stepped forward to greet the girl. Despite her unusual looks, the girl was in a strange place where she knew no-one, and had no friends.
"Greetings, cousin Norelda. I am Arwen. I am so glad you have come, for I have been lonely without anyone to play with. I am sure we will have lots of fun together." finished Arwen with a smile.
Norelda smiled hesitantly back. Arwen was beautiful. Already a handspan taller than her cousin, Arwen had perfect translucent skin, deep midnight blue eyes, delicately refined features, and thick, glossy, waist-length black hair. Norelda might have been jealous, but Arwen was holding out her hands in a shy but genuinely welcoming gesture, and she responded to the other with a warm smile that surprised even herself.
"Thankyou for your welcome, cousin Arwen. I will try my best to be happy here, and I do look forward to playing with you. What games do you know?"
"Not many for two," admitted Arwen with a graceful shrug, "I've been alone, mostly, except for Elledan and Elrohir, and their games mostly are just hitting each other with sticks. They think they're big warriors, but-" here she broke off, and pointed up to a balcony set into the side of the steep valley wall. Two boys, so alike that it was impossible to tell them apart, were having a mock sword fight. The thin, long sticks they wielded did very little damage to either one, and blows that would have been deadly five times over in a real swordfight were simply annoying. All in all, they looked rather silly.
Norelda looked at Arwen, and grinned. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad here after all.
A/N Will probably take a while to update, as have limited internet access. Thankyou Queenie for the lovely reviews, keepthemcomingIfeelbetteralready
She slipped out of her trance as she heard the door to her room open. A high-pitched shriek snapped her completely to wakefulness, and she bolted upright, unhindered by the former weight of her abundant curls, to see her maid, frozen in place by her bed, and her father in the doorway looking like he was about to explode.
Oh dear.
However, instead of exploding as she had expected, her father simply told her very quietly to rise and dress, and then left. As she padded silently along the corridor to the dining room, she received some looks ranging from bewildered and slightly bemused, to amused and trying to hide a smirk, to utterly and completely shocked.
Cirdan was not in the dining room, and she ate in a nervous silence. A quick dash back to her room to collect her bag, and then out to the courtyard where the horses were waiting. Her father turned as she stumbled out the door. Not overly graceful, but there you go. She paused, blinking in the bright light. Her father held the reins of a lovely red mare.
Cirdan looked down at his wayward daughter, not unkindly, for although she was very frustrating, he loved the child dearly. She looked back at him, slightly nervous and obviously wondering if he was going to punish her for cutting off all her hair. He had decided that he wasn't going to make a big fuss over it, because it likely wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to her attitude, and he did not want their parting to be strained and bitter.
He scooped up the child into his arms and kissed her forehead. She was tiny, weighing almost nothing as he hugged her tightly before lifting her up onto the back of the horse. He tousled her short crop of hair and told her to write as soon as she arrived, and then turned away to instruct her escort.
Thus Norelda left her childhood home, her dearly loved Sea and her father, who was still slightly bemused at having a child, but loved her nonetheless. She turned east, to Imladris and the family and home of Elrond of the line of Luthien and Beren.
Arwen of Imladris, yet to be called Undomiel, was very excited to have her cousin come to visit. A shy girl, Arwen had no female elves of her own age to play with, so she could not wait for Norelda to arrive. The room next to Arwens had been cleaned out, an extra desk had been added to the lesson- room, and Arwen was wearing her favourite dark-blue dress to look nice for her new playmate.
She knew very little about Norelda, only that she had grown up in Mithlond beside the Sea, that she had red hair and was the same age as Arwen. The combination of red hair and the Sea seemed very exotic and strange to Arwen, who imagined her as being tall and beautiful, with skin as white as snow and a river of liquid fire down her back.
Imagine her suprise when, standing shyly half behind her mother and peeping out, she saw that the contingent from Mithlond escorted a short, skinny, grumpy looking girl with a mop of red hair that stood out in every direction, a dark, patchy tan and a knife harness that was too big for her slung around her bony shoulders over a filthy riding tunic.
Her mother, Celebrian, stepped forward to courteously greet their guests, but Arwen could tell from her tone of voice that the Lady of Imladris was slightly put off but her new fosterling's appearance. The child returned the greeting in a clear, piping voice, looking around, clearly fascinated by her surroundings. Arwen stepped forward to greet the girl. Despite her unusual looks, the girl was in a strange place where she knew no-one, and had no friends.
"Greetings, cousin Norelda. I am Arwen. I am so glad you have come, for I have been lonely without anyone to play with. I am sure we will have lots of fun together." finished Arwen with a smile.
Norelda smiled hesitantly back. Arwen was beautiful. Already a handspan taller than her cousin, Arwen had perfect translucent skin, deep midnight blue eyes, delicately refined features, and thick, glossy, waist-length black hair. Norelda might have been jealous, but Arwen was holding out her hands in a shy but genuinely welcoming gesture, and she responded to the other with a warm smile that surprised even herself.
"Thankyou for your welcome, cousin Arwen. I will try my best to be happy here, and I do look forward to playing with you. What games do you know?"
"Not many for two," admitted Arwen with a graceful shrug, "I've been alone, mostly, except for Elledan and Elrohir, and their games mostly are just hitting each other with sticks. They think they're big warriors, but-" here she broke off, and pointed up to a balcony set into the side of the steep valley wall. Two boys, so alike that it was impossible to tell them apart, were having a mock sword fight. The thin, long sticks they wielded did very little damage to either one, and blows that would have been deadly five times over in a real swordfight were simply annoying. All in all, they looked rather silly.
Norelda looked at Arwen, and grinned. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad here after all.
A/N Will probably take a while to update, as have limited internet access. Thankyou Queenie for the lovely reviews, keepthemcomingIfeelbetteralready