The Soldier and the Princess
Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings does not belong to me. JRR Tolkien has that happy pleasure. Had that happy pleasure. Anyway, the characters in this story do not belong to me. This is purely to please myself and those besides me who enjoy this sort of thing. I also do not own the song "Enchantment Passing Through." That honor goes to Elton John and Tim Rice. The wedding vows come from Dragons of Autumn Twilight. If some of the words don't fit, remember that these vows are *ancient.* When they were written, they fit, and elves are.well.set in their ways? Oh, btw, Anaiyah and Tyrennafaile are original characters. *Their* stories will be related later.
Author's Notes: This is an Elrond/Celebrian get-together, mainly from Elrond's point of view. If there are any complaints as to how this is done, ::coughcough, Elrond's relationship to Gil-Galad coughcough:: register them politely. Please. I got some slightly less-than-polite comments on my Galadriel/Celeborn fic, which is discontinued. As far as I know, this is an A/U. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: She Has a Little Sister????
I lounged indolently against my windowsill several years later. Darevan was sprawled over a chair nearby. I was watching my children. My two eldest-twin boys, Elladan and Elrohir-were nearly of age, and I had to start thinking about the ceremony. I made a mental note to do so.
The girls were younger. Arwen was perhaps a century younger than her brothers, and Anaiyah a couple centuries younger than that.
"What are you brooding about, my lord?" Darevan asked.
"I'm not brooding," I answered. "I'm observing."
Darevan came up to stand behind and slightly to the right of me. "You do produce lovely children, milord."
I shrugged. "Speaking of which, it's almost time for the boys' archery practice. Could you go remind them, please?"
"Of course, milord." Darevan bowed and left. A page entered a moment later, bowed, and dropped a set of letters. The boy bowed again and left.
I picked up the top letter. Lorien. I sighed and opened the missive. (A/N: Don't you just *love* that word??? That's my word for the day! Missive. Missive. Missive-missive-missive. Yay!!!! ::grins:: Back to Elrond now.) Very formal, very stiffly polite, with an undercurrent of disapproval. Celeborn's usual. Strange, that I had been married to his daughter for twenty-four hundred years, and I *still* couldn't get him to like me, or even fully accept me.
"Hey, soldier boy," Celebrian murmured from behind me, slipping her arms around my shoulders. I leaned back and kissed her.
"Letters from Lorien. Here," I said, handing her hers. She ensconced (A/N: Another fun word!!! Almost as fun as missive and bellowed. It's *fun* to say bellowed!!!! Bellowed. Bellowed. Bellowed-bellowed-bellowed. YAY!) herself in an armchair, and slit open the letter. She skimmed it, blinked, and read it more closely. "Bad news?" I asked worriedly.
She sighed. "One might say that. My little sister's been exiled."
I blinked in shock. I didn't remember ever hearing of a younger sister. "You have a little sister?" I asked.
She nodded. "She was born around the same time as the twins. I think she's maybe a year younger."
"Ah," I said. "That's probably why I didn't remember. And she's been *exiled?* Why?"
"War-magic. Apparently, Tyrennafaile was caught actually holding lightning in her hands. She was immediately arrested and brought to trial."
"I fail to see why war-magic should be such an issue. There are no laws against it *here.* Why is it different in Lorien?"
Celebrian sighed again. "You forget that there were massive wars- mostly based on racial prejudices-before Imladris even existed. Lothlorien lost about half of its population due to the war, and about three fourths of those deaths were due to war-magic. So, when we began to pick up our pieces, we outlawed war-magic. The only punishments considered just for use of war-magic are exile.and death, the latter being considered the more humane punishment."
That shocked me. Elves-as a people-revere life and consider execution to be a barbaric punishment. "How?" I whispered.
"Elrond, when a person is exiled, they are not only banned from re- entering any elven lands ever again, *they are not permitted entry into the undying lands.* They are considered 'fallen from the light.' They are worse then dead. Many families would much rather see their children executed than exiled."
My jaw had dropped around the time she said the word "banned," and remained dropped until she finished her explanation. Then I realized what I was doing and shut my jaw with an audible snap. "Do you intend to return home, help your parents adjust to this?"
Celebrian nodded. "If that's all right with you, soldier boy."
"Of course it is. You belong *there* now."
"Thank you. I'd like to leave in the morning."
"We should be able to manage that. Will you be taking the girls with you? I know we had agreed to foster them-or at least Arwen-there."
"I'll take Arwen. I don't think Anaiyah's old enough for this sort of thing yet.
I nodded. "May Valar speed you and bring you home to me soon."
She kissed me, then swept out the door to get ready.
Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings does not belong to me. JRR Tolkien has that happy pleasure. Had that happy pleasure. Anyway, the characters in this story do not belong to me. This is purely to please myself and those besides me who enjoy this sort of thing. I also do not own the song "Enchantment Passing Through." That honor goes to Elton John and Tim Rice. The wedding vows come from Dragons of Autumn Twilight. If some of the words don't fit, remember that these vows are *ancient.* When they were written, they fit, and elves are.well.set in their ways? Oh, btw, Anaiyah and Tyrennafaile are original characters. *Their* stories will be related later.
Author's Notes: This is an Elrond/Celebrian get-together, mainly from Elrond's point of view. If there are any complaints as to how this is done, ::coughcough, Elrond's relationship to Gil-Galad coughcough:: register them politely. Please. I got some slightly less-than-polite comments on my Galadriel/Celeborn fic, which is discontinued. As far as I know, this is an A/U. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: She Has a Little Sister????
I lounged indolently against my windowsill several years later. Darevan was sprawled over a chair nearby. I was watching my children. My two eldest-twin boys, Elladan and Elrohir-were nearly of age, and I had to start thinking about the ceremony. I made a mental note to do so.
The girls were younger. Arwen was perhaps a century younger than her brothers, and Anaiyah a couple centuries younger than that.
"What are you brooding about, my lord?" Darevan asked.
"I'm not brooding," I answered. "I'm observing."
Darevan came up to stand behind and slightly to the right of me. "You do produce lovely children, milord."
I shrugged. "Speaking of which, it's almost time for the boys' archery practice. Could you go remind them, please?"
"Of course, milord." Darevan bowed and left. A page entered a moment later, bowed, and dropped a set of letters. The boy bowed again and left.
I picked up the top letter. Lorien. I sighed and opened the missive. (A/N: Don't you just *love* that word??? That's my word for the day! Missive. Missive. Missive-missive-missive. Yay!!!! ::grins:: Back to Elrond now.) Very formal, very stiffly polite, with an undercurrent of disapproval. Celeborn's usual. Strange, that I had been married to his daughter for twenty-four hundred years, and I *still* couldn't get him to like me, or even fully accept me.
"Hey, soldier boy," Celebrian murmured from behind me, slipping her arms around my shoulders. I leaned back and kissed her.
"Letters from Lorien. Here," I said, handing her hers. She ensconced (A/N: Another fun word!!! Almost as fun as missive and bellowed. It's *fun* to say bellowed!!!! Bellowed. Bellowed. Bellowed-bellowed-bellowed. YAY!) herself in an armchair, and slit open the letter. She skimmed it, blinked, and read it more closely. "Bad news?" I asked worriedly.
She sighed. "One might say that. My little sister's been exiled."
I blinked in shock. I didn't remember ever hearing of a younger sister. "You have a little sister?" I asked.
She nodded. "She was born around the same time as the twins. I think she's maybe a year younger."
"Ah," I said. "That's probably why I didn't remember. And she's been *exiled?* Why?"
"War-magic. Apparently, Tyrennafaile was caught actually holding lightning in her hands. She was immediately arrested and brought to trial."
"I fail to see why war-magic should be such an issue. There are no laws against it *here.* Why is it different in Lorien?"
Celebrian sighed again. "You forget that there were massive wars- mostly based on racial prejudices-before Imladris even existed. Lothlorien lost about half of its population due to the war, and about three fourths of those deaths were due to war-magic. So, when we began to pick up our pieces, we outlawed war-magic. The only punishments considered just for use of war-magic are exile.and death, the latter being considered the more humane punishment."
That shocked me. Elves-as a people-revere life and consider execution to be a barbaric punishment. "How?" I whispered.
"Elrond, when a person is exiled, they are not only banned from re- entering any elven lands ever again, *they are not permitted entry into the undying lands.* They are considered 'fallen from the light.' They are worse then dead. Many families would much rather see their children executed than exiled."
My jaw had dropped around the time she said the word "banned," and remained dropped until she finished her explanation. Then I realized what I was doing and shut my jaw with an audible snap. "Do you intend to return home, help your parents adjust to this?"
Celebrian nodded. "If that's all right with you, soldier boy."
"Of course it is. You belong *there* now."
"Thank you. I'd like to leave in the morning."
"We should be able to manage that. Will you be taking the girls with you? I know we had agreed to foster them-or at least Arwen-there."
"I'll take Arwen. I don't think Anaiyah's old enough for this sort of thing yet.
I nodded. "May Valar speed you and bring you home to me soon."
She kissed me, then swept out the door to get ready.