A/N: Hey all. I lossssst my muse… *in wailing gollum voice* so that's why I gave it to my buddy Kat who may I say made such an amazing job of this that I can't thank her enough!! *big big big hugs and any amount of help on your fics!*
P.S They kissed! Riku n Sora finally got it over with!! Yayayay! Nice one Kat.
Okay I know that Nilmadë and Elwing are suddenly back together but I can't make all the story lines fit into the timescale so tough. Plus I want to concentrate more on OC.
P.P.S How can Roman Polanski get best director at the Oscars when PJ is a GOD! A god who brought us Leggles!
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"Whoever draws his sword against the Prince must throw away the scabbard."
Minutes chased hours, hours chased days and days chased weeks. Summer sun lit life like a thousand candles in the soul and warmed the heart to love. Laughter lifted the spirit in waves of bliss.
But deceit darkens the sky and snuffs the flame.
Áruinne lay out on her stomach along the cool grey rock. The dappled sun that filtered through the trees danced on the crystal clear stream a few inches below her nose. She closed her eyes and sighed softly letting her fingers dip into the velvety water. Everything was so in tune she thought. Her mood was reflecting the serene summer day and for once her mind wasn't in chaos. Opening her eyes, the Princess shuffled forward until her head was over the end of the rock. Her hair fell down touching the stream's moving surface, the tendrils being tugged by the current. She moved her hand under the water and watched the way the light distorted it's shape, the sensation of the beck moving over her skin running up her arm. The ripples on the surface reflected back up onto her face making her eyes sparkle.
Suddenly the peace was broken when an arrow hit the water in front of the recumbent elf splashing her. She squealed and jumped up looking around angrily for the person who had disturbed her.
"You're beautiful when you're angry." Said Celorfiwyn walking towards her.
"So it was you."
Celorfiwyn grinned mischievously and pinned her arms to her side.
"Don't attack me." He said kissing the side of her neck.
"I wasn't going to, but I will if you don't let me go."
He dutifully let her arms free and she wrapped them around his neck pulling him closer to her.
"Now I'm being manhandled."
"Yes but you don't mind do you?"
"Not at all." He replied closing his lips over hers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So Isorfir what's this about you being cheered on by Héthien in practise?" Fiarén teased. Isorfir grinned sarcastically at his friend.
"I was cheering you all on!" Héthien said hastily. Her cheeks had a faint pink glow to them.
"I bet." Replied Nilmadë and Elwing in unison. They looked at each other with wide eyes and burst into laughter. They had recently been reunited when Héthien had locked them both in her room for an hour until the shouting and throwing things had stopped. Nilmadë smiled at her sister through the laughter, she always knew exactly what people were like and how to deal with them. She couldn't thank her sister enough for making the two of them see exactly what they were missing by arguing with each other.
"I was!" Implored Héthien.
"There was that incident down at the beach though…" Fiarén grinned.
"Oh stop it all of you! Don't tease!"
The companions fell into a friendly silence, strolling gently through the forest. The wicker basket Héthien was carrying creaked gently as she walked; inside it was piled high with food wrapped in cloth. The others didn't ask what was in there but knew Héthien well enough to know that she was perfectly capable of putting on a feast.
"I wish Ári was here and Celorfiwyn. It's not a proper picnic without all of us."
The others stayed quiet, they had known for a week that Áruinne and Celorfiwyn were together but as of yet no had dared break the news to the over-protective Fiarén. He didn't notice the awkward silence though and shrugged.
"So who will you cheer on at the games tomorrow Héth?" Inquired Nilmadë.
"All of you. Isorfir, Elwing, Celorfiwyn and Fiarén." Héthien said composedly.
"If you say so."
"I do say so and if you don't stop teasing me all of you then I'll take this basket right back home."
That silenced the jests and the conversation turned to other matters. The impending games filled all the boy's heads and they chattered idly about it. Who they wanted to face and what their chances were against the Elders.
An outraged shriek cut through the still summer air. Fiarén cocked his head to one side.
"That sounded like Áruinne. I thought she said she was staying home today?"
The young elves gave each other sidelong glances, they didn't like lying to their friend but Áruinne had asked them not to tell him until she was ready. However it was too late to avert Fiarén he had already wandered off in search of the voice. All they could do was follow.
"Fiarén come back-"
But it was too late, Fiarén was already rushing off in the direction of the scream before anybody had a chance to intercept. Instead, with worried glances, they bolted after the young Prince as he wound his way through the woods.
And then a barrage of squeals was heard. Fiarén's sharp ears picked them up and he bounded off in that direction, over a small knoll and into what looked like the edge of a clearing. The sounds of running water gently cascaded into the surroundings, as a babbling stream seemed to edge the tree lined clearing.
In sheer desperation, Isofir tried to call out to his friend again.
"Fiarén!! Come back, please!" But to no avail, his words fell unwanted. The black haired elf knew what was coming before it'd even happened.
Suddenly, Fiarén came to an abrupt halt once he'd taken a few steps into the shaded clearing, his eyes bearing curtains of uncertainty. Behind the Prince, all stood in their tracks and held their breaths.
In the centre of the soft, meadowed grass stood Áruinne and Celorfiwyn, obviously engaged in an activity that, in Fiarén's eyes, was not meant to be. All that swept over the Prince was sheer disgust and shock and it took all he had to just keep his sapphire eyes pinned on the sight before him.
"Uh-oh…" Nilmadë raised her eyebrows, preparing for the worst and gently touched Elwing's arm.
With a nervous look at his girlfriend followed by a nod, Elwing ventured forward through concern for his friend and placed a hand on Fiarén's shoulder, which tensed as soon as he had done. Through gritted teeth, Fiarén shook his head.
"This isn't happening…" His eyes focused on nothing more than the fact that his sister was kissing his best friend and didn't realise the trouble they were both in. Fiarén didn't even turn to acknowledge Elwing when he tried to catch his attention.
"Please," Fiarén continued. His voice cracked like broken grass, "could you give me a moment?"
Elwing nodded and quickly returned to his friends, informing them of Fiarén's wishes and herding them off somewhere where they wouldn't hear the goings on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Áruinne smiled softly at her boyfriend as their lips parted once again, only leaving the soft breeze that was blowing to cool their blushing faces. However, something seemed tense in the air, and she could feel it. A finger couldn't quite be put on it, but it was like a curtain of anger lingered between them. All was quickly revealed as Fiarén quietly and aghast with dismay had let Celorfiwyn's name fall from his lips.
Both pairs of eyes averted to the young Prince stood at the edge of the clearing, and all that they could feel was embarrassment and a sense that their veil of secrecy had been ripped apart.
Celorfiwyn immediately jumped apart from Áruinne with his hands wielded in a pleading way before him. "Fiarén, please let me explain."
"Explain?!" Fiarén shouted, stomping forward with a sneer crossing his lips that could rival an Orc's. "I don't there need be any explaining, do you?!!"
"But you have to understand-" Celorfiwyn tried to intercept.
"I need to understand nothing! It all seems very clear from this what's amiss here!"
Áruinne chose to join the argument too; she needed to stop her brother before he said some things he didn't mean. Little did she know, it was far from over.
"Fiarén, please listen to me," She began, with her heart on her sleeve, but the expression that Fiarén carried was far from understanding.
"I won't listen, Áruinne, I don't even WANT to listen!! I'm disgusted with you, Áruinne, how could you go behind my back like this?! And with my best friend?!" He spat, curling his lip up at the two of them as he expressed his anger. Like a hawk, he circled them intimidatingly, watching them with piercing eyes.
Áruinne's eyes watered over. "You weren't meant to find out like this, honest! We were going to tell you…."
"Really?! When? Tommorow? Next week? In a month? How about next YEAR perhaps?!"
"No!" Celorfiwyn stated heartbreakingly, his eyes too showing weakness. "The reason we kept it a secret is because we didn't want to hurt you!"
"If you didn't want to hurt me you should've never engaged in this silly relationship in the first place! If you'd told me either way we'd still be having this argument!" Fiarén's fists clenched uneasily and he stood his ground protectively. "How could you betray my friendship to you both in such a way?!"
"We haven't betrayed you!" Áruinne shouted, solemn tears running down her cheeks. Carefully, she took a step towards her brother. "It's not our fault that love found it's way to us! We couldn't help its pull!"
"You should've resisted it! WHY couldn't you resist it?! You have our Mother's spirit, Áruinne, why didn't you fight against it instead of go with it?!"
"Leave Mother out of this!"
"I see you have her stubborn nature too! Why couldn't you just see through the dark and know beforehand that this would cause an uproar?! What do you think Father will do when he finds out about this? Did you even contemplate that?!"
Celorfiwyn took a brave stride forward to shield Áruinne back form her brother's spiteful comments and take a stand for their love. Who did Fiarén think he was to put down their love for one another and insult their Queen?
"Fiarén, if you'll please be quiet for one moment we can explain properly to you! But you're making it extremely difficult!"
"Because it's a difficult situation to grasp!" Fiarén fought back and scowled at his oppressor. "How would you feel if you had walked in on your best friend and sister sharing private moments in an open space?!"
An uneasy silence followed.
"Exactly as I thought. If you even had ANY idea as to how I'm feeling right now, you'd regret ever commencing in such an endeavour."
"But Fiarén-" Áruinne pleaded with a tear stained look of sorrow.
"But nothing! I can't even begin to tell you how hurt I am! Celorfiwyn, I thought I could trust you? But it's obvious to me now that some things weren't best undertaken." He glanced at his sister with narrowed eyes. "And you Áruinne, I thought you knew better?"
"Fiarén, we did it out of love! Why can't you grasp that concept?!"
"Because what you don't share is love! It's betrayal!"
Celorfiwyn came face to face with Fiarén as if they were to commence in a duel.
"Damn you, Fiarén, it is love! I would throw myself in front of any arrow if it meant it were to save Áruinne's life!"
The dark haired elf laughed. "Then you are very foolish….very foolish indeed."
"Love is not foolish!"
"It is when you inform everyone else of it except your best friend!" Fiarén snapped. "Even if I was to be angry, why was I not the first one you told?!"
"Because we knew you'd be outraged like you are now! We thought if we could at least keep it from you whilst we figured a way to tell you softly, it'd save you even more hurt!" Áruinne sobbed to her brother. She reached out to touch his arm, but Fiarén shied away almost instantly.
"Tell me softly, eh? How can you possibly tell me softly?"
Again, that silence reined, the silence that let all three of them contemplate and think over the events that had happened. Answer all the questions that had been asked and wonder if there was still any friendly relationship between them. After a few seconds, Fiarén looked them both in the eyes with hurt. Áruinne's tear stained face meant nothing to his feelings, and Celorfiwyn's expressionless features told him more than he needed to know from them both and frankly, he didn't care. He was hurt and nothing that they felt could amount to his sorrow. The betrayal that was eating him inside would haunt him for times to come.
Once again, Celorfiwyn tried to compromise with his friend. "Fiarén….I know we can't possibly begin to say how sorry we are."
"We know that any apologies we give will never amount to anything." Áruinne added, her sapphire eyes bleeding with remorse.
Fiarén just folded his arms and scowled. Although the fever was still running fierce through his veins, he felt himself calming and his voice lowering at the gentleness of his friends'.
"I can never look at you both in the same way again." The elf's features creased as he too felt his eyes watering and he cast his gaze downwards.
"I'm so sorry, Fiarén….my brother." Áruinne whispered as she noticed a single tear fall down his cheek.
With that last sentence disappearing through his mind, Fiarén turned and walked away from the two on a course home, crying silently to himself. As soon as he was out of sight, Áruinne collapsed into Celorfiwyn's arms sobbing with remorse.
Overhead, the afternoon sun slowly turned in its way and seemed to cast an uneasy silence over the wood.
