Chapter 6 CoTN
Fianth.
Lord Maedhros had dismissed me, so I obediently left although I had been longing to stay and find out why my sworn Lord had gathered his brothers so swiftly, and what this could mean for the warriors of Himring. Was there a plan to launch to a great assault against Morgoth? I wish I knew.
Still, I was tired and cold, so I went to my quarters by way of the kitchens, hoping that Talagar, my friend would be there. He was Noldor; he and all his family had been long in the service of House of Feanor. A nice, jolly fellow, he ran Himring's kitchens and his wife was head of the bakers and pastry cooks. As it happened I was in luck, Talagar was in the kitchens, supervising the storage of the last of the game brought in. Like all cooks, he was only truly happy when he was feeding someone!
'Fianth,' he cried when he saw me. 'Come here, come here. Sit down, child. Barely home, and then on guard duty, you must be hungry.'
I disentangled myself from Talagar's bear hug and sat down. He was friendly and kind, and my first friend in Himring. 'Here you are,' he said serving soup from the huge kettle he had on a small hearth, 'some bread only baked this morning, and do you want some mulled wine?'
'Yes please,' I said, noting that Talagar was taking the opportunity to join me in a midnight snack.
'Well, is there anything you can repeat from the Lord's meeting?' he asked, and I remembered that although my friend was a cook, he had wielded a sword in the past, and at need would again in the future.
'Nothing of any interest. Lords Amrod and Amras released me from my promise not to reveal the location of their hideaway. I may now tell any of the Lords, or those they consider trustworthy, then I was dismissed.'
'I wonder if this has anything to do with the Oath?' Talagar mused.
'Talagar, what is this Oath?' I asked, not without some trepidation. Something so little spoken of was surely terrible.
He sighed, 'I keep forgetting how young the race of Men is, and that none could have present when the Oath was sworn. It is not spoken of much, but I'll tell you. Feanor and all seven of his sons swore a dreadful Oath to recover the Silmarils from anyone who might hold them, no matter what the cost, or they will face the Everlasting Darkness.'
It took me a few seconds to find my voice, and Talagar took opportunity to tell me more, 'the rest of us, including most of the other Lords and Ladies took a lesser oath, to seek vengeance for our King. Morgoth murdered him.'
'You mean Morgoth personally, don't you?'
'I do, child. So that's the Oath. I feel that something is about to happen concerning it.'
'When we found Lords Amrod and Amras, Lord Curufin said something to his brothers about the Oath stirring,' I said softly, watching Talagar for his reaction, which was astonishing. I'd never or heard of his remarkable cheerful demeanour being disturbed over anything, but now he was definitely agitated. He rose, and began to pace the floor, all but wringing his hands.
'Talagar, friend, is it truly so bad?'
'The Lords will do ANYTHING to redeem their Oath. And they expect us, their followers to do the same, only I'm not sure I can do what they need me to again. Have you heard of the Kinslaying?'
'Something vague, that it led to the whole Noldor people being cursed.'
'Well, now, that's true enough, and I suppose we deserved it. We asked the Teleri people for their ships, they refused, Feanor wasn't thinking clearly and lost his temper. We fought the Teleri and slaughtered many. We won,' he gave a crooked smile, 'I wonder if the Valar would have cursed us had we lost the battle? Or would they have cursed the Teleri.' He paused again and again I did not speak, loath to interrupt. 'I don't think I could pick up a sword against innocents again. Against Orcs and evil men in Morgoth's service, yes, but not against women and children again, and I fear that is what will be asked of me.'
'It hasn't come to that, yet.' I said comfortingly. 'Maybe it never will, or you may not be asked to join the warriors.'
'Aye, you're right, child,' he said, visibly less upset. 'Maybes may never be, my mother used to say. A wise lady, I should have listened to her more. She stayed behind, many of our women refused to disobey the Valar and leave Aman, and my father and brothers died when Lord Maedhros was captured by Morgoth.'
I had heard of Maedhros captivity, and how he lost his right hand. I had always admired Fingon for his brave rescue of his cousin. That many of the Noldor women chose to stay behind surprised me; I would have thought they would follow their men. I suppose this is what Curufin meant when he said his wife didn't love him enough to follow him. At least my husband had died, and he couldn't control that!
'You'd best seek your bed, Fianth,' Talagar said at last.
'Yes, Father,' I teased, as I kissed him goodnight.
He laughed, rewarding me another crushing hug. Like many of the elves, Talagar found mortals fascinating, but to him I was a child. I suppose to one as old as he, I was. Why then Curufin's interest in me?
This bothered me as I lay in my bed, half asleep, that Curufin a lord, and indeed a prince of his beautiful immortal people was so interested in me, a mortal. I knew he'd found it difficult as I to behave ourselves on the ramparts tonight. And honestly now I missed him, not just our lovemaking but also his company. Damn it all, I was falling in love with him! On that sobering thought I fell asleep, only to wake to the sound of an explosion, and commotion. Throwing on my clothes, I bolted to the window, to look down on scene of confusion. Maedhros, his red hair a mess, faced another elf I didn't know and the two were arguing heatedly about something.
'Do that again, and I'll stake you out for Orc bait!' shouted Maedhros at the finish, and the miner, (for that was what his dress indicated) slunk off muttering under his breath, knowing as well as I did that Maedhros' threat was just that, a threat he had no intention of carrying out.
I tidied my hastily donned clothes and headed for breakfast, then was told I was dismissed for the day, a day off I'd forgotten about. A party consisting mostly of mortals was going fishing for the day and I dashed upstairs to find my fishing things and my cloak, as I had no intention of missing out. Coming back down I ran right into Curufin, who was clearly seeking me. Luckily his elvish reactions meant we didn't tumble down the stairs, but I end up comfortably within his embrace.
'Dear me, you are keen to great me!' Curufin laughed as we kissed.
'Yes', I replied snuggling up. There was no on else around to see us, fortunately.
'Going fishing?' he asked.
'Definitely, I love fishing. Unless you have a better plan in mind?'
That made him chuckle, 'no, not now. I rather thought I might join the fishing party.'
'Good, come on, we'll be late!' I said as I dragged the poor elf down the stairs.
The fishing trip was fun. Lots of trout fell afoul of our lures and flies. The best bit was when Radyn, one of the mortal officers technically in charge of me, fell in the river. As he is a grumpy man, prone to being very difficult to get on with, I thoroughly enjoyed his embarrassment.
The cooks were somewhat less than pleased by the kitchens being invaded by fishing bearing maniacs, all insisting they knew the best way to cook fresh fish, and Talagar had to put his foot down most firmly to regain control. I admired the way he did this: everyone OUT of his kitchens NOW, or he would refuse to prepare the food for Midsummer's feast tomorrow. That worked, even Maedhros, drawn to the row and racket being raised, obeyed the cook, he left mumbling something about good cooks being hard to come by. I mentioned this to Curufin looked a bit startled, and said, yes, but the real reason was Talagar was in possession of a very embarrassing story from Maedhros' childhood that he didn't want repeated. I laughed heartily at that, clearly elves were not so very different from mortals. I only hoped to get a good portion of the trout at the feast tomorrow.
I was surprised, but pleased, when Curufin insisted that I dine privately will him that evening. 'Have you been a good girl, and worked on that lesson I gave you?' he asked as we finished our meal.
'Mmm, I have. See?' I held out the scroll to him.
'Pity,' he said after examining it. 'I could have enjoyed punishing you. Now however, I shall just have to give you a reward,' he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. He pulled me down on to the bed, and sat astride me, smiling, 'prepare to be rewarded!'
Sometime later, I woke alone in the huge bed and saw Curufin sitting by the window, staring out at the stars. He came back to bed when he saw I was awake, cuddling close and wrapping his arms about me. 'Can I ask you something, Fianth?'
'Of course,' I said, pushing his black hair from my face.
'How old are you?'
Now that surprised me. Curiously, had a mortal asked such a question I would likely have gotten very angry, but not with Curufin. He was probably unaware that it not a question asked of a woman, not if one wishes not to be yelled at.
'I'll be twenty seven next month,' I replied.
'Twenty seven, isn't that awfully young to have been married and widowed?' said Curufin.
Oh-Ho, not as innocent about mortals as he seemed! 'Probably, but I was only seventeen when I married, my son was born a year later. He was only three when he died, and my husband died four years ago. Does that answer all your questions?'
'No, what day is your, you celebrate the day you were born, don't you?'
'That's right, we mortals celebrate our birthdays, and it's the twenty first day of next month, if you must know!'
'Good, I will remember that,' he said.
'Are you planning something?'
'Maybe', he smiled. 'Go to sleep, Fianth.' He cuddled me close, and kissed me.
Next morning, I was up early, still wondering about Curufin's interest in my age and birthday. Was he up to something? Oh well, time would tell, and really I should enjoy breakfast with Curufin, as he was kind enough to have it brought up from the kitchens; fresh bread and fruit.
I could not tarry with my lover as I had duties today until early afternoon, and then I like everyone else would be dressing in my finest (only) gown and attending the Midsummer celebrations tonight.
A messy day, cleaning gear and showing around some new recruits to Himring's warrior force ended a little earlier than I'd thought, and I had bread and honey for lunch on the southern ramparts overlooking the river. Curufin had disappeared with his brothers again, so I couldn't see him and felt a little lonely.
A hot bath was next in order, and then I donned my gown, a nice deep green with gold embroidery and a belt of tooled leather. I hoped that one of the other shield maidens would braid my hair for me; we women often did such tasks for each other.
As I entered the Great Hall in the company of my mortal friends, I could see what the cooks had been working hard on all day. The smells from the kitchens had been wonderful, and the results looked delicious. Besides the trout and game caught in the last two days, there was beef and mutton prepared in a variety of dishes, great pies and pastries too, along with breads of all kinds. Soup was served first, and I had fun helping the cooks to serve it. Lord Maedhros and his brothers had not yet appeared, but they would soon. I had a small leather bag at my seat, it was customary to give Himring's Lord a small gift at this time and I also had something for Curufin, which I would quietly give him during the night.
A sudden ripple of excitement ran throw the crowd, and all eyes turned to the staircase, and I could see why. Down the stairs came Maedhros, flanked by his six brothers, and seven handsome elf lords identically dressed in black and silver made a breathtaking sight. Once again I wondered at Curufin's interest in me.
The brothers swept across the hall to their seats, followed by cheering from us, their loyal followers. Once the lords were seated, it was the signal for everyone to fill plates and glasses. General talk and laughter echoed around the hall, and the rumour spread that Lord Maglor had a new song to sing later. That would be a treat, for he did not sing publicly much, I had only heard him sing once or twice, but his voice was spell binding and mesmerising in its beauty.
The remains of the main course were cleared, and a dessert of sweet things and fruit prepared in many ways would follow after a short break. This is when most would present their gifts to our Lord, and a throng of people soon surrounded him. Now would be a good time to give Curufin his gift, when everyone was distracted. I slid quietly to Curufin's side and he smiled at me, introducing me to his brother Celegorm, who didn't seem very happy.
'I have something for you, Lord,' I whispered, formal in case in anyone was listening. If I were to use Curufin's name casually, it would cause more remark then my giving him a Midsummer's gift!
'Have you indeed,' he remarked. 'I might have something for you, too,' and I blushed at the thought. I had not had a gift from a man since my husband's death.
'Tis not much,' I said, handing Curufin the small parcel.
He undid it, and laughed, and showed his brother. 'Well,' said Celegorm, 'I lost the bet, it seems!' At my bewildered look, Celegorm explained, 'I bet Curufin that he could teach you to read, but not to write well. It appears I was wrong, and owe him a favour. Then again,' he said, 'maybe a dance later with you will do, shield maid! It is on your account I owe my brother, and besides, no one gives me Midsummer's gifts, but a dance will do!'
'I would be honoured, Lord Celegorm, and had I known of your wish for a gift, I should have given you one.'
'Hhm, nice manners. I'll be back later, to claim my dance!' and with that he moved off to talk to Maglor.
Curufin meanwhile had been examining his gift, and as befitted a lord with a female subject he kissed my hand in thanks. 'A nice gift, you must have worked hard in your little free time to prepare it.' He smiled, 'I shall read it all later, but I notice that not only does this tell of your life, but it appears to contain some tales of the early years of your people, before you came west. Thank you, Fianth, I shall enjoy reading this little book, not least because it proves you a good pupil!'
You're welcome, Lord,' I smiled.
'Now, for your gift.' He reached into a small pocket in his black silk tunic, and withdrew a tiny package. 'I have noticed that your ears are pierced, but that you wear no earrings. I therefore assumed you possess none.' He unwrapped the little package revealing a pair of earrings made of tiny threads of twisted gold set with amber. 'Allow me to fix these in your ears.'
I nodded in agreement, and felt his deft fingers fastening the earrings to my ears. 'Yes, they do suit you, Fianth.'
I bowed in thanks, my smile wide. 'Thank you very much, Lord, I shall treasure these,' my fingers touched the gemstones carefully.
He smiled, 'no Fianth, thank you for promising to dance with Celegorm. He has had a recent bad experience with a lady, and it will do him good to have a little female attention. Go now, give your gift to Maedhros before too many people notice we are talking together over long.'
I smiled, turned and walked towards Maedhros, who was by himself again now, and I approached rather nervously.
'Greetings, Lord,' I said. Holding out a cloth wrapped parcel to him, I said, 'please accept my Midsummer's gift.'
'Thank you Fianth. I wonder what is in here?' he said a spark of mischief in his eyes. 'One never knows with you!'
He opened the cloth, and as I had anticipated, looked back at me with somewhat of a bewildered expression on his face.
'My grandfather only had one hand, Lord.'
'Really,' he said politely, 'how did he lose his hand?'
'He was born that way, Lord, with his left hand missing.' I smiled a little nervously, 'I guess you're wondering what this has to do with you?
'Just a bit.'
'Well, I've noticed that my grandfather had the same problem you do, tailors seem unable to comprehend that you don't really need both sleeves the same length, and I've noticed that you too fold your sleeve up and try to tie it out of the way with a bit of leather.'
Maedhros was still looking at me in the same way, as if I was slightly simple. 'What does this' and he indicated the silver object, 'have to do with my shirt sleeve?'
Thankfully, my lord seemed amused, 'see,' I said, 'it's like an arm ring, but deliberately not a complete circle, and it's silver because it's a soft metal, and if you'll allow me, it's easier to show you.'
Why do I do these things to myself I thought, now extremely nervous. No one ever seemed to touch Himring's Lord, save his brothers, and I'd never known any of the ladies want to dance with him. The elves claimed it was because he had been changed by his experiences as Morgoth's captive, I personally thought it was that they were all a bit sickened by the obvious marring of his body. So I showed him, carefully I untied the rather ragged looking leather thong and I slid the arm ring on, carefully tucking the shirtsleeve underneath, and gently squeezing it tight.
'I see, what a good idea!' Maedhros took a closer look, 'you even had the smith etch the emblem of the House of Feanor on it too!'
'You are the head of that House, Lord.'
'Mm, I am.' He lifted my right hand and kissed it, 'thank you Fianth, this is a thoughtful gift.'
'You're welcome, I'm just pleased you like it, I wanted to thank you for allowing me to live here, as one of your warriors.'
One of Maedhros' rare smiles graced his face, 'You don't need to thank me for anything, Fianth, I do however ask one thing of you.'
I straightened, wondering he would want, 'you appear to have no fear of touching me, so I am hoping you might dance with me later.'
A surge of amusement ran through me then, I had promised Curufin to dance with Celegorm if he would, and I knew Curufin would want his share of my time on the dance floor, and now Maedhros! I had a strange feeling that before the celebrations ended with the dawn, that I would have danced with all of the brothers.
'I would be honoured, Lord.'
'This is a celebration, Fianth, you can use my name. I shall not mind! Now run along, child, and have some dessert with your friends.'
I bowed and left him. Gently as it was done, I knew a dismissal when I heard one.
Fianth.
Lord Maedhros had dismissed me, so I obediently left although I had been longing to stay and find out why my sworn Lord had gathered his brothers so swiftly, and what this could mean for the warriors of Himring. Was there a plan to launch to a great assault against Morgoth? I wish I knew.
Still, I was tired and cold, so I went to my quarters by way of the kitchens, hoping that Talagar, my friend would be there. He was Noldor; he and all his family had been long in the service of House of Feanor. A nice, jolly fellow, he ran Himring's kitchens and his wife was head of the bakers and pastry cooks. As it happened I was in luck, Talagar was in the kitchens, supervising the storage of the last of the game brought in. Like all cooks, he was only truly happy when he was feeding someone!
'Fianth,' he cried when he saw me. 'Come here, come here. Sit down, child. Barely home, and then on guard duty, you must be hungry.'
I disentangled myself from Talagar's bear hug and sat down. He was friendly and kind, and my first friend in Himring. 'Here you are,' he said serving soup from the huge kettle he had on a small hearth, 'some bread only baked this morning, and do you want some mulled wine?'
'Yes please,' I said, noting that Talagar was taking the opportunity to join me in a midnight snack.
'Well, is there anything you can repeat from the Lord's meeting?' he asked, and I remembered that although my friend was a cook, he had wielded a sword in the past, and at need would again in the future.
'Nothing of any interest. Lords Amrod and Amras released me from my promise not to reveal the location of their hideaway. I may now tell any of the Lords, or those they consider trustworthy, then I was dismissed.'
'I wonder if this has anything to do with the Oath?' Talagar mused.
'Talagar, what is this Oath?' I asked, not without some trepidation. Something so little spoken of was surely terrible.
He sighed, 'I keep forgetting how young the race of Men is, and that none could have present when the Oath was sworn. It is not spoken of much, but I'll tell you. Feanor and all seven of his sons swore a dreadful Oath to recover the Silmarils from anyone who might hold them, no matter what the cost, or they will face the Everlasting Darkness.'
It took me a few seconds to find my voice, and Talagar took opportunity to tell me more, 'the rest of us, including most of the other Lords and Ladies took a lesser oath, to seek vengeance for our King. Morgoth murdered him.'
'You mean Morgoth personally, don't you?'
'I do, child. So that's the Oath. I feel that something is about to happen concerning it.'
'When we found Lords Amrod and Amras, Lord Curufin said something to his brothers about the Oath stirring,' I said softly, watching Talagar for his reaction, which was astonishing. I'd never or heard of his remarkable cheerful demeanour being disturbed over anything, but now he was definitely agitated. He rose, and began to pace the floor, all but wringing his hands.
'Talagar, friend, is it truly so bad?'
'The Lords will do ANYTHING to redeem their Oath. And they expect us, their followers to do the same, only I'm not sure I can do what they need me to again. Have you heard of the Kinslaying?'
'Something vague, that it led to the whole Noldor people being cursed.'
'Well, now, that's true enough, and I suppose we deserved it. We asked the Teleri people for their ships, they refused, Feanor wasn't thinking clearly and lost his temper. We fought the Teleri and slaughtered many. We won,' he gave a crooked smile, 'I wonder if the Valar would have cursed us had we lost the battle? Or would they have cursed the Teleri.' He paused again and again I did not speak, loath to interrupt. 'I don't think I could pick up a sword against innocents again. Against Orcs and evil men in Morgoth's service, yes, but not against women and children again, and I fear that is what will be asked of me.'
'It hasn't come to that, yet.' I said comfortingly. 'Maybe it never will, or you may not be asked to join the warriors.'
'Aye, you're right, child,' he said, visibly less upset. 'Maybes may never be, my mother used to say. A wise lady, I should have listened to her more. She stayed behind, many of our women refused to disobey the Valar and leave Aman, and my father and brothers died when Lord Maedhros was captured by Morgoth.'
I had heard of Maedhros captivity, and how he lost his right hand. I had always admired Fingon for his brave rescue of his cousin. That many of the Noldor women chose to stay behind surprised me; I would have thought they would follow their men. I suppose this is what Curufin meant when he said his wife didn't love him enough to follow him. At least my husband had died, and he couldn't control that!
'You'd best seek your bed, Fianth,' Talagar said at last.
'Yes, Father,' I teased, as I kissed him goodnight.
He laughed, rewarding me another crushing hug. Like many of the elves, Talagar found mortals fascinating, but to him I was a child. I suppose to one as old as he, I was. Why then Curufin's interest in me?
This bothered me as I lay in my bed, half asleep, that Curufin a lord, and indeed a prince of his beautiful immortal people was so interested in me, a mortal. I knew he'd found it difficult as I to behave ourselves on the ramparts tonight. And honestly now I missed him, not just our lovemaking but also his company. Damn it all, I was falling in love with him! On that sobering thought I fell asleep, only to wake to the sound of an explosion, and commotion. Throwing on my clothes, I bolted to the window, to look down on scene of confusion. Maedhros, his red hair a mess, faced another elf I didn't know and the two were arguing heatedly about something.
'Do that again, and I'll stake you out for Orc bait!' shouted Maedhros at the finish, and the miner, (for that was what his dress indicated) slunk off muttering under his breath, knowing as well as I did that Maedhros' threat was just that, a threat he had no intention of carrying out.
I tidied my hastily donned clothes and headed for breakfast, then was told I was dismissed for the day, a day off I'd forgotten about. A party consisting mostly of mortals was going fishing for the day and I dashed upstairs to find my fishing things and my cloak, as I had no intention of missing out. Coming back down I ran right into Curufin, who was clearly seeking me. Luckily his elvish reactions meant we didn't tumble down the stairs, but I end up comfortably within his embrace.
'Dear me, you are keen to great me!' Curufin laughed as we kissed.
'Yes', I replied snuggling up. There was no on else around to see us, fortunately.
'Going fishing?' he asked.
'Definitely, I love fishing. Unless you have a better plan in mind?'
That made him chuckle, 'no, not now. I rather thought I might join the fishing party.'
'Good, come on, we'll be late!' I said as I dragged the poor elf down the stairs.
The fishing trip was fun. Lots of trout fell afoul of our lures and flies. The best bit was when Radyn, one of the mortal officers technically in charge of me, fell in the river. As he is a grumpy man, prone to being very difficult to get on with, I thoroughly enjoyed his embarrassment.
The cooks were somewhat less than pleased by the kitchens being invaded by fishing bearing maniacs, all insisting they knew the best way to cook fresh fish, and Talagar had to put his foot down most firmly to regain control. I admired the way he did this: everyone OUT of his kitchens NOW, or he would refuse to prepare the food for Midsummer's feast tomorrow. That worked, even Maedhros, drawn to the row and racket being raised, obeyed the cook, he left mumbling something about good cooks being hard to come by. I mentioned this to Curufin looked a bit startled, and said, yes, but the real reason was Talagar was in possession of a very embarrassing story from Maedhros' childhood that he didn't want repeated. I laughed heartily at that, clearly elves were not so very different from mortals. I only hoped to get a good portion of the trout at the feast tomorrow.
I was surprised, but pleased, when Curufin insisted that I dine privately will him that evening. 'Have you been a good girl, and worked on that lesson I gave you?' he asked as we finished our meal.
'Mmm, I have. See?' I held out the scroll to him.
'Pity,' he said after examining it. 'I could have enjoyed punishing you. Now however, I shall just have to give you a reward,' he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. He pulled me down on to the bed, and sat astride me, smiling, 'prepare to be rewarded!'
Sometime later, I woke alone in the huge bed and saw Curufin sitting by the window, staring out at the stars. He came back to bed when he saw I was awake, cuddling close and wrapping his arms about me. 'Can I ask you something, Fianth?'
'Of course,' I said, pushing his black hair from my face.
'How old are you?'
Now that surprised me. Curiously, had a mortal asked such a question I would likely have gotten very angry, but not with Curufin. He was probably unaware that it not a question asked of a woman, not if one wishes not to be yelled at.
'I'll be twenty seven next month,' I replied.
'Twenty seven, isn't that awfully young to have been married and widowed?' said Curufin.
Oh-Ho, not as innocent about mortals as he seemed! 'Probably, but I was only seventeen when I married, my son was born a year later. He was only three when he died, and my husband died four years ago. Does that answer all your questions?'
'No, what day is your, you celebrate the day you were born, don't you?'
'That's right, we mortals celebrate our birthdays, and it's the twenty first day of next month, if you must know!'
'Good, I will remember that,' he said.
'Are you planning something?'
'Maybe', he smiled. 'Go to sleep, Fianth.' He cuddled me close, and kissed me.
Next morning, I was up early, still wondering about Curufin's interest in my age and birthday. Was he up to something? Oh well, time would tell, and really I should enjoy breakfast with Curufin, as he was kind enough to have it brought up from the kitchens; fresh bread and fruit.
I could not tarry with my lover as I had duties today until early afternoon, and then I like everyone else would be dressing in my finest (only) gown and attending the Midsummer celebrations tonight.
A messy day, cleaning gear and showing around some new recruits to Himring's warrior force ended a little earlier than I'd thought, and I had bread and honey for lunch on the southern ramparts overlooking the river. Curufin had disappeared with his brothers again, so I couldn't see him and felt a little lonely.
A hot bath was next in order, and then I donned my gown, a nice deep green with gold embroidery and a belt of tooled leather. I hoped that one of the other shield maidens would braid my hair for me; we women often did such tasks for each other.
As I entered the Great Hall in the company of my mortal friends, I could see what the cooks had been working hard on all day. The smells from the kitchens had been wonderful, and the results looked delicious. Besides the trout and game caught in the last two days, there was beef and mutton prepared in a variety of dishes, great pies and pastries too, along with breads of all kinds. Soup was served first, and I had fun helping the cooks to serve it. Lord Maedhros and his brothers had not yet appeared, but they would soon. I had a small leather bag at my seat, it was customary to give Himring's Lord a small gift at this time and I also had something for Curufin, which I would quietly give him during the night.
A sudden ripple of excitement ran throw the crowd, and all eyes turned to the staircase, and I could see why. Down the stairs came Maedhros, flanked by his six brothers, and seven handsome elf lords identically dressed in black and silver made a breathtaking sight. Once again I wondered at Curufin's interest in me.
The brothers swept across the hall to their seats, followed by cheering from us, their loyal followers. Once the lords were seated, it was the signal for everyone to fill plates and glasses. General talk and laughter echoed around the hall, and the rumour spread that Lord Maglor had a new song to sing later. That would be a treat, for he did not sing publicly much, I had only heard him sing once or twice, but his voice was spell binding and mesmerising in its beauty.
The remains of the main course were cleared, and a dessert of sweet things and fruit prepared in many ways would follow after a short break. This is when most would present their gifts to our Lord, and a throng of people soon surrounded him. Now would be a good time to give Curufin his gift, when everyone was distracted. I slid quietly to Curufin's side and he smiled at me, introducing me to his brother Celegorm, who didn't seem very happy.
'I have something for you, Lord,' I whispered, formal in case in anyone was listening. If I were to use Curufin's name casually, it would cause more remark then my giving him a Midsummer's gift!
'Have you indeed,' he remarked. 'I might have something for you, too,' and I blushed at the thought. I had not had a gift from a man since my husband's death.
'Tis not much,' I said, handing Curufin the small parcel.
He undid it, and laughed, and showed his brother. 'Well,' said Celegorm, 'I lost the bet, it seems!' At my bewildered look, Celegorm explained, 'I bet Curufin that he could teach you to read, but not to write well. It appears I was wrong, and owe him a favour. Then again,' he said, 'maybe a dance later with you will do, shield maid! It is on your account I owe my brother, and besides, no one gives me Midsummer's gifts, but a dance will do!'
'I would be honoured, Lord Celegorm, and had I known of your wish for a gift, I should have given you one.'
'Hhm, nice manners. I'll be back later, to claim my dance!' and with that he moved off to talk to Maglor.
Curufin meanwhile had been examining his gift, and as befitted a lord with a female subject he kissed my hand in thanks. 'A nice gift, you must have worked hard in your little free time to prepare it.' He smiled, 'I shall read it all later, but I notice that not only does this tell of your life, but it appears to contain some tales of the early years of your people, before you came west. Thank you, Fianth, I shall enjoy reading this little book, not least because it proves you a good pupil!'
You're welcome, Lord,' I smiled.
'Now, for your gift.' He reached into a small pocket in his black silk tunic, and withdrew a tiny package. 'I have noticed that your ears are pierced, but that you wear no earrings. I therefore assumed you possess none.' He unwrapped the little package revealing a pair of earrings made of tiny threads of twisted gold set with amber. 'Allow me to fix these in your ears.'
I nodded in agreement, and felt his deft fingers fastening the earrings to my ears. 'Yes, they do suit you, Fianth.'
I bowed in thanks, my smile wide. 'Thank you very much, Lord, I shall treasure these,' my fingers touched the gemstones carefully.
He smiled, 'no Fianth, thank you for promising to dance with Celegorm. He has had a recent bad experience with a lady, and it will do him good to have a little female attention. Go now, give your gift to Maedhros before too many people notice we are talking together over long.'
I smiled, turned and walked towards Maedhros, who was by himself again now, and I approached rather nervously.
'Greetings, Lord,' I said. Holding out a cloth wrapped parcel to him, I said, 'please accept my Midsummer's gift.'
'Thank you Fianth. I wonder what is in here?' he said a spark of mischief in his eyes. 'One never knows with you!'
He opened the cloth, and as I had anticipated, looked back at me with somewhat of a bewildered expression on his face.
'My grandfather only had one hand, Lord.'
'Really,' he said politely, 'how did he lose his hand?'
'He was born that way, Lord, with his left hand missing.' I smiled a little nervously, 'I guess you're wondering what this has to do with you?
'Just a bit.'
'Well, I've noticed that my grandfather had the same problem you do, tailors seem unable to comprehend that you don't really need both sleeves the same length, and I've noticed that you too fold your sleeve up and try to tie it out of the way with a bit of leather.'
Maedhros was still looking at me in the same way, as if I was slightly simple. 'What does this' and he indicated the silver object, 'have to do with my shirt sleeve?'
Thankfully, my lord seemed amused, 'see,' I said, 'it's like an arm ring, but deliberately not a complete circle, and it's silver because it's a soft metal, and if you'll allow me, it's easier to show you.'
Why do I do these things to myself I thought, now extremely nervous. No one ever seemed to touch Himring's Lord, save his brothers, and I'd never known any of the ladies want to dance with him. The elves claimed it was because he had been changed by his experiences as Morgoth's captive, I personally thought it was that they were all a bit sickened by the obvious marring of his body. So I showed him, carefully I untied the rather ragged looking leather thong and I slid the arm ring on, carefully tucking the shirtsleeve underneath, and gently squeezing it tight.
'I see, what a good idea!' Maedhros took a closer look, 'you even had the smith etch the emblem of the House of Feanor on it too!'
'You are the head of that House, Lord.'
'Mm, I am.' He lifted my right hand and kissed it, 'thank you Fianth, this is a thoughtful gift.'
'You're welcome, I'm just pleased you like it, I wanted to thank you for allowing me to live here, as one of your warriors.'
One of Maedhros' rare smiles graced his face, 'You don't need to thank me for anything, Fianth, I do however ask one thing of you.'
I straightened, wondering he would want, 'you appear to have no fear of touching me, so I am hoping you might dance with me later.'
A surge of amusement ran through me then, I had promised Curufin to dance with Celegorm if he would, and I knew Curufin would want his share of my time on the dance floor, and now Maedhros! I had a strange feeling that before the celebrations ended with the dawn, that I would have danced with all of the brothers.
'I would be honoured, Lord.'
'This is a celebration, Fianth, you can use my name. I shall not mind! Now run along, child, and have some dessert with your friends.'
I bowed and left him. Gently as it was done, I knew a dismissal when I heard one.