"Oh, is she- really?" Canyaiel asked, laughing, "Tell her to stop being indolent and to come find me herself!"
"I am already far in trouble, this is not helping. Come on, Canyaiel, mother will be cross."
"Oh, all right. Goodbye Arwen, goodbye Elrohir," she blew a kiss to both of them, "I shall see you soon." Calwaiel sighed to herself, walking quicker than Canyaiel.
"You shouldn't act like that."
"Why not?" Canyaiel asked in a rebellious voice- tempting Calwaiel to snap.
"It's not proper," Calwaiel responded. She was the calmer one of the two.
"Why would I want to be proper?"
Calwaiel sighed. Her sister would never understand. She walked quickly, leaving Canyaiel to follow her. They entered their small white home, filled with golden things and trinkets which their father- who was slain by orcs- would bring back from his travels.
"Where were you?"
Calwaiel looked up at her mother in fear, "I was looking for Canyaiel, as you told me, mother."
Canyaiel, however, just laughed, "Oh, mother, do not worry- Arwen and Elrohir asked me to accompany them."
"Indeed," Elenya said. Elenya was an Elf of about four-hundred years old, with long honey colored hair and crystal blue eyes; she was quite beautiful. Calwaiel could never understand how Canyaiel managed to get away with such things like that; she knew that if she had ever tried to do anything near the sort, she would surely be scolded- or even worse. Canyaiel gave her mother a dazzling smile and fled upstairs to her room. Calwaiel followed quickly.
"I don't know how you manage to do that."
"It's all in the smile- look innocent and act as if you did nothing wrong," Canyaiel replied, almost expertly, "Are you still going to that gathering tomorrow?" Calwaiel's eyes lit up.
"Of course," she replied excitedly, "I even have my dress picked out and everything." She ran to her chest which lay at the foot of her bed and threw it open. She gently moved some bits of clothing aside and took out an exquisite sky blue dress with gems that reflected the light.
"Oh, it is beautiful," Canyaiel said dryly, "I don't know why you want to go. All they do is gather the maidens and talk about insignificant, trivial things- such as how to hold a glass of wine and how to sew- Mother already teaches you such."
"I noticed you were not invited," Calwaiel said back defensively, "And no, I already know how to hold a glass of wine and how to sew, thank you very much. They only invite a few maidens, of which I noticed you were not."
"And why would I want to?"
"Because it is of the fairer of the younger Eldar."
They argued all that night until Calwaiel finally decided to save her voice and go to sleep, leaving Canyaiel believing that she was witty and had "won" the argument- she went to bed that night feeling quite superior and proud of herself.
~*~
Canyaiel would never understand- Mother always said that Canyaiel was a "poor excuse for a maiden," yet somehow, I could not agree with her. She was so- different- one could almost think of her as bizarre. I got out of bed before the sun rose. I could barely see her rays on the horizon as I looked out the window. I hastily took off my plain, white sleeping garments and placed another dress on. It was not the most beautiful of mine, but only a fool would say that it was unattractive.
It went off at the tips of my shoulders in a blue satin ribbon, light reflecting jewels dotted the collar, waist, and bottom. I smoothed out the sky blue colored silk of the dress. The sleeves opened only slightly and covered my fingers. I took a pair of matching slippers from my chest and placed them on my feet- each slipper adorned with a matching crystal.
I walked to the vanity and looked into the seeing-glass. I took a silver comb and started undoing the invisible knots in my hair. I started braiding my hair myself- something that I had quickly learned how to do, and fastened it with a gem. I picked up the skirt of my dress so it would not trail along the dirt paths and walked outside to a small part of the garden- a secret garden that only a few knew about.
"Mae govannen," a maiden voice called. I recognized it immediately as Meldawen.
"Mae govannen, Meldawen," I replied. Meldawen was a beautiful, smart, and amazingly witty maiden- with long strawberry blonde hair and green eyes flecked with golden. She was almost exotic looking, striking if you had never seen her before. She was of mixed descent- the voice of the Teleri, the hair of the Silvan, and the eyes of the Nandor. Two other maidens followed her, Ariniel and Itilawendë.
Ariniel was the daughter of Tulcawen, the brother of Calimo, the father of Meldawen. Ariniel's father was of the Teleri and Silvan- her mother, Teleri, and her father, Silvan. She had a face similar to her cousin's- heart shaped and pale. She had, however, a hybrid of the dark hair of the Silvan and the light hair of the Teleri- making a beautiful mixture of deep brown hair flecked with pieces of almost black and almost blond hair. Her eyes were golden colored- the color of honey- whose only flaws were a speck of grey in each eye.
Itilawendë was of Imladris descent- yet her parents had sailed already. She was the eldest of us, whereas Arwen was the youngest. However, she was still quite young in terms of Elves- only one hundred fifty. She had long hair of shining gold and beautiful eyes of lavender. She easily had the loveliest eyes- the color of a violet in bloom- sparkling with the light of Helluin.
"Mae govannen," Arwen called from the distance. Arwen was by far the most beautiful of all of us. She had beautiful grey eyes- like the stars at night. They held no flecks or striations, but were pure and clear. They seemed to go on and on forever, into the uncertain future- yet they held an unknown light, the light of hope. Her hair was long and dark, darker than the feathers of a raven. It shone in the moonlight and sparkled in the sun. She had perfect, flawless, perfect, pale skin, but she was to become noted for her dark beauty- which was unusual for the Eldar- whom usually had light pale skin, like Arwen's, but crystal blue eyes and light hair- the color of the sun.
"Mae govannen," I said, smiling.