Hello! I'm not dead, you see, I'm just lazy. This is something of a pointless chapter, to tide you over until I have a chance to update in a useful way over Christmas vacation. I'm sorry, I've just been busy with school and applying to college and stuff, so I've really hoarded my free time and used my leisure time for things other than writing… ^_^ you know how it is.
17. Reassurance
Minas Tirith grew larger as the small traveling party approached. As they passed through the gates, many of the
riders smiled to see their home, but a smile never once touched Arwen's
lips. For the past few days she had
been moody and reticent.
"Arwen?" Eleriel said hesitantly, touching her sister's hand. "Arwen? You... you're home."
Arwen blinked. "Home..." she murmured, before turning to their escort. "I thank you for your services. Please, go home to your families and rest."
There were murmurs of thanks and praise for the new Queen as the soldiers wandered off to see to their horses before going home.
"Come on, Arwen," Eleriel said softly. "Let's go inside." A stable boy came and took their horses and bags away, and Eleriel coaxed her sister into the palace.
Once inside the palace, Arwen paused in the grand entrance. The cavernous room of white marble glistened beautifully, but Arwen did not take in the marvels around her. Slowly she turned and seemed to wander down a corridor. Eleriel followed quietly, and Arwen eventually wandered into the private apartment that she shared with Aragorn. Not wanting to intrude on her privacy, Eleriel turned to go when a soft voice stopped her.
"Eleriel?"
She turned. "Yes?"
Arwen Undomiel, Evenstar of her people, Queen of Gondor, one of the most graceful, poised beings to ever grace Middle Earth, was, for one of the first times in her life, uncertain. Eleriel watched as Arwen paced across the room, pausing by the window to gaze out, before pacing again. Finally she couldn't take any more of it.
"Arwen, sit down!" She said firmly.
The Queen, though no longer a little girl, remembered the tone; it was how Celebrían had spoken to her children when they were young. Reacting automatically, Arwen sat down on the nearest chair with a very ungraceful plop.
"Now," Eleriel said briskly. "Really. Pacing like this is getting us nowhere. You are weary, I am weary, why don't you just get this off your chest, whatever it is?"
There was a pause, before Arwen whispered
plaintively, "Eleriel, why must they leave?"
Eleriel sighed, and sat down on the chair beside Arwen. "Arwen, you do know they aren't deliberately
trying to punish you, don't you?" Arwen
nodded. "Those elven rings really took
a lot out of Grandmother and Father.
When I was a child, Vilya was still relatively new to Father, so I
really noticed the change in him as he was a Ringbearer over the years,
particularly after Mother…"
Arwen sniffed. "I never got to say goodbye to Mother properly," she whispered. "When I saw her last, I just assumed that we'd all see her again, that it wasn't really 'farewell.'"
"She'll understand, Arwen," Eleriel said as soothingly as she could. "In fact, I don't think she'll be surprised by this."
"What do you mean?"
"Arwen, she's not the daughter of Galadriel for nothing. She once told me that there had to be a reason why you resembled Lúthien so much. I don't know, maybe she saw something, but she'll understand and forgive you, in time. And she will be happy for you, Arwen, I know she will be."
Arwen smiled a little. "How is it that you're always able to cheer me up, Eleriel?"
Her older sister chuckled quietly. "I've got twenty years on Elladan and Elrohir, and I'm over one hundred years older than you. It's become a talent of mine, reading the minds of my little siblings."
"When you put it that way, you sound positively
ancient," Arwen remarked wryly. "But
really… thank you. You've always been
there for me when I need you." The
Queen of Gondor was quiet for a moment, gazing wistfully through the window at
the sparkling white city beyond.
"Eleriel, what are your plans, now that the war is over?"
"My plans?" Eleriel repeated. "Oh, I can't say, really. Legolas wants to move to Ithilien, perhaps. He says the land there has great potential and ought to be restored. I think Thranduil wouldn't mind. I imagine that after we marry again we'll go down there."
"I meant beyond the wedding, Eleriel. What are your plans for later?"
The older daughter of Elrond sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, Arwen, I really don't know. I don't think we have much choice in the matter, since, according to Grandmother, if we don't stay then 'the spirit of Middle Earth shall forever be diminished' or whatever it is that she said."
"Maybe Legolas could go over the sea for a little while and come
back."
"I doubt that. How many elves do you know that return to Middle Earth from Valinor, besides the Noldor who came in the First Age? It's a rare blessing, really it is." Eleriel hesitated. "But I honestly have no idea what we're going to do. He can't just stay here. It could kill him."
There was a silence, before Eleriel continued, "but let's not talk about that. Can't we discuss something happier?"
"Girl talk?" Arwen asked facetiously.
"Exactly."
"Weddings! Weddings are girl talk. What have you planned for the wedding?"
"Ugh," Eleriel exclaimed. "Father and Thranduil want to invite half of elven Middle Earth, it seems. I'm hoping that we can keep it relatively small, but unfortunately Thranduil's going to have more than enough time to get something huge planned."
"You'd think he'd give you two what you want for the wedding, after separating you two like he did!" Arwen said indignantly.
"He's not so bad," Eleriel said. "Really, I think he has an unfair reputation. Among mortals he has a reputation for being greedy, after that little incident with Smaug's treasure. But according to Legolas, there's more to the story, and Thranduil was justified in marching to war."
"Really? What?"
"You know, I don't really know what it is." Eleriel pondered silently for a moment. "I haven't really much idea of what I want in a wedding. I'd like it to be small, but I have so many friends that I want to invite! Of course, for political reasons, we'll have to invite some of the high-ranking dignitaries of Middle Earth, but I have so many friends in Lothlórien, Rivendell, and even Mithlond that I'd like to invite."
"What have you decided about the festivities afterward?"
"Well, I don't have much choice as far as the guest list goes, but I'd like it to be a kind of conglomeration of various traditions from Lothlórien, Rivendell, and Mirkwood."
Arwen nodded slowly before suddenly grinning.
"What?" Eleriel said suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing," Arwen replied, giggling. "It's just… I never expected to have a conversation like this with you about your wedding. All those years ago I was sure that you and Legolas were over and done with."
"So was I," Eleriel admitted.
"Then I'm glad we were both wrong."
Eleriel smiled at her sister, before rising. "I had better let you get cleaned up, Arwen. We both need baths after all that traveling." She turned and walked to the door, and as she was leaving, Arwen called after her.
"Eleriel?"
She turned. "Yes?"
"Thank you.
Just like mother, you always know what to say to cheer me up."
The elder sister smiled. "You're welcome, Arwen."
That night Eleriel dreamed.
She saw herself standing on the edge of a silent forest. Lothlórien, she thought to herself. But it was not the Lothlórien that she knew. The silver mallyrn still stood, tall and majestic, but the wood was still. The sounds of elves no longer filtered through the trees on the breeze, and the trees no longer spoke of their friends the Quendi.
Beside her stood Legolas, more regal and noble in his posture than she had ever seen him. In her dream, Eleriel watched him for a moment to understand what made him seem so different, until she noticed his eyes.
Blue gray eyes, darkened with some unspoken emotion, glittered as they stared at something moving in the trees. His lips silently formed a single word, over and over again, and Eleriel started when she realized what he said.
Elessar. Elessar. Elessar.
Eleriel turned her gaze into the trees, looking in the same direction as her husband. And there, in the distance, she saw the shape of a single elf, cloaked in gray, moving away in the direction of the deserted elven dwelling.
"Arwen!" she shouted, but no sound came from her mouth, and the silence echoed through the forest. "Arwen! Come back!"
But her sister did not heed her words, and continued away, until she faded from sight into the trees. Desperately, Eleriel turned to Legolas, but he continued to stare into the forest, mouthing one word to himself.
Elessar. Elessar. Elessar.
Legolas wept, and Eleriel found herself powerless to stop him.
The dreamscape changed, and Eleriel found herself on a sandy beach. The waves lapped quietly on the shore, keeping a steady rhythm as the gulls flew overhead and made their own wonderful and horrible brand of music, calling unwary elves from their homes to the sea.
A sound from behind her distracted Eleriel, and she turned to look inland. She saw nothing, save her horse grazing quietly on the sparse patches of grass that grew where the sand met firm earth.
She turned back to the sea just in time to catch a glimpse of a tiny ship, sailing West, as it passed over the horizon and beyond her sight.
"No!" she cried. "No!"
But the ship did not pause; it continued its persistent course and vanished from sight.
You can't do this to me! She raged silently at the Valar. You can't! You promised! We are meant to be together; why is he leaving, while I remain?
She waited for an answer but none came.
Eventually the time came for Eleriel to return to her home. Aragorn had returned home and Eleriel had lingered in Gondor for a few weeks longer, but as much as she loved Aragorn and Arwen, Gondor was not her home… not yet, anyway. Bidding Aragorn and Arwen farewell, she rode away to Rivendell.
The journey was uneventful; not a single orc appeared to impede her progress, and Elrond's oldest daughter soon found herself back in her childhood home.
Stabling her horse, Eleriel went in search of her father. Instead she found a worried Erestor, pacing up and down the length of the Council Room.
"Lord Erestor? What is the matter? Have you seen my father?"
He looked up. He had obviously not heard her enter.
"Lady Eleriel! I'm glad you're here." Erestor ran a weary hand over his eyes. "Your father has become increasingly reticent in the last weeks. I haven't seen him come out of his chambers in over five days, and he won't let anyone in to see him, not even your brothers."
Eleriel crinkled her forehead in concern. "Not even my brothers? Where are they?"
Her father's head councilor shrugged. "I do not know. Perhaps they are out practicing their archery, as is their wont at this time of day."
"Perhaps…" Eleriel agreed absently. "Thank you, Erestor." She turned to leave but paused when she noted how… flustered, for lack of a better word… the elven Lord seemed. "Erestor, is there anything I can help you with?"
He looked at her. "No, no thank you, Eleriel. It's just…" he sighed. "I do worry for your father. And even though the time of the elves has now officially ended, and even though the war has ended, Rivendell is still just as full of activity as it ever was. I might even dare say that it's busier, what with all the elves forsaking Middle Earth for the Elvenhome over the sea."
Eleriel looked at him sympathetically. "Erestor, go to your chambers. You need rest… Elbereth only knows when you last took some time for yourself! Elladan, Elrohir and I aren't children anymore, and, dare I say it, we can handle the day to day running of Imladris for a few days. Go home and spend some time with your family. You need it! And don't worry about my father… I'll get him to talk to either me or the twins."
The councilor smiled. "Thank you, m'Lady. You remind me so much of the Lady Celebrían… you really do know the right things to say to comfort others." Bowing gratefully, Erestor turned and left the room.
Maybe I am like Mother, Eleriel thought to herself, remembering her conversation with Arwen. But then a memory of her dream returned.
Maybe I do know the right things to say… but if I am saying the right things to comfort others, who will be there to comfort me?
Shaking her head, Eleriel left to find her wayward brothers, leaving the Council Room empty, with only the memory of the two elves lingering in the evening air.
Hopefully, this little timeline will clarify some issues on ages and such. All dates involving Eleriel and Legolas are fabrications or conjectures. Of course, we don't know when Legolas was born, so I'm using Orlando Bloom's estimation. And since Eleriel is an OC, I created a birth date for her. I wanted her to be a bit older than Elladan and Elrohir, and since elves often have children early in their marriages, I thought it appropriate for her to be born in the first year of Elrond and Celebrían's marriage. Numbers in parentheses give Legolas' and Eleriel's ages at particular dates.
TIMELINE:
88-Legolas born
109-Elrond and Celebrian marry
110-Eleriel born (L: 22)
130-Elladan and Elrohir born (L: 42; E: 20)
241-Arwen born (L:153; E:131)
1000-1100-Istari arrive, Greenwood becomes Mirkwood again
1615-Eleriel and Legolas meet (L:1527; E:1505)
1915-Eleriel and Legolas marry, within a few years, they come to Caras Galadhon from Mirkwood. (L:1827; E: 1805)
2070-Visions come to Galadriel, Celeborn, Elrond and Thranduil
2072-Eleriel and Legolas split (L:1984; E:1962)
2078-Legolas breaks bond, married Lissiel (L:1990; E: 1968)
2132-Legolas splits from Lissiel
3018-War of the Ring (L:2930; E:2908)