A/N: Got to have a little drama in here! But as in all good romantic
comedies, there is always drama and then eventually love. Many thank yous
to my beta- Monaleoht... she is wonderful to get this back to me so soon. By
the way, she said that she needed a box of Kleenex for this chapter, just
to warn you. ;-)
Please review!
Chapter 13- Glorfindel and Elladan
Nindë paused. The voices of two elleths speaking below her talan caught her attention and she went to the balcony to listen quietly. She always liked to hear good rumors and be the one to be in everyone else's business. There was silence, she thought that she had been heard, but then she heard quieter speaking. Straining to hear, she leaned over the edge and caught a glimpse of the elleths below. She smiled wickedly to herself. Oh, this was most fortunate.
Nindë carefully leaned further over and heard the first discernable words come from Indilisse, "... I was acting like Nindë towards Glorfindel, as he was so much older and more powerful than me..."
Insolent elleth, Nindë thought. How dare Indilisse refer to her as she had. Nindë listened closer to the story of the night Indilisse had shared with Glorfindel, and slowly was letting a pleased feeling wash over her. This little piece of information could only help her in the end. What would Haldir do if he knew of Indilisse's moment of mistake? Would he swear off elleths all together, or give into the knowledge there really was no such thing as love? Did Glorfindel still have a thing for her?
It did not matter to Nindë that Indilisse seemed extremely remorseful on the subject. The only thing that concerned her was that she now had information to use against the seemingly perfect picture Haldir and his brothers had painted of their long-lost friend. Of course they would ask Indilisse to clarify it, and having spoken with Indilisse only a few times, Nindë had a feeling the elleth was too good for her own good. She would confirm the story to Haldir, and Nindë would have already artfully spun a tale, embellishing it to her tastes.
"There is something missing, though," Nindë heard Narië remark. How she hated that handmaiden, almost as much as she loathed Indilisse.
Indilisse grew silent; Nindë strained and leaned so far over the railing that she lost her footing on the edge of the balcony. A few leaves that had fallen from the trees and were resting beneath her feet, went floating down towards the elleths. Nindë scrambled backwards, but her foot caught on an uneven wood slat of the overhang and she fell back. She remained in one spot, hoping that the thud she had made did not alert them that there was a spy looming overhead. There was silence and Nindë breathed shallowly.
"Who is there?" Came Indilisse's curious call.
Narië groaned, "That is Nindë's talan, Indilisse. I did not realize this was where we were."
"Do not worry." Indilisse replied quietly, "If she wanted to hear of it, all she had to do was ask."
There was snickering and finally she heard the sounds of the elleths retreating up another set of stairs to one of their talans. Nindë sat up and let out a disgruntled huff escape her mouth. "I do not believe I did that."
"Perhaps it is because you deserved to be made a fool of for what you have done."
Nindë turned quickly and rushed to her feet, smoothing out her dress. She backed into the corner of the balcony and looked over the elf standing in front of her, his arms folded across is wide chest, an emotionless expression over his pointed features. "H-Haldir, I did not hear you come in."
"Aye, I can tell that." Haldir replied, looking her over.
She brushed back some of her hair and diverted her eyes from his that seemed to be burning her. Nindë took a deep breath, regaining her composure to look up at him. Walking over to him, she kept her eyes on his chest and ran a finger down his chest, then moved it to his ear, running along the rim of his lower lobe to its tip. She had wanted to try this ever since she saw Indilisse do it to Rúmil at the welcoming celebration. "Well, what have you come for, rwalear?"
Haldir grabbed her hand and stepped back so she was not so close. "I told you I would seek you out when I returned to the city."
"As you always do, Haldir." Nindë replied, "For your relief of pent up frustration with not having female company on the borders."
"This is different than what we have done in the past, fair temptress." Haldir looked at her.
Nindë smiled and brushed past him into her talan, adding an extra sway to her hair. "Well, then let us not wait, I always like to try new things."
"Oh, Nindë, this will not be to your benefit." He clasped his hands behind his back, following her into the main room. "Is there anything you would like to tell me before I continue?"
"No, I do not think there is." Nindë shook her head, finding that Haldir was acting very strange. "Have done something I should not have?"
Haldir ran his tongue along his lips and smiled so that one corner of his mouth was curled up. Nindë found that particular arrogant smile very enticing. He sighed, "Nothing at all? What about your trip to the bath house with Indilisse before I left for the borders?"
"It was wonderful to spend some time with her, Haldir. She is a wonderful elleth." Nindë knew she was a horrible liar, and that Haldir would be able to see straight through it.
He laughed to himself and shook his head, "Of course she is, because she said you could have me if you wanted me."
Nindë was silent. "Yes, I would very much like you..."
Haldir looked down at her as she again came close to him and reached for his ears again. He grabbed her hands and pulled them away harshly. "What do you not get, Nindë?"
"I do not understand, Haldir." Nindë said.
"I heard everything you said to her at the bath house." Haldir replied. "And I always knew it on some level, but you only confirmed your scheme."
"You were at the bath house?" Nindë asked, narrowing her eyes flirtatiously. "Peeping on the bathing elleths. Haldir, I had thought you to be better mannered."
He shook his head, "Let us not drag that into the conversation. What do you say for yourself?"
"I have nothing to say Haldir." She replied and walked away from him to sit in a chair. "What I said was true, I do want to bind with you for good. Anyone would be pleased to be bound with you."
Haldir looked at her for a long time, causing her to become fidgety under his harsh gaze. "Well, you will not have me, Nindë."
Nindë shrugged her shoulders and let a soft smile cross her face, "So be it then, but you will find no one better than I."
"Watch me." Was his only response.
"Indilisse." Nindë laughed cruelly, and sighed, "You think you could have something with that excuse for a elf-maiden?"
Haldir recoiled and bit his lip, "At least she believes in the truth of love."
Nindë smiled, "You obviously did not just hear her speaking with Narië then, about Glorfindel."
"I listened my fair share." Haldir replied, "I am not worried that she had past dealings with Lord Glorfindel. And her circumstances were regrettable, as I know Glorfindel is an opportunist, and seeing that the elleth was inebriated and was to a degree infatuated with him, he would take his chance. I would have if I was in the same spot."
"You speak so poorly of Indilisse in that statement." Nindë remarked, "As if she was unable to control her urges, making her a whore."
He paused and cocked his head to the side, "No, that is not what I am implying, Nindë. Besides, no one could be so bad as you."
She scoffed, searching for a way to cast a shadow of doubt upon Indilisse's good name, "But, Haldir, you did not keep listening to her. She told Narië that she was planning on giving herself to the Elf Lord again, at the Fall Harvest."
"I do not believe you." Haldir said, walking towards the door.
"You do not have to Haldir," Nindë called, "just ask her yourself."
He slammed the door shut behind him. He had never been so infuriated by an elleth once in his life, but Nindë had done it successfully and without recompense. Or perhaps she expected it later if he went crawling back to her. Haldir walked quickly along the paths to his talan, his mind tumbling about, thinking of everything Nindë had said to him, and then wondering if possibly there was truth to her accusation of Indilisse planning on dallying with Glorfindel again. From the way it sounded to him when Indilisse was speaking with the Elf Lord, Glorfindel was planning on such things as well. That was why he had come along on this excursion with Elrond and the twins.
Haldir wanted to ask Indilisse about the truth behind it, if there was any, but then that would give him away to her. She would know that he was asking questions that were too personal for being friends. Indilisse would ask him why he cared so much about her dealings with Glorfindel, probably in a laughing way as she quickly brushed away his own evident feelings for her. He did not know if he could survive watching her laugh at him, and then have her realize that he was really in love with her. She would get that look in her eyes that people get when they realize that a huge blunder just occurred. She would then look at him with sad eyes, and try her hardest to let him down easily, saying that she had never cared for him that way.
"I have got to stop thinking like this." Haldir said to himself. He could not trust Nindë anyway, and her words were probably all derived from her malcontent with Indilisse's pure ways. ____________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________
Indilisse sat down in the chair in her talan, letting out a long breath. Narië dropped into the chair across from her and was silent for a long while until she became fed up with waiting for Indilisse to continue. "There is more, Indilisse. Something you are not telling me. I have not known you that long, and I can sense it."
"I can trust you Narië," Indilisse said, more for her own convincing than Narië's peace of mind. "Yes, there is more to the story. At the time of the mistake, I was in love with Elladan."
"Elrond's son, Elladan?" Narië questioned.
Indilisse sighed, "He is the only Elladan I know."
"What do you mean by 'in love'?" Narië looked over Indilisse curiously, "Were you two...engaged?"
She nodded her head miserably, remembering the whole incident. Indilisse pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yes and no. He had not gotten around to officially asking me yet, but I know he had talked with my father about it."
Narië sat still, trying to breathe in normal pattern, but all of her gasps came out in short puffs of air. "Indilisse! You of all people, I would have expected you..."
"I know, I was not pleased with myself either." Indilisse replied with enough emotion in her voice for ten people. She cast her eyes to the ground, remembering the following day. "I could not remember a thing the next morning, until I realized that there was an arm wrapped around me. I turned around and found Glorfindel's gold hair spread across the pillow and his head turned the opposite direction."
"What did you do?" Narië asked.
"I tried to scream, but nothing came out. He awoke around the same time, and removed his arm from me enough so I could scamper into a corner with a blanket still around me." Indilisse replied, "He had much of the same reaction I did, though he hid it well. Glorfindel sat up and quickly got dressed, as I tried to rationalize all that had happened the night before. I was so scared, and he came over and had the audacity to give me a farewell kiss. As if I was not confused enough. He said that we would look back on the instance and laugh. Unfortunately, he is still the only one laughing."
Narië chewed nervously on her bottom lip, "How did Elladan find out? Did you tell him?"
"I dressed and went to the dining hall for breakfast. However, on my way, I was receiving all these curious glances and I grew more and more worried about the situation. And then I saw my father down the hall from me, with this look of pure disappointment in his features. That was when I remembered him walking in on us and that I still permitted Glorfindel to stay the rest of the night." Indilisse explained. "Just as I was passing by Lord Elrond's study, I heard shouting and discerned them to be Elrond's, Elladan's and Glorfindel's. Arwen had been listening on the door around the corner and pulled me far away."
"Why did you do it, Indilisse?" Arwen asked, truly worried for her brother and her friend. "Do you not know that Elladan loves you dearly?"
Indilisse hung her head and shut her eyes, "I cannot explain it,
Arwen, I just cannot. It happened and I cannot take it back, and now
I have hurt Elladan's pride and heart."
Arwen pulled her into her arms, holding her close. "Mellon, you did
more than hurt him. You might as well have taken his heart from his
body."
"Do not say that." Indilisse cried, feeling the tears stream down her
face, "I would not wish to do that to anyone. It is my fault, I
should not have allowed Glorfindel to escort me back to my door."
"Aye, that was a silly mistake," Arwen agreed, "but he is also at
fault. He, above all else, owes allegiance to my family as Ada's
advisor. Glorfindel knew of your relationship with Elladan, he knew
you were still innocent, but still he pressed on."
Indilisse nodded, "I do not even remember clearly what happened last
night."
The sound of a throat clearing interrupted their conversation. Arwen
pulled away and sighed, "Hello Elladan."
Indilisse crumbled at that moment, grasping for Arwen to hold onto,
but she was gone before Indilisse could blink. She fell to the
ground, trying to stop her tears, but did not succeed in doing so. A
pair of black boots stopped in front of her, and Indilisse slowly
raised her eyes, finding Elladan standing over her in a menacing way,
but the look upon his face was not one of anger. He squatted down in
front of her, cupping her chin in his hand, looking carefully into her
eyes before reaching up with his thumbs to brush away her tears.
"How could you, Indilisse?" Elladan said through his own wavering
voice.
"Elladan..." she choked out, and fought to control her sobbing. "Maybe
it is better if we do not speak to each other."
He blinked his blue eyes a few times, as if trying to comprehend what
she meant. "That is folly, melamin."
"I have hurt you Elladan, I do not deserve you." Indilisse said. "What
I allowed to happen was despicable and you deserve someone better than
me."
"The biggest part about loving someone is learning to forgive them,
melamin. I will love you no matter what you do." Elladan replied.
"But this..." Indilisse trailed off, "This is what elven couples do when
they bind together."
Elladan tried to smile at her naïveté, but only partially succeeded.
"I will love you forever, Indilisse, even if you should so choose
another."
"Then why were you yelling in the study?" Indilisse asked.
"So I would not yell at you," he said. "Glorfindel is notoriously
doing things like this, Indilisse, and he deserved a good tongue
lashing especially in the position he is in."
"I am not so stupid to realize that it takes more than one person to
make the mistake we did Elladan, you should not forgive me so easily."
Indilisse continued.
Elladan nodded, "I am well aware of that, melamin, but I know that had
you the opportunity and been sober, you would not have done it. That
is not like you."
"So what happened?" Narië asked, "Did you two continue..."
"We remained together until Ada decided we should leave for Mirkwood, to get away from all the disgrace he felt because of me." Indilisse replied, "Even though he had forgiven me, our love never truly was the same again. There was always that doubt, that question and the remembrance of my infidelity."
Narië reached out and grabbed Indilisse's hands, "Indilisse, as your friend, I say that I am sorry for the loss of that seeming unconditional relationship. However, also as your friend, I am going to chastise you for doing that to someone like Elladan."
"Do you not think that I have already been through enough pain. The constant reminders of who I was and what I did and the love I lost?" Indilisse questioned. "I did not hear from him for fifty years because he had gone to ride with the Dunédain with Elrohir. Eventually my pain lessened, but always do I remember what I did and how doing something in the heat of the moment can hurt another so much."
Narië sighed, "Indilisse, I am sorry."
Indilisse shook her head, "Do not be sorry for me, Narië. Be sorry for Elladan."
"I think you learned your lesson, mellon nin." Narië sighed.
"I hope." Indilisse said, looking away from Narië. "But that is where I am, never really sure where our relationship ended."
"You must move on." Narië replied, "There are many other elves..."
"Aye, I know," Indilisse said, glad that the conversation had not turned to new loves up to this point. "For the next few weeks, and the Imladris elves are here, I will not be able to move on."
*-*-*-* rwalear- lusty one mellon- friend melamin- my love
Please be kind and review!
Please review!
Chapter 13- Glorfindel and Elladan
Nindë paused. The voices of two elleths speaking below her talan caught her attention and she went to the balcony to listen quietly. She always liked to hear good rumors and be the one to be in everyone else's business. There was silence, she thought that she had been heard, but then she heard quieter speaking. Straining to hear, she leaned over the edge and caught a glimpse of the elleths below. She smiled wickedly to herself. Oh, this was most fortunate.
Nindë carefully leaned further over and heard the first discernable words come from Indilisse, "... I was acting like Nindë towards Glorfindel, as he was so much older and more powerful than me..."
Insolent elleth, Nindë thought. How dare Indilisse refer to her as she had. Nindë listened closer to the story of the night Indilisse had shared with Glorfindel, and slowly was letting a pleased feeling wash over her. This little piece of information could only help her in the end. What would Haldir do if he knew of Indilisse's moment of mistake? Would he swear off elleths all together, or give into the knowledge there really was no such thing as love? Did Glorfindel still have a thing for her?
It did not matter to Nindë that Indilisse seemed extremely remorseful on the subject. The only thing that concerned her was that she now had information to use against the seemingly perfect picture Haldir and his brothers had painted of their long-lost friend. Of course they would ask Indilisse to clarify it, and having spoken with Indilisse only a few times, Nindë had a feeling the elleth was too good for her own good. She would confirm the story to Haldir, and Nindë would have already artfully spun a tale, embellishing it to her tastes.
"There is something missing, though," Nindë heard Narië remark. How she hated that handmaiden, almost as much as she loathed Indilisse.
Indilisse grew silent; Nindë strained and leaned so far over the railing that she lost her footing on the edge of the balcony. A few leaves that had fallen from the trees and were resting beneath her feet, went floating down towards the elleths. Nindë scrambled backwards, but her foot caught on an uneven wood slat of the overhang and she fell back. She remained in one spot, hoping that the thud she had made did not alert them that there was a spy looming overhead. There was silence and Nindë breathed shallowly.
"Who is there?" Came Indilisse's curious call.
Narië groaned, "That is Nindë's talan, Indilisse. I did not realize this was where we were."
"Do not worry." Indilisse replied quietly, "If she wanted to hear of it, all she had to do was ask."
There was snickering and finally she heard the sounds of the elleths retreating up another set of stairs to one of their talans. Nindë sat up and let out a disgruntled huff escape her mouth. "I do not believe I did that."
"Perhaps it is because you deserved to be made a fool of for what you have done."
Nindë turned quickly and rushed to her feet, smoothing out her dress. She backed into the corner of the balcony and looked over the elf standing in front of her, his arms folded across is wide chest, an emotionless expression over his pointed features. "H-Haldir, I did not hear you come in."
"Aye, I can tell that." Haldir replied, looking her over.
She brushed back some of her hair and diverted her eyes from his that seemed to be burning her. Nindë took a deep breath, regaining her composure to look up at him. Walking over to him, she kept her eyes on his chest and ran a finger down his chest, then moved it to his ear, running along the rim of his lower lobe to its tip. She had wanted to try this ever since she saw Indilisse do it to Rúmil at the welcoming celebration. "Well, what have you come for, rwalear?"
Haldir grabbed her hand and stepped back so she was not so close. "I told you I would seek you out when I returned to the city."
"As you always do, Haldir." Nindë replied, "For your relief of pent up frustration with not having female company on the borders."
"This is different than what we have done in the past, fair temptress." Haldir looked at her.
Nindë smiled and brushed past him into her talan, adding an extra sway to her hair. "Well, then let us not wait, I always like to try new things."
"Oh, Nindë, this will not be to your benefit." He clasped his hands behind his back, following her into the main room. "Is there anything you would like to tell me before I continue?"
"No, I do not think there is." Nindë shook her head, finding that Haldir was acting very strange. "Have done something I should not have?"
Haldir ran his tongue along his lips and smiled so that one corner of his mouth was curled up. Nindë found that particular arrogant smile very enticing. He sighed, "Nothing at all? What about your trip to the bath house with Indilisse before I left for the borders?"
"It was wonderful to spend some time with her, Haldir. She is a wonderful elleth." Nindë knew she was a horrible liar, and that Haldir would be able to see straight through it.
He laughed to himself and shook his head, "Of course she is, because she said you could have me if you wanted me."
Nindë was silent. "Yes, I would very much like you..."
Haldir looked down at her as she again came close to him and reached for his ears again. He grabbed her hands and pulled them away harshly. "What do you not get, Nindë?"
"I do not understand, Haldir." Nindë said.
"I heard everything you said to her at the bath house." Haldir replied. "And I always knew it on some level, but you only confirmed your scheme."
"You were at the bath house?" Nindë asked, narrowing her eyes flirtatiously. "Peeping on the bathing elleths. Haldir, I had thought you to be better mannered."
He shook his head, "Let us not drag that into the conversation. What do you say for yourself?"
"I have nothing to say Haldir." She replied and walked away from him to sit in a chair. "What I said was true, I do want to bind with you for good. Anyone would be pleased to be bound with you."
Haldir looked at her for a long time, causing her to become fidgety under his harsh gaze. "Well, you will not have me, Nindë."
Nindë shrugged her shoulders and let a soft smile cross her face, "So be it then, but you will find no one better than I."
"Watch me." Was his only response.
"Indilisse." Nindë laughed cruelly, and sighed, "You think you could have something with that excuse for a elf-maiden?"
Haldir recoiled and bit his lip, "At least she believes in the truth of love."
Nindë smiled, "You obviously did not just hear her speaking with Narië then, about Glorfindel."
"I listened my fair share." Haldir replied, "I am not worried that she had past dealings with Lord Glorfindel. And her circumstances were regrettable, as I know Glorfindel is an opportunist, and seeing that the elleth was inebriated and was to a degree infatuated with him, he would take his chance. I would have if I was in the same spot."
"You speak so poorly of Indilisse in that statement." Nindë remarked, "As if she was unable to control her urges, making her a whore."
He paused and cocked his head to the side, "No, that is not what I am implying, Nindë. Besides, no one could be so bad as you."
She scoffed, searching for a way to cast a shadow of doubt upon Indilisse's good name, "But, Haldir, you did not keep listening to her. She told Narië that she was planning on giving herself to the Elf Lord again, at the Fall Harvest."
"I do not believe you." Haldir said, walking towards the door.
"You do not have to Haldir," Nindë called, "just ask her yourself."
He slammed the door shut behind him. He had never been so infuriated by an elleth once in his life, but Nindë had done it successfully and without recompense. Or perhaps she expected it later if he went crawling back to her. Haldir walked quickly along the paths to his talan, his mind tumbling about, thinking of everything Nindë had said to him, and then wondering if possibly there was truth to her accusation of Indilisse planning on dallying with Glorfindel again. From the way it sounded to him when Indilisse was speaking with the Elf Lord, Glorfindel was planning on such things as well. That was why he had come along on this excursion with Elrond and the twins.
Haldir wanted to ask Indilisse about the truth behind it, if there was any, but then that would give him away to her. She would know that he was asking questions that were too personal for being friends. Indilisse would ask him why he cared so much about her dealings with Glorfindel, probably in a laughing way as she quickly brushed away his own evident feelings for her. He did not know if he could survive watching her laugh at him, and then have her realize that he was really in love with her. She would get that look in her eyes that people get when they realize that a huge blunder just occurred. She would then look at him with sad eyes, and try her hardest to let him down easily, saying that she had never cared for him that way.
"I have got to stop thinking like this." Haldir said to himself. He could not trust Nindë anyway, and her words were probably all derived from her malcontent with Indilisse's pure ways. ____________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________
Indilisse sat down in the chair in her talan, letting out a long breath. Narië dropped into the chair across from her and was silent for a long while until she became fed up with waiting for Indilisse to continue. "There is more, Indilisse. Something you are not telling me. I have not known you that long, and I can sense it."
"I can trust you Narië," Indilisse said, more for her own convincing than Narië's peace of mind. "Yes, there is more to the story. At the time of the mistake, I was in love with Elladan."
"Elrond's son, Elladan?" Narië questioned.
Indilisse sighed, "He is the only Elladan I know."
"What do you mean by 'in love'?" Narië looked over Indilisse curiously, "Were you two...engaged?"
She nodded her head miserably, remembering the whole incident. Indilisse pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yes and no. He had not gotten around to officially asking me yet, but I know he had talked with my father about it."
Narië sat still, trying to breathe in normal pattern, but all of her gasps came out in short puffs of air. "Indilisse! You of all people, I would have expected you..."
"I know, I was not pleased with myself either." Indilisse replied with enough emotion in her voice for ten people. She cast her eyes to the ground, remembering the following day. "I could not remember a thing the next morning, until I realized that there was an arm wrapped around me. I turned around and found Glorfindel's gold hair spread across the pillow and his head turned the opposite direction."
"What did you do?" Narië asked.
"I tried to scream, but nothing came out. He awoke around the same time, and removed his arm from me enough so I could scamper into a corner with a blanket still around me." Indilisse replied, "He had much of the same reaction I did, though he hid it well. Glorfindel sat up and quickly got dressed, as I tried to rationalize all that had happened the night before. I was so scared, and he came over and had the audacity to give me a farewell kiss. As if I was not confused enough. He said that we would look back on the instance and laugh. Unfortunately, he is still the only one laughing."
Narië chewed nervously on her bottom lip, "How did Elladan find out? Did you tell him?"
"I dressed and went to the dining hall for breakfast. However, on my way, I was receiving all these curious glances and I grew more and more worried about the situation. And then I saw my father down the hall from me, with this look of pure disappointment in his features. That was when I remembered him walking in on us and that I still permitted Glorfindel to stay the rest of the night." Indilisse explained. "Just as I was passing by Lord Elrond's study, I heard shouting and discerned them to be Elrond's, Elladan's and Glorfindel's. Arwen had been listening on the door around the corner and pulled me far away."
"Why did you do it, Indilisse?" Arwen asked, truly worried for her brother and her friend. "Do you not know that Elladan loves you dearly?"
Indilisse hung her head and shut her eyes, "I cannot explain it,
Arwen, I just cannot. It happened and I cannot take it back, and now
I have hurt Elladan's pride and heart."
Arwen pulled her into her arms, holding her close. "Mellon, you did
more than hurt him. You might as well have taken his heart from his
body."
"Do not say that." Indilisse cried, feeling the tears stream down her
face, "I would not wish to do that to anyone. It is my fault, I
should not have allowed Glorfindel to escort me back to my door."
"Aye, that was a silly mistake," Arwen agreed, "but he is also at
fault. He, above all else, owes allegiance to my family as Ada's
advisor. Glorfindel knew of your relationship with Elladan, he knew
you were still innocent, but still he pressed on."
Indilisse nodded, "I do not even remember clearly what happened last
night."
The sound of a throat clearing interrupted their conversation. Arwen
pulled away and sighed, "Hello Elladan."
Indilisse crumbled at that moment, grasping for Arwen to hold onto,
but she was gone before Indilisse could blink. She fell to the
ground, trying to stop her tears, but did not succeed in doing so. A
pair of black boots stopped in front of her, and Indilisse slowly
raised her eyes, finding Elladan standing over her in a menacing way,
but the look upon his face was not one of anger. He squatted down in
front of her, cupping her chin in his hand, looking carefully into her
eyes before reaching up with his thumbs to brush away her tears.
"How could you, Indilisse?" Elladan said through his own wavering
voice.
"Elladan..." she choked out, and fought to control her sobbing. "Maybe
it is better if we do not speak to each other."
He blinked his blue eyes a few times, as if trying to comprehend what
she meant. "That is folly, melamin."
"I have hurt you Elladan, I do not deserve you." Indilisse said. "What
I allowed to happen was despicable and you deserve someone better than
me."
"The biggest part about loving someone is learning to forgive them,
melamin. I will love you no matter what you do." Elladan replied.
"But this..." Indilisse trailed off, "This is what elven couples do when
they bind together."
Elladan tried to smile at her naïveté, but only partially succeeded.
"I will love you forever, Indilisse, even if you should so choose
another."
"Then why were you yelling in the study?" Indilisse asked.
"So I would not yell at you," he said. "Glorfindel is notoriously
doing things like this, Indilisse, and he deserved a good tongue
lashing especially in the position he is in."
"I am not so stupid to realize that it takes more than one person to
make the mistake we did Elladan, you should not forgive me so easily."
Indilisse continued.
Elladan nodded, "I am well aware of that, melamin, but I know that had
you the opportunity and been sober, you would not have done it. That
is not like you."
"So what happened?" Narië asked, "Did you two continue..."
"We remained together until Ada decided we should leave for Mirkwood, to get away from all the disgrace he felt because of me." Indilisse replied, "Even though he had forgiven me, our love never truly was the same again. There was always that doubt, that question and the remembrance of my infidelity."
Narië reached out and grabbed Indilisse's hands, "Indilisse, as your friend, I say that I am sorry for the loss of that seeming unconditional relationship. However, also as your friend, I am going to chastise you for doing that to someone like Elladan."
"Do you not think that I have already been through enough pain. The constant reminders of who I was and what I did and the love I lost?" Indilisse questioned. "I did not hear from him for fifty years because he had gone to ride with the Dunédain with Elrohir. Eventually my pain lessened, but always do I remember what I did and how doing something in the heat of the moment can hurt another so much."
Narië sighed, "Indilisse, I am sorry."
Indilisse shook her head, "Do not be sorry for me, Narië. Be sorry for Elladan."
"I think you learned your lesson, mellon nin." Narië sighed.
"I hope." Indilisse said, looking away from Narië. "But that is where I am, never really sure where our relationship ended."
"You must move on." Narië replied, "There are many other elves..."
"Aye, I know," Indilisse said, glad that the conversation had not turned to new loves up to this point. "For the next few weeks, and the Imladris elves are here, I will not be able to move on."
*-*-*-* rwalear- lusty one mellon- friend melamin- my love
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