Chapter 14- Crime and Punishment
Emlin walked beside Éomer slowly, but kept her eyes on the dirty stone ground in front of them. Minas Tirith had held so much legend and myth for her that she had wanted to see the White Tower and behold the beauty of it, but now that she was here, she could not bring herself to enjoy the sheer grandeur of the city. Nay she was too worried what would happen when her parents first saw her. She could not bring herself watch the way in front of her, because she knew that her parents would be there and that they would not have the happiest looks upon their faces.
She shot a sideways glance at Éomer, who kept his eyes forward, watching the gates open up in front of them. The creak of the wooden gates drew her attention, and she looked back in front of her, the front of the tallest level being revealed to them. Summoning her courage, Emlin took a deep breath and trained her eyes on the people now standing outside the large doors of the palace, waiting to receive the arrivals into the city. There were her parents, even in front of Aragorn and Arwen, standing beside each other. Their looks, however, were indiscernible. In her mother's eyes, there was a hint of complete anger, and yet utter relief prevailing. However, in her father's eyes, there was only anger.
She had seen this look only a few times before on his usually unemotional facial expressions, and it scared her, but before she could move her eyes away from him, her mother was in front of her, pulling Emlin into her arms. Her mother held her close, not moving, but then pulled away, placing her hands on either side of her cheeks, brushing away the hair that had fallen out of her braid, looking over Emlin. Emlin looked into her mothers eyes, and now saw tears forming there, and all in that instant, Emlin did not care what would happen to her for leaving Lórien. Whatever it was, she deserved it, especially since she had distressed her mother so much that it made her cry.
"Oh, Emlin." Her mother said, pulling her close again, kissing her brow repeatedly. "I was so worried about you."
"Worried, Nana?" Emlin asked.
Indilisse pulled back and looked over Emlin again. "I knew something was wrong two days ago...where is your brother?"
"Nana!" Came the excited call and then there were rapid light footfalls on the ground. Thoron appeared from the back of the group where he had been bothering one of Éomer's guards for the past day with questions about fighting.
"Thank Elbereth!" Indilisse exclaimed, bending down and taking Thoron into her arms. Emlin was quickly pushed aside at the rejoicing being had that Thoron was fine and also when Aragorn was finally able to greet Éomer. She moved her eyes about the commotion to see her uncles standing with Legolas, her father only a few paces away as he strode over to her. He stopped before her and looked down into her eyes, but she did not find the anger that had been there. In his eyes was also a relieved look, but he did nothing like her mother. Instead, he stood over her and it seemed he tried to read her thoughts.
"Ada." She spoke quietly, and took a deep breath.
He turned and looked back at the people there, and waived to Aranel, "Aranel, please come here!"
Aranel came over, "Yes Uncle?"
"Will you take Emlin to her mother's and my room?" Haldir questioned.
"Aye." Aranel replied, and grabbed Emlin's arm.
Emlin stopped Aranel, though and turned back to look at her father, "What about Thoron, Ada?"
"He is fine," Haldir said. "There will be people to take care of him out here. You are to go and wait for your mother and me in our chamber."
"But, Ada..." Emlin started, but was silenced by a raised hand.
He sighed, "Just go, Emlin."
She hung her head and turned to follow Aranel. They walked up the many stairs, a walkway forming between those who had come out to see the newcomers. Both of her uncles shook their heads in disappointment, but each pulled her into a quick hug, welcoming her. Once inside, Emlin found the Lord and Lady and bowed her head slightly to each before Aranel pulled her along. They walked for what seemed like forever, through many hallways and small corridors, passing many sentinels standing guard at the entrances to them or at doors. Finally, they came upon a large door and Aranel opened it, showing her inside.
Emlin looked around at the large room, finding it to be bigger than their entire talan back in Lórien. Maybe the grandeur of Minas Tirith was the interior and not on the exterior. She, though, still could not take in all of the White City and feel happy about it. Still she thought about what she had done.
"Why did you do it, Emlin?"
She turned to look at Aranel, "I do not know, Aranel."
Aranel shook her head, "I cannot believe you did it."
"Neither can I." Emlin replied, but they were interrupted by the door opening and the entrance of Indilisse and Haldir. Aranel left the room quickly and Haldir shut the door after her. The room was so quiet that Emlin could hear the sound of the horses neighing at the stables on the level below.
"How could you Emlin?" Spoke her mother slowly and it seemed almost deliberately, as though she was trying to calm herself.
"I do not know Nana." Emlin said and hung her head again, resting her head in her hands.
Haldir scoffed, "I think you should know. You thought you were doing the right thing by trying to come here, so there has to be a reason."
Emlin looked up at him, "I wanted to see the city."
Indilisse sighed heavily and raised her brows. "And you could not wait for a few years Emlin?"
"I guess that I could not." Emlin replied.
"What were you thinking Emlin?!" Indilisse exclaimed. "Putting yourself in that kind of danger is horrible enough, but to then place your young brother in that situation is even worse!"
Haldir nodded his head in agreement. "It is absolutely the most irresponsible thing you could have done!"
Emlin looked at both of her parents, not knowing what to say. What could she say? She knew she was wrong in disobeying them and subjecting Thoron to the evils of the world. "I did not know."
"Did not know what?" Indilisse questioned.
"That there were such evil things in Middle-earth. Not after the war anyway." Emlin said.
Indilisse groaned to herself, "I told you that the reason you could not come with us was because there such foul beats in the world!"
"I did not believe you." She replied, moving her eyes to ground. She had never had such an argument with her mother before, and it made Emlin ashamed of herself even without her mother's or father's words. "I thought that you were making me stay because you did not think I capable of traveling. So I went by myself."
"You did not go by yourself! You went with your brother!" Indilisse shouted. "We made you stay in Lórien because Thoron could not come with come us, not because we thought incapable of traveling with us."
Her father walked up behind her mother, placing his hands on her shoulders. Her mother closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before opening them again. Her father stepped from behind her, "We placed a great deal of trust in you, Emlin, when we left you to care for your brother. But you took that trust and tore it to shreds with this recklessness."
"With this, you have shown us that even though you are of age, you are not capable of living your own life free from parental guidance." Her mother said. "I am sorry that I left you in charge of Thoron."
The last few comments hurt Emlin more than anything. She had never thought of it that way before. All Emlin had wanted by leaving Lórien was to show her parents that she could things on her own, with or without their help, but she accomplished just the opposite of that. She could have argued with them, as in any normal circumstance, but this was beyond normal and she was from compelled. For the first time, Emlin realized that it was not the age that you were that made you an adult. It was the actions and decisions you regularly made that made you an adult. And as much as it pained her to admit it to herself, she was far from being an adult.
"I am sorry, Ada and Nana." Emlin said quietly, hoping they would soften their stances.
They did not and her mother spoke, "We are sorry too, Emlin, and it hurts me that we have to do what we have to do."
"I do not understand." Emlin said.
Indilisse and Haldir exchanged glances and heavy sighs as they turned back to her. Haldir looked closely at Emlin, "You will not be coming back to Minas Tirith, unless your father and I have departed from Middle-earth and you are alone."
"But Ada..." Emlin began to protest.
"Not only have you stained our trust in you, Emlin, you have also made us appear to be very bad parents." Her mother said, setting her lips into a grim thin line. "Not only in front of you uncles, but also the Lord and Lady, the King and Queen, Lord Elrond, Legolas..."
"I think she gets the point, Indilisse." Emlin could barely believe that her father was trying to call her mother down. It was always the other way around.
Her mother glared at him, "I do not think she does."
"I do, Nana." Emlin said quickly.
"Do you realize how scared and worried I was for you?!" Indilisse shouted, tears springing to her eyes. "Three nights ago I felt it. I knew there was something wrong, but never could I have thought you would be so dense as to leave Lórien. You are very lucky King Éomer was around you to aide you when you were threatened by the orcs."
"I could not possibly know how scared you were Nana!" Emlin exclaimed, "All I know is that I was exceptionally scared, and you must have felt worse."
Indilisse took a deep breath, but remained stone-faced. "In addition to not traveling back to Mina Tirith, you will not be allowed any time with your friends or your cousin until your father and I see fit."
"Aye Nana." Emlin said.
"You may think this is harsh, Emlin, but we could do much worse." Her father said. "It is entirely your fault for thinking you could leave Lórien and come to Minas Tirith. However, I place a great deal of blame on those protecting the borders. They should have stopped you from leaving the tree lines."
Emlin looked at her father, completely disbelieving his placidity. "They did not try to stop us. We saw no elf between the gates of the city and the fences."
Her father grumbled to himself and hung his head. "Then you shall not be the only one punished."
"We will leave you here to think about what you have done." Indilisse said, moving out the door and pulling Haldir with her. Emlin watched the door close, the resounding thud like a heavy weight on her heart. What was there to think about. She no longer had the trust of her parents. She was not an adult. She shamed her parents, and embarrassed them and herself in front of many important people. She had placed her brother in line of great perils. And she was no longer able to come back to Minas Tirith. Those things were facts, and she did not know how she was going to deal with them.
Indilisse kept her eyes focused on the ground, so as not to show Haldir her emotions over the matter. She had never had to scold Emlin or Thoron and punish them as much as she had just done, and it made her feel horrible. She thought she had done a better job raising them. Thoron was excusable, as he was still young and impressionable, but Emlin should have known better. Indilisse had been ready to trust Emlin and let her free to see the world from her own eyes without the views of her parents inhibiting her, though now Indilisse could not see her as any elfling over the age of ten. Emlin was young and far too driven by emotions to be considering the choices she would have to make as an elleth on her own. That much was apparent.
She felt Haldir's hand slip into hers, and soon found herself inside the library, away from everyone else. The smell of musty books found her nose, but it was soon replaced by the smell of Haldir as he pulled her to him in a long hug. She cried lightly into his shoulder as he stroked her hair. He sighed, "Indilisse, you should not be the one crying."
"I was so worried, though." Indilisse replied, "I wanted to hug and kiss her, but strangle her at the same time."
"As do I, Indilisse." Haldir looked down at her, "But we have to remain strong or she will never learn."
"You do not think we were too hard on her?" Indilisse asked.
He shook his head as she looked up at him with the wetness of tears covering her cheeks. Haldir took his hands and cupped her face with them, wiping away the emotion with both of his thumbs. "No, my love. Sometimes you must be as firm as this. Trust me, I learned from the most impossible children."
"Orophin and Rúmil were not so horrible." Indilisse said, resting her head against his shoulder.
"I was not speaking of them, Indilisse." He let out a soft chuckle, "I was speaking about you."
She pulled away from him and pouted. "I was never so horrible as Emlin."
He leaned over her and kissed the tip of her nose, "Emlin is far from horrible, Indilisse. I agree that she completely tarnished her trust that we had in her, but you must look at who her parents are. One who is more mischievous than my brothers combined, and another with arrogance and a bad temper."
Indilisse found herself chuckling, "She is the embodiment of all of our worst traits, Haldir."
"They are not our worst traits, meleth." Haldir said, smoothing her hair down her back again. "She just has not learned how to harness them yet."
"Have you learned to harness your arrogance, Haldir?" She raised a curious brow.
"I have controlled it quite sufficiently, Indilisse." He replied, "I had to humble myself to bind with you."
"True." Indilisse nodded and stood up on her toes to place a kiss upon his lips. She pulled away quickly and sighed to herself, "I hate to ban her from ever traveling again, but now every time she is out a distance that is more than a day's ride, I will never be able to rest soundly."
Haldir nodded his head. "Would you ever rested soundly if she had not done this?"
She shook her head.
"That is what I thought." He smiled, "We have punished her severely, Indilisse, this I know. But we shall see if she grows at all in the coming year or so. Maybe we will then amend her punishment. But in the meantime, I will be having a great deal of time to spend with my family, as there will be many wardens going out for extended stays on the borders to make up for the slight of not stopping my children from leaving the woods."
"You say you will reprimand your wardens, but you forget that it was Luinil's task to keep a watchful eye out for any trouble." Indilisse said.
Haldir sighed, "I have no power over him, Indilisse, other than to yell at him."
"If you do not wish to yell at him, I would be more than happy to." Indilisse volunteered.
"No, I shall do it." Haldir replied. The sound of a door opening and closing caught their attention, and they both turned to find Arwen walking with Galadriel. Haldir quickly excused himself and left Indilisse to the two high elves.
Indilisse bowed her head slightly, "My ladies."
Galadriel smiled and walked up to Indilisse, placing fingers beneath Indilisse's chin to raise her eyes. The Lady studied her eyes for a few long moments and sighed, "You should not be so hard on yourself, Indilisse. Emlin deserved the reprimand and punishment she received. It was just and equal to the crime. However, I think in a very short time you will find that she has grown in numerous ways. This experience had taught her much."
"Thank you, my lady." Indilisse said.
"It is hard being a parent, Indilisse, this I know. It is among the most difficult tasks either Celeborn or I have had to bear in our long lives. Celebrían was not treat when it came to children." Galadriel spoke softly, this conversation being the most forthcoming and explicit Indilisse had ever encountered with the Lady.
"It is good to know that Haldir and I are not the only ones." Indilisse said.
Galadriel chuckled, "Oh dear, no. I remember a time just in this same instance that Celebrían thought it quite lovely that she should go out into the woods and hide form us because she was unhappy with something we said to her. I was worried about her so much that when I finally found her I banished her to her room with many books not on her interests, expecting a discussion with each one of them by the time she emerged."
Indilisse had to laugh at this, as did Arwen. "I thought I had punished Emlin badly."
"Hardly, Indilisse." Galadriel replied. "But I would urge you in a few years to consider letting her come back to Minas Tirith. She could learn an extreme amount here, in life and in other areas."
"I will reconsider, after my anger has subsided." Indilisse replied and looked at Arwen, "If the offer still stands, Arwen. I know now that you have seen the true disobedience of my daughter, you may not wish to have her here."
"That is preposterous and you know it, Indilisse." Arwen said, "Emlin is welcome here anytime you allow her to visit."
Indilisse sighed heavily and gazed at both of Arwen and Galadriel. "We must appear horrible parents."
"You are hardly that," Galadriel smiled again. "You are wonderful parents to care of your children so much that you did not wish to subject them to the wilds of Middle-earth yet."
"I hope you are right, my lady." Indilisse remarked and took a calming breath. Yes, hopefully the lady was right.
----
meleth- love
Emlin walked beside Éomer slowly, but kept her eyes on the dirty stone ground in front of them. Minas Tirith had held so much legend and myth for her that she had wanted to see the White Tower and behold the beauty of it, but now that she was here, she could not bring herself to enjoy the sheer grandeur of the city. Nay she was too worried what would happen when her parents first saw her. She could not bring herself watch the way in front of her, because she knew that her parents would be there and that they would not have the happiest looks upon their faces.
She shot a sideways glance at Éomer, who kept his eyes forward, watching the gates open up in front of them. The creak of the wooden gates drew her attention, and she looked back in front of her, the front of the tallest level being revealed to them. Summoning her courage, Emlin took a deep breath and trained her eyes on the people now standing outside the large doors of the palace, waiting to receive the arrivals into the city. There were her parents, even in front of Aragorn and Arwen, standing beside each other. Their looks, however, were indiscernible. In her mother's eyes, there was a hint of complete anger, and yet utter relief prevailing. However, in her father's eyes, there was only anger.
She had seen this look only a few times before on his usually unemotional facial expressions, and it scared her, but before she could move her eyes away from him, her mother was in front of her, pulling Emlin into her arms. Her mother held her close, not moving, but then pulled away, placing her hands on either side of her cheeks, brushing away the hair that had fallen out of her braid, looking over Emlin. Emlin looked into her mothers eyes, and now saw tears forming there, and all in that instant, Emlin did not care what would happen to her for leaving Lórien. Whatever it was, she deserved it, especially since she had distressed her mother so much that it made her cry.
"Oh, Emlin." Her mother said, pulling her close again, kissing her brow repeatedly. "I was so worried about you."
"Worried, Nana?" Emlin asked.
Indilisse pulled back and looked over Emlin again. "I knew something was wrong two days ago...where is your brother?"
"Nana!" Came the excited call and then there were rapid light footfalls on the ground. Thoron appeared from the back of the group where he had been bothering one of Éomer's guards for the past day with questions about fighting.
"Thank Elbereth!" Indilisse exclaimed, bending down and taking Thoron into her arms. Emlin was quickly pushed aside at the rejoicing being had that Thoron was fine and also when Aragorn was finally able to greet Éomer. She moved her eyes about the commotion to see her uncles standing with Legolas, her father only a few paces away as he strode over to her. He stopped before her and looked down into her eyes, but she did not find the anger that had been there. In his eyes was also a relieved look, but he did nothing like her mother. Instead, he stood over her and it seemed he tried to read her thoughts.
"Ada." She spoke quietly, and took a deep breath.
He turned and looked back at the people there, and waived to Aranel, "Aranel, please come here!"
Aranel came over, "Yes Uncle?"
"Will you take Emlin to her mother's and my room?" Haldir questioned.
"Aye." Aranel replied, and grabbed Emlin's arm.
Emlin stopped Aranel, though and turned back to look at her father, "What about Thoron, Ada?"
"He is fine," Haldir said. "There will be people to take care of him out here. You are to go and wait for your mother and me in our chamber."
"But, Ada..." Emlin started, but was silenced by a raised hand.
He sighed, "Just go, Emlin."
She hung her head and turned to follow Aranel. They walked up the many stairs, a walkway forming between those who had come out to see the newcomers. Both of her uncles shook their heads in disappointment, but each pulled her into a quick hug, welcoming her. Once inside, Emlin found the Lord and Lady and bowed her head slightly to each before Aranel pulled her along. They walked for what seemed like forever, through many hallways and small corridors, passing many sentinels standing guard at the entrances to them or at doors. Finally, they came upon a large door and Aranel opened it, showing her inside.
Emlin looked around at the large room, finding it to be bigger than their entire talan back in Lórien. Maybe the grandeur of Minas Tirith was the interior and not on the exterior. She, though, still could not take in all of the White City and feel happy about it. Still she thought about what she had done.
"Why did you do it, Emlin?"
She turned to look at Aranel, "I do not know, Aranel."
Aranel shook her head, "I cannot believe you did it."
"Neither can I." Emlin replied, but they were interrupted by the door opening and the entrance of Indilisse and Haldir. Aranel left the room quickly and Haldir shut the door after her. The room was so quiet that Emlin could hear the sound of the horses neighing at the stables on the level below.
"How could you Emlin?" Spoke her mother slowly and it seemed almost deliberately, as though she was trying to calm herself.
"I do not know Nana." Emlin said and hung her head again, resting her head in her hands.
Haldir scoffed, "I think you should know. You thought you were doing the right thing by trying to come here, so there has to be a reason."
Emlin looked up at him, "I wanted to see the city."
Indilisse sighed heavily and raised her brows. "And you could not wait for a few years Emlin?"
"I guess that I could not." Emlin replied.
"What were you thinking Emlin?!" Indilisse exclaimed. "Putting yourself in that kind of danger is horrible enough, but to then place your young brother in that situation is even worse!"
Haldir nodded his head in agreement. "It is absolutely the most irresponsible thing you could have done!"
Emlin looked at both of her parents, not knowing what to say. What could she say? She knew she was wrong in disobeying them and subjecting Thoron to the evils of the world. "I did not know."
"Did not know what?" Indilisse questioned.
"That there were such evil things in Middle-earth. Not after the war anyway." Emlin said.
Indilisse groaned to herself, "I told you that the reason you could not come with us was because there such foul beats in the world!"
"I did not believe you." She replied, moving her eyes to ground. She had never had such an argument with her mother before, and it made Emlin ashamed of herself even without her mother's or father's words. "I thought that you were making me stay because you did not think I capable of traveling. So I went by myself."
"You did not go by yourself! You went with your brother!" Indilisse shouted. "We made you stay in Lórien because Thoron could not come with come us, not because we thought incapable of traveling with us."
Her father walked up behind her mother, placing his hands on her shoulders. Her mother closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before opening them again. Her father stepped from behind her, "We placed a great deal of trust in you, Emlin, when we left you to care for your brother. But you took that trust and tore it to shreds with this recklessness."
"With this, you have shown us that even though you are of age, you are not capable of living your own life free from parental guidance." Her mother said. "I am sorry that I left you in charge of Thoron."
The last few comments hurt Emlin more than anything. She had never thought of it that way before. All Emlin had wanted by leaving Lórien was to show her parents that she could things on her own, with or without their help, but she accomplished just the opposite of that. She could have argued with them, as in any normal circumstance, but this was beyond normal and she was from compelled. For the first time, Emlin realized that it was not the age that you were that made you an adult. It was the actions and decisions you regularly made that made you an adult. And as much as it pained her to admit it to herself, she was far from being an adult.
"I am sorry, Ada and Nana." Emlin said quietly, hoping they would soften their stances.
They did not and her mother spoke, "We are sorry too, Emlin, and it hurts me that we have to do what we have to do."
"I do not understand." Emlin said.
Indilisse and Haldir exchanged glances and heavy sighs as they turned back to her. Haldir looked closely at Emlin, "You will not be coming back to Minas Tirith, unless your father and I have departed from Middle-earth and you are alone."
"But Ada..." Emlin began to protest.
"Not only have you stained our trust in you, Emlin, you have also made us appear to be very bad parents." Her mother said, setting her lips into a grim thin line. "Not only in front of you uncles, but also the Lord and Lady, the King and Queen, Lord Elrond, Legolas..."
"I think she gets the point, Indilisse." Emlin could barely believe that her father was trying to call her mother down. It was always the other way around.
Her mother glared at him, "I do not think she does."
"I do, Nana." Emlin said quickly.
"Do you realize how scared and worried I was for you?!" Indilisse shouted, tears springing to her eyes. "Three nights ago I felt it. I knew there was something wrong, but never could I have thought you would be so dense as to leave Lórien. You are very lucky King Éomer was around you to aide you when you were threatened by the orcs."
"I could not possibly know how scared you were Nana!" Emlin exclaimed, "All I know is that I was exceptionally scared, and you must have felt worse."
Indilisse took a deep breath, but remained stone-faced. "In addition to not traveling back to Mina Tirith, you will not be allowed any time with your friends or your cousin until your father and I see fit."
"Aye Nana." Emlin said.
"You may think this is harsh, Emlin, but we could do much worse." Her father said. "It is entirely your fault for thinking you could leave Lórien and come to Minas Tirith. However, I place a great deal of blame on those protecting the borders. They should have stopped you from leaving the tree lines."
Emlin looked at her father, completely disbelieving his placidity. "They did not try to stop us. We saw no elf between the gates of the city and the fences."
Her father grumbled to himself and hung his head. "Then you shall not be the only one punished."
"We will leave you here to think about what you have done." Indilisse said, moving out the door and pulling Haldir with her. Emlin watched the door close, the resounding thud like a heavy weight on her heart. What was there to think about. She no longer had the trust of her parents. She was not an adult. She shamed her parents, and embarrassed them and herself in front of many important people. She had placed her brother in line of great perils. And she was no longer able to come back to Minas Tirith. Those things were facts, and she did not know how she was going to deal with them.
Indilisse kept her eyes focused on the ground, so as not to show Haldir her emotions over the matter. She had never had to scold Emlin or Thoron and punish them as much as she had just done, and it made her feel horrible. She thought she had done a better job raising them. Thoron was excusable, as he was still young and impressionable, but Emlin should have known better. Indilisse had been ready to trust Emlin and let her free to see the world from her own eyes without the views of her parents inhibiting her, though now Indilisse could not see her as any elfling over the age of ten. Emlin was young and far too driven by emotions to be considering the choices she would have to make as an elleth on her own. That much was apparent.
She felt Haldir's hand slip into hers, and soon found herself inside the library, away from everyone else. The smell of musty books found her nose, but it was soon replaced by the smell of Haldir as he pulled her to him in a long hug. She cried lightly into his shoulder as he stroked her hair. He sighed, "Indilisse, you should not be the one crying."
"I was so worried, though." Indilisse replied, "I wanted to hug and kiss her, but strangle her at the same time."
"As do I, Indilisse." Haldir looked down at her, "But we have to remain strong or she will never learn."
"You do not think we were too hard on her?" Indilisse asked.
He shook his head as she looked up at him with the wetness of tears covering her cheeks. Haldir took his hands and cupped her face with them, wiping away the emotion with both of his thumbs. "No, my love. Sometimes you must be as firm as this. Trust me, I learned from the most impossible children."
"Orophin and Rúmil were not so horrible." Indilisse said, resting her head against his shoulder.
"I was not speaking of them, Indilisse." He let out a soft chuckle, "I was speaking about you."
She pulled away from him and pouted. "I was never so horrible as Emlin."
He leaned over her and kissed the tip of her nose, "Emlin is far from horrible, Indilisse. I agree that she completely tarnished her trust that we had in her, but you must look at who her parents are. One who is more mischievous than my brothers combined, and another with arrogance and a bad temper."
Indilisse found herself chuckling, "She is the embodiment of all of our worst traits, Haldir."
"They are not our worst traits, meleth." Haldir said, smoothing her hair down her back again. "She just has not learned how to harness them yet."
"Have you learned to harness your arrogance, Haldir?" She raised a curious brow.
"I have controlled it quite sufficiently, Indilisse." He replied, "I had to humble myself to bind with you."
"True." Indilisse nodded and stood up on her toes to place a kiss upon his lips. She pulled away quickly and sighed to herself, "I hate to ban her from ever traveling again, but now every time she is out a distance that is more than a day's ride, I will never be able to rest soundly."
Haldir nodded his head. "Would you ever rested soundly if she had not done this?"
She shook her head.
"That is what I thought." He smiled, "We have punished her severely, Indilisse, this I know. But we shall see if she grows at all in the coming year or so. Maybe we will then amend her punishment. But in the meantime, I will be having a great deal of time to spend with my family, as there will be many wardens going out for extended stays on the borders to make up for the slight of not stopping my children from leaving the woods."
"You say you will reprimand your wardens, but you forget that it was Luinil's task to keep a watchful eye out for any trouble." Indilisse said.
Haldir sighed, "I have no power over him, Indilisse, other than to yell at him."
"If you do not wish to yell at him, I would be more than happy to." Indilisse volunteered.
"No, I shall do it." Haldir replied. The sound of a door opening and closing caught their attention, and they both turned to find Arwen walking with Galadriel. Haldir quickly excused himself and left Indilisse to the two high elves.
Indilisse bowed her head slightly, "My ladies."
Galadriel smiled and walked up to Indilisse, placing fingers beneath Indilisse's chin to raise her eyes. The Lady studied her eyes for a few long moments and sighed, "You should not be so hard on yourself, Indilisse. Emlin deserved the reprimand and punishment she received. It was just and equal to the crime. However, I think in a very short time you will find that she has grown in numerous ways. This experience had taught her much."
"Thank you, my lady." Indilisse said.
"It is hard being a parent, Indilisse, this I know. It is among the most difficult tasks either Celeborn or I have had to bear in our long lives. Celebrían was not treat when it came to children." Galadriel spoke softly, this conversation being the most forthcoming and explicit Indilisse had ever encountered with the Lady.
"It is good to know that Haldir and I are not the only ones." Indilisse said.
Galadriel chuckled, "Oh dear, no. I remember a time just in this same instance that Celebrían thought it quite lovely that she should go out into the woods and hide form us because she was unhappy with something we said to her. I was worried about her so much that when I finally found her I banished her to her room with many books not on her interests, expecting a discussion with each one of them by the time she emerged."
Indilisse had to laugh at this, as did Arwen. "I thought I had punished Emlin badly."
"Hardly, Indilisse." Galadriel replied. "But I would urge you in a few years to consider letting her come back to Minas Tirith. She could learn an extreme amount here, in life and in other areas."
"I will reconsider, after my anger has subsided." Indilisse replied and looked at Arwen, "If the offer still stands, Arwen. I know now that you have seen the true disobedience of my daughter, you may not wish to have her here."
"That is preposterous and you know it, Indilisse." Arwen said, "Emlin is welcome here anytime you allow her to visit."
Indilisse sighed heavily and gazed at both of Arwen and Galadriel. "We must appear horrible parents."
"You are hardly that," Galadriel smiled again. "You are wonderful parents to care of your children so much that you did not wish to subject them to the wilds of Middle-earth yet."
"I hope you are right, my lady." Indilisse remarked and took a calming breath. Yes, hopefully the lady was right.
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meleth- love