11. The First Thin Threads

Legolas rapped on Arwen's door but there was no answer. He stood a moment, considering his next course of action before glancing up and down the corridor. The passage was empty and he pressed his ear to the door. There was no sound of movement inside that he could detect. He shook his head, scowling at the door as if it were somehow at fault.

He sighed as he considered how it had come to this. When had the heart of his Evenstar broken? When had she begun to hide herself, even from him? Once she had turned to him in her sorrow. Did she now fear he had abandoned her as well?

There was the distinct sound of giggling coming from the stairs and he ducked behind a curtain. It would never do to have any of Arwen's ladies catch him lurking at her door.

"He was so charming, oh Meril, I never dreamed he was so brilliant! And he's so sweet." Eirien said with a sigh as she came down the passage with Meril stalking angrily beside her.

"I do not want to hear another word about him." Meril hissed, "I have spent my entire evening combing the gardens for that wretched Mirkwood Prince. I could not find him anywhere!"

"How do you suppose Indelin fared?" Eirien asked, as they passed the curtain where Legolas was hiding.

"Badly." Meril snapped.

Legolas cringed as he peered out from behind the curtain watching them disappear down the passage. That was one elleth he was quite glad not to have wooed.

He would have to do something about her, and quickly. He needed to find a reasonable elf to occupy her. Someone more suited to a hot tempered elleth than himself. Elrohir perhaps, he could always appreciate a maid with an open temper.

In the mean time he would wait for Arwen to return, and she had better have a fine explanation when she turned up again.

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"Ah, little brother," Orophin said with a happy grin "It is a glorious night, is it not?" he threw himself down on the couch near the open window with a deeply contented sigh as Rumil glared angrily from the chair beside him.

"So good of you to join us, brother." he snarled, leaning heavily on his knees and resting his head in his hands.

"What has you so brooding?" Orophin asked, the smile never fading from his face. "Did you not find a maid to suit your fancy?"

"Nay, I did not!" Rumil replied hotly "I was far to busy tending to our brother and his broken heart!" Orophin's face creased in a frown and he pulled himself to his feet, crossing the suite to one of the bedroom doors. He peered into the darkness, his frown deepening as he eased the door shut.

"He does not look so good." Orophin said, shaking his head.

"I am so pleased that you noticed!" Rumil snapped, his face contorting for a moment as if he might cry. Orophin crossed the room quickly, slipping a comforting arm around his youngest brother.

"Do not fret," he said "Haldir will be fine! Do you not remember the time Lady Galadriel forced him to sit beside Undomiel at the midsummer feast? He was shaken for days and still he recovered!"

"It is different this time!" Rumil moaned "You saw her with Legolas at the ball! And when she fled he was the first to follow. He will bind to her and Haldir will fade!"

"They are not bound yet." Orophin insisted. "We have only to force the wedge between them."

"You did not see him Orophin." Rumil said quietly, looking up into his brother's face with wounded eyes "He would not even speak to me. I fear it is already too late."

"Then we must find some way to mend the situation." Orophin replied. "Our first task must be to part the Lady from her prince."

"If she thought him unfaithful she would surely cast him off." Rumil said, "Could we not tell her, in passing, that we saw him with another elleth?"

"She would not suspect us," Orophin nodded in agreement "as she has told no one of her intentions toward Legolas. It is certainly worth a try, but we must plan it out carefully."

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"I have spent the last three months in the wilds with your dear brothers." Estel said with a grin as they walked in the garden. "I can honestly say I learned a great deal."

"I hope you learned to check your boots before putting them on in the mornings." Arwen teased.

"Nay, I learned to sleep with them on." he chuckled, "Please do not tell me that they subject you to their wicked pranks as well."

"They took me hunting once when I was still an elfling." she smiled at the memory. "When I put my boots on in the morning there were mice in them."

"Consider yourself fortunate." Estel replied with a shiver "For me it was snakes."

"They are horrid." She giggled. "I absolutely adore them."

"I do as well." he admitted shyly. "Your family has been very good to me my Lady, I do not know how I should have got on without them."

"I refuse to believe you speak to Ada and my brothers with such formality." Arwen said with a soft smile.

"Nay, I do not." he replied, not meeting her gaze. "Even less so with snakes in my boots." Arwen laughed, leaning a bit closer to him as they walked.

"Am I not family as well?" she asked, casting him a sidelong glance. He paused, drawing her hand from his arm and taking it in his, his thumb gently tracing circles on it a moment as he looked into her eyes.

"I am a bit in awe of you." he whispered, his face flushing. Arwen felt a strange tingling inside as she searched his eyes, one she had never felt before.

"I am not certain I would be comfortable addressing you as I do my brothers." he said, glancing away. Arwen laid a hand on his cheek with a smile.

"Then perhaps you should address me as you would your sister." she said. He smiled back at her.

"I would like that... Arwen." he said with a low voice.

"So would I Estel." She replied and he gave hear hand an affectionate squeeze. He drew her off the path and they settled in the grass together, looking up at the stars.

"I must admit I am rather overwhelmed that you would choose to grant me so much of your attention." he whispered, but Arwen shook her head.

"I have hardly anyone here in Imladris apart from Ada and my brothers." she replied "It is nice to have someone else to talk to, to have a friend."

"You shall always have my friendship," he said gently "if ever you have need of it." Arwen gave him a brilliant smile and she brushed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, dear Estel." she said, tears glistening in her eyes. "You can never know how much that kindness means to me, especially this night."

"It is no kindness." Estel replied, shaking his head "It is my honor."

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"It is a disaster." Elrohir whispered, his jaw hanging open in a most undignified manner. Elladan leaned over his twin's shoulder for a better look. He peered through the hedge at Estel and Arwen as they sat in the grass together, giggling like a pair of lovers.

"No!" he squeaked as Arwen planted a chaste kiss on their foster brother's cheek. Elrohir clapped a hand over his mouth, holding him back by the shirt collar.

"Do not do anything rash!" he hissed at his struggling twin. Elladan pushed him away with a rough shove but Elrohir pounced on him immediately, pining him to the ground on his back.

"You cannot kill him!" Elrohir begged, his voice rising slightly in panic. "What will Ada say?"

"What will Ada say when he finds out about this?" Elladan demanded.

"Tis only flirting!" Elrohir insisted, shaking slightly.

"Only flirting?" Elladan snarled through clenched teeth. Elrohir motioned for him to keep his voice down and his next words were any angry whisper. "What you and I do with maids is only flirting. Look hard on them brother, tis the first bloom of love." Elrohir peered through the hedge, his breathing uneven as he watched Estel tenderly caress Arwen's cheek in a comforting manner. Elladan was right, this was far more than a harmless flirt.

"What are we to do?" he groaned, despair etching itself in his features. "Ada will kill him, you know how he is about Arwen!"

"We must break them up." Elladan said, worry clear on his own face as he shoved his twin off his chest. "You know as well as I that Arwen would make any sacrifice for love. If we do not part them, and quickly, she will choose mortality." Elrohir looked as if he might be sick at the mere thought. He had never coped well with the truth that one day Estel would die, the prospect of losing Arwen as well was too much.

"How shall we go about it?" he asked desperately.

"You have broken more hearts than I," Elladan snapped "think of something!"

"Jealousy?" Elrohir asked with a shrug.

"Aye," Elladan nodded with an evil smile "We must make Estel look the rogue and at the same time find someone to pursue Arwen. They will each think the other dishonest and the romance will wilt before it has even come to bud."

"I know many a maid who would help us with Estel but who will we find to woo Arwen?" Elrohir asked "There are precious few elves in Imladris who can even look her in the eye and most of those I find even more abhorrent than Estel!"

"We must choose well." Elladan sighed, climbing to his feet and heading back to the house "He must be unmatched as a warrior or our foolish little brother will challenge him."

"And he must be an elf of high honor," Elrohir nodded "for we can not compromise Arwen. If our plan is successful she might well wed our choice out of spite to Estel."

"Spite is certainly Arwen's strong suit." Elladan shuddered. He stopped dead in his tracks, a manic smile lighting his face.

"I know the perfect elf." He said to his twin with glinting eyes. "Glorfindel."

"Are you sure?" Elrohir asked, uneasily "Have you not ever wondered if that business with the balrog might have unhinged him a bit?"

"So much the better," Elladan replied confidently. "What sane elf could abide her?"

"There is a fare amount of truth in that." Elrohir nodded grudgingly "I do not think even Estel would be mad enough to challenge him. Our cocky little brother knows better than to think he could best the Balrog Slayer."

"Estel holds Glorfindel in such high regard that he would assume all the fault were Arwen's." Elladan said seriously "The old elf has spoiled him nearly as much as Ada."

"It is a viscous web we seek to snare them in." Elrohir said heavily "What if we should fail?"

"We will not fail!" Elladan insisted, drawing his arm around his brother's shoulders. "What could possibly go wrong?"

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Author's Note

I'd really like to take a minute to thank everyone who reviews. While I absolutely *adore* all the high praise I really appreciate hearing how everyone thinks the story will end. I feel like I know the characters and why they do what they do but I'm never certain if I'm communicating it properly. So if you think you have a pretty good grasp on who finally snares whom, please say so in your review.

Legolas finally decided what to do about Meril so I'm going to try to update a little more often when work permits. I'll still update every Saturday but I'm going to try to squeeze some Wednesday updates in for good measure.

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Converted - Oh! Oh! Goody! Do I get a gold star? I always wanted one.

Kath - You know, I don't think I had enough appreciation for that line when I wrote it for Celeborn, It just seemed right. Don't be too rough on him, if your only child had been ravaged by orcs you'd have issues too.

dragonfly - Orophin's not thick, he really is in love. It's new territory for him and it's messing with his head a little. Galadriel and Celeborn have been married for thousands of years and I have it on good authority that the key to a long, happy marriage is getting it on regularly and in every place imaginable.

lorie - Arwen *has* to be desperately lonely, you don't embrace death and sever your ties to your family for all eternity just because Aragorn's sexy. Ok, really sexy, but that's still not good enough.

Sally - Oh, come on, we all *know* how it ends! Aragorn and Arwen get married and spend every night in wanton, lustful... wait, did you mean everyone else?

grumpy - I'm glad you're... happy