Chapter 2

A Child of Many Names

Gilraen sat in a large oaken chair in the middle of Lord Elrond's study. Her walking stick lay beside her on the white stone floor. She and her son Aragorn had been residing in Rivendell for the past three weeks. This morning Glorfindel had come to her quarters, and stated that Lord Elrond needed to speak with her.

She heard the door open, and the two elf lords stepped lightly into the room. "Good morning, Gilraen."

She replied cordially, "Good morning Lord Elrond. Glorfindel said you needed to speak to me on an important matter."

The lord of Imaldris addressed the woman in front of him, "We need to speak about Aragorn. I don't think that it's safe for him to continue using his birth name."

Gilraen wasn't surprised by this statement. Erestor had warned her that it might be suggested that the boy use an alias. "What did you have in mind?"

Lord Elrond smiled at Glorfindel standing nearby. His friend had been wrong in supposing Gilraen would be against the idea of changing her son's name. He proceeded confidently, "I've decided he shall be called Estel."

The mother burst into laughter, "You've decided? I don't think so. I think you mean that you are suggesting that we call him Estel. And my answer to this suggestion is no."

The elf lord raised an eyebrow, "I am not merely suggesting. I'm insisting on it. He can no longer go by the name Aragorn. And the name Estel fits the child perfectly." Elrond seemed to have overlooked the fact that Gilraen was the boy's mother. And in all truthfulness he had no right to make the final decision on such a matter. He added curtly, further provoking the mother to anger, "And I'm telling you that the name is final."

Gilraen sat shocked, "Excuse me? You cannot tell me what I can and cannot do. Especially in the area of what I should call my son." She put an added emphasis on the word my then continued, "I know he can't go by Aragorn any longer. I wanted a suggestion on a name change. I will never call my son by that foolish name."

Elrond was infuriated by the impudent woman's reply, "And why not?"

"Because it is a girl's name, and my son is certainly not a girl! And secondly I will not disgrace my husband's memory by consenting to that request." Gilraen folded her arms and continued stubbornly, "And if you don't change your current attitude, I will walk out this door and take my son to Mirkwood or Lothlorien. At least there perhaps my rights as the boy's mother will be taken into consideration!"

Glorfindel watched in horror as the situation quickly began to get out of hand. He knew Gilraen well. She would leave the safety of the valley if she felt threatened. And Elrond had made her feel threatened. The balrog slayer thought quickly. He decided he needed to intervene in the argument between before Gilraen left for good. He knew that the elf lord wanted to make sure that the boy's best interest would be kept at heart. He was almost certain that his friend would see Gilraen's point if put in another way.

He spoke up calmly, "My lord, perhaps Gilraen could call the boy by his nickname. After all the boy would already be familiar with the name, and he might adjust to going by an alias easier."

Then he addressed Gilraen trying to calm her fears, "My friend, Estel is a fitting elvish name for the boy. I can assure you that no one would think of him as a girl here in the valley." He shot his lord a pleading glance. If he didn't agree to this, the woman would certainly leave.

Gilraen thought about her friend's proposal. She calmed down a bit at having someone defend her point of view. "Very well, I'll agree to that. Elrond you and the elves may call my son Estel if you wish, but I will call him by his nickname." The hurt woman added indignantly, "Will that satisfy you?"

Elrond asked moodily, "And what nickname are you proposing?"

Gilraen raised an eyebrow, "From now on I will call him Strider. And this discussion is over." The woman lifted her walking stick off the floor, and stormed toward the door. She turned back adding, "And Lord Elrond you just remember, I'm Strider's mother. If you ever try to undermine my authority again, I will not hesitate to pack our things and leave. Then you can explain to Mithrandir, why we left." Gilraen then left the room closing the door firmly behind her.

Elrond stood in place shocked. He asked confused, "What just happened?"

Glorfindel replied, "That's easy my lord. Aragorn just became a boy of many names. And if I may say so sir, I wouldn't take Gilraen's threat lightly. I can assure you that she meant every word."

Elrond sighed heavily and then left the room mumbling beneath his breathe. The elf lord was not happy about Gilraen getting the best of him.

Glorfindel slumped down into a large overstuffed chair. The balrog slayer had come against many challenges in his lifetime, but none quite like this. All he knew was that life in Rivendell would never again be quite the same. After this morning, the elf lord was unable to tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. He rubbed a hand through his long hair calling out, "Eru help me!"

A/N: Well there's Chapter 2. Wow I didn't expect to get an inspiration that quickly! Funny how creativity works. I hope that Elrond didn't seem too childish and out of character in this chapter. I don't think you can blend two different families together without some kind of conflict. I also wanted Aragorn to get the name Strider from his mother. So I thought about it, and the result was this chapter. I have a few more ideas for future chapters, but I don't know what chapter they will come into play. So Chapter 3 may take longer than this one. Then again inspiration could strike again unexpectedly. Now on to Reviewer Responses.

Reviewer Responses:

ElvenDestiny Thanks so much for reading and leaving a review. And I hope you enjoy Chapter 2. And your name is beautiful too.

Dark Borg Drone I'm so glad that you enjoyed the first chapter. I know what you mean about people usually killing Aragorn's mom off. I just didn't feel that it was true to the books and Tolkien to kill her off to make things easier. Besides very few of the stories out there without her are any good..

Sielge: Glad you like the story so far. Here's Chapter 2, and I hope you enjoy!

Earendil Eldar: Thanks for reading, and so glad to see you like it. I was really hoping that it was clear early on that Gilraen was blind. You comment lets me know that I succeeded.

Dragon Confused: Wow that's the longest review I have ever gotten for one of my stories. I'm so glad that you liked the story, and your compliments were so kind. And it puts me off the story too when they kill Gilraen off. Tolkien went to all the trouble to say that she was alive, so I feel I ought to be true to that. And besides we don't know much about her which means I can be creative!