Chapter 2- Imladris: The Spies of Imladris

"Tell me, muindor nín, why have we decided to hide in here?" Elladan asked, turning his head to the side, discerning his brother's form in the dark wardrobe they had stuffed themselves into only a few minutes earlier. "We are getting entirely too old for this."

Elrohir glanced at his brother, "We are in here because the bathing room does not offer a good vantage point and the trellis outside the side window is too spindly to hold both of us."

Elladan sighed and continued to peek through the slight crack in the doors. "That is not what I meant. Why are we even trying to spy on the guest? Ada would be appalled if he knew we were in here."

"You worry so much about our Adar, and yet you forget what Naneth is like if she finds us misbehaving." Elrohir snipped, "And let us not even get started on what Iauradar and Iaurnaneth would do if they knew we spied on them sometimes."

Elladan chuckled lightly. "You do not think that they can sense that someone is watching them, Elrohir?"

Elrohir shrugged his shoulders and was quiet for a long while before letting out a low laugh. "I doubt they could sense much of anything when we happened upon them the last time."

"True," the elder twin replied, resting back against the sturdy wall of the oaken wardrobe. He shifted his legs slightly, trying desperately to stretch them, if even by a small bit. They were cramping quickly for remaining in this hunched position for so long. "Next time, I think we should just greet guests in the way Ada and Nana wished us to. We are too old for this."

"I thought you were keen on this idea for seeing if she was a beautiful Elf maiden like Glorfindel said she would be." Elrohir grumbled quietly and shoved his brother slightly, causing Elladan to fall into the corner of the small cubby and bump his forehead on a clothing hook.

"Yrch 'waur!" Elladan exclaimed, rubbing his forehead and continuing with a long string of particularly unflattering Elvish and Dwarvish curses.

Elrohir clasped a hand over Elladan's wildly moving mouth, silencing him quickly. "They are at the door. Be quiet!"

Elladan angrily pushed away his brother's hand. He hastily shifted so he could see through the crack between the two doors, pushing Elrohir out of the way. Most times, having a twin brother was one of the best perks in all of the world, but at times it could become quite bothersome, even if they were always joined at the hip, no matter how they felt about each other at any given moment.

The door opened to the guest suite, and he saw that their mother stood at the door, motioning for her companion to enter the room. Elladan waited to catch a glimpse of this elleth whom Glorfindel had said would probably be beautiful beyond words. Before, they would not have cared about the beauty of an elleth, but recently he and Elrohir had been taking a greater notice in these things. They came to realize in a short time the true loveliness of ellyth, and now it was often hard for them to stop thinking about such things.

Finally, he beheld the elleth, and no words could describe how much of a let-down it had been. Here he had been suspecting an elleth at least their age, but they were hosts to one only half their age. Elladan moved out of the way for Elrohir, murmuring, "She is but an Elfling! I am now almost certain Glorfindel said those things on purpose, to test us. To see what we would do."

Elrohir looked through the crack in the door and let out a heavy sigh. "She is still very pretty, though, in a young child sort of way... with her round cheeks."

"I wonder if she is really Lord Círdan's granddaughter like Glorfindel said she was," Elladan continued more loudly thank he should have, glancing out of the crack. "Perhaps adorably young is a better description."

"Dîn!" Elrohir hissed lowly. "We will be caught."

Elladan was silent and tried to maneuver into the most comfortable position he could, waiting for the ellyth to make their way back into the main sleeping chamber. He heard their mother ask, "Would you care to bathe, pen neth? Or would you care for me to help with your aches?"

In the position he was sitting in, Elladan could just see out of the crack from under Elrohir's arm. The small elleth looked up at their mother, and Elladan found that she had bright, large eyes that seemed to convey a great story without even having to verbalize such things. "I do not think you will be able to help me, my lady. Mílwen, my nursemaid, has tried to heal me, but to no avail."

Celebrían laughed, "Dear child, let me try. If I cannot, then Lord Elrond will be able to heal you. He is very skilled in such things."

"Really, my lady, it is not bad," the elleth said.

Elladan found something rather odd about this young elleth. She seemed rather scared for the situation, the way she kept casting her eyes to the ground and darting her eyes away from their mother's persistent gaze. It almost seemed that the elleth thought that if she gazed directly into his mother's eyes, she would be harmed in some way. Maybe ellyth from Mithlond acted in such ways, but he could not convince himself of that. There was something definitely unusual about this rather reserved little Elfling.

"Then I shall call for a warm bath," Celebrían replied, bending down to the elleth's eye level. "And place soothing salts in the water. That should help you a bit since you will not allow me to heal you."

"Thank you, my lady," the elleth said.

Their mother smiled warmly, and carefully brushed back strands of the elleth's very pale blonde hair behind her ears. "Silaerín, I would like it very much if you would call me Celebrían. We are both ladies of high houses, therefore we should be considered equal."

Silaerín, as their mother had called her, sighed heavily and finally looked directly at their mother. "My lady, you are born of a higher house than me. And even if we are of high houses, you are still my elder."

Celebrían let out a high, lyrical laugh. She sighed, "I appreciate your respect and propriety, Silaerín, but I do not rely heavily upon those things. You may call me as you wish, though I would prefer Celebrían. I will be back shortly with the salts and someone to draw your bath."

With that, their mother disappeared out of the door and the Elfling looked around the large room for a few moments before running her hands along the thin velvet bedcovers. She sat down on the large bed and let out a long sigh from her lips, muttering lowly, "I cannot believe I am actually here."

Elladan smiled to himself as the elleth lay back on the bed. Well, the least they could do now instead of woo her, was to watch after her. Whether Elrohir wanted to do that or not, Elladan appointed them her protectors. Now if only they could find a way out of this cubbyhole...

The elleth sat up quickly, and looked around the room again, a large smile playing on her face as she jumped off of the bed. She walked over to the far wall and ran her fingers along the carven wood of various objects. He felt Elrohir tense up considerably as she moved closer to the wardrobe. Elladan silently prepared himself for how he was going to handle this in a tactful manner, when she came by the wardrobe and started to investigate like she had the other things in the room.

Nothing could compare to the relief he felt as she passed the wardrobe, only letting her hands travel across the wooden frame and doors, then continuing on. He felt himself sigh in a relieved manner, though he was sure it had not been loud. However, the elleth stopped on her trek, remaining remarkably still as she listened to the air around her. Well, this was it. They would be found out before they could even try to make an escape while she was in her bath.

Slowly, the elleth came back to the wardrobe, placed her hands on the knobs and let out a heavy sigh before pulling the doors wide open. She jumped back quickly, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth in an effort to stifle the surprised yelp that found its way to her lips. Her eyes were wide with disbelief, and she took a few more steps backwards, her legs hitting the bed and throwing her off balance enough that she fell onto her backend. She clearly had not been expecting something like this to happen.

Elladan carefully unfolded himself from the position he was in, stepping out of the furniture before Elrohir. They hastily smoothed out their clothing and looked at her for a long while, trying to figure out what would be best to say in their defense.

"A-are you Lord Elrond's sons?" she stuttered.

Elladan sighed, nodding his head. "We are. I am Elladan."

Elrohir closed the doors to the furniture and finally looked at her. "And I, Elrohir."

"Elladan and Elrohir." She said, letting the names roll off her tongue. The strange lilt in her voice made the names sound more lyrical to Elladan, which he considered proof that the Falathirm were the better singers of all the Eldar. After she took a few more calming breaths, the elleth met his eyes, holding his gaze for some time before moving on to Elrohir. He found this rather odd, as she had barely been able to look his mother in the eye before, but with them she could. The elleth glanced at him again. "You both look so much alike."

So that was what she was doing- trying to find some difference in their facial features so that the next time she looked upon them, she would easily tell them apart. However, he was sure that she would still have some trouble distinguishing between them until she had spent a little more time with them. After all, their own i parents /i still had trouble doing it, and it provided for quite the inconvenient time when he was being scolded for something Elrohir had done.

Of course, most of the time whatever was done wrong was usually a joint venture, as they were nearly always together. But it annoyed him to no end that the better-behaved twin was always in trouble and Elrohir was not. He could not blame his parents though, it was he who was always the one caught in the midst of these so-called offenses red-handed, because he always there trying to sort out what had happened and cleaning up the mess before it was found.

"Aye, to most it is difficult to tell us apart," Elrohir answered.

Elladan held her gaze for a moment longer before she quickly looked away from him and down towards the ground, reverting to her shy and fearful self again. Perhaps he could try to engage her with conversation. "What are you called, my lady?"

"S-Silaerín," she spoke quietly.

"Welcome, my lady Silaerín." Elladan smiled, taking a few steps toward her. She met his eyes with a surprised glance now that he stood before her, and he reached for her right hand. He bowed over her small, feminine hand and placed a polite kiss upon her fingers before stepping back again.

Silaerín looked more shocked now, if that was at all possible, but watched him intently as he stepped back and beside Elrohir. She was about to muster up her courage enough to speak to them- he could hear that by the deep, calming breath she took before opening her mouth- but the door to her chambers opened. Elladan felt his heart skip a beat when he the sound of the door creaking open found his ears, realizing he and Elrohir had completely forgotten about making a quick escape. He glanced towards the entrance and found that it was their mother making her way back.

Elladan waited for her to notice them, and when she did, she stopped suddenly in her path, looking between them. Her shoulders dropped and she asked, "What do you think you are doing in the bed chamber of our guest?"

"We were just introducing ourselves, Nana." Elrohir spoke first.

"You had a chance to do that when she first arrived," she said, a look of motherly frustration fixing upon her face. "Where were you then? How did you get in here?"

Elladan thought quickly, trying to come up with a decent excuse, but it was to no avail. He knew they were caught and that she would know they were originally in the room spying upon Silaerín. However, as their mother began to speak again, this time to remand them to their father rather than continuing to question them in such a way that they would dig themselves into a deeper hole, Silaerín stepped forward.

"My lady," the young elleth spoke quietly, but gained everyone's attention.

"Yes, Silaerín?" Their mother asked.

Silaerín's gaze darted back and forth between Elladan and Elrohir, and then landed on their mother. She began again, "My lady... please do not punish them. It was I who asked them into my chamber. I do ache horribly, and I wished to sit down while they introduced themselves. They have been nothing but polite."

He was stunned. Absolutely stunned. Elladan never thought he would hear this many words from Silaerín in a long while, much less that the sweet and innocent elleth would actually lie to her hosts over such a thing. But he and Elrohir were nowhere near dim-witted, and took blessings when they were lucky enough to acquire them. Their mother gave Silaerín an appraising glance, a knowing smile spreading across her features. Elladan could easily tell that their mother knew exactly what had happened, from this expressions, but Celebrían glanced at Elrohir and him suspiciously, another smile crossing her face. Somehow, she always did, but on this occasion, he felt as though she would let them get away with this.

Their mother glanced at them and sighed, "It is best if you go now and prepare for the evening meal. We will discuss this later."

They did not have to be asked twice, and swiftly disappeared outside the chambers, closing the door as they left. Elrohir let out a breath of relief. "I thought we were goners."

"As did I," Elladan replied. "Why do you think she lied for us?"

"I know not why she lied for us, Elladan," his younger brother spoke, and looked at him. "Perhaps it was the show of courtliness you gave her that made her act in such a way."

He laughed, "I doubt that very much. Even with that, she was still incredibly withdrawn. I had not imagined she would speak, much less lie."

Elrohir nodded is head. "Well, whatever it was that made her do it, we still will owe her our unending gratitude."

"Aye, I agree," Elladan said. "Maybe we should proclaim ourselves protectors of the lady?"

Elrohir smiled. "Yes, muindor. I believe that will happen regardless of her deed, but we will still owe her something in return. We will think on it."

Little did either of them know, that from this day forward, they would forever be her protectors, taking a specific interest in her for more than the reason that she was handy in a tight situation, yet very different would these reasons be for each twin.

Once out of her bath, and dressed for the evening, Silaerín decided that she would take a tour of the house herself without anyone showing her where she needed to go. Celebrían had stopped in the dining hall earlier, on their way to the guest suite, to explain to Silaerín where she should end up, should she choose to go exploring later on. However, no matter how much she tried to memorize her surroundings, she still felt very disoriented now that she was walking through the winding, open-air halls about the house. She wound her way down a short staircase, and slowed her pace, finding that there were magnificent, finely detailed paintings and tapestries on the walls. She paused to survey one tapestry with gold and silver threads in an intricate vine pattern, roses of different colors on stems of green at the bottom of the cloth. With a smile to herself, she moved on to the next painting, reminding herself that she would have to find this rose garden she had heard so much about from Galdor, though she would wait for the morning light.

The sound of soft talking found her ears, and she stopped again, trying to discern who it was that was speaking. It was Lord Elrond who spoke, but beyond that, she could not concentrate on who the owners of the voices were when she heard her father's name mentioned. Quietly, she moved closer to the voices, finding that they were coming from the room to the side, the door not closed entirely to block out unwanted listeners. Silaerín debated if she should even stay and listen, knowing it was wholly dishonorable to do so because she had not been invited to take part in the conversation in the first place. Besides that, she had already used up her good graces for the day by telling Celebrían that little white lie about her sons.

Silaerín sighed, remembering her introduction to the twins, and then let a large smile cross her face. Never had she suspected such an interesting entrance, but it had nearly made her day perfect. They were truly wonderful, even if they were slightly misbehaved and liked to spy on people from their wardrobes. She had thought it was particularly funny that two grown ellyn would cram themselves into such a small space as a wardrobe, but it must have been important to them to do such a thing without her knowledge, as though they were trying to figure her out before they even met her. Despite this, she had found the potential for many interesting times ahead, especially by the way Celebrían talked about them, and possibly even two Elves she could eventually open up to and form a lasting relationship with.

As a matter of fact, she felt like that about all the Elves she had met thus far in Imladris. They were all so welcoming, and Celebrían was especially amazing. Silaerín did not know what mothers were supposed to be like, her mother passing over sea before Silaerín had even been alive for one year, but she was sure that Celebrían was how they were supposed to act.

Nearly forgetting why she had come to eavesdrop on the conversation, Silaerín started to move away from the door, but was pulled back in by the mention of her father's name again. The temptation that was clearly too large now, and her need to know about everything that was going on around her, anchored her into place.

"...her father did this to her?" came Elrond's strong, but perturbed voice.

There was a sigh from another Elf in the room. "My lord, he did not intend on making her like this. No Elf intends on doing such things, but over time, and after losing his wife Alphril over the Sea, he could not help it. He smothers Silaerín and constantly lowers her spirit by telling her she does things wrong so that she will not be inclined to leave him. He is trying to make it so that she does not have a taste of independence. Nenvír has not said so much, but it is obvious. He fears that should she get this independence, then she will end up like her mother."

Silaerín realized that it was Galdor speaking, but what he was saying was quite startling to her. Her father acted like he did towards her because he wanted to protect her? It was so preposterous, it just might have been true.

"Then why is she here?" Elrond asked. "How did Nenvír find the ability to let her go?"

"He did not," Galdor responded quietly. He remained silent for a few moments before continuing. "Nenvír told Lord Círdan that she was not to go when he learned of the plans to send her here."

"I cannot believe that Lord Círdan sent her then," Elrond replied. "He is older and wiser than any other Elf... How did she make it past Nenvír then?"

Galdor sighed again, "Nenvír was sent away to the coast to deal with a problem with ship building. And that was when Círdan asked me to accompany Silaerín. The relationship between Círdan and Nenvír is not the best as of late."

Galdor was not here on anything that needed to be discussed between their two realms? He had only been sent as her accompaniment?

"You should know, Lord Elrond, that Silaerín has always been a quiet and shy Elfling, but the way Nenvír deals with his pain, adds to the way she acts. Nenvír is not entirely the root of the problem," Galdor continued. "Sometimes I think she is so frightened that there is no way that she can helped."

It was then Lord Elrond's turn to sigh heavily. "We will offer a nurturing environment for her, and see what we can accomplish. I have dealt with much more difficult cases than she is bound to be. Celebrían has already made it her prerogative to take Silaerín under her wing."

Silaerín backed away from the door slowly, having heard enough about her father for one evening. On some level she had always known this was why her father acted, but it was never a good enough reason for her to believe. It just did not make sense to her, as it apparently did not make sense to Lord Elrond either. Though, she counted herself lucky that she was in Imladris and Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrían were so willing to help her.

She took a few more steps backward, and ran into a rather solid wall-like structure. Two hands grabbed onto her upper arms to steady her, and she turned quickly to see who she needed to apologize to. Standing behind her was none other than Elladan, and to his side, Elrohir. Elladan smiled evilly and whispered, "Now I know why you lied for us earlier, my lady. Because you do a good amount of spying as well."

"Oh goodness," she said, feeling the heat of a blush creep to her cheeks.

Elrohir laughed lightly, "We will discuss an alliance tomorrow when you are rested, and we will not tell a soul that you have been spying."

"But in the meanwhile," Elladan took her arm and placed it in his, "we will escort you to the evening meal."

Muindor nin- my brother

Adar/Ada- Father/Dad

Naneth/Nana- Mother/Mom

Iauradar/naneth- Grandfather/mother

Yrch 'waur- Dirty Orc!

Dîn!- Be silent!

A/N: In the past few weeks, since the posting of Chapter 1, I have noticed a slight discrepancy in the dates and how old I have made Elladan and Elrohir at the time of this meeting. While I use the books for most of my fact checking, I was elsewhere and incapable of locating these books when I wrote this. On several sites, it explains Elladan and Elrohir as being born in the year 130 of the Third Age, so I used that as a base date. However, upon looking back at the Appendix of Return of the King, and much to my annoyance, I found that they were born as of the year 139. To those dedicated Tolkienites, this is a discrepancy integral to the story line, so it will not be changed. As of this part in the story, Elladan and Elrohir were born of the 130th year of the Third Age, and are 53 years old. Besides that, they are 23.5 Human, so they mature more quickly than Elves.

Feedback is always appreciated, whether it be good or of the critical kind. I would like to extend a thank you thus far to those who have taken the time out to review. It makes this process a lot easier when I am getting advice and/or 'keep it going' reviews.