Chapter 4- Imladris: Eternally Bound (In Reprobation)

"Good, good Elrohir."

Elladan watched as his brother smiled most wickedly at Glorfindel's praise, as though he thought he would actually win this duel with that bit of an ego boost. Neither twin could ever claim themselves better than the other, though, no matter how long or how hard they fought at any certain task. They were so much alike in every way, except for their slightly different characters, that it grew quite tiresome when they did everything exactly alike. Or was it just that they thought the same way about things, so they could adequately balance each other in every movement with opposing actions? Everything always seemed to end in a stalemate. Elladan would strike, but Elrohir's sword would be at that spot, prepared to repel the thrust before he really could even complete the swing. Every time Elrohir nailed the target squarely in the center with an arrow, Elladan was able to step up behind him and do the exact same thing on another at the exact same distance. If anything was different about them, he often drifted to the right in his shots, and Elrohir to the left. It was always like that, and they could not change it.

It often made him wonder what their father thought on the issue of having a twin. Had he ever thought these things about Elros, or Elros about him? Did they find the same problems with being essentially alike?

He blinked his eyes rapidly, remembering he was in the middle of a duel and needed to pay attention to where the sharp blade was thrust towards him, rather than wishing for things that really were not worth worrying about. He loved his brother dearly. Perhaps it was just the fact that Glorfindel was paying more attention to Elrohir's fighting than his.

Light from the afternoon sun glinted off of the polished blade as it came dangerously close to his head, but he quickly deflected it. That was close. Too close. Breathing a great sigh of relief that he had stayed the blade in enough time to remain among the living, he stepped quickly to the side, employing some of fancy footwork that they had been taught only a few days ago. Elladan could hear the exaggerated sigh come from Glorfindel after he had moved into the footwork and began parrying Elrohir's strikes enough to turn duel around to his advantage.

"Please do this Elf a favor and keep your mind on the task at hand, Elladan," Glorfindel called. "I do not wish to be the one who has to tell your father that your twin brother maimed you severely."

Elladan chuckled lowly, picturing what his father's face would look like upon hearing the news. He would pay gold to see that. Actually, he would pay gold to see the look on their mother's face. That would be priceless. And then on their grandparents' faces. Aye, that would definitely be a sight to see.

He and Elrohir continued back and forth many more times, neither never gaining on the other, as always. However, Elladan was quickly growing tired of the constant assault that he and Elrohir had been throwing at each other since this morning. "What do you say about a truce, muindor?"

Elrohir laughed, "Aye, I am getting rather weary of this. A truce until next we duel?"

"Of course," Elladan said, the first to step out of his stance and lower his sword. The younger twin stepped back and lowered his sword. Each bowed their heads in respect to each other before walking to the nearest stone bench to sit and tend to their messed hair, disheveled clothing and various small scrapes that they incurred during the fight.

"Do you think Ada will ever let us go out with the patrols?" Elrohir asked, looking at Glorfindel.

Glorfindel chuckled, "Perhaps when you are older."

"That is always the excuse he gives us," Elrohir said. "We will have seen as many seasons as Grandmother before we are allowed to see any time in battle."

"You should not worry." Glorfindel looked at both of them and shook his head. "You will see plenty in due time. And these battles will probably be the most savage anyone has seen. For now, I believe all who care for you wish you remain as safe as possible within Imladris, learning to be the lords we all hope you will turn into."

Elladan scoffed, "I know not what you are talking about, my lord, we are making great progress."

"In whose eyes?" The gold-haired Elf asked, laughing them off as he bent over to collect his bow and quiver.

Elladan shook his head and let out a long sigh, gazing off into the distance. There, along the line of trees surrounding the practice ring, he made the shape of a small elleth dressed in a pale blue gown. Even though he could not make out the facial features of the elleth, he knew exactly who it was trying to remain unnoticed such a distance away. He nudged Elrohir's side to get his attention and nodded as surreptitiously as he could manage in Silaerín's direction.

Elrohir let out a chuckle, "I believe it is time we practice our diplomatic skills."

Glorfindel glanced at each of them and followed their eyes in the direction of the tree line. "She has been there for a long while now."

Silaerín moved as quickly as she could behind the large trunk of a tree she had been leaning against, when she noticed that they were all gazing in her direction. Elladan glanced up at Glorfindel, "You said that she was a beautiful Elf maiden."

The advisor let a sly smile cross his features, "She is very beautiful. You may not see how lovely she is now, as she is still young, but should you ever meet after her stay here, you will know what I am talking about."

"But you made us believe..." Elrohir began, but let the sentence trail off when Elladan shot him a warning glance. Elladan sighed, glad that his brother had actually remembered that hiding in the wardrobe was not something that everyone needed to know about.

Glorfindel laughed, "It will do you no good to not speak of it. Your mother knows what you did, even though Silaerín has vouched for the happenings of yesterday afternoon. I still do not know why she did such a thing. It must be because she does not know both of you very well."

Elladan rolled his eyes and stood from his spot, adjusting his tunic. "We plan on letting her get better acquainted with both of us. If she then decides her vouch was not worth the trouble, she can confirm Ada and Nana's suspicions."

Glorfindel nodded his head, "Be kind to her, please. The last thing we need is Lord Círdan angry with us because we were not as hospitable as we should have been to his granddaughter."

"What do you speak of, Glorfindel?" Elrohir asked, doing the same thing Elladan had done by standing and straightening his clothes. "We are always kind."

"I trust you," the Elf lord smiled. "Please make sure you get Lady Silaerín and yourselves back at a decent time to prepare for the gathering later this evening."

Elladan smiled, "Of course."

With that, the twins started across the field. They came upon the elleth quickly, and Elrohir was the first to speak. "Good day, our fellow reprobate."

That caused a very deep crimson to spread across her cheeks and ears as she diverted her eyes to the ground. Elladan laughed at the label Elrohir had given her, but made sure to nudge his twin to let him know not to continue on that path. The last thing they needed to do now as scare her away because they had caught her doing something very innocent, but still slightly wrong, the previous eve.

"Did you rest well last eve, Silaerín?" Elladan asked.

"I did, Elladan," Silaerín answered, and seemed to be finished with her answer. But then she continued and surprised all of them, including herself. But what he could not get over was that she had easily identified which twin he was. "But only because I did not need to worry that there was anyone hiding within my wardrobe."

Elrohir chuckled, and glanced at him, "She does have a healthy bit of sarcasm, muindor."

Silaerín smiled sheepishly, but kept her eyes moving between each twin. What had happened to Silaerín over night that she had suddenly become more friendly. Granted, he could still sense that she was a long way from any amount of his and Elrohir's outspokenness, but that was fine as long as she was beginning to warm up to them.

"So what are you doing out and about this day?" Elladan asked, taking a hold of her arm and Elrohir the other.

"Enjoying the beautiful sights and tranquility of your home," Silaerín replied.

Elladan glanced at her and smiled, "And do you like it here, my lady?"

She nodded her head, "Imladris agrees with me thus far, but I worry that I may not be here for as long as I would have hoped."

"Why is that?" Elrohir asked.

"I know not," Silaerín shrugged her shoulders. "It is nothing more than a feeling I have. I suppose it could have something to do with what I overheard last eve."

Elladan nodded his head, as did Elrohir, both recalling the previous evening and having heard what their father was speaking to Galdor about. Both could not even begin to understand how one could have such a relationship with one's father, as their relationship with their father was very good. The things they had heard were slightly unsettling considering that it was Lord Círdan who was in context as the one who disobeyed Silaerín's father's wishes. In lessons, both he and Elrohir had learned a great deal about Círdan and how wise an Elf he was, and for an Elf of his standing to do something as rash as sending his granddaughter away without her father's approval did not bode well. However, they both knew it was probably better not discuss it with their father or ask questions of Silaerín unless she wanted to speak with them about it.

They were quiet as they continued to move along the paths of the city, towards the House when Elladan turned to her and asked, "Would you care to see the rose garden? That is unless you have already seen it earlier on your excursions."

"I would very much like to see the garden," Silaerín said with a bright smile upon her lips. "I only walked to the stream where the giant willow is."

"Is that where you were when our mother was searching for you earlier?" Elrohir asked.

"Aye, I must have, but your father found me," she said.

Elladan chuckled, "I do not know how he does it, but our father knows where everyone is when he wishes to speak with them."

"Especially when he receives anonymous information about our whereabouts last eve in your wardrobe." Elrohir said, looking at her closely.

She fidgeted slightly under Elrohir's gaze, making Elladan wonder if she was the one who had told their father, or if it was their mother who had been the culprit by jumping to conclusions. "It was probably your mother."

Both he and Elrohir laughed at her response as she blushed deeply and pulled away from them. She continued on up the path, toward the line of rose bushes ahead of them. They stayed within the confines of the rose garden for sometime. No one spoke or made any gesture that would require acknowledgement in any way, except for the glances each brother shared with each other as the elleth flitted about the garden happily, sniffing the fragrances of the many differently-hued roses.

The sun was just beginning to set behind the mountains when Silaerín abruptly stopped her appraisal of the flowers and various insects that were roaming about, and looked at them. She sighed, "We should be going back. My handmaiden is probably worried where I ran off to."

Elladan smiled and was the first to stand to make his way over to her in two long strides, "Then we will escort you back, though we have yet to talk of a friendly alliance."

Silaerín looked up at him with wide eyes, and then at Elrohir as soon as he joined her other side. With a small smile, she blushed, "I believe we already have one whether we have verbally agreed on it or not."

"True," Elrohir nodded.

"Then from this moment forward, we shall remain friends," Elladan proclaimed. "Even if it means us doing something as horrible as lying to parents and hosts."

Silaerín sighed and gazed up at him again, "You may rethink that when you meet my father, Elladan, but I will hold you to your word."

He and Elrohir exchanged looks of worry again, but they continued walking without saying anything. There would be another time and place more appropriate than this one to discuss what she could possible mean about her father, but they did not wish to trouble her mind now that she was in Imladris and was to enjoy herself.

Silaerín sat at the dressing table in her chambers while Mílwen worked swiftly and skillfully at plaiting her hair with a ribbon of pale silver. When she had returned from her afternoon with the twins, she found herself in an even better mood than she had after her conversation with Elrond. It could have been combination of both things that had added to her happiness, but there was something strangely different about the time she spent with Elladan and Elrohir. Of course she knew that it probably had something to do with Lord Elrond and exactly who he was; she could never see herself actually totally at ease around a Lord of his prominence. However, whatever the twins did or said, they made her feel like she was the only other person in the world besides them. Especially Elladan... as though when he were with her, nothing else mattered. All he cared about was pleasing her and making her laugh.

"You have been more quiet than usual, my lady," Mílwen spoke, meeting Silaerín's eyes in the mirror.

"I am only thinking," Silaerín attempted a smile, but it did not appear anything more than a slight trembling of her lips.

Mílwen chuckled lowly, "You certainly made fast friends with Lord Elrond's sons."

Silaerín sighed, "They are easier to make friends with than any other Elf I have ever met."

Silence passed between them as Mílwen carefully tied off the end of the braid and stepped back to admire her work. Mílwen placed her hand on her hip for a moment and then muttered something about how overjoyed she would be when she could just place a circlet on Silaerín's head and be done with it, instead of always braiding it with a ribbon. With a shake of her head, Mílwen left her to her own devices. Silaerín looked about the room, then back a herself in the mirror. What would it be like to actually wear circlet upon her head? Her mother, from what she could remember, wore very ornate pieces of different metals and often times encrusted with precious jewels. Would she ever wear those? Would she really, one day, be formally named Lady of the Havens? Would her father ever speak to her again after this journey to Imladris?

A knock at the antechamber door interrupted her thoughts, and Silaerín jumped from her seat to go to the door. She pulled the heavy wood back to find Celebrían standing there, in a gown of the deepest blue with the most intricately wrought circlet upon her head of blonde waves. Silaerín bowed slightly, "My lady."

"I thought we discussed this already," Celebrían asked with a smile playing on her lips. She extended her hand to Silaerín and said, "Come, Silaerín."

Silaerín took Celebrían's hand without question and the Lady of Imladris escorted her along the winding corridors and open paths toward the dining hall, or so Silaerín thought. But she found she was sorely mistaken when the came to an abrupt halt. On their walk, Silaerín had not paid much attention to her surroundings except for that of the happenings going on outside the open walkways. And now she was face to face with a white fabric of the most delicate make, strewn about with complex bead work.

Silaerín followed the cloth up from her eye level, and seemed that it would never end until she reached the form of a waist, then a female torso encased in a bodice of even more complexity, and then pale, smooth skin of a neck to bright, knowing eyes of blue. She wore a circlet, as well, upon her head of long tresses of pure gold. Adjusting her gaze, Silaerín then looked at the elleth's companion, who was either very short for and Elf, or the elleth was just very tall. Perhaps the elleth was the tallest she had ever seen. With a quick look, Silaerín gazed at the ellon's hair of pale blond, grey eyes, and his stern, but pleasant face. He wore a simple circlet on his brow and a most carefully sewn robe of whites and gold.

Then it hit her like a gale-force wind who she now gazed upon and stood before. And she was more than embarrassed she had acted in such a way. Silaerín quickly ducked her head into a bow, not lifting her head to hide her deep blush and also to await for some movement from the high Elves. She felt a quiver of nervousness go through her body, sufficiently affecting the way her mind controlled the rest of her body, and for a moment felt as though she would not be able to remain standing. Awestruck was not an adequate word describe this feeling.

But then she felt soft fingers beneath her chin, raising her eyes to meet another set of blue ones, much like Celebrían had only done the day before. The Lady smiled warmly and glanced at her husband. Celebrían sighed beside Silaerín, "Adar and Naneth, this is Lord Círdan's granddaughter, Silaerín."

"The Telerin is very evident in her blood," the Lady spoke softly, but confidently, and looked down at Silaerín. "She is also very much like her mother."

Silaerín felt herself smile then, involuntarily, but that was something she had always wondered. And it seemed that Lady Galadriel knew a great deal about her before they even met.

"Aye, that is true," the ellon said with a strong, authoritative voice of a deep timbre. It reminded her of her grandfather. The ellon smiled slightly, "I am Celeborn, and this is my wife, Galadriel. And I, for one, am very pleased to meet you Silaerín. A daughter of my kin."

She knew little of the amount of relation she held to Celeborn, if any, but it was nice to be welcomed in such a manner by him. Silaerín smiled, "Thank you, my lord. I am very happy to meet you as well."

More like scared out of her mind, rather than happy. Galadriel then laughed for moment, gazed deeply into Silaerín's eyes. It was said she could see deep into the hearts of others. Had she just encountered what Silaerín thought about meeting them? But just as she was about ready to start debating the issue in her head, Elrond appeared and was closely followed by his sons. Showing a sign of a great respect, and something she had not imagined the twins to do, each took their turns with a small bow to their grandfather and a short kiss upon their grandmother's cheek.

"Shall we?" Elrond asked, motioning in the direction of the dining hall for the meal. Like every other time before, Elladan and Elrohir flanked either side and took her arms to escort her along, and all made their way to the hall to share in food and good cheer.

The evening progressed quickly, from dinner, then to dancing and talking in another hall and the outlying porticos amidst the pleasant music from the Elven minstrels. Silaerín, however, found herself sitting quietly and watching the interactions. Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn were talking quietly together, Celebrían was on Elrond's arm as they discussed things with Galdor and a few of the other Imladris advisors including Glorfindel and Erestor. Mílwen was talking with some of the other ellyth who had come to the affair. Elladan and Elrohir were busy chasing around a pair of fair ellyth that were a few millennia too old for them. The other Elves in attendance either spoke with great jollity or danced about.

With a sigh, and a need for air, Silaerín stood from her seat and made a quiet, and hopefully unnoticed, disappearance out onto a side balcony. She walked for a bit down the balcony that wrapped a fourth of the way around the first level, until she could hear the music, but it was faint and mixed well with the light wind and sounds of the evening. A short amount of time passed before she heard the soft footfalls of another person coming toward her. Silaerín turned her head, her eyes meeting Elladan's as he joined her on the veranda and sat on the stone bench beside her.

"Where is your partner in misdeeds?" Silaerín asked quietly, turning her eyes toward the moon hanging high above her head.

"She is right here," Elladan smiled.

She glanced at him quickly, "I have done nothing to aide you in wrongdoings."

"Yet," he warned and looked up at the moon again. "What is so interesting about the moon this eve rather than any other night, that you would come out here to gaze upon it instead of enjoying the festivities inside?"

"I have been given much to think on this day," Silaerín said, "and everyone else was summarily occupied. Where is Elrohir?"

"Still chasing Cuileth around," he laughed lightly. "It is only in fun, though. Neither of us have any intention of finding a mate so soon. I have a feeling my brother and I will delay our choice as long as we possibly can, just to be sure we have found the path in life we wish to take."

Silaerín looked at him, "Choice? You mean in the elleth that you would wed?"

Elladan grew quiet and moved his eyes to her, "Nay. It is the choice we are given whether to remain with our Elven kindred or to forsake our long life for the gift of Men."

"You are given that choice?" Silaerín asked. "I know of your kin before you, but I thought that since Lord Elrond chose Elf-kind, and Lady Celebrían is an Elf, you would not have a choice."

"Nay, the choice shall come to us," he replied, but it is something I wish not to worry over at the moment. I still have much to learn before I can make that choice."

She nodded her head and let out a long sigh. "Elladan..." she began.

"Yes, my lady..." he countered with a smile.

"Thank you," she said.

Elladan laughed, "For what? Please tell me what good deed I have done."

Silaerín felt herself giggle, but remained quiet with only a large smile, "Thank you for accepting me so easily as your friend. I shall thank Elrohir when I next see him, but since you are here, I will thank you now."

He smiled and reached out to touch her cheek for a moment, running his archery-roughened fingertips along her cheek bone and down her jaw line. Even if his fingers were not the softest thing in the world, for some reason, it felt nice to have him do this. Nice was not adequate, though, and she did not know any other word that could describe the odd feeling going through her at the moment. He cupped her cheek then, and said, "We have not accepted you as a friend, Silaerín. We have accepted you as a sister. A sister that we have appointed ourselves the keeper of."

She laughed, "Then I am better off than I originally thought."

"Even though we are just newly met, and Elrohir and I still have much to learn about you, and you about us, you can count on the fact that even if you were in Mithlond and in trouble, we would be there to aide to you in anyway we could. That is, as soon as we received word of it."

Silaerín rolled her eyes and chuckled a little more, "I will remember that."

Elladan nodded his head and removed his hand from her cheek. He smiled, "Would you care to dance, my lady?"

"I do not know how." Silaerín felt her face grow warm again.

"You do not know how?" he questioned and stood up, pulling her along with him. "Then I shall teach you. You are here to learn, after all."

---

muindor- brother

Adar- Father

Naneth- Mother