Chapter 5- Missing Daughters

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Year 184 of the Third Age

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Nearly four turns of the seasons later, on the shores of Mithlond...

"You did what?!" Nenvír bellowed, his voice echoing off the stone walls surrounding them. "Adar, I expressly forbade her from going!"

"Calm yourself, Nenvír," Círdan desperately tried to quiet his son's wildly shifting temper... especially now that he had yelled for the long length of time it would take one of his mariners to make a row across the channel to the Falas. The roaring had started when Nenvír set foot into the dwelling, and then continued down the hallways, sounding no less than an angered cave troll coming for him. Elbereth, he was not even a cave troll. He was some minion of Melkor!

Nenvír's blue eyes flashed angrily at him, his jaw setting into place, much like he had done as a small Elfling. "Why is she in Imladris? Before I left here, I made sure she could not go. Even she understood that she would be punished, should she go."

Círdan took in a deep breath and walked away from his son, moving to the table set up with a crystal decanter of wine and matching goblets. This would call for a few glasses of the strongest Miruvor he could find. With his wine, he sat in the nearby cushioned bench and looked at Nenvír, "You cannot keep her locked away in the bell tower all her life, Nenvír. That would do things to her that not even I could warn you about."

"I understand that, Adar," Nenvír said, with an attempt at calming his voice, but all he succeeded in doing was clenching his teeth and pinching his face into an odd expression. "But if she were to leave, she was to leave with me."

"Why?" Círdan asked quietly. "Galdor is perfectly capable of getting her to Imladris safely."

"So that I control what she sees and does not see about the outside world." Nenvír explained, "It is important to me that she receive no taste of the good things elsewhere in Middle-earth. She must think Mithlond is the best home for her. Elbereth, I would be happier if she were in Aman."

"Why, Nenvír? Why are you so unreasonable?" Círdan continued with his questions, deciding that this would be the night he finally got Nenvír to admit to himself why he acted in such a way to Silaerín.

Nenvír shook his head in obstinacy and walked over to pour himself his own goblet of wine. He said, "I will not answer that until you answer my questions."

Círdan nodded his head and ran a hand through his newly growing beard of silver. "Fair enough. I have had this planned for a long while now, Nenvír. You may not want her to leave you, but Silaerín is an elleth that has enormous potential if only her abilities are cultivated. They cannot be cultivated here with her brother acting as he does and you constantly breathing down her neck. In Imladris, her natural abilities for lore and history can be seen to. Lord Elrond is very knowledgeable in such matters."

"That is almost like what you said of Alphril when you sent her to Lórien to act as an emissary to Lord Amroth!" Nenvír exclaimed. "Not only could she learn a great deal, but was already a skilled lady of the court, could make wise decisions and also attend the councils with the Havens' interests. That is why she is now in Aman! And that is why Silaerín should not be in Imladris."

The wise Elf lifted his head and let out a long breath from his lips before taking another sip of his mead. Círdan glanced at Nenvír, "She would not have stayed here even if you had asked her, Nenvír."

"How do you know that, Adar? You may be wise in all aspects of this world, but how could you truly know what she would have done?" Nenvír asked, quieting only slightly, growing morose.

"I knew how much she loved you, Nenvír. She would do anything you asked of her. But I also knew her free spirit," Círdan replied. "I knew of her desire to help her lord in anyway she could during the last War. She would have been out there with you, Nenvír, fighting alongside you had we not persuaded her to stay behind and help oversee things here in Mithlond. You could not stop her from what she loved to do."

Nenvír was silent then, standing and watching the foaming waves from the promenade on the shore in the evening moonlight. He hung his head and fiddled with the fine crystal goblet in his hands, "But Adar, she had children here to look after, and you still let her go."

"She trusted that you could make the right decisions for them if she was gone," Círdan said, sipping the Miruvor. "You cannot blame her for what you do to Silaerín."

"I do not blame her, Adar," Nenvír said flatly, looking directly into his eyes. "I blame you."

"Me, ion nín?" Círdan asked.

Nenvír nodded his head, "You are the one who sent her to Lórien. You are the one that sent her to be slaughtered by those marauding Men. You are the reason that Alphril is no longer here to see her beautiful daughter grow. Or see the fine warrior her son will turn out to be. You are the reason that Silaerín must stay here in the Havens so that she may escape at any moments notice to Valinor. The further she goes inland, the more trouble and evil that can befall her, and the less a chance she has of making it back to Mithlond to leave Middle-earth."

"Your worries are just, Nenvír. I cannot fault you in that," Círdan said, standing up and looking at his son now that they were eye level. Indeed, there was a great amount of pain and anguish there in his blue eyes. The pain and anguish that Círdan often worried that Nenvír had never felt for losing his wife. However, it was evident he had, but made sure to keep it all bottled up inside. "I have those same worries every time I send you on errantries, or when you accompany me into battles, whether you be an Elf in your first Spring of adulthood, or the Autumn of your fifth millennia."

"But that still does not excuse why Galdor and his companions have been missing for a year's time with my daughter and her handmaiden." Nenvír said, steeling himself from the emotions that had started to take hold of him. He had become quite good at that over the years. "I cannot believe you sent them without me knowing."

"Galdor has been with Silaerín in Imladris while he takes care of the business of Mithlond there. I had hoped he would have returned with her before you, but that did not happen." Círdan turned away from Nenvír then, shaking his head in dismay. At least he had tried to change Nenvír's mind. And each time he did, he came closer and closer to achieving what he wished, but for now, he would let it rest and let Nenvír deal with matter in the way he thought best. "And she would not have been allowed the journey had you known."

"That is why you sent me to the Falas to go deal with the ship building! To go behind my back and send my daughter away, completely undermining my authority as her father. Sometimes I think you grow mad in your old age, Adar. Perhaps the palantir you guard has done it to you. Or that ring..." Nenvír spoke bitterly and set his goblet of wine down. He straightened his shoulders and adjusted his robes over his body, looking at Círdan. "Celin and I will make ready for Imladris in the morning. She has already spent enough time out there, with all the threats of this world."

"You are making a mistake, my son," Círdan watched as Nenvír retreated down the promenade and soon out of sight. He hung his head, and closed his eyes for a few moments. At least Silaerín had gotten a year away from Mithlond, and under the studies of the gifted tutors in Imladris. Hopefully she had been there long enough to make her believe in herself as a powerful elleth no matter her age, and also to make her see what she could have in such a nurturing environment. Of the second part he was sure of, according to his correspondence with Elrond and how quickly she had fallen into a close friendship with Elrond's sons, and how much Celebrían had taken an interest in helping Silaerín grow. Now he hoped she could retain everything and implement it here in the Havens.

And in Imladris...

Elrond entered his chambers that night, weary from a long day of councils, negotiating with outlying areas and holding his weekly lesson with Silaerín. He had intended on spending much more time with Silaerín when Círdan sent the request, but he found that running Imladris was slowly taking more and more of his time. At least he could say that he had not failed the elleth and the wise Elf-lord in the fact that he offered her a loving place to learn, with a wide array of teachers with specializations in different areas. On a few occasions, would Celeborn and Galadriel even take Silaerín aside to teach her of something or even just to speak with her.

However, on this day, he had been allowed to have a lengthy lesson with Silaerín after the evening meal on some practical methods to healing that he thought everyone should know, and Silaerín had barely been able to sit through it. He laughed lightly to himself, shaking his head as he slowly removed his outer robe and placed it across the back of a nearby chair.

When the elleth first arrived to Imladris, she had been studious and quiet, and always paying attention to every detail during her lessons so that she could memorize them. And most of the time, Silaerín was able to tell him things that he had either forgotten or never known about certain histories or lore he was speaking about. That had always impressed him, and she could still do that, but a great change had occurred in her recently that leant to her being talkative and inattentive to his teachings. At first, Elrond had worried that he had grown boring and that she was no longer learning anything from him. But he soon realized that was not the case. She was continually trying to get away to spend time with Elladan and Elrohir or one of her few other elleth friends.

Slowly, but surely over the past year, Silaerín had been changing in her social sphere, from the aide of his sons and his wife. The entire household had seen her slowly begin to come out of whatever shell she had been hiding in, to turn into an elleth with a great amount of charisma and a very strong backbone. No longer did she sit idly by if something was not to her liking or did not agree with. She would get up and do something about it, not ashamed if she was actually speaking her mind. Everything about her had changed, and for that he was proud that he and the rest of Imladris had been able to help her. Even though she had developed the courage and fortitude in order to live her life over the time she had spent here, she had still retained her quiet and pleasant nature. Hardly anything ever disagreed with her in any way, shape or form. She was content. She was kind. And she was an elleth he would not mind dealing with in the future on matters of state or in other areas. Though, he knew the likely hood of that happening was slim to none. But he was glad that he had been able to free her from her father's shadow for this amount of time.

"You are back earlier than expected."

Elrond jumped slightly at the voice, and turned to find Celebrían leaning against the wall of the passageway that led to their sleeping chambers. He smiled slightly, sitting down at the dressing table to take out his braids, and said, "My student would not sit through my lessons again."

Celebrían chuckled and removed herself from the doorway, to walk to him and place her hands on his shoulders. She met his eyes in the mirror, "I am sorry."

"Do not be sorry. I am more happy for her growth as a normal elleth than that of her studies," Elrond laughed and sighed. "When she came here, her studies were not her problem."

"I know," Celebrían replied, moving his hands from his hair so that she could finish taking the braids out.

"But what I am ashamed to say is that my sons have done more for her than I have done for her," he said.

She smiled and continued working on his hair awhile more before speaking. "You have done more than you think, Elrond. You have shown her that it is fine to stand up for herself and not have her father tell her she is wrong. And, lest we forget, without you, there would be no Elladan or Elrohir."

"You always place a unique spin on things, my lady," he said as he took a hold of her right hand and brought it to his mouth to place a kiss on her fingers.

"That is why you bound with me," Celebrían whispered into his ear as she leaned over him to reach for the comb.

Elrond chuckled, "True."

She smiled, combing through his long hair, dark hair. After finishing that task, her hands moved to his shoulders again and to his neck as she applied various amounts of pressure and rubbed his fatigued muscles. It was things like this that reminded him how much he enjoyed having a mate. She sighed and rested against him, wrapping her arms about his neck. "I am proud of Silaerín. I feel like her own mother."

"And I think she sees you as quite a lovely mother," Elrond replied, attempting a quick movement so that it would bring Celebrían around to his front and down into his lap. Luckily, he was successful in this attempt and she had not noticed what he was about to do beforehand. "And Elladan and Elrohir are good brothers."

Celebrían laughed, "She also has had an effect on them, for the better I believe. They have matured greatly the past year with her influence."

"At least one has," he said and gazed into her eyes, wrapping his arms about her body to hold her close.

"I agree. Elladan has changed the most," she nodded, "but he was always the more mature of the twins."

Elrond grew silent, watching her eyes again. He smiled, "You think there is something more there than that, my wife?"

She grinned, "Well, my mother has seen something... and even you cannot be blind to the fact that Elladan takes a greater interest in Silaerín than Elrohir does."

"What has Galadriel seen? And I am not blind to it, but that is still more in Elladan's nature than it is in Elrohir's," he replied.

"She would not tell me explicitly what she saw, because she fears we will interfere," Celebrían said. "Which we may, at some point. But what my mother has said is that Silaerín will play a greater role in our lives than this."

"That is nothing more than Lord Círdan has written to me," Elrond added in an unimpressed tone.

Celebrían's eyes glittered with laughter for a moment, and she placed a kiss upon his cheek. "I will remember this uninterested tone when she comes into that greater role."

"I wish to be surprised, meleth," he laughed. "It is one of the few joys I have left in this world."

She sighed and nodded her head, "Then let us discuss something else."

"And what would this be, my lady?" he questioned.

With a sheepish grin, Celebrían looked directly into his eyes. "Silaerín has made me see that I wish to have a daughter of my own."

Elrond smiled and kissed her lips, "And I will facilitate that for you, meleth, though I cannot choose if I would rather have a son or a daughter. But let us wait a few more years before we do that, so that Elladan and Elrohir are fully grown in body and mind."

She chuckled, "I know you cannot choose, and I agree that we should wait. I only wished to discuss it with you, in case it took more than a few years to persuade you into it."

"You should know by now that there is no persuasion needed," he laughed. "My children are one of my greatest joys in life besides you."

Celebrían smiled and leaned over to kiss him, saying, "You have had too much mead this night, meleth. These words of romance and flattery are falling easily from your mouth."

"That is untrue," he said defiantly. "It comes to me naturally every night about this time, especially if you are in the position you currently are in."

She giggled and pried his arms away from her so that she could stand up, walking to the bedchamber. With a beckoning smile, she turned to him, nodding towards the chamber. And fortunately for him, and possibly Celebrían, he was now not the least bit in need of rest.

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Adar- Father

Ion nin- My son

Meleth- love

Alphril- Silaerín's mother if you do not recall from a previous chapter.

A/N: I maintain now and forever more, what is one year to an Elf? Nearly next to nothing. Maybe a month... so that is why I have had this planned since the beginning of the story to skip forward a year. There is still much more to come throughout (and I mean, throughout ) the Third Age, and much of it will bring back memories of this one year spent in Imladris. But that is enough insight into this author's wacky plot planning, even though I hope this is just fine like it is. Hope you all are enjoying!