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Chapter 12- Mithlond: A New Storm Front

Silaerín woke to the feeling of a warm body beside her and warm sunlight filtering in through the open windows of her chamber. With a slight jolt, she lifted her head up and looked about the room, first outside to find that the storm had dissipated over night, and all that remained were the high billowy white clouds in the azure sky. And then she shifted her eyes to the large, warm body beside her, realizing that it was Elladan and that he was clinging to the last moments of sleep he possibly could, though her sudden movements had awakened him.

She did not know if she should be more surprised that the storm had cleared away so quickly, or that Elladan was in the bed beside her, sleeping peacefully. Blinking her eyes few times, she tried to recall the previous evening, and all that had happened. He came to keep her company and make sure that she stayed in one place and did not hurt her ankle again. Somehow she had gotten him to abandon his chivalrous reserve to find a comfortable seat on the bed beside her. Then there had been a few short kisses between them before there was knock at the door and one of the kitchen servants entered with a large tray of food for them. Well, it had seemed to her like the kisses had been rather short, but it appeared to her that a great deal of time had passed since he found his spot beside her.

After they shared the evening meal together, they engaged themselves in the conversations on topics they had not shared since his arrival. She spoke of the true boredom of sitting with her ladies and listening to their constant drivel, while he told her of stories about finally being allowed to take part in Imladris' guard and some of the things he had seen while on duty. And for some time, they just sat close to each other and listened to the slowly dying storm outside and plop of raindrops on the stone of the dwelling. It was truly amazing to her that nearly a millennium apart from each other had changed very little between them, besides the very obvious fact of their physical growth. And it was also amazing how well they fell into stride, so to speak anyway, with each other as though no time had passed at all.

She must have drifted off to sleep sometime when they were listening to the rain. Silaerín sighed peacefully, and lowered her head again onto his shoulder where it must have laid the entire night because his arm was protectively around her waist and holding her into place. While all of this was so very new to her, it seemed right to be there beside him. However, she wondered why he had not left her there and gone back to his chambers. It seemed like an un-Elladan thing to do, considering how he was uncomfortable with sitting on the bed beside her. But she was not one to complain, and snuggled more closely to him, willing the sun to disappear and it to still be night.

"We cannot stay here all day, you know," came the deep voice and a small rumbling laugh that she could feel with her head against his chest.

"We could try," she replied, sitting up to peer down at him.

"Not when I have already spent the night in bed with you. People will talk," he said, reached his hand up and brushing some of her hair out of her face.

Silaerín smiled, "Let them talk. I would rather be here with you and then have to face the whispers later than have no time with you and still have to face whispers of other things."

"You make a good point, my lady," Elladan smiled and sat up an rested back on his elbows, "but I still have councils with your grandfather to tend to. I was lucky enough to sneak away yesterday."

She sighed and nodded her head, gazing out of a window into the clear sky, "Ada will return soon."

"And when he returns, I shall be ready for whatever verbal assault he cares to unleash on me," he said quietly, turning her face to meet his. "However, if he returns to you and threatens you, I know not what I will do."

"Let him yell," she said. "I have learned enough just to steel myself from it when it happens."

He gave her a look of concern, and sighed, "Silaerín, you must do something about the yelling. It is uncalled for."

"He has not done it lately," she replied.

As though it were on cue, there came a booming voice as the door to her antechamber was thrust open with great force, "Silaerín!"

She felt her heart plummet and her throat close up as she looked at Elladan. He had an equal look of fright on his face, but he swallowed quickly and breathed deeply as though he were trying to clear his mind. They both glanced toward the doorknob, waiting for it to turn, and it did just that, only agonizingly slowly. However, the privacy latch held the door in place and she glanced again at Elladan as they both scrambled to their feet. Had he locked it the last eve?

"Open the door, Silaerín!"

How had word gotten to him so quickly? She thought she would at least have one day to enjoy Elladan without having to worry about the eyes of her father watching her every move.

"One moment, Ada," she called as calmly as she could manage, her eyes still on Elladan. What was he going to do? If her father saw any evidence that Elladan had spent the night in her chambers there was a good chance Elladan would be gelded, whether she could convince her father that they had just fallen asleep or not.

Elladan smiled impishly, pulling her to him and placing a soft, sweet kiss upon her lips as though he were trying to calm her nerves by doing that. He let her go and walked in the direction of the opening out onto the balcony, and she was sure he would continue on outside to find some way to scale down the stone wall to another balcony, but he paused in front of her large wardrobe.

"Silaerín, now!"

Silaerín glanced toward the door quickly and back towards Elladan, to find him contorting himself as he began climbing into the wardrobe. It was quite comical to see him squeeze into such a small space, but even more hysterical to remember her first day in Imladris. She tried to stop the laughter from rising to her mouth, but it was useless and she let out a loud snort as Elladan winked at her and closed the door. And once again, she was surprised he had been able to fit into the wardrobe.

"Silaerín..."

"Adar," she said calmly, walking to the door and opening it for him. "Suilad."

He pushed past her and into the room, beginning a thorough search behind doors and beneath furniture. She noted that he looked windblown and slightly unkept, signaling that he had not even stopped to freshen himself upon his arrival. He had come straight from the docks to deal with this. "Where is he?"

"Where is who, Adar?" she questioned, trying to remain as emotionless as possible. The one thing she never learned to do in all of her lessons was to act, and she could only hope she was believable.

Her father continued his search and walked toward the balcony, and she sucked in a sharp breath as he paused for a moment in front of the wardrobe. He glanced at her, but continued on his way. Coming back into the room, he stood before her, looking her over, trying to discern if there were any changes about her. "Where is he, Silaerín?"

"Where is who?" she questioned again.

"Do not think I cannot see it, Silaerín," he replied. "And do not think me foolish either."

"There is no one here, Adar," she said. "However, I know you have stormed in here because of word from Celin."

He clenched his jaw, "Where is the peredhil? I wish to give him a piece of my mind, and also give him a lesson on how to act around ellyth."

Silaerín chuckled lightly, "Ada, I think he knows how to act around ellyth perfectly. He has had a great deal of practice with his sister and mother."

"But that is not always the case with an ellon with one thing on his mind," he said.

"You make assumptions that are not true, Adar. Elladan would never intentionally act distastefully to any elleth, beside the fact that it is not in an Elf's nature to do so," she replied, walking to her dressing table and sitting down. He watched her closely in the mirror as she began to comb her hair out.

"I do not wish you to keep on this charade with him, Silaerín. We both know nothing will even come of anything that may occur on this stay," her father said. "I would not consent to anything between you and the peredhil."

She turned and glared at him, "What you wish and what I do are two completely different things."

"Are you suggesting that you will disobey me?" he questioned with a grunt. "And I fail to see how this union would be good for you, if it were to become a union. What do you see in Elrond's son, when you have the attentions of another here in Mithlond?"

"Of another? You speak of Bainon?" she asked incredulously, and let out laugh. "I care not of Bainon. He is just like you."

"Celin and he have been friends for a long while, and he is an honorable harbor guard," he explained. "He is also fully Sindar, as Elrond's son is not."

"You are prejudiced of him because he has Noldorin blood? Blood does not matter as long as you are a good Elf," she said.

Her father laughed, it almost sounding wicked, "How little you know, Silaerín. At least with Bainon, his future is certain that he remain noble and loyal. As for the peredhil, he still has something that he must decide that could shatter you."

"That would not change whether he was noble or not," Silaerín sighed heavily and met her father's eyes. "You can expound upon all of Bainon's qualities until the end of this world, and all of Elladan's lesser ones, but I will not agree with you. And I would think that should he and I grow closer and bind, that he would choose Elf-kind."

"Elleth, you will not continue leading him on. It is a fanciful idea to begin with."

"I am not leading him on, Adar. I truly feel as though..." she began, but was cut off with a wave of his hand.

"I am your father and you will do as I say," he said, in a surprisingly even voice. He sighed then and walked out of the room, closing the outer door with a loud bang.

Silaerín hung her head, covering her face with her hands. Why did it have to happen like this? Why was her father still so bent on making sure she stayed in one place the rest of her life and did what he thought was best? She was capable of making her own decisions, but he apparently did not seem to care. True, it was a parent's prerogative to watch over their child, for some degree for most of their life, but her father took it to the extreme all the time.

The creaking and groaning of the wooden wardrobe sounded through the room, then light footsteps across the stone floor as he made his way over to her. He sat beside her on the bench and placed his fingers under her chin, raising her eyes to his. She sighed, "Elladan, I..."

"Silaerín, you need not say anything," he replied, leaning over to place a soft kiss on her brow.

"What Adar said about Bainon..." she began again.

"Silaerín, I know," he said and touched his lips to her cheek.

Silaerín sighed, "I am sorry for what he said about you."

Elladan smiled slightly, "Some of the things he said were true, pen vain. I do not know how to act correctly around you. Should I be your friend or your lover?"

"I thought we had that all straightened out as of yesterday," she said with a small laugh.

"And she smiles," he said, placing a kiss upon her lips. "Do not worry, Silaerín. I can hold my own against your father. What is the worst he could do?"

She met his eyes, "I care not to think about that."

"Fair enough," Elladan replied. "I must go now, my father will be expecting me before the councils today."

"I cannot believe you could fit into the wardrobe," she said as she watched him move toward the door.

He laughed loudly, "If you tell anyone about this, you will regret it."

"Are you threatening me, my lord?" she asked. "Perhaps my father was correct."

Elladan smiled, "Hardly."

Without saying anything more, he left the room. Silaerín sighed heavily and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt bad now that she had argued with Elladan the previous day about him breaking his reserve and giving into his temptations. Perhaps it would have been better for them to remain friends and nothing more, though she knew not where they stood now besides each having the intention of something more happening between them. He did not deserve the problems that were sure to ensue with her father. No one did. And at least as a friend, the problems would not be so large.

Maybe it would just be better to tell Elladan that she did not want to continue on with anything, and perhaps take a serious look at Bainon. He was an admirable Elf, even though she could not say much for his choice in friends with her brother. He was handsome, and a perfect mate for anyone who would have him.

But then, so was Elladan.

"My lady?" Silaerín glanced toward the door when she heard Mílwen entering. The handmaid came into the room and smiled at her, "Your father asked me to come help you prepare for your duties today. We are to plan a welcome gala for our guests now that the storm has moved on."

"Adar wished for this?" she questioned, wondering what had been his reasoning behind this.

"Aye, he did," she said.

Now this was an interesting development.

"My lady, who is that?"

Silaerín glanced up from the book she had desperately been trying to focus on while her ladies chattered. She met the eyes of a young elleth who, at a reasonably early age, had been thrown into the snake pit of gossiping older ladies by her mother. Silaerín smiled at the elleth, and sighed. This elleth was the one lady she could stand, and probably was because of her naïveté when it came to the operations of the older ellyth in Mithlond.

"I am surprised you do not know that, Fuineth, with all the talk that you ellyth do," Silaerín replied. "Even with the storm."

"It is Elrohir, Elrond's son. The family has come to visit," another of the ladies spoke up. "I think it is quite a lovely thing that they have traveled here to visit. Mine eyes have seen no greater exquisiteness than the likes of these ellon."

Silaerín smiled to herself, "Aye, that is Lord Elrond's son making his way down the corridor, but that is not Elrohir. That is Elladan, his twin brother."

Fuineth's eyes lit up, "There are two of them? They are identical?"

"Aye, they are," another elleth, named Arodeth, spoke up. This happened to be Fuineth's mother, and the chief of the ladies since Silaerín's mother's time running the court of Mithlond. She was also the most churlish and ill-mannered one of them all. Everything she did was for a personal gain of her own. It was no wonder that Silaerín's mother hated the court so much, besides the fact that Arodeth never forgave Alphril for wedding the ellon she intended to. And Arodeth continued, "And it would suit you, being the young elleth you are, to become close with them. Either of the two would make a fine match for you."

Silaerín tried not to scoff at that, however Fuineth was one elleth she would not mind introducing Elrohir to. Though, Silaerín would never do that, because of her friendship with Elrohir. It would be cruel to subject Elrohir to the likes of Arodeth, who was, unfortunately, exactly like Silaerín's father. Perhaps if she talked Fuineth into it, they could mount a coalition against their parents.

"Oh, he is coming over here," one of the other elleth nearly squealed, in a slightly undignified manner. Really, it was as though they sounded like giggly young elleth who were in the presence of some great Elven warrior. Like the way she acted around such Elves as Glorfindel, Galadriel and Celeborn. Silaerín met his eyes, giving him a quizzical look as he came to stand before them.

He bowed his head slightly to the ladies and smiled, "Good day, my ladies. Lady Silaerín's presence is requested with her father."

The first thing to go through her mind then was about what could have possibly gone on to warrant Elladan coming to fetch her for her father's business. It sounded suspicious to begin with, but she made sure to not show that to the others, "This instant?"

"Aye, my lady," he replied.

Silaerín closed her book and stood up, looking about at her companions, "Please excuse me."

Elladan offered his arm to her, and she took it, meeting his eyes again and trying to get some prescience into what was going on. He remained closed off from her and silent as they walked along the corridor and away from the excited chatter now traveling between the ellyth. It was not until they were a good distance away and in a corridor less traveled, that he paused and looked down at her for a moment.

"What has happened that my father wishes to see me?" she asked.

He smiled mysteriously, and pulled her to him, placing a kiss on her lips. He said nothing more and took a hold of her hand, pulling her along and out of the dwelling into the fresh air. Silaerín, however, stuck her heels in the ground and said, "Tell me what you are doing."

"You are not any fun. Why can you not like surprises?" he asked.

"You know I do not like surprises," she replied. "At least now I can stand up to you, even though you are still considerably larger than me."

Elladan chuckled, and stood closely to her, as though emphasizing his size by looking down his nose at her. He sighed, "Aye, I am larger than you, and I could easily throw you over my shoulder, but if your brother or father were to see that, I do not think that would be very good for us. So now, just be thankful that I have gotten you away from your ladies."

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"You, my lady, are going to start learning how to use a bow and arrow," he smiled, pulling her along again.

Silaerín laughed at him. Well, at least her father had not killed him over the matter. Or perhaps it was that he had not seen her father. She shook her head and followed after him, not caring who saw them together.

------

Suilad- hello

Adar/Ada- Father/Dad

Pen vain- beautiful one

A/N: Elvish sleep- yes I know it says that Legolas rests with his eyes open, so in that much all Elves should do that. But the operative word in there is "rest", and I think that to truly sleep, one must close their eyes. This is the restorative, deep kind of sleep. Elves are not meant to need a ton of sleep, so most of the time they rest peacefully and slip into a trance/nap type thing like the one Tolkien describes with Legolas and keeping his eyes open.