Author's Note: AU or not AU… that is the question.  I doubt Tolkien would have "really" made our man Celeborn blind or not, but that's the beauty of tertiary characters… fan fiction writers can do weird stuff like this to them and still have it make sense with canon if they're careful.  I, however, am not as careful as I should be.  A lot of the characters seem OOC, I know, *coughTHINGOLcough*, but I'm working on that.  I promise.  (Would it help if I redid the first chapter?)  This story's basically a feel-good fairy tale and should not be taken "seriously," per se.  Anyway.  I'm done.  You may read now.  ^_^

~~ Chapter Three: Celeborn ~~

            During the meal, Melian could not help seeing that Artanis kept glancing in their direction, specifically at Celeborn.  At first, she thought nothing of it, but after a time, saw that nothing else could attract the attention of the Noldorin woman for any amount of time.  Finrod, too, looked at the king's blind advisor from time to time, but his interest was mild, whereas Artanis looked fascinated.  Melian felt slightly uneasy at noticing this.  She trusted the Noldor, but the attention Celeborn received, on account of his blindness, was rarely positive.  Celeborn was like a son to her, and she was determined to protect him.

            Melian leaned in close to Thingol and whispered, "Artanis and Finrod seem interested in Celeborn."

            "Yes, I noticed that, too," Thingol whispered back.  "Should we introduce them?"

            "Later," Melian responded as she studied Artanis and wondered why she was so interested in Celeborn.  "I would like to speak with them first.  And Celeborn."

            "My lord," said Celeborn, turning his head toward Thingol, "the Noldorin visitors you spoke of… will you tell me about them?"

            Melian smiled to herself.  Their voices had not been soft enough.  Celeborn's sense of sight was useless, but his hearing was as keen as ever.

            "Of course, my friend," said Thingol, and launched into a brief explanation of who their visitors were.  The king told Celeborn their names, their relationship to him, and their business in Doriath.

            "How long will they be here?" Celeborn asked.

            "I know not," Thingol replied.  "Weeks, perhaps.  Maybe even months."

            "And it looks as though they would like to meet you," Melian added.

            A sad smile crossed Celeborn's face.  "And why would these children of the house of Finwë want to meet me, a lesser prince and blind former soldier now rendered useless?"

            "Perhaps they are curious as to how a blind former soldier became the king's closest advisor," Thingol said.

            Celeborn sighed and closed his eyes.  That had to be it.  That was always it.  It wasn't about him, it was about the blindness.  The most ironic thing about losing his sight was that he could now see people for who they really were, whereas they could not.  He had sympathizers, but no one, no one could imagine what it was like to be in his place: the sole member of a race of physical perfection to be robbed of a vital sense.  Would these Noldor see him as anything more than a cripple?

            He opened his eyes, but could still see nothing.

            Lúthien was true to her word.  After they finished eating, she led Artanis and Finrod out of the dining hall and into an adjacent corridor.  Their target was walking down the corridor.  He was alone, and moved very slowly, holding an ornately carved white staff accented with silver in his hand.  Artanis and Finrod noticed that he didn't use the staff to help him walk; before every step he took, he would sweep the bottom of the staff in front of his body to make sure he wasn't going to run into anything.  Finrod noticed that and thought it was rather clever.

            "Celeborn!" Lúthien called.

            Celeborn stopped walking and turned around.  "Lúthien."

            Lúthien, Artanis, and Finrod reached Celeborn, and Lúthien placed her hand on his shoulder to let him know where they were.  "I have brought two people who wish to meet you," she said.  Lúthien was no fool.  She was well aware of Celeborn's reluctance to make new acquaintances, but she also knew that the motives of Artanis, and likely Finrod as well, were not the same as that of most.

            "I was wondering who was with you," he said.  "There were two sets of footsteps that I did not recognize."  He sighed softly, and managed to produce a small smile.  "To whom am I being introduced?"

            Lúthien took Celeborn's free hand with her left, and with her right, reached for Finrod's.  She pressed their two hands together and said, "Celeborn, this is Finrod, son of Finarfin, of the house of Finwë.  Finrod, Prince Celeborn of Doriath, son of Galadhon."

            "I am honored to meet you, Lord Finrod," Celeborn said politely, but with only mild interest.

            "As am I, Prince Celeborn," Finrod replied, sounding far more enthusiastic.

            Finrod and Celeborn let go of each other.  Lúthien reached for Artanis's hand and then gave it to Celeborn.  "And this is the Lady Artanis, sister of Finrod."

            Celeborn was not expecting Artanis to be anything exceptional.  However, as soon as his skin touched hers, a slightly startled look came across his face.  Her skin was soft, as a woman's usually was, but her grip… it would have been as strong as a man's if she wasn't nervous.  He could tell she was nervous by the way she loosely held his hand and the way her fingers trembled so slightly that it would have gone unnoticed by one who did not rely so heavily on their sense of touch when meeting another.  But why was she nervous?  Finding the answer to that would take a lot more than the clasping of hands.

            "Artanis," he said, translating her name's meaning in his head.  "That is a beautiful name."

            "Thank you," Artanis said in a voice that was not her usual strong, confident tone, but rather one that was soft and reserved.

            "You are welcome," he said.  "And I am sorry, but there is some business I must attend to that cannot wait.  Now if you will please excuse me-"

            He stopped speaking as the sound of approaching footsteps attracted the attention of them all.  It was Melian.  "Hello, Mother," said Lúthien.

            Melian smiled at each of them.  "Lúthien.  Finrod.  Artanis.  Celeborn."  She sighed.  "I see you have all met."  She hoped no irreversible damage had been done by any of them – in addition to the lack of sympathy the Noldor might have, Celeborn also had a tendency to be bitter toward others.

            "Yes," Finrod said.  "My only regret is that our meeting was so short."

            "I must attend to my duties," Celeborn explained.

            "You have done enough for one day," said Melian.  "I relieve you of any duties you may have tonight.  I do not believe the king will have need of your counsel, and if he does, I will send for you."

            Celeborn nodded.  "Very well, my lady."

            Melian, sensing that Lúthien wished to speak to Celeborn alone sometime in the near future, looked at Artanis and Finrod.  "The two of you must be very tired."

            "We are, Highness," said Finrod, and Artanis nodded.

            "I will escort you to your chambers," Melian said.  "Come."

            "Good night, Prince Celeborn, Princess Lúthien," Finrod said.  Artanis echoed his words, and the two of them followed Melian down the hall.

            Once they were out of earshot, Lúthien turned to her kinsman and said, "You could have been more courteous."

            "I am sorry, Lúthien, but I have grown weary of this," Celeborn replied.

            "Of what?"

            "Of these games," he snapped.  "It's always the same.  Everyone wants to meet the king's blind advisor.  Never Celeborn."

            Lúthien was beginning to lose her patience.  "I would have you know," she said, struggling to keep her voice steady, "that Artanis wanted to meet you before she knew you were blind."

            For a moment, Celeborn lost the ability to speak.  Finally, he stammered, "She… she did?"

            "Yes," Lúthien said.  "And I could not get her to look away from you at dinner."  She paused, then added, "I hope you are feeling very foolish right now."

            He was.  Finally, someone who seemed to be willing to look past his blindness, and he acted like he wanted nothing to do with her.  "What should I do?" he asked.

            "My suggestion would be apologize."

            "When?  Tonight?"

            "Perhaps not tonight," said Lúthien.  "My mother was right; they are very tired.  Try in the morning.  She is staying in the room directly to the left of mine."

            "Thank you, Lúthien."

            She smiled.  "You're welcome.  And don't worry.  Everything will be fine."

            After saying good night to Finrod, Artanis and Melian went to Artanis's room.  Melian asked if she could come in for a moment.  Artanis could tell that it was not a request, and complied without hesitation.

            The two women sat down on a marble bench with cushions of red velvet located to the right of the doorway.  Once they were seated, Melian wasted no time in getting to the point.  "I noticed that you spent a lot of time looking at Celeborn at dinner tonight."

            The queen's tone confused Artanis.  She knew Melian did not approve of this, but she did not sound angry.  "Yes," Artanis said quietly.  "Yes, I did.  Forgive me.  I saw him, and I could not bring myself to look away."

            Melian smiled.  "I gathered that.  May I ask what you found so fascinating about him?"

            Artanis had to think about that for a moment.  The silence soon became too awkward for her liking, and she spoke.  "I don't know," she said.  She didn't like to say those words, but it was all she could think of.  "There is just something about him… I can't explain what I felt.  He is unlike anyone I have ever met before."

            "Because he is blind."

            "Yes, and… and no," Artanis said.  "I did not know he was blind until Lúthien told me."

            "Very rarely does Celeborn meet someone whom he believes is interested in more than his affliction," said Melian.  "Perhaps he would not hold so strongly to that belief if it had been proven false in the past."

            Artanis's stomach gave a lurch.  "I didn't… I didn't offend him, did I?"

            "Not intentionally, I'm sure," Melian said, standing up.  "You are very tired, Artanis.  Rest, and think no more on the matter.  Perhaps it would be best, for everyone, if you and Celeborn were to keep your distance from each other for the time being.  Good night."

            "Good night."

~~~

Chocolate chip cookies for my reviewers: Arinya, Dragon Confused, saint, Raistlin Majere Archmagus, Angel, The Whisperer, Celebornslorien, Morelen, Marnie, and dia6.

To answer some questions:

Raistlin Majere, Archmagus – Don't worry, Daeron's not the traitor.  This time.

Marnie – Rats, you caught me, lol.  To the best of my knowledge, Uncómien doesn't actually mean anything; it's actually the name of a minor character in a novel I'm writing.  I needed his character and couldn't think of another name.  ^_^

Morelen – Haven't decided, actually, but probably not.

Again, thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope you're enjoying!