Massive Thanks To! Laer4572, Ms. Unknown, Skyfire4, LegolasnDcolorblueinteretsme, Julia, LJP (wink), Dazzler420, LalaithoftheBruinen, Norie Ape1, Jullez, Pippinsgal011890, Sixtysix, Skyfire4(for a second round! Thanks!), Artemis1860 (glad you liked! Great name.) Toratigergirl11 (Thanks for the note, but I think it was a typo. Thanks, I do fiction a lot as well) and Ariellelena (aw, thanks!)! Thanks guys!
NOTE: This is a big stepping stone in this story and it killed me to wait nearly a week to put it up. I hope you guys enjoy. I just wrote the end of chapter fifteen or sixteen, can't remember, and there's another sweet part I can't wait for. Enjoy guys, let me know what you think!
Also - This is a LONG chapter. Just a FYI!
Chapter Twelve: Life
Morning
Aluna
I detested being lied to. I utterly loathed it. And it was obvious that Haldir of Lorien was lying to me, and it was grinding on the last of my remaining nerves. Worse yet, he was one of the few who could lie to me! Not many could hide what they were truly thinking from Aluna of Rivendell.
It had been six months since my arrival in Caras Galadhon and I'd seen little of the Warden. This distressed me a mite. One would think a decade would be enough to cool his ruffled feathers. Yet, Haldir was the ever stubborn one.
My magic was not breaking his walls. I'd seen him a dozen times and each time his mental barriers locked.
The graze of affectionate touches by both body and mind were not wearing him down as I'd planned. Instead, when I saw him I couldn't help but feel he was trying to see me as someone else. That was most offensive. Who would he rather see than me? I had the beauty of the Evenstar and the power of Galadriel. Who could he possibly want more than I?
I was not alone in Lorien all my nights here. Many had come, though none had been Haldir. Nor, I thought with a frown, his brothers.
Strolling about the upper levels of the great city, I watched the people below with a careful eye. Lorien was unlike the other two Elvish nations. Of course, none were the quite same. Still, Galadriel's power reigned here without question. People bowed their heads to her at a moment's glance and all she did was smile.
With power like hers, they should have been on their knees with a silent tremor of fear through their bodies.
I was younger than the Elf Queen herself, but I knew that shimmering need inside that cried to be heard and stroked. When one had magic, they had to learn to control it. If not, it consumed. Did Galadriel not just shut her power away? Her great city should be filled with more monuments of their matron.
Oh, the things I would do if Lorien was mine.
Yet, both Galadriel and I knew what her mirror spoke of.
Years would pass, many years, until the waning of the Elves would trickle by. Rivendell would fade, as would Greenwood, yet Lorien would remain even without their Lady of Light.
When Galadriel and her consort left Middle-Earth, there was only one other person to take reign in their stead. I knew this, so did she.
However, I thought as my eyes settled on a spectacular sight, I doubted he did.
Haldir was whispering quietly to his youngest brother, Rumil. Even from my distance, it was not hard for me to shift the air enough to hear their conversation tunneling towards me.
"...ll her that I will only be a few more days. And make sure she is resting for Valar's sake," Haldir said with a frown.
Rumil smiled. "I am sure she is fine. I will tell her, brother. Make a speedy trip east and keep it safe."
"I will," Haldir replied as a young Galadhrim brought his horse. He was flanked by several scouts. Haldir bid his brother farewell as he mounted his horse. I watched with interest as he led the dozen or so Galadhrim away before my eyes fixed back to Rumil.
He glanced around, most likely feeling my gaze on him. Yet, he ignored it, the fool, and walked casually towards the stables. I waited until he emerged on the back of a broad horse. Glancing upward, I spotted my clever little friend; a gentle white dove.
"Follow him."
The bird tilted her head before turning and flying off her perch. She followed the trail Rumil made as he trotted out of the city alone.
Afternoon
Ashk
Rumil was looking back at Lorien again. His eyes were tense and he was not as carefree as normal. He had not greeted me with some ridiculous nickname, nor did he seem at ease. He'd been here a good hour and still seemed as though he were on the run.
"Rumil, what is it?" I asked, putting the vegetables I was cutting aside for moment. "You seem so agitated."
Rumil looked at me with a brief smile. "It is nothing. I just..." He looked back towards the forest and I sighed.
"Rumil, for goodness sake, you act as though someone is stalking you," I said, rubbing my tomato juiced hands against my apron. My apron happened to have the largest bulge in it that could be fathomed.
Rumil only gave me a brief chuckle that I couldn't help feel was one of nervous truth.
With a sudden flutter in my stomach that accompanied with a pinching feeling I growled and glared down at the mountain that was my body. "If you two don't quit," I hissed.
The twins had been kicking up a storm all day. So badly, in fact, that I hadn't been able to eat much at all.
Rumil's smile softened and he neared me. "Making trouble?" he asked, his hand moving to settle where the twins were blustering about. His smile turned giddy as he felt them move. He looked so like his brother Haldir when he had first felt them.
The thought made me want to frown. It always looked as though Haldir wanted to feel the life we'd created move when I mentioned their commotion, but he'd only done so once. Even though he'd looked happy, only a moment later his face had blanched and ever since, he'd never moved to feel them turning about.
"Not much longer now," Rumil said, tipping my chin up as his brother often did.
"No." I sighed and finally paid attention to my aching feet enough to sit down. "Thank the Gods," I added a moment later making Rumil laugh.
"How is Ana?" Rumil asked, glancing outside as if to find her.
I shrugged. "She's better since you last saw her. The bruising is still there, but she walks without a limp now."
"That is good. At least Haldir won't notice anything happened."
I cringed at the thought. "You haven't told him, have you?"
Haldir hearing about a mass bar fight due to Donavon would not be the best thing to ever happen. In fact, I was quite certain he would pulverize someone.
"Of course not," Rumil replied, looking at me with a shocked face. "That would be worse than waking a balrog for Valar's sake."
I laughed before a yawn caught me. Rumil looked at me with a gentle eye before shifting. "I best go," he told me. "And you had better get some sleep tonight. Take a nap now, in fact. It won't be long before you hardly sleep because of wailing babes."
"Thanks, Rumil," I replied, making a face. "That's just what I need to hear. As if I am not nervous enough."
He grinned at me. "Don't be nervous," he told me, kissing my forehead. "You will be a wonderful mother, trust me." I gave him an uncertain look before he kissed me again. "Don't worry, my little dew drop - Everything will be all right."
I nodded this time and Rumil winked at me before walking himself out.
The door closed and a shadow caught my eye from the window. I raised a brow as a small white dove took flight. Perhaps it was a good omen, I thought before one of the children kicked rather hard.
"It is going to be a long day," I muttered to myself.
Dusk
Aluna
How interesting this was, I mused while stroking the soft feathers of the dove perched on my finger.
How disgustingly interesting.
Oh, the mere thought of a human woman baring the Warden of Lothlorien's children nearly made me violently ill. It was nearly as appalling as an Elf and a Dwarf mating for Valar's sake!
The thought made me cringe and shudder while the dove cooed.
Yet, how wonderfully interesting that Haldir would keep her far from his beloved home and people. Something was amiss there and it led to only one thought.
The children were accidents. It was not the first time I'd ever seen it happen, however, it was the first time I'd ever seen it happen to one such as Haldir of Lorien. Ever honorable and full of duty, he was nothing more than the Warden to his homelands; devoted to the end and ever more.
Why else would he hide a family far from his protection unless he did not want them?
"Well done, my little friend," I told her, offering a few crumbs of bread. "Well done indeed."
What kind of a name was Ashk?
"What do you think, Esa?" I murmured to the dove. "Should we meet this woman?" The dove tilted her head with a purr of thought. I smiled slightly. "Yes, I suppose you are right," I said softly. "We best give Haldir one last chance to settle this little mess."
Esa bobbed her head, ate the remaining crumbs, then flew off to perch on a nearby tree.
Afternoon - Two Days Later
Ana
It was raining outside making the day rather miserable. It was no storm, just a steady downpour that kept everyone inside. Spite, of course, those of us who were unloading a wagon full of goods for the tavern.
My boot slipped near the top of the stairs and I heard the man behind me jump in surprise before I regained my balance.
"Careful there," he told me and I replied with something kind even when I wanted to growl at him.
Putting the box down in the storage room, I lingered over it for a moment's rest before my eyes filtered outside.
Was Ryn in this rain? Was he warm and dry, or tromping through mud and water?
Was he alive?
The question tore at my heart every day, yet I could never have an answer for it. My days in Celebruim helped to drown the worried pain I felt as I hovered around my sister, but in just the briefest moments - and always at night - I found myself wondering where my husband was.
Wondering if he would return to me as he promised he would.
"Put that down!"
"It is half the size of the others!"
"Donavon, don't you argue with me. Put that box down."
With a frown I left the room as others filed in and went to the top of the stairs. Donavon, still badly bruised and with a healing arm in sling, and Gronig were nearly in a brawl. Donavon had a small box in his one good grasp while Gronig was ordering him to put it down.
The boy was just that; a boy. Stubborn and prideful.
"Gronig, you're squawking like a mother hen!" Donavon told him with a roll of his eyes. The man took the crate from him and plopped it on top of someone else's load as he passed.
"Oh, stop arguing, son," I said, pattering down the stairs and brushing my wet hair out of my eyes. "Just do us all a favor and sit down for a minute."
Donavon sighed loudly before grumbling and sitting with Gronig's wife.
"I swear, that boy has more will than a cursed old stallion," Gronig grumbled to me as we went back outside into the rain.
"Don't I know it," I replied with a shake of my head, wading through the mud that reached our calves.
"Ana?"
"Yes?" I called over my shoulder as I lifted another box labeled with 'Liquor'. Ashk's head poked out of the door a moment later.
"What did you do with the candle box?" she asked.
I thought for a moment before saying, "It is upstairs in the smaller room, I think." She nodded and disappeared inside again.
My boot got stuck in the mud and I cursed while maneuvering to free it without losing it to the caked mud. It took me a bit, but I finally wretched free.
"Good Gods," I muttered to myself. "I hate the rain."
Stalking inside, I had barely made it in the door before I heard the sound of shrieking boots on water and wood. Looking up at the stairs, I dropped the liquor box and it shattered to the floor. The noise didn't drown out Ashk's surprised scream, and I shouted something as she tumbled down the flight of stairs, taking with her the two men.
"Ashk!" I wasn't the only one who yelled for her as I dashed to her side.
She rolled over, and just that fast I knew something was wrong. The pain that surfaced so bluntly on her face had only one title.
Mother.
Haldir
"No, the borders there are nothing to worry about. I may think of doubling the leads on the Northwest lines, however."
Eruidel nodded in agreement.
"What do you plan on doing in the spring?" Eruidel asked. "Greenwood is much larger than Lorien, we cannot be everywhere at once there."
I nodded. He was right and I had already been thinking of strategies for the march to Greenwood. However, before I could say anything, an abrupt voice broke my chain of thought.
"Haldir, darling."
Turning, I laid eyes on Aluna and felt Eruidel tense beside me. Even I raised a brow. Aluna was never one for modesty, but the attire she wore now was extreme.
It was a sheer white gown that cut so low across her breasts I dreaded to know what would happen if she had to bend over. Many Ladies' attire had a slit in the front of their skirt, but was always amended for with a skirt beneath and often added more color.
However, Aluna had no inner-skirt. Her long legs showed obviously and the slit was dangerously high.
"Good afternoon, Aluna," I greeted. "If you will excuse us a moment."
She raised a delicate brow. "Oh? I just came with a question really."
I tried not to show my annoyance. "Yes?"
"Would you so kindly join me for dinner this evening?"
The scent of her magic flowed around me in a warm embrace, but I shoved it away. "Terribly sorry, Aluna, I have prior plans."
"Do you?" she questioned, her eyes beginning smolder. She had something up her sleeve, I could feel it. "Those plans would not have to do with any particular hu-"
"HALDIR!"
The sudden cry of my name echoed throughout the entire city and managed to make me jump. The pure fear in Orophin's voice sent a knife of worry deep into me.
I leaned over the rail of the boardwalk to see him racing towards us at nothing less than a sprint.
"Haldir!" he cried again, his breath heaving.
"What is it?"
He paused as if thrown off by this question and glanced around himself at those who were watching with a dogged interest. He glared before looking up at me in distress.
"There was an accident," he said and something in his voice told me it didn't have anything to do with the Galadhrim guard.
"There was an accident, Haldir...In the North."
Ashk.
Later
As I plowed the door open, a scream shredded into my ears and I fought the urge to cover them. Rumil staggered behind me before the wail began to fade.
I found the first floor in the company of two people; Gronig and Donavon.
"Haldir!" Gronig exclaimed as he whirled around. His hands opened as if a greeting, but my eyes darted upstairs. I could hear the muffled gasps and screams there. When I took a step to move towards the stairs, Gronig lunged in my way.
"Warden, no!" he demanded, his hands pushing against my chest. I could have easily barreled over him, but thought otherwise as he continued, "Women aren't that kind to their men-folk in times like these. I don't think you should be up there."
I heard the door open in the hallway upstairs and soon Ana came rushing down the stairs, shoving us both out of the way as if we were not even there.
"Made it back, I see," she snapped in my direction.
"How long has it been?" I asked, my voice leaving little room for any of her snide comments.
She looked at me with a raised brow before continuing into the kitchener. "Nearly two hours." She shuffled around until finding a large bowl. She turned to Donavon. "Donavon, I need you to go to the creek and fill this. Make it quick, you hear?"
Donavon nodded hastily before taking the bowl and rushing outside, nearly knocking Orophin down in the process. I could barely notice the fact that the boy's arm was in a sling.
"Why don't you gentlemen sit down?" Ana suggested, swinging around the stair rail and hurrying upstairs again. "Get something to drink," she added over her shoulder and I glared at her back. Drink? Now?
"Yes, good idea," Gronig muttered, immediately going into the cabinets. "When my wife gave birth to my first born, the only way to keep me calm was getting me drunker than I'd ever been. It's better that way. Karnin, the store owner, he passed right out when he thought he could be with his wife during it all - and I don't mind telling you either!"
I exchanged a look with my brothers before a glass was thrust at me.
"Trust me, my friend," said the man. "You do not want to be up there. Just sit down here and let Ashk take care of business."
"It is as much my business as it is hers!" I snapped back, gulping the drink anyway.
"Aye, that's right," Gronig amended, swallowing his drink as well. "And don't think she'll ever let you live that down. But, for now just trust an old man in what he tells you about child birth. It's a woman's business - not yours."
I growled and promptly began stalking a path in the den while my brothers sat down.
A harsh scream filtered down to us, raking over our ears.
Valar, I did not want this to last long.
Two Hours Later
Ana
"I don't understand. It should not be taking this long!" I hissed at the healer and mid-wife as Ashk's whimpering continued not far away. It had been four hours. I'd known women to be in labor for over a day, but with the pain Ashk was belting, this wasn't normal. She should have had those children an hour ago at the latest.
"This is early," said the mid-wife. "She wasn't meant to have these children today. It is a fluke and Gods help her if it costs everything."
I glared.
"This is becoming dangerous," said the healer. "Women are in childbirth for hours, sometimes days, but she is losing a lot of energy. If she does not bare these children soon, I will fear for the worst."
Comforting, I thought grimly as I looked at my sister's sweat soaked face and exhausted eyes. Her breathing was hoarse from her screams. She didn't have the energy to scream anymore.
Gronig's wife, Eleyn, stroked her hair back but had a petrified look on her face.
I'd seen women birth many children in my lifetime. I'd also seen them die doing it. I'd be damned if my baby sister was going to die trying to bring life into the world, but I felt utterly helpless.
"What are we going to do?" I asked softly.
"All we can do is wait," said the mid-wife. "Ashk is the only one who can fight or give up in this."
The words laid a heavy burden on me and I felt my heart threaten to crack.
What was I going to do?
Orophin
I watched my brother pace the room as he had been for hours. Nothing had changed in the house besides the lack of shattering cries from upstairs. Each time Ana came from the upper level, she was bombarded with questions. And each time she looked more and more worried.
I could no longer assure my brother that all would be fine, for I was now starting to question that myself. Rumil was miserable beside me and had gone outside several times. He looked to be worrying himself to death while our eldest brother tromped out his frustration on the floor.
Donavon had been sent away to entertain himself at the tavern. Gronig was struggling to stay awake past his drunkenness.
When I heard a muffled, tearful cry from above, I rubbed my dry eyes with a hand and sighed heavily.
Suddenly, the sound of Haldir's boots hitting the ground stopped abruptly. Looking at him, I found his gaze of stone cast outside. And when the door opened, relief flooded the room. No questions were asked as far as how she knew to come, the Lady knew all the things she needed to know.
Lord Celeborn was with her, most likely as an escort.
Galadriel's eyes filtered around the room, past the astonished Gronig, up the stairs, then back to Haldir.
He was staring at her silently, an obvious conversation flying between the two. Then, suddenly, she turned and went upstairs.
Celeborn remained behind and sat down beside me, his hand gripping my shoulder a moment. Nothing was said and nothing needed to be said.
All of us sat in silence and Haldir went back to pacing while Gronig tried to cover his agape stare at the Lord of the Wood.
Ana
Did she understand what the Lady of Light was telling her? Those soft words that whispered from her delicate lips to my sister's ear, did Ashk know what they meant?
I didn't and I watched in silent peril as slowly, slowly, Ashk's haggard gasps began to subside into slow, drawn breaths as if she were sleeping. Her red eyes were still red as the setting sun and yet the painful tears had ceased.
The Elf's soft hand brushed aside the sweat that trickled over her brow and cheeks and her damp hair was turned aside.
What was she doing?
Lady Galadriel…She was said to be the Lady of Light; Lady of the Golden Realm; treacherous witch; evil sorceress. This Elven Lady had so many names, so many fairy tales about her, I didn't know what to believe. Was she killing my sister, or helping her?
I glanced at the mid-wife who was staring with a wide open mouth as she wrung her hands.
Finally, the Lady's whispered words dwindled away, drawing my eyes back to her. She stared into my sister's eyes for a long moment before, finally, Ashk cringed and a hearty cry of pain left her once again.
The Lady Galadriel motioned for the mid-wife who moved forward warily.
"Come along now," the Lady of Light instructed softly. "Infants do not have patience."
Another cry left Ashk and I knew it was finally time for the babies to come. I rushed to her side, opposite the Lady of Light, and gripped Ashk's hand. Lady Galadriel's eyes filtered on me for a moment before her chin dipped slightly as if a nod of acknowledgment.
"Urgh! Gods!" Ashk cursed a few good times as renewed sweat cascaded down her face.
"Good girl, Ashk. It's okay," I tried to sooth, my worry overlaying the fact that I'd never heard her curse quite so fluently. A smile shined through as I looked at her.
"All right, Ashk." The mid-wife rolled up her sleeves for the second time that night. "Now or never, honey."
Haldir
"This is ridiculous!" Rumil suddenly exclaimed, jumping to a stand as the screams from upstairs elevated into a range I personally called ear-shattering. My head was pounding into a near blinding ache and my patience was spent.
Turning on a heel, I stalked my way up the first three stairs before a noise had me staggering to a stop.
Just up the stairs, a baby cried.
Someone laughed as the loud squeal continued. Beyond the wall and door, I heard a woman say, "It's a little boy!"
"Look at 'im!" the healer chuckled.
I turned and looked at my brothers. They both had a look of shock on their faces before Rumil burst with a blinding grin. He launched from his place several feet away to collide with me, shaking the sense right out of me.
"You have a son!" he cried, nearly forcing me to fall on the stairs. I'd barely kept my balance before Orophin pounced on me as well, sending us all tumbling down the stairs.
"You two idiots!" I exclaimed even as I found myself grinning like a child. I attempted to shove them both off of me but Rumil clung to me like a iron clamp.
"You're an Ada, Haldir!" he told me. "Listen to him!"
Upstairs, my son continued to cry even as his mother gave a shout of pain. Something deep inside me seemed to turn and awake. Some strange, foreign feeling I'd never felt in all my long years.
Parenthood, Haldir.
Galadriel's voice trickled into my mind.
It is called parenthood.
I laughed. Drunk with that thick feeling of pure life, I laughed.
Ashk
I didn't understand women who managed to have a dozen children. My son was enough torture for a good lifetime or two.
Yet, now the pain had dulled to a numb throb. In my mind, I could still hear Galadriel silently coaching me. I never thought a day in my life that I would had the help of the Lady of Light bestowed on me during childbirth.
"Not much longer, Ashk," Ana told me.
"..It's been too long!" I snapped back, throwing myself back into the pillows. I was tired and frustrated and aching. I just wanted to see my babies - that was what I wanted. And then I wanted to sleep.
"Keep on, Ashk. Almost done," the mid-wife coached as a new wave of tearing pain erupted and split through my entire body. My already raw voice bled into the air.
"Breathe, Ashk! Goodness!" The Healer looked in worse shape than I was as his eyes bugged out of his head. For the hundredth time, he attempted to demonstrate how I should be breathing. It only made me want to laugh though.
That is, of course, until that next shattering storm of pain.
I was dizzy as I poured all of my remaining strength into that last ripping torture.
I barely heard the cry of a baby again.
Relief flooded over me and I heard Ana telling me it was over. I looked at her as I fell back into the pillows. She faded and wavered in my sight as she smiled down at me.
"You have a baby girl," she told me, her voice sounding as though she were miles away.
Then, there was a gentle touch on my forehead and I looked at Galadriel who was smiling gently at me.
Soon, there was nothing but a welcoming embrace of darkness where pain was no more. Only the sounds of my children made me fight to stay awake, but Galadriel's gentle voice beckoned me to sleep.
Dawn
Haldir
A soft sound brought me out of my dozing sleep. The night had been long by the time I convinced my guests to leave.
Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn left on their own will a few hours after the birth of my daughter at dusk. Galadriel had assured me Ashk would be fine and had embraced me like she had not in a very long time. More surprisingly, so did the Lord of the Wood.
Gronig had stumbled out with the healer and his wife after dusk as well. The man was drunk as ever. The mid-wife had stayed for some time, bustling about Ashk upstairs before she excused herself near midnight.
Yet, my brothers were a different story. They were unwilling to leave as they stayed prowling around the two infants.
And what splendor they were.
They had the dark hair of half-breeds of course, but the shade reminded me more of their mother than just their blood. Their tiny ears were pointed as with the Elf-kind. They both had blue eyes, yet my son had darker blue eyes than my daughter did.
Orophin had said he had my eyes. I didn't even try to hid my pride in that.
Orophin and Rumil had left only a few hours ago, arguing about who was being named after who. I'd only shaken my head.
I'd sat in Ashk's room all night, waiting for her to wake.
Now, I turned to look to where the noise that had awoken me came from.
I smiled when I saw her.
Ashk was awake and peering down into the two small cribs. A gurgle greeted her and I saw her grin even as her eyes shone brightly with tears. Gently, she reached down and drew our son from his crib and held him close to her.
And as the moment stretched without her knowing I was watching, the sun's light streamed into the room. I only watched as Ashk cradled our child and smiled at him in a way only a mother could.
"Aren't you beautiful?" she murmured to him as his tiny fists reached for her. A tear trickled down her cheek, but it only glittered in the sunlight as if it were laughing with joy. "You're just perfect."
She looked beautiful standing there with my son…
I shook myself of the thought and stood, and Ashk didn't seem to even notice me until I moved towards her. Yet, still, she did not act surprised. Instead, her heartfelt eyes lifted to mine and she smiled at me.
"We have a son," she whispered to me, and I smiled at her. My hand reached out to brush aside her hair from her face.
"And a daughter," I said, peering over her shoulder to see the gaze of my son before looking to my sleeping daughter.
Suddenly, Ashk giggled and looked up at me. "I can see my feet," she told me with another laugh. I stared at her a moment before shaking my head with a chuckle.
"Ashk - You must be tired," I said quietly.
She laughed again slightly before the gurgling of our daughter turned all attention to her.
"Warden?"
"Hm?"
"I know you and Ana don't favor each other at all, but…Oh, it's silly to say it now, but when we were young girls we promised to name our daughters after each other." She risked a glance at me then looked down at our son. "I know it's a little childish, but..." She took a deep breath and I wondered why she had not brought this up before. "What do you think about Moriana?...Little Ana?"
I smiled at her despite myself, enjoying her nervous jabbering. She was tired and giddy with the children and I couldn't find her as anything but bittersweet.
"Little Ana, then," I agreed and a smile bloomed on her face.
"And what did you come up with for him?" I asked curiously as our son mewed in her arms. She looked at me expectantly.
"That is your choice, Warden. It is tradition in my family. The father always names the first born son."
I was shocked a moment. Over the months, I had only scolded myself when I had caught myself musing over names…
"Unless you don't want to..." Ashk looked at me in question and I didn't miss the shadow of disappointment in her eyes.
I shook my head while carefully taking the child from her grasp. He peered at me for a moment as I held him at my sight. He then giggled as only Elvish children so young could.
I felt myself smile.
"I know his name," I said, shifting to cradle him in my arms. Ashk looked at me in nothing less than delight as she took Moriana into her grasp. "Onduras."
"What does it mean?" she asked.
"It means Strong-Willed in the first of the Elvish tongues…a language long lost," I told her. "It was my father's name."
Ashk smiled at me then the two infants.
Moriana and Onduras.
My children.
Our children.
- - -
Well? I hope you liked!
Next chapter projected for: December 8th or 9th. Look forward to meeting you back here, I hope!
-Slater
In Case You Were Wondering:
If you wonder of a few facts in the beginning of this chapter, from what I remember reading, I do believe Rivendell fades after the war, but so does Lorien. It is Greenwood, Mirkwood, that remains. I cannot recall the name bestowed on the nation in the 4th age, but I know it's there. Just to let all you hard-core Tolkien fans (I know, I'm one of you) that I'm not trying to stomp on his work. Also, someone emailed me asking if many Elves knew common or Westron. No. In fact, Rumil and Orophin supposedly do not. That is mentioned in chapter 14 though.
Any other questions are gradually answered in chapters to come, I would think. Yet, feel free to ask them as you go. Bye guys!