BIG thanks to: Norie Ape1, legolasnDcolorblueinterestsmen, Artemis1860 (No, I don't know. What do the numbers mean?), Ms. Unknown, toratigergirl11 (I tried to avoid Sueness, but if you ask me, almost any OFC is a sue. But, I'm glad you do happen to like the characters - That's a big compliment to me. Thanks! Sorry for the sp/grmr issues. Enjoy!), LadyAlariel, Ariellelena (aw, thanks!), Laer4572, varda101, D. Notar, Stacey, LJP, Dazzler420, Julia, Pippinsgal011890 (Sure, just disclaim it to me and it's cool! Let me know what story it is, I am trying to read your fics recently. Need more time, heh!), DMH1973, sixtysix, berrytenshi, jibade7!
Wow, I love you guys. I wish I could leave a note for all of you, but I'd want to say so much, I'd never be able to post! I just love you guys! Hugs! And those of you who commented on the names of the children, I'm SO glad you like them! I was nervous about that! Grin
All you Aluna haters, see bottom note...Mwhaha! Also note, this is just a cute little chapter, but another minor character is introduced and some questions about an elusive Donavon are slightly answered.
Chapter Thirteen: Starry, Starry Night
Haldir
"This is by far the darker side of parenthood," Rumil said with a disgusted grimace as his niece cooed in amusement.
"Truly," Orophin replied from some feet away, unwilling to come any closer. "Just so you know, Haldir," he added, pointing at me when I looked his direction. "Do not count on any nieces and nephews of your own on my side of the family."
"I'll call that a blessing," I replied, pinning the last of the cloth diaper in place. Onduras stared at me with his bright eyes. "Honestly, it is terrifying to think of child running about with your blood in them." I drew my son from his place and into my arms.
Glancing to Rumil, I found him finished, yet slightly preoccupied…
At the moment, he was attempting to place one of the pins on his nose.
"Rumil!"
He jumped in surprise and the pin went tumbling through the air as he looked at me in shock. Almost immediately, the twins started crying.
"Well done, Ada," Orophin snorted.
"You scared them!" Rumil hissed at me as Moriana wailed from the table. "Oh, come now, Little Ana, he did not mean to frighten you," he soothed, taking the child into his grasp. "He certainly is loud when upset, isn't he?"
"Great... Corrupt them while young," I growled as Onduras's cries grew louder.
"It helps if you rock them." I turned to find Ana watching from the stairway. I debated on giving her an icy glare yet thought better of it as she neared. With an expert's touch, she took Moriana from her uncle and with only a few dips of her arms, she was quiet again.
Ana looked at me expectantly. Wary, I tried the same tactic. However, it didn't work quite so well. Instead, Onduras continued to wail.
Ana laughed and I looked up at her. "Oh, Haldir, don't look so frightened with him. He will not break in your arms."
"I am not so certain," I muttered as the child in my grasp wrung a tiny fist in my hair and gave a yank. Orophin was barely containing his laughter the door suddenly opened and Ashk came inside.
"Well, well," she beamed as Ana presented her our daughter. "Was I missed?"
"Yes!" Rumil shouted over the noise. He won a bright smile from the two women. Orophin gave him a shove, informing him she was talking to the babe. Rumil only shrugged.
Ashk looked at me and I felt suddenly awkward in my position. It had been nearly two weeks since the children's birth. Ashk had recovered slowly but steadily. However, she'd rarely seen me alone with the children.
"Haldir is having difficulty with the calming tactics," Ana informed her, making Ashk's smile turn soft and understanding. It only made me feel more like a fool.
"He sounds upset." Ashk looked at our son.
"Yes. Haldir scared him," Rumil told her. I glared, but Orophin only sniggered.
"Scared him?" Ashk echoed, nearing me with the very content Moriana in her grasp. She reached a hand forward and drew a finger down Onduras's face. "Did Ada scare you?"
The child wailed again and made me want to cringe. However, Ashk only smiled and looked up at me. I finally grumbled and sighed. "Nearly three thousand years old and I do not know how to calm an infant. Spear me."
The room erupted into laughter causing the twins to perk with curiosity. And, it did manage to quiet my son, thank the Valar. He peered around and any anxiety in me vanished.
It was odd what a child did to a person. In him, and his sister, I saw that pure innocence that I'd forgotten existed for so many years. It was the strangest realization.
"At least you don't have to hurt yourself to have him stop crying," Ana said, smiling my direction like she had not in the weeks I'd known her. But, then I realized the graceful smile was directed at my son. "Ryn ended up with many bruises those first few months."
Ashk cringed. "I hope it doesn't come to that. I remember seeing those bruises." She looked at me. "It wouldn't be flattering, Warden."
I gave her a slanted look before my brothers both seconded that.
Night
Ashk
I sighed as I flopped onto the bed again. This was the fifth time I'd gotten up to soothe the children back to sleep. Once one cried, so did the other. The miracle of twins, I mused, rolling over to clench my pillow.
I was nearly asleep when I heard one of the two begin to fuss once more. Tired frustration peaked as I stayed put for a moment until the cries followed the fussing. I sighed and rolled out of bed again. Luckily, this time Onduras was quiet as his sister wailed.
"What's the matter?" I asked as if she could tellme. "Why don't you sleep like your brother?"
Ana promptly wailed again and I held her close to my chest, bouncing her in my arms gently. "You're so noisy," I told her. "You're going to wake everyone else up and then that will really cause problems. I hear your Ada isn't one to wake up happily. And I can tell you your aunt isn't either."
Little Ana's cries softened into soft coos and gargles. However, her eyes were wide and awake now and I knew putting her down would just send her into a fit again.
What did Mauriel do to put her children to sleep?
"Should I tell you a story?" I whispered. My daughter stared at me. I raised a brow. "Sing you a song?"
Moriana looked at me with a mew of an answer. I smiled no matter how tired as I was.
Haldir
"Starry, starry night – Flaming flowers brightly blaze..."
Silently, I turned the handle of the door. It was late at night and this was not the first time I'd come from downstairs to this door.
However, this time I entered. I couldn't sleep, my mind was far too busy finding ways to enter and retake Greenwood in the spring… My thoughts were constantly interrupted by remembering the smallest thing the twins had done the day before.
I was such an oaf. One would think children were never brought into the world before with the way I was acting.
Opening the door slightly, I found the room lit by only the waxing moon outside as it shimmered in through the window. The bed in the room was rumpled yet empty. I could see Onduras in his crib before I stepped inside to look near the window.
"Swirling clouds and violet haze, reflect in Vincent's eyes of starry blue..."
There Ashk stood as tiny as she was when I first met her. Her skin was pale in the moon's silver rays. Like her sister, she was a dark beauty; rare in the Elvish world and maybe that was what made me stare at her. Or perhaps it was the child she held. I could perfectly see the babe's dark hair and brilliant blue eyes.
"Morning fields of amber grain, weathered faces lined in pain..."
Nearly eight months had passed since Ashk had stormed into my life. I knew her gentle times from her fiery ones, and Vala did she have them.
Sometimes I found myself wondering about her time before she was with me; the time before she lived in Celebruim in the house we'd put back together.
"…Are soothed away by the artist's loving hand."
Ashk was human…mortal. The child she held in her arms would live long after she did. She would pass like the winds, I knew this. Did she? Once she was gone, it would be me alone to tend to the children we created. She would probably never see either of them marry nor any grandchildren in her life.
I knew this.
Did she?
"And now I understand, what you tried to say to me…"
Would she ever marry for love before her dying day? What man would approach her knowing she was the named wife of the Lorien March Warden, the mother of his children? And would she let him?
And I as watched her sing our daughter to sleep, it was the first time I ever thought of what she'd been stripped of.
And as she continued to gaze at our daughter as she slept quietly now, I slipped back out the door and closed it silently.
Two Days Later
Haldir
"Ashk, I honestly don't think this is a good idea," I said once again. She looked at me while leading Black into the corral. The horse was rigid, knowing something was going on.
Moriana cooed in glee as the large horse snorted. I glared at him and shielded my daughter away from him. Orophin was on the bench swing with Onduras not far away. He seemed to be having a detailed conversation with my young son.
Since Ashk was feeling perfectly fine again, she announced a day outside was in order. After my long lecture about the details of Elvish children and the immunities, she no longer seemed worried about the children being outside.
She immediately assigned Orophin and I to stay with the children while she would work with Black.
Closing the gate, she turned to face the stallion.
"Ashk…" I tried again.
This time, however, Ashk turned around to face me and her hands flew to her hips. "Warden, for the sake of the Gods, please. I am of Rohan before I am even a woman or my father's daughter. I know how to handle a horse."
Rohan, nation of the horse I thought sourly. Did that make everyone a horse tamer? No. It certainly did not.
Ashk had turned back around now and with a raise of her hand, the rope lashed out and sent Black speeding around the pen at a sprint. She kept him like this for some time. He ran loops for nearly ten minutes before even the first glint of sweat broke.
I heard Ashk sigh while Moriana and I watched.
"Elvish breeds do not tire like human breeds do," I told her.
Her eyes flicked to mine for a brief moment before returning to the racing horse.
Time continued to pass and Ana had come and gone. She seemed restless today. I dared not to say anything to her about it, of course.
Donavon was quiet as always, but he now sat on the other side of the corral as Black sped by him time and again.
"Haldir, why did you give me the energetic one?" Orophin asked, struggling with Onduras to release his hair.
I smirked and looked down at Moriana fondly. She was looking contently at the horse.
Suddenly, Black's legs locked and he slid to a stop before wheeling around. Ashk made a pleased sound as he ran at a slower pace in his new direction, his mouth openly gnawing at the air. I raised a brow. I'd never seen a horse do such a thing.
Intrigued, I moved closer to the side of the corral. Placing Little Ana on the top board, I leaned her against my chest as I watched in interest.
Black slowed to a trot before Ashk made him continue on. He gave a snort of annoyance before continuing, his mouth still gnawing the air.
Soon his nose began to duck towards his legs.
"Good boy," Ashk said.
She waited until he was nearly touching his hooves before she let him stop.
Immediately she turned her back to him.
I glanced at Orophin who shrugged with a look of interest on his face while Onduras yanked on his hair.
Black stared at Ashk for some time, yet did not move. His head bobbed up and down and his shifted his weight several times before taking his first cautious step forward.
Soon, his nose was at her back and he gently nudged her shoulder.
Ashk smiled as she turned to greet him, her voice soft and praising as she stroked his muzzle and neck. The horse's muscles quivered as she touched him and the normally distant animal nudged her chin with his nose.
"Where did she learn that?" Orophin asked quietly. I shrugged my shoulders.
Ashk again turned away from the horse. He snorted as if offended and followed her as she walked around the corral herself.
Black followed her like an obedient dog.
Little Ana was attempting to but her tiny fingers in my nose by the time my own concentration was broken. I smiled at my daughter as she giggled when I pushed her hand away.
Persistent, she tried again and made a look of frustration when I evaded her. The adorable look made me laugh.
"Ana!"
Shocked by the sudden booming voice, my eyes snapped around until landing on a distant figure nearing the house at a sprint from the village.
Ana came out of the barn a moment later as a figure dotted the land between the house and Celebruim.
"Mei Grah!" the man cried, stumbling as he raced our direction.
"Ryn!"
Ana and Ashk both shouted for him. As Ana sprinted toward the man, Ashk came out of the corral and rushed to my side.
"He made it back," Ashk whispered beside me as her sister leapt into her husband's awaiting arms. She clung to him with both arms and legs. The kiss they shared was enough for any onlooker to feel its echo that screamed love.
Awkwardly I glanced at Ashk. She looked up at me and I had to turn away.
The longing in her eyes was heartwenching.
Evening
Ashk
"They're beautiful, Ashk," Ryn told me again as his niece smiled up at him. Nearby, I could hear Lyn chatting Haldir's ear off while the child literally clung to his boot. I had been so pleased to discover Lyn had traveled with his father from Edoras.
In some distant part of my mind, there was a whisper of family in the noisy house.
"You should be proud of them," he added a moment later, looking at me. His calloused hand tilted my chin up and I smiled at him.
"I am," I replied and he winked at me.
In the kitchener Ana, Orophin, and Rumil were attempting to cook dinner and I could hear laughter ringing out as something clattered.
I rolled my eyes and glanced to Haldir as Lyn was inspecting his sheathed dagger that screamed Elven. I smiled as I saw that fatherly concern in Haldir's eyes as the child peered at it. His own son was propped against his shoulder and sleeping soundly.
As I looked, I wondered if Haldir knew his first born was drooling on his tunic.
Donavon was outside by himself sitting idly on the porch pretending to be reading.
Ryn followed my eyes before looking at me. He raised a brow and shrugged his somewhat narrow yet muscular shoulders.
Ryn was the perfectly etched Gypsy; the dark skin and ebony hair and eyes. His hair was shorter than it was when I last saw him. It was curly as ever with small springs of black that cascaded down his head. His beard was shaved with the summer months that passed. He was as tall as Ana which was a good few inches over me, but not nearly as tall as Haldir.
He was a Gypsy to the core and he knew it. And he took pride in that.
"Is he always so quiet?" he asked me, quietly referring to Donavon.
I shrugged. "Most of the time." I took Moriana from her place and cradled her in my arms as I walked outside. I closed the door and only then did Donavon look at me.
His murky eyes reeked of some horrible sadness. The boy was not broad, but he would be when he was older, I could see it. His high cheek bones and a narrow chin etched a young, immature face that would be deemed handsome in years to come.
He was a good boy, but he was troubled.
"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" I asked, seating myself beside him and putting Little Ana on my knees before carefully bouncing her to her delight.
"I was a little crowded in there," he told me. "Decided to do some reading instead."
It was rare for many young boys to know how to read. I had pondered this when he'd excused himself earlier.
"Who taught you how to read?" I asked, looking at my daughter as if to seem to be making small talk.
He paused a moment before rolling his shoulders and saying, "My mum."
I smiled. "That's good," I said. "I love to read. My mother taught me too. How old were you?"
Donavon shrugged. "I can't remember ever not knowing how to read," he told me.
I raised both my brows at this. "Impressive."
Donavon nodded before sighing and closing the book. Inside the sound of laughter seeped around us, singing the title Family. His eyes cast away from the house even as I tried to look inside. I could only see Lyn clinging to his father's back as he paraded into the kitchener.
"How did you learn to tame horses, Ashk?" Donavon asked. I was surprised at this. Donavon didn't ask many questions when he did bring himself to talk.
"It's in my blood, I suppose," I replied. "The Rohan people were gifted with the horse many, many years ago. And they have been our loyal companions ever since. Give them a bit of respect, they'll give you the same."
Donavon nodded again and peered out to the corral where Black was trotting himself around. His heavy mane was bouncing on his thick neck while his hooves made no sound.
"He'll throw me a good few times," I added with a dreadful cringe. "But, not as many as he would. No body likes to be tamed and claimed by another, I suppose."
"I suppose," Donavon echoed, now looking at Moriana. She peered at him with a giggle and raised a tiny fist towards him.
"You can ride Black when you like once he's tamed. He'll need exercise."
Donavon chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, I'm not a very good rider," he told me. "We don't ride much where I come from. Boats mostly. I haven't ridden a horse since..." His voice trailed away and when I looked at him his face paled considerably.
"What is it like - The Sea?" I asked softly.
He resurfaced from his thoughts and looked at me. Suddenly, that haunted look melted away into a warm smile of a missed love.
"It's beautiful," he told me. "A wind always comes from its glassy surface and it smells of the salt of the sea. Creatures that live in its depths sing beautiful songs. Even the tempting Sirens of the West are a blessing to the Sea.
"When I was younger, every day my brothers and I would go to the piers and await our da's return. He only came back every few days, but we went every day just in case." I smiled as he did. Yet, the smile faded and he glanced at me. "Then he just never came back.
"Some men said he had fallen to the Sirens. Others said there was a great storm that took his ship away." He shook his head. "He just never came back."
I frowned and glanced at the silent Moriana as she stared at Donavon.
"What did you do after that?" I asked gently, slowly easing my way into his past.
"We stayed there for a few years until Mum heard of the great East Lands." There was a bite in his voice as he spat the words out. "I don't understand why she had to come here. The coast was fine where we were. We had friends there and a home worth calling home."
I waited silently for him to continue.
When he did, it was in distress, not anger. "We traveled with another band past the Shire, through the Wilde, and past the Elven Realm of Rivendell. Then, we pressed on through the mountains.
"We passed Lorien," his eyes cast towards the forest not all that far away and sadness shimmered in his eyes. "And we circled it, going south for Gondor...But when we got to the River, our leaders went to find guidance.
"Whoever they got it from sent us in a folly direction. We came to a gorge between cliffs and the river. It was snowing and Lorien was still in sight...but then they came."
I felt my stomach turn over slowly as his voice lowered to a bare whisper.
"Orcs. All I can really remember is the screaming…Within minutes, nearly everyone had fallen and I remember the blood that stained the snow and the Orcs...They took most of the dead. My brothe-" He stopped and glanced at me. "I shouldn't tell you this. I'm sorry."
He stood abruptly.
"Donavon," I heard myself say. He glanced down at me. I could think of nothing to tell him as his sad and broken gaze pried into mine. Finally, my lips managed to form words and I whispered, "I'm sorry."
He stared at me a moment before walking away. I stood slowly and watched as he moved towards the corrals.
"How did you survive?" I asked to his back.
He stopped and turned to face me. "Not all of us died," he told me. "A dozen or so of us lived and escaped before the Orcs came back. I separated from the survivors and wandered for nearly a month.
"I met you and Master Haldir only a day after I came here."
He turned then and walked onward without another word. My lips formed a fine line. The poor boy was more lost in the world than I had ever imagined.
I glanced back inside only to find Ana opening the door.
"Ashk, come on in. Dinner is nearly ready." She frowned as she looked around the empty porch. "Is Donavon not going to join us?"
I glanced to the empty space Donavon had once been. I shook my head. "Not tonight. Maybe he will come in later."
Ana stared at me a moment before nodding and we walked back inside.
- - -
All right then, disclaimers:
The song Ashk sang to Moriana is a portion of the single titled, (Vincent) Starry, Starry Night is sung by Josh Groban and I believe all claims go to him.
Also, if you are wondering why I chose that song, it just happens to be a favorite. It's actually quite sad if you've never heard it. But, I chose the parts carefully enough to seem cheerful enough for a mother to sing to a child. I hope it was okay.
Next update set for: December 11th. See you then!
P.S. I just wrote chapter seventeen...and I got so mad at Aluna that I had to stop writing! Yeah. So...beware. Even chapters 17 and 18 roll around...you may need something to throw that is not breakable. At least, that's what my friend did. Grin
P.S.S. If you have any thought on how Ashk interacted with Black - that is actually a technique of taming horses. The 'Old Way' according to some. It works, I had learned if from my aunt some years ago. Just a useless FYI.