Mireloth decided to keep the blade for herself.  She rather liked the piece, even with all the bad associations she now had with it.  Not that she could really think about it right now.  Mireloth had enough to deal with. Wounded soldiers were again pouring in, many with horrible burns. Reports were coming in of huge, fire spewing reptiles on the battlefield. The only ones who seemed able to withstand them were the dwarves. Rumor was that several higher-ranking Eldar were also hurt. Some felt that the Noldor deserved whatever misery they were dealt. Were they not the ones who began this whole war? Mireloth was kept from dwelling on such thoughts, however, by the steady stream of wounded that kept coming in.
Things had been going smoothly until Mireloth found her work interrupted yet again. She was asked to help in the recovery tent. Mireloth had some reservations about leaving Avarion alone with such a workload. "Don't worry, Mireloth, I will be fine on my own," he said cheerily. Sighing, Mireloth followed the other healer to the recovery tent. She found that it was not really a tent, just a very long canopy. There were over one hundred beds in each canopy, and space was tight. "Lass, you are in charge of these twenty beds. Anything they need: food, water, bandage change, you must attend to it. Do you understand?" the elder healer asked impatiently. Mireloth nodded and began her new duties.
Mireloth soon found that this was far harder than her original job. Even the mere twenty beds she was assigned seemed too much. The recovering patients, to their credit, tried not to tax the healers too much, calling on them only if their need was great. Mireloth found herself most frequently giving water or changing bandages. To make the job more agreeable, she tried to learn the patients' names. At the very least, it made the rounds pass faster if one could make conversation. Still, it was difficult to get to know anyone well, as most of the wounded were able to leave within days. Some of the soldiers, however, were truly amusing. "My wife doesn't know I went into battle," said one, "she thinks I'm visiting my sister. If she finds about this, she's going to finish what the orc started." Several other warriors shared a chuckle at this, and at the other common fear of "my mother is going to pitch a fit when she learns of this."
All told, it was rewarding, but exhausting work. The moment a bed went vacant, it was filled again. One Noldo came in with a painful burn from hand to neck. He seemed intensely worried about something. Mireloth tried to make conversation with him as she massaged burn ointment onto his arm. "How did you manage this?" she asked.
"A dragon. It must not have appreciated my attempt to poke it with a spear," the Noldo replied.
"You're lucky you survived a full blast from one of those things."
"I'm a smith, lass. I rather enjoy intense heat. However, I am worried about my brothers. Maglor's arm is already injured, and I'm not sure Celegorm has entirely recovered from that blow from an earthen jar."
Mireloth went pale when he mentioned Celegorm. This Noldo must be one of his brothers. The Noldo noticed her reaction. "Are you all right?" he asked, "You act as if you were the one…" Then comprehension dawned on him. "You are the one, aren't you?"
"Yes," Mireloth whispered, " and I suppose he still wishes to do me harm, am I right?"
"From the look of it, he already has," replied the Noldo, indicating Mireloth's wrist. "Honestly, I don't think he will attempt further harm on you, not after you rearranged things in his brain. In fact, I'd like to thank you for doing so. He has been rather insufferable lately."
Mireloth managed a weak smile at this. "Ah, forgive me, lady," he continued, "where are my manners? I am Curufin, fifth son of Feanor. What would your name be?"
"Mireloth."
"Gem flower. Very fitting for one such as you."
Mireloth was curious what he meant by that. But then she was called over by another soldier, who needed water. As she walked over to him, she was nearly knocked over by a rush of Noldor. All five of them went to Curufin's bed. She sighed, for then nearly upset the jar of water she was holding. As she poured the water for the soldier, she noticed Maglor trying to catch her eye. She smiled and politely lowered her head. To her surprise, Maglor did the same. Then she went back to her rounds. She saw that another Noldo had entered the tent and was now kneeling by Curufin's bed, but paid it little mind, as she was concentrating on tending to the wounded. Then she heard Curufin call her name. She dutifully went over to his bed. Curufin introduced all of his brothers to Mireloth, who was more than a little unnerved by the way Curufin's brothers were looking at her. The one that was kneeling turned to face her. To Mireloth's horror, it was Celegorm. He rose up and regarded her with some interest. Mireloth tried to back away from him, but one of the twins placed his arm against her lower back to prevent her from leaving.

                Celegorm was in a panic.  Not only could he not find any of his brothers, but he also heard that Curufin was gravely injured.  He rushed to every recovery tent he could find before locating his brothers.  Again, the twin's copper hair was what led him to that particular tent.  Celegorm all but jumped on his brother's bed in his joy to see him.  Only Curufin's wince of pain stopped him from doing so.  Instead, Celegorm knelt by his bedside.  "Does it hurt?" Celegorm asked, kicking himself for the stupidity of the question.

"It did, until the healer put some ointment on it.  Now it's just numb," Curufin replied.

"Well, next time, don't try to stick a dragon while standing in front of it.  We'd hate to scorch that fair face of yours, dear brother."

"I'll try to remember that.  Would you like to meet my healer?  Though, I daresay you already know her, Celegorm.  Mireloth!  Would you mind coming here for a moment?"

            The girl came obediently forward, and Curufin proceeded to introduce the brothers to her.  She did not appear overly uncomfortable until Celegorm turned around to look at her.  She tried to back away as he scrutinized her more closely, but Amras placed a hand behind her back and winked at her.  She was petite by Elven standards, for Celegorm stood almost a full head taller than her.  Celegorm noticed that she kept her eyes fixed on the ground as he approached her.  This may be harder than I thought, he sighed to himself.  "Lady Mireloth?  You need not keep your eyes averted; we will not harm you," Celegorm said, trying to make his tone more gentle than normal.  "Forgive me, my lord, but I feel I have reason to fear you," she replied, a tremor evident in her voice.  Celegorm gave it another try.  He reached for Mireloth's hand, to take it in friendship.  This only caused her to break out of Amras' grip, to the surprise of both.  "Forgive me," she said, "I must get back to my patients."  She hurried off to give water to any that asked for it, and to some that didn't.  All noticed that she took pains to avoid Curufin's bed.  "Why are you surprised, brother?" Curufin asked, "Did you think she would just stay near you?"

"I had hoped she would," Celegorm replied. 

"Do you have any idea what you look like when you are angry?  When you first confronted the girl, she probably thought you were going to slit her throat."

"And she should know that none of us would raise a weapon against a lady."

"And yet you have, Celegorm.  None of us will forget your actions at the Swan Havens."

            Celegorm thought that Curufin was cruel to mention the incident.  "I don't need you to remind me of that, Curufin," he said bluntly.  Curufin's statement only made Celegorm more determined to atone for his foolish deeds, both with the girl at Alqualonde and with Mireloth.  He would wait until the end of her shift, at twilight, then he would attempt to speak with her in private.  Not to mention that Celegorm rather wanted his hunting knife back.

            Twilight came almost too slowly to bear.  Celegorm waited outside the tent where he had first seen Mireloth.  He wondered now if there was any point to his waiting.  Mireloth's opinion of him could not have improved much in the past few hours.  He also wondered why he was waiting in the first place.  What was it his eldest brother had said about "advances"?  Celegorm laughed softly to himself.  Maedhros knew the brothers better than any of them would care to admit.  He knew that the twins were pranksters, but never malicious.  When Maglor sat on the floor, staring into space, Maedhros knew he was composing something.  He knew that Celegorm's temper and sometimes violent mood swings limited social life outside of his family.  Celegorm sighed and reached for his knife, a nervous habit he had developed some years before.  He realized it was still gone when his hand hit empty leather instead of ivory.  "Is this what you were looking for, my lord?" asked a quiet voice behind him.  Celegorm whirled around to see Mireloth standing behind him.  She had his knife in her outstretched hand.  "Ah, yes.  Thank you, Mireloth," Celegorm replied, accepting the knife.  She tried to go into the tent where Avarion waited, but Celegorm stopped her.  "Would you stay for a time?  I would like to speak with you."

"If my lord desires, then I will obey," she said softly, looking at the ground.

Celegorm accepted that.  He took Mireloth's uninjured hand in his own.  "I would ask your forgiveness for my actions earlier.  You were only trying to help."  She didn't reply to him.  Dismay began to set in.  "You fear me," Celegorm sighed.

"Should I not?" was her only reply.

"No.  I will not raise a sword against a lady."

"You do not need a sword to cause harm, my lord."

"Nor do you, lass.  You taught me that lesson well enough."

            Celegorm was rewarded for his weak attempt at a joke with a small smile from Mireloth.  He lifted her face up, so he could better see her face.  A pair of ice-blue eyes fearfully returned his gaze.  "I do not wish you to call me 'lord'.  Call me by my name, Mireloth," he said, keeping her eyes focused on his.

"Yes, my lor… Celegorm," she stammered.

"Good.  I would also ask that you take a meal with my brothers and I tomorrow.  I would like to thank you for healing both Maglor and Curufin."

            Mireloth seemed unsure what to make of this.  First Celegorm had threatened her life, now he was asking that she share a meal with his brothers?  Confusion dominated her features for once, rather than fear.  After a long while, she nodded her agreement.  Mireloth backed away then, motioning that she had to get back to the healing tent.  Before entering, she looked back at Celegorm and, with a look of almost childish delight and embarrassment, smiled.  Then she disappeared.  Valar, thought Celegorm, she is radiant when she smiles