These Are The Days

Firstly, Thank you so very much for the positive feedback on my first chapter. Your comments made my day and I look forward to hearing from you again. I've responded to you all at the bottom of this chapter. Also, I want to thank anyone else who gave the prologue a read. It means a lot, and I hope you like the second instalment.

Secondly, I don't own anything from Lord of the Rings (movies or books) though I like a lot of others, wish I did. Sadly, I hold no rights to it and am just writing this for fun.

Alrighty, on with the story…

Reasoning

Silence hung in the air as she waited for him to say something. She knew that he was still upset with her, but he had tried to keep his feelings to himself. However, his opinions on the topic had not changed since the day she had informed him. Finally, she could stand the quiet no longer and questioned him.

"Any changes?" she asked as he examined her stomach and vitals.

"No." Elrond answered her flatly as he stood up strait and handed her a glass of water as she sat up on the examining bed. "You're coming along fine."

Gilraen nodded and was releived to hear this. She was now six months pregnant and had grown noticeably larger since she had first come to him with the news. Sipping her water, she then tapped the thoughtful elf on the shoulder and was about to speak again, but he quickly interrupted her before she could say a word.

"You need to tell him" he said with finality.

Gilraen hesitated. "We've been through this many times" she started.

"Yes, Lady Gilraen, we have" Elrond broke in, taking a deep breath, knowing that this conversation would be a long and frustrating one, as it always was. "Yet you never seem to listen to what I have to say." She tried to cut in, but he wouldn't allow it. "He deserves to know what is going on. In three months your child will be born and Thranduil hasn't a clue about it. The two of you have not even corresponded since his parting."

"We both agreed with the cutting of our ties" Gilraen explained and Elrond shook his head again.

"Yes, but Thranduil wasn't fully aware of the situation when he gave this agreement." He could tell that Gilraen was getting agitated and would become defensive very soon. Her next words proved his guesses to be right.

"I never lied to him about anything" she said through a clenched jaw and a hurting expression on her face.

"You did not tell him the truth either."

"He wouldn't have wanted to hear the truth had I told it to him."

Elrond studied her hard. "How do you know that?" he asked.

Gilraen closed her eyes. This seemed to be getting harder, but as more time passed, she knew that it would only be worse to let it all out now. She had made her decision the night that Thranduil left and there wasn't any going back now. "I just do" she exclaimed, causing Elrond to frown. "He himself told me that he had to get back to his old life. That he had his duties and his country to think about. That he was needed there and that his children…"

"Gilraen, this too is his child" Elrond tried yet again to reason with the troubled woman before him. It was eating at him, and it had been for months now. He had never been overly close with Thranduil, and could admit to not liking the elven king at times. Thranduil was known for being very quick tempered and demanding of those around him, but that in no way made this easy for him. "It isn't right.."

"I know!" Gilraen admitted. "Believe me, I know, but…Thranduil has four children. Four children that have just lost their mother." She was crying openly now, "I couldn't knowingly hurt them by shattering their lives with this now. All they have is their father, and the image they have of him. I cannot spoil that, not now."

"You don't think that keeping this a secret will hurt them?" Elrond asked quietly.

"It will" she answered with a shakey nod of her golden head. "It's unfair, but right now, it is the lesser of two evils."

There was a long silence then as both contemplated the situation. It was difficult for them both and Elrond could see the guilt that swelled up inside the woman, and a small part of him could somewhat understand her fears. Taking another deep breath, the Lord of Rivendell spoke again.

"There are other things to consider, Gilraen" he said as she looked solemnly up at him. "This child will be born soon. What then? How long do you believe you can hide him in Rivendell before…." He trailed off and closed his eyes. He wanted to kick himself for making such a foolish mistake. He hoped she didn't notice, but the look on her face told him that she had.

"Him?" Her hand covered her mouth and she was trembling.

Elrond sighed but resigned and nodded a yes to her. He had foreseen the birth of a happy and healthy, though very vocal son, but had not told her knowing that she would have liked to have been surprised. Looking at her now, she didn't seem to be too disappointed, so he didn't kick himself too hard about it.

"I prayed for a boy" she said as a smile grazed her tear stained face.

Elrond returned the smile, but his was signifigantly smaller. He himself was a father of three wonderful children. He remembered when he and his beloved had learned the news of the gender of their twin sons and daughter. It had been a very special moment. A joyous one, and it sparked guilt into his heart. Thranduil would not experience it this time.

"Your prayer it seems, was answered" he spoke to her in congrats, but quickly returned to what it was that he had been saying. "Regardless, your 'son' will not go unnoticed. His heritage will be questioned. You could lie. We could come up with something; that he is an orphan you've taken in, or a distant relative of a friend.. but, what are you going to tell him? He's going to grow up and have questions of his own. What will you say to him when he asks you where and who his father is?"

Gilraen looked down at her bump, and placed her hand where she knew her son was growing as she pondered on the question asked of her by the elven Lord. "I don't know yet" she answered honestly. "I know I have to know, but I just…I just don't."

Elrond studied her for a moment. He knew the next thing he was going to say was going to hurt her, but it had to be said. After reminding himself that he would regret not bringing this up before the fact, he finally replied. "Gilraen, there's something else." She looked at him and pity for her filled his whole being. Pushing it aside, he forced himself to continue.

"Your son is half elven. He will inherit elven traits and characteristics. Which also means that he will likely mature half as quickly as a mortal child would." He hated this part, and her sunken face made it worse. "You…you are not as young as you once were…what will happen to him once you are gone? Will he continue to remain here? Never knowing who he truly is? Gilraen, I care for you as I would a sister but I cannot keep neither he, nor Thranduil in the dark. I cannot."

Gilraen burst into tears. Her entire body shook as she wept, and the elven Lord placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He hated to have been the reason that she was so unhappy, but these things needed to be said. She needed to know what would happen if she continued to keep Thranduil in the dark. Things would not be as easy as she thought. He wanted to help, but he couldn't lie…could he?

After a few minutes of letting her emotions come out, the woman finally managed to calm her feelings and compose herself as best she could. She took in a few long deep breaths and came to another conclusion. She nodded, pleased with herself and met the steel grey eyes of her companion once again.

"You're right. I can't hide this forever. I will tell Thranduil the truth."

Elrond let out a sigh of relief. "You will?"

She nodded. "I will… but not yet." These words caused the elf to inwardly sigh. "I can't. Eventually, but not now. I understand that you are a father and can see the unfairness to Thranduil, but as a parent, please, try to understand that I'm doing what I think is best for now. I hate to ask for your help, for you've done so much for my family already, but I need your help, my friend. I can't do this alone. I cannot."

He knew that he would regret this, but after another moment of silence, he gripped her shoulders and spoke his answer to her. "If you promise me right now that you will tell Thranduil the truth. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but that you will tell him, I will help you. I will keep your secret, Gilraen, but only if you make that vow and hold true to it."

A sad smile graced Gilraen's lips. "I swear" she said as she pulled the elven Lord into a grateful embrace that he nervously reciprocated. "Thank you."

As they pulled apart, a look passed between them and Gilraen knew that if by chance Thranduil came back to Rivendell, Elrond would not be able to keep to his vow of secrecy. She accepted this, knowing that it took a lot for him to even help her this much. She would cross that bridge when and if she came to it, but for now, she was relieved.

She walked to the door of the healing room, and just as she was about to exit, Elrond spoke to her one more time. "What about Aragorn?" he asked, causing her to pause. She had though long and hard about this particular question. She knew that Aragorn would learn about his brother, but how? When? "This may be the key to him returning to you."

She looked at Elrond as she spoke her answer and quietly left the room, leaving the elf to ponder on what she had said.

"Or the final straw in losing him."

Well there you have it. I needed this conversation to happen because I just don't imagine that Elrond wouldn't have a problem with this. I hope it seemed realistic enough for you guys because I wanted to make Gilraen's hesitance seem real but at the same time I didn't want her to come off as perfect, because obviously she is doing something that a lot of us find unfair.

FYI – A little elven baby makes his first appearance in the next chapter. Can't wait. And Please, review!

Responses to Reviewers:

Theo darkstar – yeah I know. Plus he seems to listen and respect Aragorn. I loved the way he jumped up and defended him at the council (movie). Of course that bond is going to take a while to form as strong as it is by then.

Kitty – Thank you. Well as you can see she isn't going to tell him just yet. Both Legolas and Thranduil DO deserve to know, as Elrond pointed out, but we'll see.

Dee69 – Thanks a bunch! Hope you liked the chapter!

Sielge – I was hoping it would be original. I hadn't seen any stories with this plot. Glad you like it.

Amy – You're very kind, thank you. I'm hoping that you'll like where this is going to go. Like I said in the prologue, this is going to span up until the end of ROTK, so they'll have lots of stuff to deal with until then.

ELPHPIRATE – I love when I'm able to do the first review dance! A mix of twirling and hand gestures and funny faces. Thank you! I'll be updating every other day I think, so I hope you enjoy the rest of them.

MsJackieW's Quote of the Day:

The people we don't understand are the ones that can teach us the most