SongMaster : You are a strange, sick little person. But do keep reviewing.

The Last Temptation of Home... : I think that Maeglin is one of those characters that scare people away. After all, the flames from the reviewers here tend to be more harsh then other parts of the site. Please keep reading!

It is Certain

About the time of Earendil's conception there came a kind lull in the relationship between Maeglin and his wife Castiel. They seemed to relate on waves of closeness and separation and for a while it seemed that they would be separated for good. Maeglin spent a good deal of his time in illicit mining against the wishes of his Uncle Turgon.

It is unclear why Turgon suffered this disobedience in his own nephew. Perhaps it stemmed from guilt involving his mother and the death of his father. We do now that Turgon never regretted the death of Eol Dark Elf, but he suffered deeply because of Aredhel.

In the time that Aredhel was under Turgon's protection, she was very unhappy and the cause is often thought to relate to the Feanorians. Aredhel seemed to enjoy a level of friendship with the fiery family that was only reached, to the same extent, by her elder brother Fingon. Aredhel learned to fight and ride and hunt with the sons of Feanor, and with Celegorm especially.

After the betrayal of the Burning of the ships Fingolfin kept a tight rein on the relations between the families and so for this Aredhel suffered. When she was under Turgon's protection alone she no doubt hoped for more room to do as she please. However, it is clear through many accounts that Turgon was even sterner in personality then his noble father.

Aredhel's subsequent disappearance and reappearance with a young son seemed to be the worst of Turgon's fears come true. When Aredhel died of poisoning he was sick with grief for nearly a decade. Only the appearance of Tuor to Gondolin seemed to bring him out of his despair.

But, because of this guilt that hung over his head, Turgon looked the other way when Maeglin roved outside his laws. I think it is a sad case of the pendulum theory. He went from a suffocating hold to barely any hold at all. Instead of maintaining a common hold on his governance with his family, Turgon allowed many things to go unnoticed and taken care of. The mining Maeglin did was just part of it.

Today, Father introduced me to Tuor, the man who came with Ulmo's warning. I have never seen a man before, but I was struck with his nobility right away. He is not as fair as many of the couriers, nor even as strong as my cousin. And yet, something compelling in his rugged face pulls me to listen to him.

He visited me today and I learned all of his life before he came to Gondolin. For so short a lived being he has seen nearly the same pain and horror as I. I feel drawn to him in such a way as I cannot yet understand.

Idril

During this time Castiel and Maeglin almost never saw each other until the Great Autumn Feast at which Earendil's coming was announced. It was a costume of the feast for each of the major households to compete in a dance. During the year each household would practice the art of a dance, something that the maids of the house took great delight in.

Each house would assign a dancing master to instruct the maids and great care and pride went into the preparations of the dance. The colors of each house would mark the dancers at the competition and the best performers were given a special place at the King's feast table. The year before this we know that the house of the Golden Flower had won because Lady Ariella, Lord Glorfindel's wife wrote of it with great pride.

Not only have we cause to lift our heads at the noble house that we call our own, but we have succeeded in the winning of the dance! The maidens were more then beautiful in their gowns and they danced as Yavanna herself upon the hills of Tuna. My own dear girls wished to join but their father says next year. What a sight they will be when they join hands with the maids.

It was remarked that year that the house of Maeglin did not chose to compete. However, this year Maeglin did indeed encourage the women of the household to join in. His requested only that they should wear the house colors and silver only. Maeglin was known for his simplicity of garb and would have been heard to remark on the grandeur of the others gowns with contempt.

Castiel records the dance and the very important events of the evening in this entry.

The great hall was a blaze of color! The blue gowned maids of Ecthelion mingled with the Sun colored mist of the Golden Flower, the pearly white of the Heavenly Arch almost made me wish to be back among them. However, I am proud to wear the black and silver of my lord's house. We have all tied up our hair in such a way as to let it down dramatically with the simple pull of a ribbon. It happened in the middle of our performance.

We have worked every hard to make our dance unique, but I must admit it was strange. But when we whirled into movements and the weird music of the harp accompanied us it was breath taking. I felt Maeglin's eyes upon me and somehow I felt that he would speak to me that night.

He did, in fact, speak to her and even brought her home to his bed that night. It seems that even the steely reserve of the Dark Elf was overcome by the need to be with his bonded wife. She craved his touch and presence and in this time together they deepened the bond between them. After this time, Maeglin went less and less to the mines and it is almost certain that they kept company together much more regularly, if only in private.

When Earendil was born this notation was made in her journal.

Tonight my love is tormented with grief. He holds me so tightly I can hardly breathe, but I cling to him and remind him over and over how I love him. He never spoke, but his tears fell on my breast when he wept.

The baby's birth was heralded with joy and curiosity. After all, this was the very first elf/human birth in history. He was carefully watched and cared for by his mother and nurses. Tuor, it seems, was unworried by the rapidity with which his son grew. To a human being it is normal to develop quickly; it is needful, because they must reach the age to reproduce at a younger age then the Eldar. Yet Idril was worried nearly to death when the baby began to get teeth before he was even a year old.

Among the Eldar, it is common for this to happen in the third or second year, but never the first. It was the beginning of Earendil's seventh year when Castiel and Maeglin had the critical encounter that caused the story to be told at all.

I do not remember when I first felt that he wanted me, but I went as quickly as I could. He was pacing the room quickly, quietly and his eyes were fevered. He never even spoke a word to me, but claimed me in a kiss. His passion was purposeful tonight and by the morning I knew what it was. We were with child.

He said would we make the union known publicly as soon as the gender of the baby was known. I am almost afraid to tell him that I can not even touch our baby's mind with my own. But I feel the little heart beat under mine and I feel as though everything will be well.

The next day Maeglin was taken on the hills outside Gondolin.