The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good.
William Shakespeare, "Measure for Measure", Act 3 scene 1
The night before the banquet was kept in the normal vigil of the "children" of Elrond. Someone had once sneeringly stated Elrond had more brats then all other elven Lords in Arda combined. It was most likely true; growing up almost as an orphan himself had caused Elrond to swear anyonewho needed a home could find one under his roof. Though not openly acknowledged, this banquet was to welcome yet another heir of Isildur into the Last Homely House. It was never stated so explicitly, no one wished to make the poor mortal boy feel so out of place. Soon he would be inducted into this ritualistic vigil of Elrond's children.
The Lords of the House watched with sweet smiles on their faces as the younger elves went to their ritualistic night beneath the stars. The whole ritual had started when the children were very young, long before Arwen was born. This sneaking out from under their caretaker's eyes had made them feel so special. Once Lord Elrond had discovered their ritual camping adventures, he made no move to stop it but did have a guard discretely posted nearby, just in case. The children knew the guard was there and depending on their mood and who the guard was, they would either ask the guard to join them or they just ignored the guard's presence.
There had been so many of these nights. Lord Elrond had always wondered what had made them wander out that very first night and then why they had done it so many nights since. They seemed to draw strength and courage from the cover of the night, courage they could not find in the daylight. They really were odd children, but they were a family. And a strong one at that. The ties between them would be harder to break then the most powerful metal.
The group of five were curled up on three soft blankets. Their many tasks of the night had been finished earlier, all could feel within their blood that this next banquet would be a turning point of some kind. They needed more time than usual to worship the night sky and nature in the dark. Arwen sat nestled between her brothers. Rian sat off to the side, staring up at the stars. Morwen was sitting behind Elladan, attempting to brush and plait his hair in the traditional styles they had created so long ago.
Arwen smiled with amusement as Morwen tried with all her might to run the brush through Elladan's hair, nearly breaking it in the process. Elladan kept grimacing, but kept quiet, knowing how much his hair had been tangled earlier in the day.
Morwen had to use one hand to hold Elladan's head in place and the other to try to run the brush through as she came across a very nasty tangle.
"What were you doing today in order to get your hair so tangled. Or do I not wish to know?"
Elladan gave her a small smile, "For your information, you littlie insinuating elf, I was riding today."
"You ride everyday, it is never like this."
"Well, I may have forgotten to re-braid my hair after my second bath. I mean, after that tumble into the mud puddle this morning I figured there was no real reason to braid my hair again. I had just finished my training exercises and duties for the day. I decided I had much too much free time and decided to go for a quiet ride. The wind however was very fast and my horse did not wish to go slow, and therefore I came off of my ride with many tangles in my hair."
"A simple 'I forgot to braid my hair' would have done." Morwen told him.
Elrohir raised his head up, "He started coming up with those elaborate tales years ago. He figured if he could not lie to father he could tell such a twisting tale father would become confused. Never really worked on father."
"It worked better on father than on Erestor."
"True. Of course, it worked much better on Glorfindel than Erestor."
"If we wish to go there, it worked wonders on Lindir."
"Well, than I must say that…"
"Will you two please stop it. It did not work on thosewho dole out your punishments and is therefore an unsuccessful tactic. Morwen, please go back to torturing Elladan with that brush." Rian stated.
Morwen's indignant stare, one that had been known to keep even Erestor in his place, was simply brushed off by Rian.
"Dearest Rian, I assure you I am in no way torturing Elladan. In fact, I am trying to be as gentle as possible however, when one is trying to comb through a rat's nest it is decidedly difficult."
Arwen just shook her head, "All of you are too stubborn for your own good. Now, be quiet. I wish to enjoy the night."
All smiled at Arwen, knowing in a very short time the hours before a banquet would be filled with a young maid's anxiousness over whether or not she was presentable enough. Celebrian was greatly looking forward to those days. Elrond and most of the elder male elves of the household were not. Morwen finished her torture task on Elladan and placed a sisterly kiss on the crown of his head.
"See, all the knots are out now; you will be lovely tomorrow for Nithiel."
Rian and Morwen smiled at the rude sound Elrohir made.
Rian turned to him,
"You have no right to make that sound, you should be thankful that your brother is giving you the chance to be within fifty feet of Nithiel's presence. Do not have such anger towards your brother because he has more of a spine than you."
Arwen, Elladan, and Morwen laughed at Rian's cheek. The girl really did have a sharp tongue. She looked so sweet and quiet but there was a reason why she was being groomed to be one of the counselors headed to the realms of Men. She had quick wit and thought fast on her feet. Morwen, with a more quiet and sarcastic wit was better suited for Thranduil's realm. She could battle in games of wit but could equally perform debates fought with historical precedents when she traveled to the Havens. Elrohir, however, did not appreciate being on the receiving end of Rian's comments. She had easily conquered the boy in such games since childhood and he always felt a tad lacking in her presence.
Elladan shared a secret smile with his "sisters." They had found out long ago Rian's sharpness towards Elrohir had to do with her secret adoration of the younger twin. Morwen and Arwen then shared a secret smile, what Elladan was not so aware of was Rian's object of affection had changed. Part of her still desired Elrohir, but the other part was beginning to look elsewhere.
The three rolled their eyes as Elrohir and Rian continued their argument from earlier in the week. Morwen nestled behind Elladan and Arwen moved to sleep behind her. They were lulled to sleep by the odd lullaby of elvish arguments.
Morwen continued to smooth down Arwen's braids.At this age the hair never wanted to stay in anything but free form. Even now as she stood as a young girl in a pale lilac dress, Arwen's beauty shone. Elrond would have lots of trouble keeping the eligible, and not so eligible, young males off of his daughter. She had her father's dark beauty with her mother's ethereal aura. Morwen smiled at her work; normal female she was not, but she did have a talent for hair plaiting. With the exception of her own, she tended to leave it down, but during the banquets she tended to seek out Erestor to do her braids. He had learned some of the more elaborate elven hairstyles, having on more than one occasion, to fix Elrond's hair into braids that showed his office. Arwen and Morwen turned their heads as Rian entered the room. She looked quite the beauty tonight, the rich green dress, a gift from a suitor of the Green Wood, set off her features perfectly. Morwen smiled at her foster sister,
"Trying to impress someone are we?"
"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds you two will surely tease me if I give you the answer."
"That would be a 'yes.'" Arwen stated.
"Just remember, clothes do not make the man, or female elf in this case." Morwen told Rian.
Rian just gave her a look, "And how convenient it is that your dress is reminiscent of the ancient colors of the House of the Golden Flower."
Morwen just made an exasperated sound, "While I would love to confirm your suspicion of my obsession, I promise you this gown was not of my choosing." Morwen gestured to the golden dress she wore, "It was in fact chosen by Celebrian, something about it brining out my hair. Arwen, I will be quite glad when you finally reach majority."
"I assure you, you are not the only one."
The three young females laughed. Soon there was a knock on the door, once given permission to enter, Celebrian appeared in a white dress reminiscent of her mother. The Lady of Imladris truly was breathtaking.
"Is everyone ready?"
The three nodded their assent, however, Celebrian still gave all the once over to make sure each hair was in place. Outside the door stood Nithiel. The lady looked extremely catching, the dark purple gown brought out her eyes and enhanced the color of her light hair. She would catch more than a few admiring glances tonight. Morwen only hoped Elrohir would be able to keep himself under control. She sent a prayer to the Valar as they walked to the rooms that held their escorts.
Glorfindel's eyes scanned the sitting room. Elladan and Elrohir had not managed to muss their clothes or hair yet, Celebrian would be quite pleased. Both the twins were arrayed in blue, Elladan's a tad lighter than his brother's. Thalion stood off to the side discussing some triviality with Erestor. Elrond stood by the fire, the flames off-setting his cream-colored attire. Glorfindel himself had dressed in his traditional House colors, as he tended to do for all of these blasted events. He never cared for them, not in either one of his lives. Glorfindel's eyes came to rest on the poor mortal boy, Tarkil was his name, only nine years of age. The pressure he must feel. So young and now fostered in the house of Elves. Glorfindel noted that the young boy had covered his ears so as not to show their rounded tips. Already he was trying to hide who he truly was, Elrond would most likely not agree to that. Contrary to what others said, Elrond was proud of his mortal blood. The mortal members of his family certainly carried much glory, and perhaps were the reason Elrond was so very compassionate. A few other advisors twittered about the sitting room, all awaiting the arrivals of the ladies.
Glorfindel gave a sigh, Celebrian had come to him weeks ago and asked him for the dress Morwen was to have received on her day of majority, a gift of what was to signify their upcoming betrothal. Glorfindel had tried with all his might to avoid the event of betrothal and anything else that reminded him of the fate the Valar had set down for Morwen. She knew the basest of facts about why her parents had left her at such a young age, and even those had caused a certain bitterness in her person. How would she react if she knew the truth? He was pulled from his dark musings at the gasp Elrohir let out. He glanced up.
My, oh my, the lady Nithiel had certainly made sure to look fetching tonight. Funny how the eye she hoped to catch was not one of the young elves but of…
"Glorfindel, come over here, see how beautiful Arwen looks." Celebrian demanded from the corner.
"Of course, my lady, I shall be right there."
Tonight would be an interesting night indeed. Ah, young love, so sweet and so utterly confusing.
A/N: The story starts off in T.A. 289. According to Appendix B in LotR Arwen was born in 241, so she is 48, and I am going with the idea that elves reach majority at the age of 50. (This time also makes the twins 159.) According to the Peoples of Middle Earth, Tarkil was the heir of Elendil, of the Northern Line of Arnor (Islidurioni) was born in 280, so he's 9.