Chapter length: ~1,100 words

A/N: This chapter was meant to be longer but Tuilindien and Netyarë refused to co-operate with me for a scene of the two of them so I only managed a short chapter.

So the chapter includes my OC Netyarë, Curufinwë's wife from my fic Sparks fly out and its sequels. You don't need to have read those to read this, though events from Sparks fly out are mentioned in this chapter.

Chapter VI / Sisters-in-law

When Curufinwë falls headlong in love entirely without realising it, Carnistir laughs until he chokes when he realises it. Tuilindien has to pound on his back and tell him sternly not to say anything to Curufinwë or, the Valar forbid, Netyarë.

'They will untangle the mess they've woven in their own time', she tells Carnistir.

'First Curvo hated her, and now he thinks that they're friends –' and here Carnistir starts laughing again, and Tuilindien would reproach him for it but for the knowledge that Curufinwë did not make Carnistir's falling in love easy for him either, teasing him mercilessly.

Privately, Tuilindien thinks that being in love with a smart woman who can hold her own will do Curufinwë a world of good.

A year later, Carnistir tells Tuilindien, 'Tyelko joked about making a bet on when Curufinwë gets his head sorted and asks her to marry him.'

They are taking an after-dinner walk in their little orchard, and Tuilindien circles another yavannamírë tree, noting its condition and need for spring pruning. 'Hmm', she says diplomatically.

'I didn't take him up on it yet', Carnistir continues. 'I wanted to take time to think about what I would bet on.'

'They will be engaged by the end of the year, surely', Tuilindien replies absentmindedly as she counts dead branches on another tree. It does not seem to be doing very well. She will have to speak with the gardener.

'Do you really think so?' Carnistir throws his arm around her shoulders, making her take a break from her fruit-tree inspection. 'By the extent of their obliviousness, I would have thought at least one whole year more likely.'

Tuilindien sighs. She may as well explain her observations of Curufinwë and Netyarë to Carnistir so that she can get back to observing her trees.

'Netyarë is not as oblivious as she once was', she says. 'When Curufinwë isn't looking at her, she looks at him sometimes with a pensive gaze that belongs to would-be lovers wondering about the future. If he does not come to a realisation soon, she will help him along, I think. She is not patient enough to wait forever, even if she thinks she is.'

It is Carnistir's turn to say 'Hmm'. Then he kisses her, briskly, radiating pride for some reason, and says, 'I will bet on an engagement before the end of the year, then.'

'It may well happen in the summer', Tuilindien adds after a moment's consideration. 'Or perhaps at the harvest festival. It is, after all, a festival when many attachments are made.'

That makes him smile and join his lips to hers again, and they both smile into the kiss. They became betrothed at a harvest festival.

'I think it best to be careful with my bets, so I will bet on this year. Tyelko has very little faith in Curvo: he thinks it will take a long time', Carnistir says when they have finished kissing and began wandering from tree to tree again, hand in hand.

'That is strange of him, since he is Curufinwë's closest confidante', Tuilindien notes.

'How could Curvo have confided in him about Netyarë when he's still lying to himself? No, you know better, and I will win the bet as usual, and Tyelko will be left seething at having lost. He is so competitive.'

'The only competitive one in the family, I'm sure', Tuilindien says as dryly as she knows how to be. 'But I am not entirely sure whether I approve of making bets on a family member's happiness', she muses.

'It is a family tradition so it must be acceptable', Carnistir says with one of his rare grins, and really, he is making it very difficult to keep inspecting trees.

Tuilindien is happy for Curufinwë and Netyarë when they announce their betrothal at a family dinner. They both shine with an inner light and fire that makes Tuilindien happy, too. She hides most her smiles, though, because she thinks Curufinwë's joy is made a little brittle by his insecurity at not realising his love before, and by several of his brothers teasing him.

So Tuilindien eats quietly, conversing a little with Makalaurë at her side every now and then, and she thinks of how Curufinwë was on that first journey into the wilds together with him and Carnistir, and on the ones after.

When Carnistir put his arms around her and kissed her hair as they all sat around the campfire at night, Tyelko would grimace or make a joke, and Maitimo would give a fond little half-smile, and Curufinwë –

Curufinwë would jeer and say something sarcastic about there appearing to be a private field of gravitation that makes it impossible for Carnistir to keep his hands off of Tuilindien; but when he thought no one would see, he would look pensive, and sometimes even yearning.

Tuilindien is happy for him: that her prickliest brother-in-law has found the thing that he had not realised he was missing.

When Tuilindien and Carnistir and Tinweriel and Makalaurë are saying their farewells that night after dinner, Tinweriel remarks to Netyarë with a smile, 'I truly am glad of your engagement. Finally we have a decent number of female voices for the family choir'.

'We don't have a family choir', says Tyelkormo, uncharacteristically grumpy.

Curufinwë laughs, his arm around Netyarë's shoulders. 'Tyelko only likes singing to animals, including those he's killed.'

'Don't speak of things you understand nothing about', Tyelko says, but with less rancour than he would have to anyone else.

Netyarë looks uneasy. Tuilindien sighs internally and explains, wondering why she has to be the one to do it, 'Tyelkormo is devoted to Oromë.'

'Oh', says Netyarë. 'Of course, I should have known it had something to do with that.'

Before Tuilindien and Carnistir leave, Tuilindien embraces Netyarë and says, 'I have three sisters on Taniquetil and now I shall have two in Tirion. Will you come for tea at our house some day when you are not too busy?'

'Of course. Thank you for inviting me.' Netyarë smiles at Tuilindien, and Tuilindien thinks that it is no wonder that Curufinwë became enamoured of her even against his will.

Tuilindien smiles back. 'I look forward to getting to know you better.'

And she does, and she intends to make Netyarë feel as welcomed into the family as Tinweriel did with her when Tuilindien married Carnistir. Tinweriel did it in her own way – which is to say not as warmly as Nerdanel nor with as many kind smiles as Makalaurë – but Tuilindien appreciated it greatly all the same.

In a family like the house of Finwë with so many strong-willed, loud men with fierce loyalty to one another, it is important for the women to have their own bonds.

A/N: The next chapter that appears to be the last for now* and concerns the potential arrival of a new family member, too. I will post it next week if I can manage it.

*I might add chapters to this fic later if I come up with one-shot ideas for the early years of Carnistir and Tuilindien's marriage, so subscribe to this fic to get a notification if I do.