Maedhros found things no worse than he expected at home. Tyelko was unsurprisingly morose, but that was far better than the alternatives he had contemplated on his drive home from Tirion.

Maglor appeared outwardly calm but Maedhros recognized that tightness around his brother's eyes and the firm line of his mouth—his younger brother was exerting all his control to prevent going into a full-on strop. Better Maglor than Tyelko, he supposed.

He bit back a sigh. He had known there would be fallout at home. This was going to be a long night. Maedhros glanced down at his watch. It was already late.

No matter. He had to address the issues right now, tonight. There was no other option.

He flopped down between his brothers, resting his head on the cushioned back of the sofa. He turned his head to meet Maglor's eyes. "You wouldn't be up for making tea, would you?"

Maglor took the hint although the flash in his eyes told Maedhros he would be having conversations with both brothers tonight, not just Tyelko. Damn it. He should have predicted how Maglor would react.

He had predicted it. He had just hoped he was wrong, for once.

Maglor stood and made his way towards the kitchen, frowning back at them before he disappeared from sight.

Maedhros bumped his shoulder into Tyelko's. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Want to tell me what happened tonight?"

Tyelko scrubbed his face with his hands then ran them through his already disheveled hair. "Damned if I know, Mae."

Maedhros bumped him again. His younger brother grimaced and then turned to him with a frown. "You tell me, Mae. You left with her. I don't know what to say, what to think. I don't know what I did. I thought...doesn't matter what I thought. Somehow, without even knowing how, I've ruined everything. Again."

"Tyelko, no. Stop blaming yourself. It isn't always you, you have to know that by now. It isn't you. People have their own issues that bleed into relationships, interactions, communication."

Tyelko snorted. "Right. You tell me, Mae—what am I supposed to think when I bare my heart and Aredhel looks horrified and then runs away? Runs away from me. Throws herself into a car, any car, luckily your car, rather than talk to me anymore." He dropped his gaze to the floor, shoulders sagging. "Seems to me that has something to do with me. Quite a lot to do with me. Completely to do with me if we're being accurate." Tyelko buried his face in his hands. "I thought...I thought things were good, you know? I felt...like she understood me, like who I was wasn't too much, didn't overwhelm her or annoy her. That it was ok to be me because I was enough."

"You are enough, Tyelko."

"I'm not. I'm still too much, too overbearing, too loud, too forthright, too pushy. I don't know, Mae. What the hell am I? I just felt so right with her. Like we fit, you know? She's so vibrant, so direct, outspoken and confident. Comfortable with who she is and how she is." Tyelko's words were tumbling out, his face flushing. "That drew me to her. Made me feel such a connection. But maybe I read too much into it all. Came on too strong." He raised his head to meet Maedhros' gaze, eyes flat and defeated. "Probably just misread everything, thought it was more than it is. I'm not always that good at clueing in to what's in front of me." His head dropped back into his hands.

Maedhros put his own hand on Tyelko's back, gently, cautiously. He could feel the rigid muscles of his brother's back, could feel the tension thrumming through him. Slowly he made light circles, small at first and then growing as he felt Tyelko still next to him. Years of experience dealing with distraught little brothers had given him the tools to gauge their situations.

Sometimes it was better not to talk. Gentling this particular brother was a complex endeavor but words weren't always the best way to go about it. He kept rubbing circles, feeling the rigidity diminish until Tyelko slumped against him, his head resting on Maedhros' shoulder.

"What did I do wrong, Mae?" he whispered.

Maedhros tugged on a lock of fair hair. "You did nothing wrong, Tyelko. Trust me. Your words were said in good faith. I'm sure of that. Aredhel knows that. But sometimes...sometimes how we interpret things is based on our own experiences. Not the reality facing us, but on the ideas that have taken root in our heads, even if they aren't accurate or fair or even real."

Tyelko sat up to regard him with a puzzled expression. "I don't get it. What do you mean?"

Maedhros leaned back on the sofa again, turning his head towards his younger brother. Thank the Valar Maglor had taken the hint to make himself temporarily scarce.

"Tyelko, you've told me this about myself countless times. How I don't give myself enough credit, how I have an inaccurate view of my capabilities, how I talk myself down. Right? Would you say that viewpoint of mine is accurate? Would you say I was interpreting situations in a realistic way when I would say or think those things?"

"Fuck, no, Mae. I've told you that. You're your own worst enemy sometimes."

"Hold that thought. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. I'm not going to argue that I have been and, in some ways, still am that way myself. But that doesn't just apply to me. It's easy to filter things through the lens of our own distorted experience rather than what the rational part of our brain is telling us."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm just saying you need to give Aredhel the benefit of the doubt. You don't know how she's interpreting this. You don't know what lens she's filtering your words through. Her reaction was hurtful and shocking, I'll agree with you on that, but you may not be the reason for that reaction." Nebulous answer but he couldn't say much more. This was Aredhel's story to tell, not his.

Tyelko looked bewildered. "I'm still not sure what you're getting at."

Maedhros sighed. "Tyelko, all I can say is that I think you two need to talk. Really talk. I think on the surface things have been good but I'm pretty sure you both have baggage coming to the fore. If you don't talk it through, it's going to make communicating a challenge." He bumped Tyelko's leg for emphasis. "Again, you know I've lived this. You told me I had to come clean with Fingon or things would go to shit. Hard as it is for me to admit you were right, for once you were actually right on target with that. We couldn't move forward until we'd gone deeper into understanding where we were coming from, until I had come clean about what had happened and how it still affected me."

"Are you saying something's going on with Aredhel?" Tyelko sat up straight, eyebrows drawn together. "Did something happen to her, Mae?"

Shit. Diversionary tactics needed. He did not want to get into that with Tyelko.

Maedhros put his hand on Tyelko's shoulder. "Did something happen to you, Tyelko? Is there something that's made you doubt yourself, when it comes to relationships? Is there? I think you know the answer to that."

Diversion successful. Tyelko slumped back on the sofa. "That's different, Mae. It's nothing like what you went through. It's stupid. I was stupid. Naïve and stupid and blind."

"Yeah, maybe. Maybe the signs were there and you didn't see them. Maybe you were too trusting. But that doesn't mean it hasn't colored your subsequent interactions. Tell me the last time you were serious at all about a relationship after Luthien? Tell me how long it took to even date someone casually after all that?"

"Shut up, Mae. It's not the same."

"It still had an adverse effect on how you viewed things, Tyelko. It wasn't the fault of any of those people you met. It was how you viewed them, viewed the situation." He tugged Tyelko closer, and his brother sank down next to him after a moment of resistance, head resting on Maedhros' shoulder again. How many times had they sat like this through the years? Maedhros shook his head. Keep the focus on Tyelko, he told himself.

"Tyelko, this is the first time I've seen you open up, dare to get involved, since that break-up. It was so good to see that. I'm sorry that the moment you chose to open your heart and take this relationship to a deeper level things went off the rails like this. But it wasn't your fault. Your heart was in the right place. Your head was telling you it was the right time. None of that was off target. But you need to know it might not have been interpreted the way you intended, through no fault of your own."

"I opened up to Luthien too, Mae. It seemed like the right time then, too. And if you remember that's exactly when she broke it off. That's when she told me she'd still been dating Beren the whole time. While she was fake dating me. That their breakup was a sham. That I was just a cover, a distraction to rile up her parents. That her father hated our family. Hated me. That compared to my unsuitability as a boyfriend Beren looked good in contrast. I couldn't have been more wrong then." Tyelko ran hands through his hair. "The parallels are too real, Mae. The bad blood with Dad and Fingolfin. Aredhel running off like that. What am I supposed to think?"

Maedhros squeezed his shoulder. That had been a rough time for Tyelko. And he himself had been of little help then, recently out of the hospital, caught up in his own miserable experience.

Maedhros had tried, tried to talk it out with Tyelko, tried to be supportive. It was a familiar role, comforting one of his brothers. It had given him a fleeting sense of normalcy at a time when everything seemed out of his control. But he wasn't at his best. Talking to Tyelko was more a distraction from his own self-doubt, his own self-recrimination, than truly being an ally for his brother.

He had not remembered those crucial similarities in such detail.

No help for it. What was done was done.

It still reverberated with Tyelko.

Like it did with him.

Like it did with Maglor.

"Tyelko, I know how rough that was for you. But I don't think this is a situation like that. Aredhel isn't Luthien. Her father's not the bad guy in this. She's not with another guy. She may have her own issues that you know nothing about though. Like you have yours."

He ruffled Tyelko's already tousled hair. "Don't jump to conclusions. You two need to talk, really need to talk. To each other. About yourselves, about where you're coming from and where you want this to go."

"I don't even know if she wants to talk to me. You didn't see her face, Maedhros. I can't get it out of my mind. She looked...she looked scared of me, wide-eyed and horrified and I can't stop thinking about how she was looking at me and feeling like that." Tyelko's eyes were closed and he had a grimace on his face. "I don't know what to think," he whispered again.

"She wants to talk to you. I can assure you of that."

"What did she say to you? Did she say anything about it? You've got to tell me if she did, Mae, I'm going crazy just thinking about it all." Tyelko was sitting up again, fingers digging into Maedhros' shirtsleeve.

Steady now, Maedhros told himself. This was an emotional minefield. He'd thought about it in the car, how to give Tyelko some hope, some reassurance, without revealing what Aredhel and Fingon had told him.

"Aredhel wants to talk to you, Tyelko. I can assure you she is just as distraught about how tonight went as you are. Truly. Just not tonight. I don't think either one of you is in a place to hash this all out tonight, ok? She'll call you or text you when she's ready to talk, likely tomorrow, from what she said when I dropped her off. It will be ok, Tyelko. This is a hurdle to get over, not an end, all right?"

Silver eyes met stormy grey ones. "You think so, Mae? You think she'll call?"

"I know she will. Just try to get some rest tonight. Try not to think about it all. I know that sounds impossible but really, I mean it. Get some rest. Things might seem a lot clearer tomorrow when you guys talk." Maedhros bumped his brother's knee again. "You really need to get some sleep. You look like shit, Tyelko."

"I feel like shit. I don't think I could sleep. I'm all keyed up."

"Time for tea then," Maglor's voice rang out as he came into the room. "Chamomile tea for us all, but most particularly you, Tyelko." He handed the steaming mugs to his brothers and then disappeared into the kitchen momentarily before returning with his own.

"You sound like Mom," Tyelko complained. "It was always Chamomile tea when she wanted us to calm down."

"Worked for her, didn't it?" Maglor said, seating himself in the armchair near them.

Maedhros took a sip, relishing the warmth and the sweetness of the honey Maglor had mixed into the brew. Such a familiar flavor.

Chamomile tea, his mother's solution to a myriad of childhood concerns. Beyond childhood even. It was her way of slowing them down, making them sit still, the time waiting for the tea to cool giving her the opportunity to gently seek out what was bothering each of them, taking the time to let them talk it out as they sipped the sweetened tea together.

Tyelko sighed but his hands wrapped around the mug and he breathed in the steam, calming breaths in and out, just how Mom did it.

They sat quietly for a few moments, each caught up in their own thoughts.

"Thanks, Maglor," Tyelko finally broke the silence. "For the tea and for before."

Maglor dipped his head. "Anytime. You know that."

Tyelko's head turned to Maedhros. "You too, Mae. I was going out of my mind, wracking my brain to figure out what I'd done wrong, even when Mags kept telling me to calm down."

"Finish your tea and then get to bed, Tyelko," Maedhros said. "It's been a long day."

"No shit."

A ping from Tyelko's phone broke the companionable silence. He nearly upset his mug as he scrambled to pull it out of his pocket.

He stared down at it in silence.

"Ok, Tyelko?" Maglor asked.

"It's Aredhel." He looked up at Maedhros. "She says she's sorry."

"That's all right, then," Maedhros said encouragingly. He had not expected Aredhel to text Tyelko tonight, after their dinner conversation, but he was not all that surprised. She was just as irrepressible as his brother. They truly were made for each other.

"She says she wants to meet, tomorrow morning, at that café near her house. To talk." His brow creased and the concern was evident on his face. "Mae, what do I even say?"

Maedhros leaned forward and gripped Tyelko's shoulder. "You say yes, of course. You meet her there, Tyelko. And then you listen. And say what's in your heart. That's the best thing to do."

"She wants to talk."

"I told you she'd get in touch."

"She wants to talk."

Maglor snorted. "We get it, Tyelko. She wants to talk. That's a good thing. Now stop repeating yourself, finish your tea and get your ass to bed. You've got to meet your girlfriend in the morning and you look like shit at the moment. Stop thinking, get some rest and it will all get sorted tomorrow."

It took a while longer for Tyelko to settle down and go upstairs.

Maedhros sat, curled up on one end of the sofa and looked at Maglor expectantly. "So?"

"What really happened, Maedhros? What the fuck actually happened? You think he looks like shit now—you should have seen him when I got home." Maglor leaned forward, his expression sharp and furious. "He was crushed, Maedhros. I thought the Luthien thing was bad. He was mad and morose and indignant about that one. But this...it wasn't even like Tyelko. He was just...quiet. Silent. Defeated. He told me what he said to her. What the fuck kind of response is that, to being told you're loved?"

"Maglor, listen, she didn't mean to hurt him like that, really she didn't."

"Right, Maedhros. I've heard those words before. 'Didn't mean to hurt you' doesn't quite cut it when the damage is already done." Maglor crossed his arms and glared at Maedhros.

"Listen. I know it looks bad but trust me, there's more going on. I can't really talk about it, because it's not my place and I really don't know the whole story but..." Maedhros started but Maglor interrupted him again.

"It's taken him forever to start trusting people again. It's taken him this long to actually let himself care, let himself try again. And this is the response he gets? He tells her he loves her and she bolts? I don't care if she's Fingon's sister, Maedhros. That was shitty behaviour. No question."

Maedhros bit down the acrimonious words that came to him in response. This was more than simply empathy for Tyelko on Maglor's part and it would be good for him to keep that in mind. This hit close to home for Maglor too. It was obviously hard for his brother to divorce his own reactions from Tyelko's.

"Maglor, you know how easy it is to self-sabotage, how easy it is to read things wrong. You've seen me do it countless times. You've lectured me on it, more than once. I'm not the only one prone to doing that." Maedhros sat forward, hands on his knees, eyes on his brother. "We don't know what others carry in their hearts, in their minds, that colours their experiences. I can't judge, without all the facts. It's such out of character behaviour for Aredhel, which means there's more to it than rejecting Tyelko. I can tell you for a fact she's not rejecting him. I think she's scared and out of her depth and reflexively reacting and I can't blame her without seeing the whole picture. And neither can you. Let it be. Tyelko will talk to her tomorrow."

"You know more."

"Maybe I do and maybe I don't. That's not relevant. What's relevant is how she and Tyelko communicate. That's what's important. Isn't that what you kept telling me about Fingon? To communicate? To open up? To not let my instinctive reactions guide me? That those instincts weren't doing me any favors? Come on, Maglor. You're letting your experience colour this."

"How do you come to that conclusion, Maedhros? Aren't you colouring it with your own? You've got some sympathetic reaction to Aredhel jerking your brother around because it reminds you of yourself? Bullshit. You'd hurt yourself a thousand times before you'd let the ones you care about get hurt." Maglor's eyes flashed and the muscle in his jaw tightened as he leaned forward.

"I've been there, Maglor. I've pushed people away because my head was telling me to react a certain way. Because I thought I was protecting them. I pushed Fingon away for his protection. I know that hurt him. Everyone doesn't react the same way to past experiences. Some people push others away and some people run away, when it gets to be too much, too stressful, too triggering." His own rationalizations made sense to him but he could not deny he felt a protective empathy for Aredhel.

He could deal with that later. Getting this sorted with Maglor was the more pressing issue.

"He trusted her, Maedhros. He trusted her." There it was. The crux of Maglor's fury.

"Maglor."

"Don't 'Maglor' me, Maedhros. He trusted her. And she shit all over that trust. Made him think he did something wrong. Made him feel awful about something that should have been a transcendent moment. He finally got the courage up to try again, something he's been reluctant to do for years and this happens? I can't excuse her, Mae. I can't."

"I'm not asking you to excuse her. I'm not saying it didn't go poorly. It went like shit, I agree wholeheartedly. But I can also tell you it wasn't done wantonly, or cruelly or even intentionally. Trust me on that. She feels as awful as he does."

"Good."

Maedhros rolled his eyes and his head hit the back of the sofa. "Maglor. I know you're upset. I'm sorry I left you to pick up the pieces with Tyelko but I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. I know how hard it must have been to see him like that, to hear what happened." Maedhros chewed on his lip, considering. And then he continued. "I know it reminded you of Regnis."

Maglor's glare only increased in intensity. "Whatever would make you think that?" His tone was icy.

His walls were going up. Of that there was no doubt. But Maedhros could still feel his brother's poorly repressed fury from across the room. "I just know. I just know because I've seen it before, Maglor. I know when you think of her. I know the expression on your face, the way your jaw tightens. The look you get in your eyes. I know I wasn't much help when things went to shit and I'm sorry about that. You were there for me and I wasn't there for you in the way I should have been."

In an instant the fury faded out of Maglor's eyes. He slumped in the armchair, tilted his head back and rubbed at his temples. "Don't, Maedhros. Don't say that. You've always been there for me." He closed his eyes and sighed, his whole body going limp against the cushions. "I'm sorry I'm being a shit." He turned his head and opened his eyes to regard his brother, brow still creased. "I'm not mad at you, really I'm not. I'm just so furious for Tyelko."

"I know you aren't mad at me, idiot," Maedhros replied. "But I don't think all this anger is solely in Tyelko's defense either."

Maglor looked away, eyes narrowing. "I don't what you're getting at. I told you. I'm over it. What's done is done. It's in the past now and I've moved on."

"Actually, you haven't. Tell me who you've dated since Regnis, Maglor."

"That's irrelevant and you know it. I could ask you or Tyelko the same question."

"You could. And you'd get a similar answer to your own. No one. At least no one in any serious capacity. Until very recently, that is, for Tyelko and me. Why is that Maglor?" Maedhros sat up, leaning his arms on his knees, hands cupping his elbows. "Because it's too hard to trust again. Too hard to open up again. Too easy to get hurt again."

His brother kept his head turned away. "Maglor, I can promise you Aredhel didn't intentionally set out to hurt Tyelko. Far from it. She feels like shit about the whole thing. I had to keep her from tearing back here to apologize to Tyelko."

Narrowed grey eyes met his. "Why? Why didn't you let her come back? Tyelko could have used an apology. Might have kept him from blaming himself, questioning himself, berating himself all night."

"Because they aren't in any frame of mind to have a serious discussion tonight. That's obvious. And that's exactly the kind of conversation they need to have. Just not when they're both emotional wrecks."

Maedhros was close to wrecked himself. It was late,he was tired and Maglor's persistence in being argumentative was wearing on him. If Maglor would only admit there was more to his vehemence tonight than simple empathy for his younger brother.

It would fester, if he didn't let it out. It would stay, this resentment of Aredhel, even if things were patched up with Tyelko. He knew Maglor, knew how slow he was to anger but also how implacable he was when his rage was upon him. How it lingered. It didn't come often, which was a good thing.

Maglor was mad at Aredhel, yes. Understandably, with what he knew of events. He would likely change his tune about her if and when he heard the whole story. But that was a big 'if'. It wasn't Maedhros' place to tell him nor was it Tyelko's, once he was made aware of the circumstances.

Maglor needed to see how much his own past was shading this encounter, making it so much more heinous in his eyes.

They stared at the fire in silence as Maedhros' thoughts went back to that Thanksgiving week a few years ago.

"Have you heard back from the Academy yet, Maglor?"

Mother's voice carried to where Maedhros sat, trying to focus on the page in front of him but distracted now by the conversation in the neighboring kitchen.

"No, not yet." There was a strange hesitation in Maglor's voice. Maedhros knew that tone.

So, it seemed, did Mother.

"Maglor. If you've heard and it's not good news you know you can tell me. I'm proud of you for what you've accomplished. A fellowship at the Royal Academy is a prestigious honour but there are others that are just as well regarded."

Maedhros' attention was fully on the conversation now.

"No, it's not that. I know I've got the acceptance for grad school here at Cuiviénen. And at Berklee."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know if I want to go to London. I've been thinking... thinking of rescinding my application."

Maedhros froze. Maglor had been talking about the Royal Academy for years. It was where he had always aspired to go, always envisioned himself heading overseas to pursue his musical career. This prestigious fellowship was by invitation only. What the hell was Maglor thinking?

Once again it seemed his mother was thinking along the same lines. "Rescinding it? Maglor I just don't understand? Why not wait to see if you've been accepted. Then you can decide if it's not the right fit for you."

"It's not the right fit for me now, Mom."

"How can you know that?"

"It's a two-year commitment minimum. There are significant performance and research responsibilities, teaching responsibilities. I won't be able to get home, not much at all. It's a year-round thing."

"Maglor, we've known that. I know you'll miss being home, miss your brothers, miss the family. But trust me, Dad and I have talked about it. We'll come to you. We can make the time to come for some of your performances, one of us at the least. Don't talk yourself out of something you've wanted for so long because of us. We've got it figured out."

Maedhros was sitting forward now, straining to catch every word.

"Thanks, Mom. You have no idea how much that means to me. I'll think about it. But I want you to know I'm really not sure it's the right thing for me anymore."

Murmured words that Maedhros couldn't quite catch ensued. Maglor was likely engulfed in one of Mom's hugs, her whispered words of encouragement just for him.

He made a point of cornering Maglor later that night, when they had both escaped the chaos of home by retreating to their room.

"You heard back from the Royal Academy yet?" Maedhros asked, as if he had not eavesdropped on Maglor's conversation earlier in the day.

His brother's response was to flop onto his bed and sigh.

"Oh. Is that a yes, then? I'm sorry, Maglor. I know how much you wanted that."

Maglor turned his head to regard him. "No, it's not that. I haven't heard back yet. They said mid-December at the earliest." He sighed. "I just don't think it's the right place for me."

Maedhros frowned. There it was again, this reluctance. Odd for how elated Maglor had been at the invitation to apply, the prestigious fellowship one that he had coveted for years.

"Why not? Where do you think is the right place for you?"

"I think I'd rather stay here, at Cuiviénen."

"Here? Are you kidding me? You've always said you wanted to go away-New York, London, Los Angeles. What's changed your mind?"

Maglor's face brightened. "It's Regnis, Maedhros."

"What about Regnis?"

"She's going to stay here, at Cuiviénen."

"That's lovely for her but what does that have to do with the Royal Academy?" Maedhros didn't like where this conversation was going. Maglor's girlfriend had become a fixture the past three years. She was pleasant, as fixated on music as his brother and steadfast in her goal of being a concert musician. She was driven and persistent. "The distance isn't insurmountable, if you get it. You never know what might happen. Two years is a long time."

"That's my point," Maglor said, sitting up. "It is a long time. Too long, as far as I'm concerned. I don't want to be apart that long, Maedhros." He leaned forward, a shy smile on his face. "I'm thinking of asking her to marry me."

Maedhros blinked at him wordlessly. "What?" he finally managed to croak out. "You're that serious about her?"

"Why wouldn't I be? We've been together for three years, Maedhros. This is a turning point. If I go to London the vistas open up for me overseas. With Regnis staying here it's more likely she'll find something here, performing or teaching. We'd drift apart and I don't want that. She doesn't want that. She's really worried this fellowship will break us apart. It would be so much easier if I just stayed. I know she wants me to do what I want and will support any decision I make but what I want is to be with her. I've found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with and I'm not prepared to let that slip away from me. The Academy isn't worth losing her."

"You're serious about this?"

Maglor nodded. "I've bought a ring," he said, swallowing nervously, eyes flitting up to meet his older brother's. "I'm planning to ask her at Christmas. If she says yes, then I'll respectfully decline the Royal Academy and stay here at Cuiviénen, with her. And we can start our life, together." His smile lit up his face, eyes shining in anticipation.

"Of course, she'll say yes, you idiot. She'd be a fool if she didn't." Maedhros pulled Maglor into a bear hug and laughed for the first time in weeks.

Turned out Regnis wasn't a fool, she was just a conniving manipulator. She had accepted Maglor's proposal. He had contacted the Royal Academy to rescind his application that very day, never knowing Regnis had applied for that same fellowship.

When he withdrew his application, they contacted her to take the spot. Maglor had been their first choice. Regnis was their second.

She didn't refuse that offer when it came.

She accepted the fellowship and returned Maglor's ring. "It won't work with us so far apart, Maglor. I told you that when you applied."

"You never told me you applied for the same fellowship, Regnis. You could have shared that, told me we were going for the same position. I turned it down for you. I chose you."

"I know that. And I'm sorry. But I can't pass this up, Maglor. The only reason I got it was because you turned it down. I won't get this kind of opportunity again. I'm sorry. I wish you only the best. But this is my destiny. I can't stay with you and pursue my dreams. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

That betrayal, that lack of honesty, that outright rejection had laid Maglor low for months. Years, if Maedhros was going to be honest with himself. His brother still wasn't over it.

And he saw Aredhel's rejection of Tyelko in the same light.

This was going to be a long night.