Findarato meets Mornel for the first time. It doesn't go well.
3. First Meeting with Findarato
Mornel scowled. Her cousin was being difficult. After breakfast, Amarie and Findis had gone to meet with Findarato. Too quickly, they returned with Amarie in tears. Aunt Findis explained that Findarato had agreed to meet with them briefly, long enough to beseech Amarie to forgive him and seek another more deserving ner.
"He claimed it would be fairer to her…" her aunt shook her head as she spoke. "Had he bound himself to another on the Hither Shores?" Findis did not believe it possible Findarato would be so easily swayed but the lands beyond the Sundering Sea were strange. Who knew what befell him there?
Mornel left Eldalote to comfort Amarie as she had no words of comfort to offer herself. Instead she wandered off until she reached a peaceful lake shaded by trees. Picking up a small flat pebble, she weighed it in her hand before sending it skipping across the surface of the lake.
"Don't do that," a familiar voice chided gently.
"Master Olorin." Mornel turned and smiled. It had been a yeni since they last met.
Mornel had spent time hunting in Lord Orome's Woods with Tatie's people. She had visited Lord Aule's Mansion to seek out skilled masters for rebuilding Formenos. She had also dabbled in glass-work but soon learnt it was not her true calling. Since her childhood sojourn in Lorien she had no reason to return until now.
"This is Lady Este's lake, Lorelin. In the day she slumbers on her island on it," Olorin explained but it did not stop Mornel from sending another pebble skipping over the water.
"Why is Cousin Findarato acting thus? Aren't all fear healed in Mandos? He is hurting Amarie… What happened to him in the Hither Lands?" The words came out on a torrent of frustration.
"Perhaps you can find out," the Maia suggested.
"The viewing is not for another fifty cycles of the Sun." Mornel retorted. "And we know they don't always show all the tapestries."
Mornel had made an effort to be at every airing in hopes of locating her kin. She noticed that there were tapestries of battles fought. Yet there were many gaps in the narrative. In one tapestry, Nolofinwe challenged the Dark Lord but the outcome was unrecorded. In another, her cousin Artanis was wedded. Her Aunt Earwen had wept then when she saw the wedding, bemoaning that she might never hold her grandchildren. She had sought out her sons but there was no sign of them in the tapestries aired that day.
"I shall meet with Cousin Findarato and try to get him to see some sense," Mornel huffed. She had donned her riding breeches and tunic for she had intended to ride Fearocco to the Woods of Lord Orome later in the day.
"I would not advise that," Olorin shrugged. "Then again, I might advise it."
"Will you ever quit speaking in riddles?"
"The same deed could be both good and ill."
The Maia speaks in riddles because he can't see what lies ahead, Fearocco's snide voice echoed in Mornel's mind, eliciting a giggle from her. Her steed trotted up to her and nuzzled her. Elven foresight was never one of Mornel's strengths. After her visions regarding rebuilding Formenos, she had yet to receive another prophetic dream.
"My Lord, what will become of him if he does not accept his rebirth?" Findis asked quietly. Lord Irmo had called her to meet with him to discuss her nephew's condition. Findarato was still showing no signs of improvement.
"Healing cannot be forced upon anyone. He will be put into a deep slumber on my Lady Este's isle until Arda breaks. My brother is not allowed to take his fea back into Mandos," Irmo replied sadly.
"What will I tell my brother?" Ara had been so looking forward to his children's return. For him to lose his eldest thus… And poor Earwen. The news would destroy them both.
"We're sorry," Irmo murmured. "We will send your brother and law-sister dreams of comfort…"
Mornel knew she was probably breaking a dozen or more rules as she crept through the gardens. Newly re-embodied elves were terribly fragile. Such elves were kept sequestered from all other patients and allowed few visitors if any.
When Prince Lindo returned, it had taken him a month to be able to bear the close company of another elf. It was odd, but he had found his amil's presence too bright and her voice too loud and jarring after the dim silence of the Halls of Awaiting. He had even fled from the room when she came to see him for the first time. Mornel was forced to admit that Queen Falmiril was quite a presence with her brash laughter and personality well exceeding her small stature.
Amarie had mentioned between sobs the path they had taken to the hut where her fiancé was staying. She had been so full of hope with the arch of blooming apple trees, the bright songbirds, and the pearly white gravel path – so like the streets of Alqualonde. Mornel made a few wrong turns before locating a slightly larger hut with a gate formed by two entwined apple trees and a white gravel path. She had earlier surprised a couple collecting their re-embodied son for his return to Alqualonde. She apologized profusely. Thankfully, they did not raise any commotion. Apple blossoms, not peach… she reminded herself after that untoward encounter.
Fortunately, the gate was unattended. She crept into the hut and saw a fair-haired ner sleeping on the bed. She recognized him immediately from the many family portraits in the palace. Findarato fidgeted restlessly in his sleep. His eyes were closed and his brow furrowed. His too-thin limbs were sprawled in careless disarray over the sheets.
Any word of chastisement evaporated off Mornel's tongue. She could sense the burden of grief upon this troubled elf. Findarato had kicked the blanket off him and it lay on the floor in a crumpled heap. Mornel also noted that her cousin's robe had been rucked up indecently high about his waist, exposing... Blushing furiously at the sight, she hastily picked up the blanket and threw it over her sleeping cousin to preserve his modesty.
The sensation of the soft fabric on his exposed skin was enough to startle Findarato awake. Looking about the dim room, he saw what he thought was a familiar figure.
"Curufin! What are you doing here?" he snarled in Sindarin.
Before Mornel could reply, Findarato had pounced on her and knocked her onto her back.
"Treacherous snake!" Findarato tried to pin her to the ground as Mornel tried to buck him off. She came close to succeeding for Findarato was still weak. However, his rage gave him an unexpected strength.
"We should have left you outside for the orcs!" His hands were closing in about her neck, threatening to choke her. She looked into his blue eyes and they were quite mad. She silently screamed for help and it came.
There was a loud whinny and the sound of pounding hooves. With a resounding crash, Fearocco kicked down the flimsy wicker door of the hut. Another kick sent her cousin flying off her. Mornel made use of the precious moments to scramble back to her feet. Findarato moaned from where he had fallen, his lower leg bent at an awkward angle. Fearocco's powerful kick had done some serious damage.
The commotion drew attendant Maiar and elves from all over Lorien.
"Mornel Feanariel, what is the meaning of this?" Lord Irmo's voice boomed as he took stock of the damage done. A pair of attendant Maiar lifted Findarato back onto his bed and started setting his fractured shin. Other Maiar kept busy mending the damage inflicted on the hut.
"A-apologies, my Lord… I only meant to visit my cousin," Mornel croaked. Her throat still felt sore and she was probably badly bruised. She took hold of her horse's halter and tried to calm him. Fearocco's ears twitched warily and he pawed at the ground.
"Y-you are not Curufinwe?" Findarato gasped in oddly-accented Quenya. Perhaps he had gotten rusty in the Halls. The mad light in his eyes was gone. He looked thoroughly bewildered.
"What are the rest of you gawking at?" Findis clucked as she shoved her way through the crowd of curious elves milling about the tiny garden around the hut.
"It's just a family reunion, Formenos style," she added with a grin. Taking their cue, the onlookers started dispersing. The elves of Formenos had a reputation for eccentricity and most polite elves did not wish to keep company with them.
"Well," Findis folded her arms as the last of the gawkers left. "Some introductions are in order. Findarato Ingoldo, meet your little cousin, Mornel Feanariel. Mornel, meet Prince Findarato. Now, children, do try to get along."
"Impossible. M-my cousins- all in Beleriand or the Halls…" Findarato murmured. He had only one girl cousin and Irisse was still in the Halls.
"Your uncle Feanaro left a parting gift with his wife. So here she is. Care to explain why you almost turned Kinslayer?"
"I- I mistook her for someone else…" Findarato looked away.
"Was it my brother? What did he do?" Mornel asked, her heart sinking. From Amarie's descriptions, Findarato was mild-tempered and slow to anger. If her brother could inspire him into a murderous rage…
"I am tired. My leg hurts…" Findarato refused to discuss the matter further.
"You speak Sindarin… Some of my people at Formenos speak the tongue," Mornel tried to draw him into conversation even as Findis took her arm and steered her towards the door. Fearocco followed her as meekly as a lamb.
"Formenos? You have a settlement at Formenos?" Findarato continued looking at the far wall.
"Aye, there are reborn Moriquendi there… Perhaps you might want to come…" That was as far as Mornel got before the door, which the Maiar had thoughtfully repaired, shut behind her.
"Lord Irmo, how long will it take for my leg to heal?" Findarato queried.
"It will depend on you. Now, care to start eating and taking care of your new hroa?" Lord Irmo admonished. The injured leg had been set and bound. At a snap of his fingers, an attendant came with a tray of warm gruel.
"Is she really my cousin, born after the Darkening?" His mind was still struggling to make sense of his aunt's words.
"Yes. She is of the line of Finwe and the daughter of Feanaro and Nerdanel."
"What kind of elf is she?" Finrod hated to admit it but his curiosity was piqued. What kind of city could arise from the ruins of Formenos? What elf could banish the memory of Morgoth's shadow on that piece of Aman? All who had dwelt there before the Darkening had abandoned the place and followed Uncle Feanaro over the sea. They had believed Formenos cursed and should be left to the brambles until Arda breaks.
"I think you should find that out yourself, don't you?" Lord Irmo replied with a smile.
Author's Notes:
I like to think some small part of noble Finrod would love to kick his cousins for their backstabbing.
Mornel will forgive Finrod for his attack as he was not exactly in his right mind at the time. She will also not tell Amarie what she accidentally saw. Finrod is a curious elf and that curiosity about what is going on with his youngest cousin and Formenos might just be enough to spur him to start healing and leave Lorien.
To clarify - in my fic, Galadriel met Celeborn in Doriath and were married there. Celeborn is a Sindar elf and a member of Elu Thingol's court.