I got a really nice review that encouraged me to write another chapter before the weekend...hope you like mini Fingolfin, no matter how bad my descriptive skills are! (Just try to imagine him as a bouncy 10 year old...)
"And the aim of attending the wedding would be?" Aphrodite looked at Ilmarë like she had gone mad.
"Well, you are awfully introverted and your blood is more elf than maiar, even if those parts are highly diluted. It will be an experience." She wrapped an arm around the former mortal's shoulders, leading her to her room on the far side of Ilmarin. "You will benefit from this!"
Aphrodite was still skeptical to the idea, but attending Fëanor's wedding to Nerdanel would be the first social experience she had ever attended in Aman. "I wouldn't have anything to wear, I haven't used Quenya properly in years and I am utterly terrified of social situations! I can handle a battle, fine, that's simple, but I have to make a good impression on immortal beings. That probably all know each other! And will gossip!"
Ilmarë put her hands on her shoulders, stopping her from the erratic pacing that she had taken up, making her look her in the eyes. "Aphrodite look at me. You. Will. Be. Fine. And as for something to wear, I had that fixed. And you have been using Quenya for years! You hardly ever notice the language changes because you're so used to them! As for the social problem, I will come with you! And possibly Eonwë, but I will definitely be coming with you to help you not to make any huge social blunders!"
"Really? Which language am I speaking now?"
"Sindarin."
"Right. Can we go back to Quenya so I can practice speaking it?"
"Of course, now let's get that dress on you so you can attend!" The maiar pulled her along sharply, almost making Aphrodite run to her room and drawing a bath while she looked at the dress. It was silver and gold, the fabric not really one, but it would be the opposite of her hair when worn due to the instability of colour.
Ilmarë returned and pulled her into the room, waiting for her to get undressed and in the bath before washing her.
"I can wash myself."
She scoffed. "You, need to allow people to help you. Now, as this is your first social occasion, do you want me to at least cut your hair so it falls to your feet, or do you want me to leave it?"
"2 metres from the base of my neck. I am only five foot, but I would like it to be longer than me still."
Ilmarë braided her hair into a single braid starting at the nape of her neck and measuring 2 metres. She added about 10 cm and then took a knife and cut the braid off there. Catching the rest of her hair, she tied it in a knot, leaving it on the floor for the moment. She then washed the uncut hair, brushing it out and braiding it again. The two then moved into Aphrodite's room, sitting her on the bed while Ilmarë put intricate braids into her hair, taking her hair to her knees. It was around evening, when Telperion became brighter and the celebration would start at the peak of Telperion, only 5 hours away.
After Aphrodite was dressed, Ilmarë went away for five minutes, coming back looking stunning. Aphrodite had the Silmaril around her neck, the light faintly glowing on her neck, the shoulder-less neckline just brushing it.
Ilmarë took a mithril circlet from the folds of her dress, placing it on her head and finally allowing her to look in the mirror.
She looked, well, beautiful. The Sindarin style circlet with leaves appeared white on her silver hair, the Silmaril the mark of the ñoldor and the dress as gold as the Vanyar. Her brown eyes darkened her entirely pale appearance, her lips red and full. Her skin was aetherally pale and glowed with a shimmer. Maiar magic. It just had to be, because she did not appear that beautiful ever - not even when she made an effort.
Ilmarë suddenly pulled her from her thoughts and they made their way to where an eagle was waiting, courtesy of Manwë, to take them to Tirion. Ilmarë swung a grey cloak over Aphrodite, helping her mount the eagle before taking her non-corporeal form, obviously taking the easy way there.
Oh how Aphrodite wished she could do that at this particular moment.
~π~
The celebration was large. The eagle, whose name was Gwaihir, had dropped her off onto a roof near the celebrations, where she had jumped down to ground level, meeting Ilmarë, who had taken the cloak back and fixed a few things before they had walked to the wedding celebrations.
"You know, eternal spring can be very boring sometimes."
"How so?" She seemed to be in disbelief that Aphrodite had complained about such a great thing.
"Well, I miss winter and the fun that came with that, the heat of summer and the colours that went with autumn. Eternal spring takes the spring out of it, how new life comes after the cold winter and the newborn animals and melting snow. I miss ice-skating. That was something I always did, all year round, but there was nothing like the feeling of skating on real ice, the challenges it held and the spinning and jumping! You in Aman have missed out on a great pastime."
Ilmarë was silent after that, obviously contemplating what she had said.
They got to the celebrations, music that was springing with joy being played by minstrels, while many danced around the unmistakable figures of Fëanor and Nerdanel. He was wearing red, while she wore black, the two of them contrasting and blending like fire. An ellon with gold hair suddenly came up to her, offering to dance with her. Ilmarë pushed her into him gently, but it was enough for him to accept it as a yes. As it turned out, he was Ingwion, son of Ingwë and prince of the vanya. He seemed very happy to dance with her, pulling her a little too close for her liking and his hands wandering a little too low on her back.
When the dance ended, he asked for another, but Aphrodite was out of breath, despite her high physical fitness, and needed a drink, so went to the wine. One entire cup did nothing. But it served it's purpose as a drink, so she went back to being a wallflower, as she really didn't want to dance with anyone. When she saw Ingwion looking for her again, she quickly found the place where the drinking games were taking place. She had relatively high tolerance and she wasn't drunk from the strongest wine, so why not try it?
They were a little hesitant to allow her to join in, but when Aphrodite suggested a new idea for a drinking game, she was welcomed into the group. A book was fetched from the library and they all chose a word, proceeding to drink a cup of wine every time it was said. By the end of the book, they were all drunk and Aphrodite's hair was now a gold.
She turned at a tap on her shoulder to see Ingwion, obviously a little drunk, but looking a little startled. "I could've sworn you had silver hair when I danced with you!"
"I did, why?"
He looked a little surprised at her calm demeanour. "You have gold hair and a silver dress now. Why?"
"Because of something that happened a long time ago." She stood up and made to leave the drinking circle, her balance a little off, but she was not as addled as the other elves. "Now if you shall excuse me, I'm going to find my friend." She made to walk past Ingwion, but he grabbed her hand, pulling her close.
"I am not letting you go that easily, pretty maiden. You are far too interesting to be on your own." He was definitely drunk now. "Would you like me to protect you?"
She unhooked her hand from his grip, hitting a pressure point as she did so, causing him to pass out dead in her arms. Aphrodite slung him over her shoulders, walking over to where Ingwë was, talking to Finwë. "My lord, your son is unconscious. Where should I put him?"
Both High Kings looked very startled. Ingwë took his son from Aphrodite, an attendant taking him away from him. "I recognise you...Aphrodite! When we went to visit Aman, we found you on the way! Finwë! Do you not remember her?"
Finwë's face came to an expression of realisation. "You brought my son back to me when he got lost in Aulë's halls! Then you told me to pay more attention to him, which I did and still try to do so! He is not so close with his half-brothers though, but I wish he would get along with them more."
Aphrodite wanted to face-palm right there and then. Fëanor would always be a little distant from his brothers, but obviously her advice had not paid off!
Two small beings suddenly ran past her, the dark hair confirming them to be ñoldor, but they both looked an awful lot like...oh. She had met the twin sons of Elrond once before and these two were definitely their ancestors, Fingolfin and Finarfin. Two other dark haired beings also ran past her, probably Findis and Irimë. A golden haired elleth came past her, kissing Ingwë on the cheek and slipping her arm into Finwë's. This was Indis, sister of Ingwë and second wife of Finwë.
"Ñolofinwë! Arafinwë! Come back here and talk to your uncle!" Finwë shouted, bringing both elflings back to the group. They looked so much like the twins!
Then Fingolfin really surprised her. "You're really beautiful. Are you a maiar? Or a vala?"
"No. I am descended from a maiar though, but not for several hundred generations. I am of the atani, or the secondborn." He then looked at her ears and gasped.
"Your ears are round! They don't point! Are they as ticklish as my ears?"
"No."
"Where are you from?"
"The east, where your father comes from."
"What's your name?"
"Aphrodite. And I know yours, Ñolofinwë. And I can guarantee that one day, you will see the eastern sky and how the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the stars shining in the sky alongside the moon on a cloudless night, the winters and the beautiful snow!"
He looked awestruck, Arafinwë having run off and left his brother to talk to her. "Are there monsters in the east? They say that elves disappeared from cuiviénen, never to be seen again, which is why we had to leave. Can you tell me about them?"
Aphrodite moved him away, to sit down at the sidelines, where many were eating food. "The first you will know about is the orcs, once elves, but twisted into creatures of darkness. That is the the same story for goblins, twisted by Morgoth in his fortress to do his bidding. There is also the Balrogs, made of shadow and flame, at least 20ft tall and hard to kill, but I know of an elf named Ecthelion, who killed four balrogs. Do you want me to continue?" She looked at the enthralled and utterly interested young Fingolfin, unaware that he would one day have to face these terrors.
He eagerly nodded, so she continued. "The werewolves and vampires are deadly, strongest at night and terrors to the locals. And the trolls, made from stone and strong, slow to think and move and turn to stone in the sunlight. And finally, the mightiest of all monsters is the dragon, scaly reptiles that breath fire and fly like eagles, laying waste to settlements in seconds."
"Tell me more!" He was almost jumping.
Maybe if she used their Sindarin names, they wouldn't know she was telling a story about them. "I will tell you the story of Turgon and his city Gondolin and all of the happenings that went on there."
~π~
"I definitely enjoyed that!" Aphrodite exclaimed as she and Ilmarë left Tirion.
"I am so glad that he didn't realise you told him he was going to die. You took a big risk in telling him that."
She mounted Gwaihir, thinking about the events that were to come. "I should make a map of Beleriand. In fact, two. One for the beginning of the first age and one for the entirety of the first age, with a side note for all of the places."
"As long as you are the only one to see them, you are allowed to make them."
"See you back at Ilmarin!"