Have a great coming year!

I also wanted to thank for all the reviews from guests - I am unable to reply to them in PM. Thank you, it means a lot to me.

Chapter XXI

Curufin and Celegorm came long after dusk. The messenger sent by Maedhros had met them on the fields, but as they had already been quite far way, they had decided to finish their tour before returning, as Maglor and Amras had taken care of dealing with the enemy in the nearby.

Even before they reached their home, they noticed a commotion and quite a numerous scouting party forming on one of the squares. Only when they reached their yard, did they froze in surprise.

Their commander was back. That was the first thing they noticed – not their eldest brother, but their leader, the one who had managed to gather the Noldor after their father's death. Maedhros was standing in front of the house and giving commands to Vorindon. He was wearing high riding boots and a chainmail was visible from under his thigh-long, dark tunic with a star on the chest. He kept his maimed arm on the sling, but he seemed not to notice it, as he was gesticulating vividly with the other. Curufin blinked in surprise when he saw a sword by his brother's right side.

"Tyelko! Curvo!" Maedhros noticed them and he visibly calmed. He passed his friend and went to his brothers; Celebrimbor followed him like a shadow.

"What happened?" asked Celegorm shortly. "Where are you going?"

"Kano has not returned," said Maedhros. "They went..."

"Yes, we know, we got your message," Curufin interrupted him. "Where to?"

"I'll show you." Maedhros grabbed Celegorm's shoulder and went hastily inside the house, half dragging his brother, half supporting himself.

The younger brothers followed him to the kitchen, still perplexed by his energy. Maedhros seemed to be bustling, but nervousness was visible under his apparent composure.

"Here." The eldest son of Feanor leaned over the map. "Here's where Moryo pointed."

"It's quite far away," remarked Celegorm. "And Amras may know those grounds well, but you can't just ride straight in there. When did they go?"

"Right after Moryo returned. It was quite late..." Maedhros hesitated visibly and placed his hand on the table.

"Tyelpe?" Curufin glanced at his son.

"About three hours before dusk."

"Yes, more or less then," confirmed Alcarino in the doorstep.

"Is something wrong?" Maedhros jerked his head up at once and he straightened under the healer's gaze. "Alcarino?"

"No, everything's fine," the healer reassured him. Considering how calmly he watched Maedhros's actions, he must have been a witness to the earlier preparations, realised Curufin. He still could not comprehend seeing his weak brother in chainmail, armed.

"No wonder they haven't come back yet." Celegorm went back to the problem. "I would expect them around dawn."

"You cannot be sure," remarked Maedhros. "If they fell into a trap... I will not sit and wait."

Celegorm and Curufin exchanged glances. It was clear that whatever Maedhros had got into his mind, he was not going to drop his plans easily. The mask of a collected commander was starting to crack; now that they were alone, his anxiety was more obvious.

"You will." Celegorm shrugged. "What exactly were you going to do?" he snorted.

"Make sure none of my younger brothers become a toy!" retorted Maedhros sharply. "I do not know those grounds. You will guide me, Tyelko."

"Alright, I will go, if you wish so," Celegorm nodded shortly. "But you are staying."

Maedhros narrowed his eyes and stared piercingly at him.

"Are you going to oppose me?" he asked coldly, reminding his brothers with this short question who was the eldest among them.

"No, Nelyo, no." The hunter backed off. "But you are not strong enough yet to keep our pace. Stay, I will go."

"Your brother is right, Nelyafinwe," Alcarino joined in. "Let him do this for you."

Maedhros hesitated, but nodded; his eyes dimmed.

"Go," he said, defeated.

"Nelyafinwe." Celegorm placed his hand on his heart and bowed slightly, then ruined the atmosphere and sent his brother a smile. "Worry not. I am sure Makalaure did not go armed only with his harp."

The eldest son of Feanor muttered something, unconvinced, and leaned against Curufin's shoulder.

"Saddle me a fresh horse, Tyelpe," ordered Celegorm and he grabbed a piece of cake from the table. "Is everything ready, Maitimo?"

"Yes, the party is waiting only for... for you."

Curufin assumed Maedhros would stay inside now that he had agreed to leave Celegorm in charge, but his sick brother followed him outside. He personally informed Vorindon about the change of plan and then stayed at the doorstep and waited. The smith moved close to him, seeing as his knuckles went white from gripping the doorframe. Maedhros was about to collapse, but he did not curl his shoulders nor moved until the party was gone. Only then did he turn to get inside and he would have sat down on the doorstep, had Curufin not supported him in time.

"Come." Curufin led his brother to his room with no objections from Maedhros. "Let me," he unfastened the belt with the sword and removed it.

Maedhros sat obediently by the table, no longer trying to hide his weariness. He took a few sips of the wine Curufin gave him and pressed the goblet to his temple.

"Tyelko was right," he muttered quietly.

Curufin winced, hiding it behind his own goblet. He was the last one fit to comfort anyone.

"It's too soon," he stated. "Learn how to wield a sword in your left hand and you'll have enough work. But first you need to be able to defend yourself," he pointed out. "And let me make you your own chainmail instead of stealing one from Turkafinwe, alright?" he tried more lightly, but Maedhros just nodded.

"Help me take it out," he asked with the same resignation in his voice. Then he jerked his head and stared at his brother. "What was he wearing?"

"The same thing he wore earlier," Curufin shrugged. He removed some of his clothes first, to move more freely, then glanced at Maedhros. "Do not worry, Turko knows what he's doing. Right, give me all that."

Maedhros removed the sling, but when he tried to move his arms up, it was plain he would not succeed. Curufin removed his outer tunic, but to take out the chainmail, he would need at least one additional hand and his son had run away to the forge, muttering something about cleaning. Seeing his brother's anxiety, he would gladly do the same.

"Lean forward, Nelyo."

Maedhros cooperated as much as he could, but he would probably not have enough strength to get up. It took some time before Curufin freed him from the chainmail. The elder of the brothers sat more comfortably and closed his eyes. Caranthir did not wake despite all the noise they made. When Curufin suggested Maedhros to lie down too, he just shook his head.

"I'll wait," he said and agreed only to change the chair for the armchair.

'It is going to be a long night,' sighed Curufin silently and sat by the table. He could not just go and leave his brother alone with his thoughts to wait for the rest. There was not much they could talk about, considering that had not talked at all in the last few days. And yet...

"So, what was it Findekano came to tell us?"

xxx

The sky was already beginning to brighten when they came home. Amras was a bit angry at himself, because he expected to be done sooner after what Caranthir had told him. In fact it took some time before they found the exact spot he had mentioned. The enemy had moved since then and they had to be careful to avoid any potential traps.

Anyway, their excursion was successful, they did not even get dirty. At least, Amras smiled to himself, they did not during the attack; cleaning after the encounter, if one could call that killing the orcs to the very last one, was much more time consuming and messy.

To Amras's astonishment it was his brother who seemed the most satisfied with the possibility to grab his sword. He had been surprised that Maglor wished to go as well, but he stopped when he saw him ordering to attack and cutting the first orc a moment later. It was Maglor's own, personal revenge for touching his brothers, realised the youngest son of Feanor as he watched his brother dirty himself along others when they were preparing the corpses to burn them. It was their first encounter with the enemy since Maedhros had returned. Maglor's voice, so soft recently around their eldest brother, turned into steel. Amras definitely preferred his brother with harp and not sword, when he used his voice for singing, not orders.

"Pityo." Maglor's voice called him from his thoughts. "Go, tell Maitimo we're back," he ordered when they passed the gate. "We'll be there soon."

Amras nodded and rode through the smaller alleys to get home more quickly. They had met Celegorm on their way back. They almost missed each other as Amras intended to take different way back. After what Celegorm told him, he dreaded to think what would happen if they had not met.

He jumped from his saddle and went hurriedly inside, only to bump into his eldest brother. Maedhros made a muffled sound and took a step back. He would have fallen, but Amras caught him in time.

"Sorry."

Maedhros was grey and unsteady, but he examined him closely. He leaned against the wall, but Amras did not remove his hand, worried that he might fall over.

"We're all back unharmed," the younger redhead rushed to reassure him, remembering Celegorm's remarks. "Kano and Tyelko are right behind, they are just taking the rest off duty."

Maedhros nodded, then he moved away, shrugging his brother's hand with disgust.

"You stink," he uttered, pressing his hand to his lips.

Amras moved away quickly. When they were riding, the wind made the smell of the orc blood bearable. He hurried to reassure Maedhros they were fine and he forgot to think how he was going to react to the smell.

"Maitimo's right," said Curufin, stepping out from the kitchen. "One could smell you on the other end of the house."

"Yes, I understand." Amras went to the well on the yard and Curufin placed an arm around Maedhros to drag him outside as well. The eldest of the brothers was shaking a bit and he grabbed the doorframe. 'He's waiting,' realised Amras. 'He doesn't believe me, he's waiting.'

Maglor and Celegorm came a moment later. They greeted Maedhros, Maglor jumped lightly from the saddle and only then the eldest son of Feanor was convinced they were alright.

"The well is over there." Curufin prevented them from coming closer, seeing that Maedhros had managed to compose himself and stopped shaking.

Maglor glanced at Amras, who was already half undressed, and he nodded in understanding. Together with Celegorm they joined their youngest brother and started cleaning themselves; no one wished to wait for hot water and they were all hungry and weary.

When they were finally clean, though a bit cold too, and went to find a very early breakfast, Maedhros was already sleeping peacefully, knowing all of his brothers were home.

xxx

Caranthir woke completely stiff and lying at the edge of the bed. He hissed; sleeping on his wounded shoulder was not the best idea. He managed to turn on his back and realised why he was so uncomfortable.

Maedhros was sleeping next to him, which reminded him where and in what circumstances he had fallen asleep. His elder brother must have decided that having Caranthir sleeping in his bed did not mean he could not use it as well. Despite his height he had tried to curl, and that was why his knees were digging in Caranthir's thigh.

Then something else struck him. The sun was glancing through the window which, considering they were in Maedhros's room, definitely could not be a setting sun.

"Bastard," he muttered towards his brother who made him sleep this long. No wonder he felt so weird.

He untangled himself from the blanket and realised Maedhros was sleeping with his fingers clenched on his shirt. He freed himself from his brother and rose carefully as not to wake him. The growling in his stomach reminded him that he had not eaten anything since the breakfast he had had before being attacked, so no wonder he felt a bit dizzy. But he soon forgot about his weakness once he glanced around the room.

His boots lying by the bed were nothing unusul, he had left them there the previous day, but Maedhros's standing in the middle of the room by the chair were less obvious, and a chainmail on the back of the chair amazed him. 'Valar, what happened here?!' On the table, between plates and a carafe with wine, Maedhros's sword was lying. Said brother was sleeping deeply and did not wake even when Caranthir stumbled over a forgotten gambeson that probably belonged to Celegorm, judging by its size. The chaos was complemented by a glove tossed on the bed over Maedhros's head.

Caranthir hissed and put his wounded arm between the buttons of his shirt; the sash his brother had given back to him was lying somewhere on the floor. The mess aside, he was hungry and his arm was bothering him when he moved. He walked between the things on the floor to the cupboard and quickly found the jar with the soothing herbs they had prepared for their eldest brother so often. He put a bit inside a mug and went to the kitchen. He passed Maglor sleeping with his doors open; nothing unusual in his case. The whole house was sleeping, but it did not stop Caranthir from making himself breakfast.

xxx

The first thing Maedhros noticed after waking up was peace and quiet. The boots were all that was left of Caranthir and the mess around reminded him of the commotion at night. 'They are sleeping, surely they are,' he thought, but he was not completely calmed. He rose, still sleepy, and went to make sure, just in case.

Already in the next room he saw that not everybody was asleep. At first he went to check on his wounded brother and found him half lying on his bed, with a bowl suggestively standing within reach.

"What's wrong, Moryo?" he asked at once, anxious.

Caranthir must have been drifting, for he jerked when he heard his brother. He cursed and glanced at Maedhros unfriendly.

"You said I would not have hangover after your draughts," he said with reproach. "I feel sick."

Maedhros could see as much. He noticed also an empty mug and untouched breakfast on the table on the other side of the room.

"Have you eaten something?"

Caranthir looked darkly at him, as if the mere necessity of answering offended him.

"I feel sick, which part of that did you not understand?" he asked harshly. "And no, no, no way! You are not sleeping here with me!" he objected as soon as his brother came closer.

Unmoved, Maedhros took a loaf of bread from the plate and sat on the bed. Caranthir stared at him suspiciously and made no move to take the food.

"It will be better once you've eaten," repeated Maedhros impatiently. "Or shall I go and fetch Alcarino?"

"I hate you," stated Caranthir with offence, but he took the loaf and started eating slowly.

Maedhros watched him with content, seeing that Caranthir was more sulking than angry. He was a bit worried that his brother's chattiness the previous day was only the result of weariness and relief that he had come back home safely, and that he would not talk to him today. It seemed, though, that those few days away from the settlement had taken away that blind fury at Maedhros's decision. Which did not mean Caranthir would take lightly what they had agreed to with their cousin.

"Findekano came yesterday," started the eldest son of Feanor to break the silence. "He brought an answer from Nolofinwe, we made some arrangements."

"And?" Caranthir showed some interest. "What is it that you came up with, aside from the fact that you made Amras go back to his name? Because Nolofinwe is surely beyond himself with joy," he snorted with disgust, fiddling with his half-eaten loaf; crumbles fell on the blanket.

Maedhros, having gotten some experience from his night talk with Curufin, recalled the conversation with Fingon. Unlike the smith, Caranthir listened without interrupting, which was unusual for him. Perhaps he still didn't feel too well, but Maedhros shamelessly used his silence.

"So, it seems Turukano was right," Caranthir summed up with disgust."He dared to say in front of Kano that you will never be his king," he explained, seeing Maedhros's questioning look.

"Oh, this. I know, Kano mentioned that. Well, I will not," the elder of the brothers shrugged. "I'll spare myself dealing with all your quarrels," he added lightly.

Caranthir just rolled his eyes and sighed resignedly, as Maedhros sat deeper on the bed and found himself enough space to curl and sleep a bit more.

xxx

The day went lazily. It was already afternoon when the sons of Feanor went to their tasks. Curufin was out rather quickly, scolding his son for some unfinished and ruined work on their way to the forge. Celebrimbor's careful explanation that he had been interrupted was in vain. The whole mess was about some hooves, but it was enough for Curufin to get angry.

To the brothers' amusement, Caranthir remained ostensibly cross with Maedhros for drugging him to sleep, so that he had missed all the commotion. He was feeling better, though, so no one took him seriously.

"Are you finished?" Celegorm ran into the kitchen and glanced at his eldest brother impatiently.

Maedhros was sitting by the table and eating his dinner reluctantly; he was the only one not looking for any tasks and he wondered grimly over his meal. After all the stress from the previous evening he seemed more tired than he was recently. 'Or I might not have noticed,' realised Celegorm guiltily; aside from the last evening, he had hardly exchanged a few words with his brother.

"I am." Maedhros put down his fork and glanced questioningly at him.

"Wonderful. So come, let's go," stated Celegorm lividly.

"Not today, Tyelko," Maedhros sighed tiredly.

"Today." The hunter insisted; Maedhros's passiveness was annoying him, reminding him of that wounded look his brother had given him at night when Celegorm refused to take him along. "Come on, you can't sit in here whole day."

"I don't feel up to it, Tyelko. Go, if you wish."

"You wished so much to ride with us yesterday, so come on, let us go around here first," insisted Celegorm, ignoring Maglor's warning look. Maedhros needed a bit of motivation, for he seemed depressed. "I heard you are going to ride on the other side of the lake and drop on your knees before Nolofinwe, so prove to me that you have enough strength for that," he pushed his brother a bit more.

Maedhros jerked at his brother's words. He looked offended and surprised at the same time. Behind him, Maglor was shocked and disgusted.

"I'll saddle the horses and wait for you outside," stated Celegorm, looking his brother in the eye, then turned around and left without waiting for response. He stopped for a moment on the corridor and smiled to himself when he heard the chair being pushed off the table.

It took some time before Maedhros was ready. Celegorm managed to prepare the horses with no rush and he had to wait. He mentioned it when his eldest brother joined him, changed and wearing those high boots they had seen with Curufin the previous night.

"You could have gone alone if you're in a hurry," muttered Maedhros sourly, trying to put his arm into a sling.

"Come on, I'm sick of riding around fields with Curufinwe, Maitimo," said the hunter. He took the sash from Maedhros and tied it around his neck. "Allow me," he offered, pointing at the horses.

"Will he kneel?" asked Maedhros shortly, and when Celegorm shook his head reluctantly, he passed him and whistled clearly. The stable gate opened and to Celegorm's horror Rimpalote ran to his eldest brother.

"Seriously?" he moaned in disbelief, seeing the stallion kneeling obediently at Maedhros's command. He suspected Maedhros did it on purpose and confirmed that when he saw the younger redhead in the stable.

"Where do you want to go?" asked Maedhros once he was up.

"Anywhere, as long as this creature behaves," muttered Celegorm, glancing suspiciously at Rimpalote, but he jumped on his saddle and headed towards the main gate. Amras's horse followed him obediently and the hunter was left with hope that the moody stallion would listen to his rider.

"So? What do you want to talk about?" asked Maedhros when they were alone.

Celegorm seemed surprised that his brother asked so openly.

"Curvo told me what you agreed on with Findekano," he answered.

"And here I thought you wished you show me the winter corn," mocked Maedhros, but then he went serious. "And?"

"He's furious." Celegorm shrugged. "And I don't think he's going to change his mind in that."

"You have not brought me here to talk about our Atarinke either," his eldest brother interrupted him. "And I've had enough time at night to talk with him about his doubts. So what is it, Turkafinwe? What bothers you?"

"It's not right!" Celegorm exploded. "I don't like it, I cannot agree to that! You are giving up the crown, I may swallow that... perhaps. But tribute? Kano told me yesterday... You, on your knees, in front of Nolofinwe? No. Not you, Maitimo. Not you."

"Then who?" Maedhros snorted and looked at his brother keenly. "Who is going to apologize and try to make peace? Kanafinwe did not do that during my absence, so how it would look if he changed his mind now? You had your time, now it's my turn."

"Nelyo... After all that, how it will look... I don't want anyone to think that... that they managed too..." Celegorm stopped; this time his boldness failed him. "Anyone but you! Not in front of Nolofinwe!"

"Will it calm your conscience if I tell you that I don't mind?" asked Maedhros coldly. "Because as I understand, Kano failed to mentioned that? And who else is going to do that? You? Or perhaps Moryo or Curvo? That would be a disaster!" he snorted at the mere thought. "Or shall I use some wicked logic and send Amras to apologize in the name of our house? That would look great indeed."

Celegorm blushed, unable to utter a single word. His brother used his silence.

"I am not doing this to spite you. And I am not being vicious, despite what you seem to think," he said more calmly and caressed Rimpalote's neck, as the horse moved its ears nervously. "I don't need to be protected, Tyelko, I will be fine. All I need from all of you is cooperation. Because otherwise I will indeed end up sending Amras in my stead and that would just tell our uncle there are conflicts among us."

"Telvo will support you, right," nodded Celegorm, trying to calm down. The last thing he wished was to unsettle Rimpalote away from the camp, while he was carrying his eldest brother.

"Pityo," Maedhros corrected him. "Do try to remember that, let's not make him correct everyone around him."

"You made him stop this farce? By forcing him?" Celegorm stopped his horse in astonishment. "Valar, when? I was away for half a day!"

"There is a lot going on," remarked Maedhros and he stopped as well. He explained shortly how the matter of the name had come up in the previous day's conversation. "No, I did not force Ambarussa to anything, he made the decision."

"Be careful how you push him," the hunter warned him. "He will follow you, he's trying to make up for the last years, but he is no longer the kid from the shores. Push him too much and he will oppose you."

"I will be," nodded Maedhros absentmindedly. "I will give him Rimpalote back too, once I'm able to ride some other horse," he pushed the sides of his mount and rode forward.

"Amras is not the only one training horses in his free time, you know," Celegorm reminded him. "My fault for saddling the first one available."

"Never mind, we get on well so far." Feanor's firstborn caressed the horse with visible pleasure. "So, are you going to show me those fields?"