"Um..." Haldir and Faelwen exchanged another uncomfortable look, very much aware that everyone at the table was looking at them. What could they say that wasn't going to make things worse?
"This is a first!" cried Rumil gleefully, delighting in this opportunity to tease his staid and solemn brother. "Haldir is speechless!
"Stop it, Rumil!" said Erestor, feeling sorry for the two clearly mortified young elves. "You are just embarrassing them!"
"Well?" demanded Orophin curiously. "Is it true? And how long have you been keeping this a secret, you sly things?"
"Yes it is true!" said Haldir, losing patience with his brothers. "It only happened last night. We said nothing because we would have liked to work things out for ourselves a little first without everyone else poking their noses in!" A second later, he seemed to realise his rudeness and hurriedly dropped his eyes again. Faelwen's face was still scarlet and she steadfastly refused to meet anyone's gaze.
"That must have been the reason he took such care with his appearance last night!" joked Rumil mischievously, breaking the silence that had followed Haldir's comment. "I knew he could not have been so well turned-out for nothing. You deserve to be commended, Faelwen, for your good influence!"
"Excuse me," said Faelwen quietly, never raising her eyes as she got up from the table and hurried out of the room, her face still in flames. She was simply too embarrassed to remain with the company.
"Stay, Legolas," Elrond requested, when he saw that the young prince of Mirkwood intended to rise and follow after her. "I believe that all that she wants at the moment is a little privacy, since hers was invaded so publicly." He cast a frown at the unrepentant Estel.
"May I be excused as well?" asked Haldir quietly, unable to bear all the smirking - or in the case of the twins and Estel - scowling faces. Celeborn nodded, taking pity on his foster son, and it was with great relief that Haldir rose from his seat and hurried towards the door.
"Ahem!" called Elladan sharply, as he reached for the door handle. Haldir looked back nervously - an unusual occurrence as he was generally not in the habit of being nervous about anything. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Separate rooms!" ordered the older twin pointedly, at which point Haldir vanished from the room to the sound of a gale of laughter.
"That was very bad form you know!" said Erestor scoldingly, though there was a clear twinkle in his dark eyes. "They are both very shy as it is - teasing them like that is only going to lower their confidence even more. They will be nervous every time they try to show each other the slightest sign of affection when another is present."
"Show signs of affection? Ada, surely you are not going to allow this to continue?" asked Elrohir in a scandalised voice. "Faelwen is far too young to be courting!"
"And we return to the overprotective brothers!" said Glorfindel dryly, causing the others to laugh, while the twins both remained solemn.
"We are not being overprotective!" answered Elladan determinedly. "I am simply pointing out that both of them are a good century younger than we are! Surely they are both too young to understand their true feelings yet! I do not want to see my sister get hurt!"
"Elladan, they are young but they are not children," Erestor pointed out reasonably. "They are both mature enough to be able to have a relationship together and they will never fully understand what exactly their true feelings are if they are not allowed to develop them. As to Faelwen getting hurt, I myself am very sure; having seen the looks they shared this morning, that there is very little chance of that happening."
"Ada?" Elrohir again appealed to his father. Elrond smiled fondly at the clear devotion both the twins had for their sister and he secretly was very glad that they held her so dear. However, on this point (as on many) he was inclined to agree with his chief counsellor.
"My sons, I agree that they are perhaps in some ways still a little young to be courting," conceded Elrond. "But sometimes there are exceptions. As Erestor said, Faelwen and Haldir are both sensible young elves and they can be trusted not to do anything hasty or silly. And it does not take very much observation to see that clearly feel a lot for each other. I have no objection to them seeing each other more often in the future if that is their wish." The twins nodded in defeat, but neither of the pair looked particularly happy about it.
"That sly, sneaky, calculating, blond-haired…"said Elrohir as he, Elladan and Legolas left the hall together after the conclusion of the meal; pausing in his rant in order to think of a fitting insult. "What shall we do to him, brother? Fill his bed with frogs?"
"Too lenient!" said Elladan decidedly. "If he should hurt her, I will…"
"Stop it!" chided Legolas with a laugh, knowing that they were not serious about hurting their friend. "You are both well aware that Haldir would do nothing at all to hurt her. You can see it in his eyes; he's fallen for her completely. Personally, I couldn't think of a better match for her. We all know him to be loyal, trustworthy, dependable, honourable and far too considerate to do anything to make her unhappy. I do not see why you are so against this!"
"She is our younger sister, Legolas! You know how completely innocent she is and how much she has already been through in the past! It is our duty to look out for her! Though I suppose…"admitted Elladan in defeat. "If there was ever anyone on Middle Earth that we considered close to being good enough for her, it would probably be either you or Haldir." Legolas smiled happily at the admission and was about to make a reply when Elladan cut him off with a frown. "But that does not mean that I have to like the idea!"
"I always knew that Haldir was very fond of Faelwen," remarked Celeborn in the late afternoon, as he, Elrond and Thranduil sat by the fire in Elrond's study. "Though I did not know his feelings ran so deeply. I believe they will make a good pair though - they are the most staid and responsible of all our young ones."
"Well, I certainly have no objection to the two of them seeing each other," said Elrond, taking a sip from his goblet. "They obviously make each other happy and can be trusted not to do anything silly. However, they are both still far too young to be plighting their troth or thinking about becoming bonded. I will certainly refuse permission should they decide on that any time soon!"
"Should you not perhaps let them know that they have your approval?" suggested Thranduil, while Celeborn was nodding in agreement of forbidding any hasty betrothals. "They were both so embarrassed and left the table so quickly that they never had the chance to hear that neither of you objected to them being together, and I do not believe that either of them has left their room all afternoon."
"That's a good point," conceded Elrond with a laugh. "They are both probably sitting up in their rooms worrying themselves silly over how they are expecting us to react. We should put them out of their misery. I will send for them."
Five minutes later found both young elves in question making their way down to Elrond's study. They entered almost simultaneously from doors on opposite sides of the study and caught each other's eyes. Both of them went fantastically red and immediately dropped their gazes to study the intricate designs on the thick carpet that covered the floor. At an invitation from Elrond, they both took a seat before determinedly avoiding everyone's gaze and both fixing their eyes resolutely on Elrond's magnificent desk. It was all the three elder elves could do to keep their countenances upon witnessing this display, but they valiantly managed to do so in order to keep the young ones from becoming even more embarrassed than they already were. Evidently, they were both under the impression that their unveiled secret had been met with disapproval.
"Pennyth, you are not in disgrace, you know," Celeborn reminded them gently, in an attempt to stop the pair from looking so apprehensive. It did not work. "We actually called you down here to let you know that you had our approval and our blessing."
Both heads shot upright in surprise.
"Your approval?" Haldir repeated in disbelief, his eyes wide. He had been so certain that he and Faelwen had been called here to be instructed to sever their new ties.
"And our blessing," Elrond reassured him with a smile. "Indeed Haldir, neither your father nor I have any objection to the two of you courting, if that is what you wish to do. It is true, you are younger than most new couples generally are, but we have a good deal of faith in the large amount of good sense possessed by each of you and we trust you both implicitly."
Faelwen and Haldir shared a quick glace at these words and exchanged shy, overjoyed smiles before respectfully turning their eyes back towards Elrond again as he finished what he was saying.
"You may face a little teasing from your brothers, or a good deal of sulking in Estel's case," Elrond continued. "But do not take it too much to heart. I am sure they will all come round to the idea soon enough. In fact it seems that the only obstacle before you is that you will not see each other very often unless one of you eventually leaves your home."
"We spoke about that this morning…"said Haldir quietly, a little daunted at being the sole focus of attention of three of the Elven leaders of Middle Earth. "We wondered if perhaps there was a way for us to visit each other more often because at the moment, neither of us is able to leave our home. I cannot give up my duties in Lorien and Faelwen cannot leave Imladris until Estel's childhood is over."
"Yes. We will have so little time to spend with Estel on Middle Earth, while Haldir and I have forever," Faelwen added, by way of explanation. "I could not bear to leave him until he is grown and no longer needs me."
"I am sure Estel will be happy to hear of this part of your decision!" chuckled Elrond wryly. "I believe he had designs on your life earlier, Haldir, when he had got it into his head that you meant to deprive him of his sister."
The others shared an indulgent laugh at the jealously which had been born of love.
"As regards your visiting each other; Elrond and I are constantly exchanging reports on orc activity, the tidings from the human lands and other such things," said Celeborn thoughtfully. "I usually send a rider and escort to Imladris once every two months to deliver my despatches to Imladris, where the rider stays a fortnight to rest from the journey and wait until Elrond has written a reply before returning with it to Lorien. As a Marchwarden, Haldir, you would be perfectly capable of the task and prepared for any danger the journey may present. Such an arrangement would allow you to see each other fairly regularly." His idea was rewarded with the sight of two fair faces positively glowing back at him.
"Ada, that is a splendid idea!" Haldir grinned enthusiastically, while Faelwen beamed by his side.
And so the courtship of Haldir Celebornion and Faelwen Elrondiel began.
As Elrond tucked Estel into bed later that night, he discovered that there was one inhabitant in Imladris who was still completely and utterly opposed to the idea.
"Ada, when is Haldir going away?" asked Estel, snuggling into the warmth of the thick blankets. "And can you tell him not to come back again?"
"No, Estel, I cannot tell Haldir not to come back," said Elrond gently, trying not to smile. "Firstly, it would be extremely nasty to do such a thing because Haldir has done nothing to deserve it. And secondly, I believe Faelwen would be very upset if she were never to see him again."
Estel's brows lowered and his eyes filled with tears. It was so unfair! Faelwen was his sister! She was the one who always read his favourite stories at bedtime; who never said no when he wanted someone to play with; who gave the best cuddles and always made him smile when he was sad. Now that horrible, mean Marchwarden was going to take her away. She wouldn't want to play with him anymore - she would want to be with horrible Haldir!
Elrond seemed to read all these thoughts going through his youngest son's mind and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. "Estel, just because Faelwen cares about Haldir, it does not mean she no longer cares about you," he explained kindly. "Faelwen has a very big heart and there is plenty of room in it for more than one person. After all, she manages to love you as well as myself and both the twins, doesn't she?" Estel nodded glumly. "And even then she still has enough love in her heart to care for Glorfindel, Erestor, Thranduil and Legolas too. I am sure there is plenty room for Haldir to fit in without her ceasing to love you even the tiniest bit. Do you see what I mean?"
"I think so. Fae always manages to love everyone, even when the twins are playing tricks. Is she going to go and live with Haldir now?" asked Estel tearfully, sounding heartbroken.
Elrond gathered him up onto his lap and gave him a comforting hug. "Perhaps one day, when she is older," he said, not entirely relishing the idea of losing Faelwen himself. "But not for quite a few years yet."
"That's good." Estel managed a small smile and, after being kissed goodnight, settled down to sleep.
In the middle of the night, Faelwen was disturbed by a suspiciously
Estel-sized lump clambering under covers and snuggling up beside her. She smiled into the darkness and cuddled him close.
"I will never stop loving you little one, do not forget that," she whispered against his unruly hair, though she was almost certain that he had already gone back to sleep. "I only fear that one day you will cease to need me altogether. But until that day comes, I will always be here for you whenever you need me to be." With that promise, Faelwen leant back against her pillows, thinking joyfully how everything had changed over midwinter. Everything had suddenly become different, but in the best way possible. She was not an elfling anymore, and she was head over heels in love. Things, she knew, could only get better from this point. With a happy sigh, she let her eyes glaze over once more and dreamt of what the future might bring.