*Insert Obligatory Disclaimer Statement Here*
Warnings for a panic/anxiety attack in the section that starts with Bodilë arriving home to the smell of cooking fish.
Telufinwë Ambarussa sat high up in a tree, having a mind-to-mind conversation with his twin brother.
They did this kind of thing often -- going out to the woods, scaling a tree, and then silently discussing things. Sometimes it was how best to annoy Artanis at the next family feast. Sometimes it was how they would convince Tyelkormo to take them along with him the next time he went to Oromë's train. Today it was about Carnistir and their parents and the rest of their family.
When Carnistir had collapsed in the library, they'd never seen him look so vulnerable before. And now their mother was acting strange and there was an odd tension between their parents that had never been there before. (Plus, their mother wasn't even needling Mellótë about stuff!)
But where did all those things come from? Just from Carnistir's episode? But what had Carnistir's episode come from? Nobody seemed willing to tell them anything.
This, of course, meant they had to find out just what was going on for themselves. Good thing they already had plenty of experience sneaking around and spying. (Mostly on their brothers, not their parents, but they'd need to start somewhere.)
Before they could iron out any more details of their plan, though, someone came crashing into the woods from the direction of the house.
Ambarussa met Ambarto's eyes.
Who crashed through woods? Something else must be off if someone wasn't bothering to watch their step.
The two immediately dropped down from their perch.
Ambarussa was expecting to see Carnistir or their mother or even Makalaurë. Instead, he saw a short, foreign nís dressed for hunting. She was scowling something fierce.
Ambarussa spoke first. "Is something the matter? Are you lost?"
The nís whirled to look at him. Her hand came up to rest on her chest, as if to calm a racing heart.
"You scared me," she said. "No. I'm just... I need to be alone."
"You need to be alone on Prince Fëanáro's estate?" Ambarto asked from behind her.
She whirled around yet again, hand still to chest. She looked back and forth between them. "He was right. You two really do look just alike."
"Never seen a pair of twins before?" Ambarussa asked.
She barked a harsh laugh. "No. Quite the opposite. It's just that my brother and I did not look so alike."
"Your brother? You're a twin too?" The words came quick and eager. Ambarussa had never met someone else with a twin before.
"Wait. Did not?" Ambarto tilted his head.
The nís did not mince words. "He is dead."
Ambarussa and Ambarto jerked back in unison as if struck.
Dead?
How did such a thing happen? How had they not heard of it? (Ambarussa could not imagine Ambarto dying. To lose him would be to lose a piece of his fëa.)
"So," Nerdanel's voice cut into their conversation, "this is where you went."
They turned to see their mother emerging from the trees. She was still dressed for her work, heavy leather apron and all.
Ambarussa and Ambarto rushed to her. "Ammë! We caught a trespasser!"
Nerdanel smiled at them, that warm smile the twins always treasured because it radiated how much she loved them without her even needing to say anything. She didn't always smile like that. Even before Carnistir's collapse, her smiles were more likely to be anxious or relieved (or amused) than simple, uncomplicated affection.
"She is not trespassing. I brought her here."
Ambarto spoke quietly, voice concerned. "She says that she had a twin, but he is dead."
Nerdanel's eyes darted over toward the nís. "That would be because she's one of the Returned."
Returned. As in... from Middle-Earth.
How cool was that?!
Er... sad about her brother, of course. But...
Middle-Earth.
And it was so rare that an Avar got reborn!
The strange and unknown nís cast a rather scalding look at their mother. This immediately brought Ambarussa down from his excitement.
That was uncalled for. Nobody needed to look at their mother like that. Not even if you were awesome and came from Middle-Earth.
"How did you come to be here?" Ambarto asked politely. "If you're newly returned... surely you wish to be among your people? I mean, assuming you're not Tatyarin Avari. The majority of those left in Middle-Earth are Teleri and Nelyarin Avari."
The nís' face twisted. She looked to be in pain. "I dearly wish to be among my people. However, circumstances have not allowed it." Her eyes flicked over to Nerdanel. "Your mother wished to sculpt me. I'm afraid it's not working out."
Oh.
Well. That happened sometimes. Very, very, rarely. And it was never Nerdanel's fault. She was far too talented for that.
Therefore, the problem must be all on the other nís' side.
It was a great honor to have your likeness set in stone by their mother, though. Perhaps it was that the Avar hadn't realized this yet.
There was a single way Ambarussa could solve this problem. It would be a sacrifice, but... someone had to do it.
He clapped his hands together. "Well then! How about we all go get some tea? Have you been offered any? I don't know about you, but I could use a snack."
Carnistir was replacing books and scrolls onto the shelf when the door to the library opened.
He glanced over his shoulder to see Ambarto.
To his credit, Ambarto did not loudly exclaim surprise at seeing Carnistir out of his room for the first time in days. Instead, he simply frowned.
"Why are you reading Aunt Lalwendë's stuff?"
Carnistir glanced at the title of the volume in his hand. Theories On Fëar and Foresight. Some of the theories were out there, sure, but it definitely wasn't the most controversial thing that Aunt Lalwendë had ever written.
The act of being caught, however, matter in how innocent a task, made his face heat up anyway.
"No reason." He quickly reshelved the book. "What do you need?"
Ambarto pointed to a delicate porcelain sugar bowl on the low table before the fireplace. "We're having tea. Care to join us?"
Carnistir lowered himself down the ladder, considering.
Maybe it would be nice to sit and be with his youngest brothers. He could explain things to them at the same time. He'd need to do it eventually. Why not now?
"Of course."
Ambarto grabbed the sugar bowl. Carnistir followed.
"Ammë found a reborn Avar and wants to sculpt her," Ambarto informed him. "But it wasn't working out and so Ambarussa and I are trying to fix it."
"I see." So apparently "tea" was going to be a brainstorming session wherein the twins would be trying to figure out how to make friends with an Avar.
"We never get Avari this close to Tirion." Ambarto shot a small, excited smile Carnistir's way. "We bet she has some interesting stories. And maybe she's seen Cuivienen! And! She says she has a twin!"
Well. That was the absolute last thing they needed: more twins. "Did she bring her twin with her?"
"No. She says he's still in Mandos."
Small mercies. "Did your new Avarin friend give you her name, or is this another case of you claiming someone as a friend before even knowing what to call them?"
Ambarto scoffed. "Of course! We aren't elflings anymore, Carnistir."
Carnistir smirked. "Barely."
Ambarto shot him a scathing look.
They reached the sitting room. Carnistir opened the door for Ambarto to step through first.
"Lady Haleth, I hope you don't mind, but I found our elder brother, Carnistir, and invited him to join us! Carnistir, this is Haleth," Ambarto announced.
Carnistir gritted his teeth and wondered if it would be considered too rude if he turned around and left right now. He'd agreed to tea with his youngest brothers. Not with some random stranger.
But no. It was too late to turn back now. He was a prince of the Noldor. He should probably act like it.
He stepped into the room and met eyes with a strange nís perched on the edge of the couch. He froze.
Carnistir was suddenly very glad that he was not the one carrying the sugar bowl. Otherwise it would be spilling its contents across the floor right about now. That was not a mess he had the energy to deal with.
No, he'd apparently walked right into a bigger one.
He noted, distantly, that his mother was sitting next to the apparent "Lady Haleth." Concern was written across her features.
Ambarussa reclined on Nerdanel's other side.
Ambarto went to join them but Carnistir -- Carnistir found that he still could not move.
Because that unwelcome bond in the back of his mind? It pulled taut at the mere sight of Lady Haleth.
As she returned his gaze, he saw more than heard her whisper something. A name, perhaps? But not his own.
"You," he said through a throat suddenly, inexplicably dry.
Her brows lifted, her face opened, hopeful. "You recognize me?"
She glanced at his mother, a question in her features.
Nerdanel shook her head.
Lady Haleth's expression immediately shuttered. When she looked back to him, it was with a much cooler, more scrutinizing attitude.
Carnistir felt embarrassment thrum in his veins, though at what, he couldn't quite name. He knew it was showing on his face, though. It always showed on his face, in that terrible, splotchy he'd been cursed with.
"What's going on?" Carnistir demanded. (It would be best to just get this over with, as soon as possible, so he could leave, leave, leave...) "Who are you and why are you here?!"
"Moryo!" Ambarussa cried in dismay. "You're not helping!"
"Carnistir." Nerdanel voiced warningly. "Sit down."
Carnistir did as he was told, though stiffly.
Nerdanel sighed and poured him a cup. "Now. Carnistir, this is Lady Haleth. She was of the Moriquendi, but was recently released from Mandos. Haleth, this is my fourth son, Morifinwë Carnistir."
Carnistir's eyes did not leave Haleth.
"Your mother invited me." Haleth spat out. "She practically dragged me here against my will."
Nerdanel shifted in the corner of Carnistir's eye.
"I see." Carnistir's eyes flickered to his brothers. Both were shooting him dirty looks. He turned his gaze back to Haleth. She was watching him with narrowed eyes. "You're quite talented with osanwë, then?"
Haleth snorted -- an extremely uncouth sound. "No."
Oh, so that was how she wanted to play it, huh?
"And what of the bond?" He pushed.
"What bond?" Haleth lifted her hands, cupping a drink.
"I didn't marry you!" Carnistir exploded.
He realized it might have been a mistake to shout that a split second later when he heard a gasp. Both Ambarussa and Ambarto were leaning forward now, eyes wide.
Haleth set down her tea. Very calm. Very controlled. "No. You didn't."
She stood abruptly and looked to Nerdanel. "I'm ready to go back to your studio now."
Nerdanel sighed and ser down her own cup. "Very well. Boys, do try to behave."
Carnistir stood with his mother, intent on following, only for the twins to latch on to each of his arms.
As soon as Haleth and Nerdanel had left the room, they began their questions.
"You already know Haleth?"
"How did you meet?"
"When did you meet?"
"You married her?!"
"And didn't tell us?!"
Carnistir sighed and sunk back into his seat. He dearly hoped his brothers would not notice the faint trembling in his hands.
Nerdanel's three law-daughters sat before her in her studio.
Bodilë figited. Mellótë sat calm. Haleth scowled.
Nerdanel didn't need to read her thoughts to know that they were centered on the husband who hadn't recognized her in the sitting room.
"Why us?" Haleth asked suddenly. "Why us? And not them? To undo their own mistakes?"
Nerdanel took a deep breath. How to explain?
"Who else?" Mellótë asked quietly. "We were the only ones left, sundered forever from those we love."
"This House, this line..." Nerdanel began, "It's been cursed since its inception. Did... did Carnistir ever tell you of Míriel Therindë?"
"The only one of you elves to die in childbirth." Haleth replied. "His grandmother."
Nerdanel smiled bitterly. "Something like that, yes. After her, death has shadowed her line. All her natural heirs. Indeed, at one point, the Wrath of the Valar was proclaimed upon our House."
"Justly," Bodilë put in with a sigh.
Nerdanel inclined her head. "Justly, yes, though done in a fit of grief and anger."
"Males of every species tend to be stupid like that," Haleth acknowledged. "I don't suppose there are any daughters of Míriel's line?"
"Míriel Therindë had no daughters. Of her line, there has been born only sons." Nerdanel lifted a brow at Haleth. "First, my husband, after which she died, as you know. To Fëanáro, I bore seven sons, and of them there is but one grandson. The only daughters of her line are those who chose to marry into it."
Haleth narrowed her eyes. "So you're saying the responsibility of being not-stupid falls to us and therefore we must undo their mistakes?"
Nerdanel exhaled, leaning her weight against one of her work tables. "That is a very rough way of putting it."
"Our plan was to, if at all possible, prevent the swearing of the Oath, as well as the kinslayings." Mellótë spoke up. "Secondary to that is the preservation of the Trees."
Haleth opened her mouth to object.
Nerdanel cut her off before she could. "Try not to worry too much on that point. Saving them from Moringotto and Ungoliant is likely far beyond our abilities. We just need to decide on whether or not to prevent the creation of the silmarilli. The sun and moon will likely care for themselves, as they did before."
Haleth looked at her, then rolled her eyes. "You know, I think I preferred my human in-laws to you guys. They came with far less drama."
She regarded each of the elves in the studio in turn. Nerdanel, who met her gaze straight on. Mellótë, who looked away. Bodilë, who fidgeted with a statuette she'd found on a high shelf while Haleth and Nerdanel had been gone.
Haleth continued, "The three of you made your plans without taking me or my family or my people into account. But know this. I have loved and still love the man I married. And I have loved and still love my people, the Haladin. So if something can be done to thwart the Dark Lord, I would see it done, and that is that. I don't pretend to understand all of what is going on here. But I have many times cursed the Oath for the pain it wrought upon my husband. I have thought many a time that if I could take it away, I would. So. If you agree to leave the Trees to their fate that my people may live, I will agree to help you."
Nerdanel sighed. "I suppose that is the best we will get out of you?"
Haleth gave a sharp smile. "It is. Now. Why don't we get to our plan of attack?"
Bodilë arrived home to the smell of cooking fish.
She smiled to herself and closed the door behind her. Curufinwë didn't like fish, but she did. He must have been making some special for her and Tyelpë.
As if summoned by her fleeting thought of him, Telperimpar came barreling out of the kitchen at the end of the hall, squealing a happy, "Emmë!"
Bodilë caught him up in her arms and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Hello, darling. How has your day been?"
"Good! Grandmother and Grandfather are here!"
Bodilë's smile froze. "Oh?"
Telperimpar began to squirm out of her arms. "Yes! Grandfather is making dinner! He says he caught the fish himself and that next time we're by the sea I can go with him!"
Bodilë followed her son slowly as he dashed back to the kitchen.
Upon stepping inside, she was immediately greeted by her parents.
"Oh, hello, darling!" Her mother, Henmírë, grinned widely at her. The silver beads in her black hair caught the light in a way that was both foriegn and achingly familiar.
Her father, Nídaud, tossed a look over his shoulder. His silver earings jingled. "Welcome home! How was the smithy?"
Bodilë faintly heard herself say, "It was fine."
Nothing was fine. The floor felt like it was going to cave beneath her. She wanted to run to her parents. She wanted to run from them.
Henmírë stopped in her chopping of garlic. "Darling, is everything alright?"
Bodilë forced a smile. "Of course. Of course, I just need to... let me go wash up."
Bodilë left the room as swiftly as she could. She did not stop until she reached the washroom and locked the door behind her. She then sunk to the ground, tucking her trembling hands into her armpits.
This... She had not anticipated this.
Her parents.
Alive and unscarred.
Smiling at her.
Welcoming her.
She focused on taking deep breaths. She had to control her breathing. It was coming too fast.
Her father was Falmarin. Her mother, a Noldo who'd traveled to Alqualondë to learn from the silversmiths there. There her parents had met, fallen in love, gotten married, raised Bodilë and her brothers, and, ultimately, it was where they'd died.
Bodilë had died there too.
Just... not on the same side.
They'd both long since been reborn by the time of Bodilë's release from Mandos. They'd refused to see her afterward. Her older brother came to visit her only once, not long after she first returned to Tirion. She'd been publicly disavowed by her parents during her absence. And now that she'd been released, they'd wished to quietly disown her. (Nerdanel had stepped in after that point. Gave her a place to stay and work to do.)
But now, here they were, in her kitchen, with her son, smiling and calling her "darling" just like they used to.
She'd never even considered this might happen. Back when she and Nerdanel and Mellótë were making their plan, this possibility had never even entered into it.
(From Bodilë's perspective, she hadn't seen her parents for millennia. How long had it been for them? Weeks? Months?)
Bodilë found that she could not, in good conscience, step out there and smile and pretend that she'd never stained her hands with the blood of her own people -- her father's people, her mother's chosen people.
There was a gentle knock on the door.
"Bodilë?" That was Curufinwë's voice, thank all that was good and yet unmarred, "Are you alright? Your mother told me you came home looking pale."
Bodilë forced herself to her feet -- only to have her knees buckle under her almost immediately.
She grit her teeth and stood again. This time she did not fall.
She opened the door.
And there was her husband. Her dear, darling, ruthlessly cruel husband.
His ears were twitched down, his brow tense. (And he looked nothing the the murder, kidnapper, betrayer, and thief she knew he had the potential to be. This version of her husband had sworn no Oath. He'd never stepped outside the Blessed Realm. He'd never known life without the Trees.)
"Even Tyelpë is concerned. Are you alright?"He asked.
"I'm fine."
"You don't seem fine. Talk to me."he reached out a hand to brush against her cheek.
Bodilë leaned into his touch, hesitating. "It's nothing, really."
Curufinwë's frown deepened. His hand remained in place "You've not been yourself, lately. Are you sure everything is fine? Because if it isn't, if it was me or if it's work or something else -- I want to help."
"It's none of those things, my husband, I promise." She turned her head to press her lips to his palm. "There are simply some things I need to sort out."
She stepped out of the washroom doorway and into the hall, back toward the kitchen. She could still hear her parents' voices and Tyelpë's occasional input coming from there.
She wasn't ready for this.
But then, she never would be.
She took a breath, held it, and let it go.
She went to face her parents once more.
Turkafinwë Tyelkormo took a deep breath through his nose.It was good to be home.
He'd been gone for about a year, following in Oromë's train. He'd have stayed for longer, but, well, Cousin Turukano was getting married, and Irissë had asked him to attend.
He shouldered his pack, full of geological samples for his father, cool rocks for his mother, a new map for Nelyo, a new set of pipes for Kano, and hunting knives for the twins. He hadn't found anything for Caranthir or Curufinwë, but they would understand.
Huan bounded at his side.
Up ahead, the front door of his parents' house flung open and Ambarussa and Ambarto came surging out. Huan barked and bounded forward. Tyelkormo himself ran to meet them.
Ambarto tackled him. Tyelkormo soon got him in a headlock, only for Ambarussa to jump on his back.
Tyelkormo laughed and spun around to fling him off.
Huan jumped around them, barking joyously and nipping at their tunics.
This wrestling greeting ceremony only finished when all three of them fell, laughing, into the grass along the path. Huan seized this opportunity to lick the twins' faces.
(Ai, Valar, they had gotten tall since Tyelkormo saw them last.)
"You'll never believe what's happened since you've been gone!" Ambarussa grinned. He pushed Huan away from his face. Huan, undeterred, tried for another round of face-licking. "Ammë met a reborn Avar, and Carnistir married her --"
"Without any kind of ceremony!" Ambarto chimed in.He was evidently happy to leave his twin to struggle with Huan alone.
"Without my kind of ceremony!" Ambarussa echoed. Huan, succeeding in licking Ambarussa despite the overgrown elfling's best efforts, went to repeat the greeting with Ambarto. "You know how we found out? An argument over tea!"
"Which is no way to find out!" Ambarto interjected, holding Huan off with both hands.
"And anyway, they're already fighting, Carnistir and our new law-sister. Also Ammë has been sad recently, and Mellótë stopped bickering with her over stuff, and Atar is stressed and has been visiting Granfather Finwë a lot."
Tyelkormo held up a hand. "Whoa, whoa, slow down! Let's go back. Carnistir is married?"
And there hadn't even been any kind of announcement or ceremony. That sounded unusual, even for Carnistir. Tyelkormo knew his brother. Carnistir liked to think things out well in advance. He wasn't all that impulsive a nér. And even if Carnistir despised the pomp and circumstance of the court, he wouldn't have forgone a ceremony altogether. He would have wanted, at the very least, a small one.
He was a romantic like that.
"Yup!" Ambarussa chirped.
"Her name's Haleth. She's a twin like us!" Ambarto added.Huan was practically stretching out of his skin in an effort to get at Ambarto's face.
"Her twin is still dead, though." Ambarussa's face took on a troubled cast.
"And so why is Ammë sad? Where does that come into anything?" The question Tyelkormo did not ask was, 'Do I need to punch anyone?' But surely it was implied. The twins knew that he'd happily hit whoever would have the gall to upset his mother, even (especially) Carnistir.
Ambarto blinked. His momentary distraction gave Huan an opportunity to lunge forward and slobber all over his face. Mission accomplished, Huan went back to Ambarussa to begin the process all over again.
Ambarto winced and wiped his face with his sleeve. "For all we know, she could be sad about any thing from Carnistir's apparent elopement to Mellótë not arguing with her anymore."
Tyelkormo leveled a flat look at his brothers. "I seriously doubt it's Mellótë."
"Well, it's not like 'sad' would be the reaction we'd expect from her upon news of Carnistir's marriage! 'Mad' is far more likely!" Ambarto protested.
Ambarussa got to his feet, warding off Huan with a hand. "But come inside, Turko, you can give us whatever souvenirs you've brought back for us, and we can catch you up on all the family drama. And we can give Huan something to occupy him that isn't us."
Tyelkormo got to his feet and allowed the twins to lead him forward.
"Atar!"
The door to Fëanáro's workshop slammed open.
Fëanáro looked up from the notes spread out across his new work table. He saw Curufinwë stepping through.
"Son?"
Curufinwë folded his arms. It was a posture that Fëanáro had observed little Tyelpë picking up recently, whenever he was 'very disappointed' in someone.
"Tyelkormo says that Carnistir is married. When were the rest of us going to be informed about this?"Curufinwë began.
Fëanáro blinked, pulling his mind out of projects filled with light, and then sighed. He set aside his pen. The work would have to wait.
"I'm afraid it was your brother's private business. Telling you or not telling you was his decision. I'm surprised he told Tyelkormo."
Curufinwë pursed his lips. "He didn't. The twins told Tyelkormo."
"I see."
He couldn't picture Carnistir telling the twins. More than likely, what had happened was that the twins had intruded on their brother, saw the marriage bond in his fëa, and decided to go off and tell everyone (or at least Tyelkormo, which was equivalent) about it.
Curufinwë threw his hands in the air and began to pace. "He hasn't met her yet. He says the twins say that she's of the Avari and was recently released from Mandos. Who gets released from Mandos and immediately thinks, 'Oh, yeah, I feel like marrying the first Prince I come across without any kind of courtship or engagement!' Ridiculous!"
Fëanáro raised a brow.
An Avar. Really. He supposed the twins had come up with worse stories in the past.
"And they say her name is Haleth, and that that she's a twin, and apparently Ammë found her in the woods!"
Fëanáro frowned. 'Haleth.' What did that even mean? Points to the twins for coming up with a completely bogus name.
Curufinwë continued. "And apparently, Ammë has been keeping her locked in her studio. But then the twins found her trying to escape through the woods and invited her to tea. And then they invited Carnistir, and then the two of them had a spat right then and there! Did you know about this?"
"No. Do you believe any of it?"
Curufinwë hesitated. "Should I not?"
"This is the first I've heard most of it."
"Most of it," Curufinwë repeated. "What parts have you heard, then?"
"Just of Carnistir's marriage bond." Fëanáro said. "All else is foreign to me."
"And is it true? That he's married?"
"That's his own business, my son."
Curufinwë huffed. "Yes, well, I'd ask him except he doesn't talk to me about anything." He walked himself over to a bench at the side of the room and sat down. "Maybe this wouldn't bother me so much if Bodilë wasn't acting so strange. You know, just over two weeks ago, she came home, saw our son, and immediately started crying? And Tyelpë is a sympathetic crier, so he started crying too. Neither stopped until the Mingling. Ever since then, something has been amiss. I've asked, but she refuses to tell me. She only says vague things, like how happy she is to have us in her life, and that she loves us, and that she'd forgotten how annoying I am. How can anyone forget how annoying I am? I'm very memorable! And for my own wife to say so!"
Fëanáro blocked out Curufinwë's rant after his mention of Bodilë's behavior changing a couple weeks ago. A couple weeks ago had been Carnistir's collapse at the library. He recalled Bodilë and Mellótë being there. Perhaps the event had shaken his poor law-daughter? Nerdanel had not been the same since, either. But then, Fëanáro supposed that he too had been pretty stressed lately, what with these events.
"Worst of all, she's been keeping our marriage bond half-closed off." Curufinwë threw his face into his hands. "I asked her what was wrong. She told me nothing. If there was an offence I have committed, I cannot recall it, but I've tried to express my apologies through jewelry and her favorite meals and even flowers. Nothing seems to work."
"Perhaps time is what is needed,"Fëanáro offered.
"She's never needed time before!"
"My son, everyone needs time at some point or another."
Curufinwë hissed something under his breath. Fëanáro waited for him to compose himself.
At length, Curufinwë sat up again. He looked his father in the eyes. "Her parents came to visit Tyelpë two days ago. You know, as they do. They can always overcome their disgust for me with their adoration of their grandson. But Bodilë, when she arrived home -- she got so pale, and she flinched away from them, and she couldn't hide from the rest of us the shame and fear practically bleeding off of her, soaking through all her bonds. It just -- she loves her parents. She loves them very much. She isn't scared of them. At least, Not until now. I... I cannot help but worry."
It must be serious indeed to have one of his sons better in oration stumbling through his words like this.
Fëanáro came and sat beside Curufinwë.
"Do you and Ammë ever have problems like this?"
"No marriage is perfect, my son."
"Yes, but do you ever have these kinds of problems? Like you've woken up one day and realized the nís you've married is a stranger?"
Fëanáro did not know what to say. A foreign sensation, if there ever was one.
The truth was, he didn't think he ever had. Even these weeks since Carnistir's collapse in the library, during which Nerdanel had been cold and distant, he didn't think he'd ever felt that she'd become a stranger to him. They'd been married too long and he knew her too well. All her moods and habits were as familiar to him as his own. He might not always know the cause, but he did know her.
At Fëanáro's lack of response, Curufinwë sighed. "I thought not."
Fëanáro wrapped an arm around Curufinwë, and listened as his son let the rest out.
1. sullhach: There are indeed more chapters, as i have promised! After this one, there are still more chapters to come. As of right now, I'm just synchronizing my Ao3 and FFnet accounts. So updates will be regular until that's complete.
2. Editing done by me. All mistakes are mine.
3. Bodilë's parents' names are taken from/based on the same Germanic legend that her name came from.
4. Curufin's reference to his in-laws disliking him is because, after a courtship he didn't handle as well as he should have, he tried to elope with Bodilë.
5. Thank you for reading.