Running Around The Sun by Calithiel

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Chapter 1

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She was lying on the fresh green grass, still wet after a spring rain, dressed all in white. Beautiful as the first hour of sunrise.

 

Her hair fanning around her head like a halo, with the rich brown color of the earth, slightly wet after the light rain. Her eyes were blue, just as the sea he remembered from the first years of his childhood, with rays of sunshine trapped in them.

 

She smiled at him, sweet and inviting, with her arm lift up towards him. He lay next to her on the grass and she intertwined her fingers with his and began to laugh.

 

A rich warmth sound, filled with hope and joy. Warming him through their fingers into his heart…

 

 “Are you listening to me, Elros?” Maglor’s voice next to him pulled him out of his stupor.

 

The youth lift his eyes and gave a small glance around him to remind himself of his surroundings before answering. “I am sorry; I probably began to doze off.”

 

His guardian shook his head lightly and gave him a knowing look before returning his attention towards the spice merchant. Both, he and his brother were prone to visions of the future, much more than many full elves.

 

Elros forced himself to focus his attention on the man, instead of the little girls playing around her father’s cart.

 

Their trade was small, being them a small group, but out of what they could spare for it, Maglor, Maedhros, and Erestor made the most of.

 

“You are asking for too much, these seeds are brought all the way from the forests of the south. They are worth at least two sheep each pot” the merchant told the elf.

 

Elros looked at the pot, unimpressed. What could it possibly contain that was worth so much? Sheep were hard to rise, as well as other kinds of livestock. Surely some spice, no matter how exotic, couldn’t be so expensive.

 

“Nonsense, my friend. I know how much work it is to get these here, and I know their cost. Just one sheep, maybe a couple of chickens as well, but no more.” Maglor reasoned, and gave the man a conciliatory smile.

 

“What could it possibly be that it is worth so much, adar?” Elros asked, surprised that Maglor was willing to pay such a high price.

 

“They’re cacao seeds. They’re hard to grow, harder to prepare for transport, and even harder to trade in good conditions all the way to these lands. But they’re worth it.” Maglor answered him with a conspirator’s wink.

 

Elros frowned slightly, surprised, but asked no more and heard the elder’s discussion of the price of one pot.

 

Until he felt someone bump against him.

 

“Iki! Car! Behave, please.” The merchant chastised the girls as Elros lifted the one who had fallen next to him to her feet and the other approached them. A mass of brown locks over wide blue eyes turned to look at him and rewarded him with a bright smile.

 

“Sorry, papa.” The other little girl murmured, with a grin. She was the younger, her face still a little babylike, and her steps a little clumsy. She seemed to be at most five, with wild brown locks and shiny green eyes.

 

“Your daughters are lovely.” Maglor commented, eyeing both girls with a small smile as they returned to their race.

 

“Indeed, but they’re always running around. Children are like that, I suppose, and I guess it means they’re healthy and happy.” The merchant answered before eying Elros carefully. “But having sons of your own, I am sure you know that. You have raised two fine young men.”

 

“I tried my best.” Maglor answered, his smile had disappeared.

 

Elrond and Maedhros were revising other carts of the merchant caravan, just across the small camp they had made.

 

 “They took after you, I suppose.”

 

Elros knew the man had spoken honestly and from the heart, not knowing the full story of how had they landed with the brothers.

 

For a stranger he guessed they would indeed look like Maglor’s blood sons, since the three of them had black hair, and light colored eyes, Maglor’s being blue and theirs gray. And for someone with little to no experience dealing with elves, they would all seem the same to him.

 

“Actually, they resemble their mother.” The elf’s voice was cold and left no room for further argument of the matter. He would give no further explanations to this man, who would have no further business in their lives.

 

“It must be painful to lose one’s beloved. Me and my Sathya are life bonded, she’s is fata, you see, but even if we were not, I don’t think I could live without her.” The man spoke, obviously misunderstanding the elf’s intent, as the girls began their race once more.

 

“It is hard to lose one’s spouse.” Maglor agreed.

 

Elros and his brother knew that Maglor had been married once, but she had died many years past, and the theme was never spoken about in their household.

 

“What are their names?” Elros asked, changing the subject from one family to the other. Maglor placed his hand on the shoulder of his protégé, grateful for the help.

 

“The elder one, the one you helped, is called Carlia. And the other, her little sister, is called Iskandra.”

 

“Beautiful names, fitting for girls just as beautiful.” Maglor commented, seeing Elrond stop flat in his tracks as the girls ran in a circle around him before their mother approached.

 

“That is enough! Stop running around before you hurt your selves” she chastised softly as they ran to her and clung to her dress, laughing.

 

The woman took them away and Elros still caught a glimpse of little Carlia waving goodbye at him. He waved back discreetly and the girl grinned before going to her mother.

 

Somewhere in his heart, he had the persistent feeling that this would not be the last he saw of this little family