Future Set In Stone by Tyelca

Future Set In Stone

Galadriel had not intended to steal it, exactly.

She was preparing to leave, to cross through Moria and settle in the woods on the eastern slopes. The migration of not only herself but a significant number of Noldor had been meticulously organized and all arrangements had been made. She had packed her belongings and they were being loaded into a cart that would lead the departing caravan. She knew that would not be the last time she visited Ost-in-Edhil, but leaving was a strange feeling. She walked through the halls that had been hers for so long, and that bordered on those belonging to Telperinquar, her nephew. Nowadays he refused to answer to his given name, instead preferring Celebrimbor, the Sindarin version of it. She understood; she too had changed her name, a long time ago. While technically a generation apart, they were almost the same age.

She moved through the heavy doors that connected their residences, which by unspoken agreement were always closed but unlocked. But this was a special occasion, she reasoned. She came to say goodbye.

She had been in Celebrimbor’s rooms before, but always in his company. Now she was alone, and despite herself, despite her best intentions, Galadriel had always been curious. There were many trinkets she didn’t recognize and most surfaces were covered in papers that were in turn covered in unreadable scribbling, barely recognizable as quenya tengwar. She moved on, studying everything that caught her eye. The room in general reminded her of the state any room inevitably found itself in when occupied by any of her cousins from Fëanor’s line. She still acknowledged them as her family, in an abstract sort of way, but she refused to view their father the same way. But that didn’t matter; they were all long dead, and she was here, snooping through their last descendant’s private rooms.

On a desk in the corner of the room, hidden away behind a stack of books, something glowed. Distracted from the scroll she held in her hands, Galadriel approached and studied the object. It was a deep black sphere that shone with an inner light. Galadriel lifted it from the desk, having to shove away many a page and tool. The sphere was heavy and cold in her hands and when she gazed into it, she could not fathom its depths. On what she assumed was the top, a small inscription read Telperinquar Curufinwion.

She recognized the object, despite never having seen one of them before. A seeing stone, one of reportedly ten made, kept hidden and protected almost as intensely as those cursed jewels had. Galadriel wondered darkly how many other secret treasures Fëanor had made. She refocused on the stone. It was not actually that large, she concluded. Based on the stories she’d been told, she’d expected the stone to be at least twice its size. She gazed in the stone’s depths again, and this time she saw Celebrimbor, concentratedly working with another person in his private forges, designing what looked like a variety of rings. The image changed and she saw herself, wearing a silver circlet in a forest of silver trees, standing in a clearing. She was not alone: a person the size of a dwarf but in looks more similar to a human stood before her, offering her a golden ring on a chain.

Galadriel did not understand the significance of the images, if they were connected or if they were even real. Nevertheless, she was shaken, and when she heard light footsteps coming her way, she hid the stone in a fold of her robe. Barely second later Celebrimbor opened the door to his study and found her inspecting one of the titles he’d left lying around on his desk.

“Artanis!” For being so adamant on being called by the right name, he was certainly forgetful when it came to hers. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to say goodbye, nephew. I am leaving this afternoon for the east.”

Celebrimbor nodded. He spread his arms and she came to him, offering and receiving a loose hug. “I wish you the best. May your realm prosper in all ways that matter,” he told her.

“And may Eregion grow and flourish under your leadership,” she said in return.

After that moment of genuine affection packed in stiff formality Celebrimbor let her go and she took a few steps back to reinstate proper distance. “You are always welcome to visit,” he said, and she answered, “I shall.”

She felt bad for taking the stone, but there was no opportunity to put it back with Celebrimbor in the room and later there had been no time as they left for the east, the stone safely tucked away amongst her possessions.

The journey through the mines went smooth and fast. It had not been pleasant, cut off from the skies and ensconced in a dark cave system, but Galadriel had lived in such conditions in the past. It was the quickest route: in a mere three days they looked out over the shimmering depths of Mirrormere. After that it wasn’t long before they all settled in the deep woods of Lóthlorien, and after that there were so many things to be done and arranged that Galadriel temporarily put the seeing stone out of her mind.

It was much later that she thought about it again. She couldn’t very well bring it back with her when she visited Ost-in-Edhil next, for that would be suspicious. Plus, she had never heard Celebrimbor complain that he’d lost it, so she figured it was alright. This left her with a choice: either keep the stone hidden forever, or use it appropriately. She chose the latter and hid the stone upside down at the bottom of a silver tray, which she filled with clear water and presented as a mirror. It worked, and over time she forgot about the inscribed name as she worked out how to control the mirror.

It was much, much later that she remembered the first images the stone had shown her and understood their meaning. By then it was already too late for Celebrimbor.

Chapter End Notes

So because Galadriel stole the palantír Celebrimbor had no way of running a background check on Annatar and so technically Galadriel is responsible for the entire mess with the Rings of Power.

The title is a pun because Galadriel changed the course of the future by taking the seeing stone for herself.