In-Betweens by Elleth

Chapter 2

Warning: Chapter contains OCs.

A Talk among siblings, and a realization. Or is it?

“It was not the sound of the door that had me turn around. I simply did,” Istarnië explained that evening, the jewel in her clenched hand like a little, sharp-edged lamp against her skin. “It had nothing whatsoever to do with him. Of course not,” she insisted, sitting cross-legged on her bed in her supposedly righteous annoyance.

Olosto, her brother and her confidante, newly betrothed and familiar with the matters of first love, listened and smiled kindly. “Of course not. You also turn around for mother, for father, or me, or your sisters, and have always done since you were young. Well, are young.”

She laughed and made to throw her pillow – and felt her cheeks heat in mid-movement when his suggestion was fully understood.

“Olosto!” Still a girl, she clutched the pillow to her now and buried her face in it, to stifle – what? giggles or sobs, or both? - in the feathers. “You are not serious!”

“Very serious, little sister. If you can still be careful - be, lest you end up burned.”

“Do you think that I am...” Her eyes, peeking up, were huge with half-guessed wonder and half-obvious truth.

“Yes.”

The jewel's edges dug painfully into her hand. In her surprise she dropped it; the stone bounced off the mattress to the floor where her little sister sat and played. Always-eager little fingers groped for the speck of light, lesser now in the half-dark of the room, but Istarnië snatched it first, and held it almost jealously.

“What's that, Istyë? What d'you have there?” Rainië clambered up onto the bed and into her sister's lap, to get a closer look. Istarnië pulled her hand away.

“A gift,” she said, and closed her fingers around it again, even though one tip did prick her skin.

“From him?” Olosto regarded her sternly, her father's very frown upon his face. “Show me the stone, Istarnië, please?” With a sigh she handed it over, drop of blood and all, and saw Olosto frown again. “His gifts are two-edged, Istyë, even meant in goodwill. He has had a strange fate already. Be careful of him and his affections.”

But she was still young and childish and sometimes stubborn, and merely scoffed at him, once more clinging to the pillow.

“He? Like me? Never!”

But secretly... she thought of his bright eyes – and wondered.

Chapter End Notes

While writing this at first I found it hard to believe how childish Nerdanel acted... Fëanor, as stated in the previous chapter, is forty-three - and my Nerdanel has always been younger than her husband by a few years - which might put her at thirty-nine or forty - at that age, I think, she is still allowed to act like she did.

A note on the names:

Olosto: An epessë, essentially meaning (or supposed to mean) "dreamer" - he says it refers to his habit to daydream when he was a child.

Rainië: Short for her father-name Rainissë, "peace-woman". The elder of Nerdanel's younger sisters.

Istyë: Both based on Quenya "istya", meaning "knowledge", and used as an abbreviation of "Istarnië".

Many thanks to the Ardalambion Quenya wordlist.