In-Betweens by Elleth

Chapter 3

The arrival of a certain prince in the house of Mahtan. (We're deviating from the chronological order now. Sorry.)

Among the tittering and the giggling of the women of the household, she stood beside her mother silent and unimpressed. The son of the King Finwë was due to arrive to be apprenticed to her father. So? Here, his rank would count little, and his hands would be as dirty as everyone's. She said so.

"They say he is incredibly handsome!" one of the servants' girls laughed in reply. She was of an age with Istarnië and far more beautiful, and convinced that prince Fëanáro would notice her. Istarnië merely rolled her eyes and looked along the road across the plain. A single horse was approaching, the rider tall and straight in the saddle, and with eyes bright like stars should be.

It was him.

She knew him.

They had met before.

Inwardly, she smiled as she remembered that first journey she had been allowed to take alone. She had wandered far and had rested beside a lake, with Telperion waning far behind her when he appeared... whence, she did not know, but she had turned around to see him standing on the shore. There had been much talk and laughter that night, and when Laurelin was coming to full bloom they considered each other friends, even though he did not say his name.

The clatter of hooves on cobblestones had her raise her head, heart treacherously going thump thump thump and quicker than it should - and there he was and dismounted even as her father walked forward to greet him. The servant girl uttered a tiny squeak, loud enough for him to hear and raise an eyebrow and glance over.

When his bright eyes lit upon her, his gaze lingered far longer than it should.

Or did it?

After all, they were friends.