Unexpected Nesting by Kaylee Arafinwiel

An Unexpected Nest

The eggs and nest described are typical of herring gulls (UK) though obviously since Elwing is, well, Elwing, they'd probably be larger than typical gull eggs. I see Elwing as a seagull, though given the amount of matter being messed with when she shifts, a very large one - more swan-size which would account for the mistake made in "Queen Mother's Arrival".

"Elwing?"

The Lady of Aewellond and last Queen of Doriath glanced up as her husband walked into the room she was arranging. "Yes, Earendil?"

"What is...all this?" He tilted his head to one side, studying it. The walls still proudly displayed the collections of unique feathers the denizens of the Bird-haven had brought, each with a name of its kind underneath (and more often than not, the name of the bird that had donated it. Elwing's bird-speech was exceptional by now.) But there were additions here and there he didn't recall. Shelves full of folded cloths. A pile of smooth stones in one corner.

Elwing's writing desk had been shifted aside to make room for...well, a nest was all he could call it. Basket seemed too...orderly for what it was. The collection of twigs and grasses was an odd meeting of a wild jumble with, still, some sense of tidiness to it. Each piece had been laid with purpose, even if it didn't seem so at first look. And in the nest... Earendil took a step back as Elwing darted in front of it. "Beloved..."

She spread her arms out, crouching protectively in front of the nest.

"Elwing," Earendil said patiently, his blue eyes trained on her grey. "Whatever you are hiding, you know you need not hide from me. You are my beloved, and have been since we met as children."

The Lady of Aewellond sighed, sinking to her knees. "Earendil..."

"Yes, mell nin?" He came to kiss her, wrapping Elwing in his arms and holding her tightly. Then he peeked over her shoulder at the two large eggs, one brown and one pale grey, both mottled with black spots that lay there. "Whose are those?" he inquired lightly.

Elwing exhaled slowly, looking up at Earendil apprehensively. "Ours."

"When you say ours," Earendil said slowly. "Do you mean you adopted some orphaned eggs, melethril?"

Elwing exhaled. "No. I mean, ours," she repeated more forcefully. "I...the last time you were home we..."

Oh. "I remember," Earendil said slowly. "So then..."

"I conceived," Elwing said. "But when you were gone again, I was lonesome. I shifted, without thinking, and..."

Earendil paused. "You...these...you really mean ours." He looked at Elwing. "Are they...will they hatch?"

"Lord Eonwe says so," Elwing whispered. "He says they live."

Earendil sat down on Elwing's desk chair, mind reeling. "Ours," he murmured again. Elwing nodded.