Our Most Beloved Star by Uvatha the Horseman

Our Most Beloved Star

Elrond walked in the garden, watching the stars come out. The Sickle of Melkor swung high overhead, but the lesser stars weren't yet visible. Lingering traces of orange revealed where the sun had been.

A huge star hung low on the horizon, white and gleaming. For some reason, it made him think of a wild creature released from captivity. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Elros, come see this! There's a new star in the sky, brighter than any I've seen before.

Elros came out of the house.

"There, at the edge of the orange traces of sunset. Have you ever seen it before?"

"New stars don't just appear. You must be … ," Elros clapped his hand over his mouth. "By the Ainur! That wasn't there yesterday."

The dome of the sky darkened to a deep blue. As it filled with lesser stars, Elrond noticed that the new star lay midway between two stars in the Lion's tail.

The next day, just after sunset, they went out to look for the new star. They found it easily, as it was brightest one in the sky. It appeared even before the largest stars in the great constellations.

They lay on their backs and watched as deep blue gave way to black and the dome above them filled with stars. Presently, the faint stars of the Lion's tail emerged against the night sky. The new star was still between the two stars in the Lion's tail, but tonight, it was almost touching one of them.

Elrond sat bolt upright. "Elros, it moved!"

"Stars don't move. Even trolls know that. You just remembered wrong."

They watched for an hour as the new star passed over the Lion's tail star and kept going.

"It's moving in a straight line, like Father's ship when he steers a course through the ocean," said Elrond.

"I think it's an omen. It's sending us a message about a voyage." Elros sat up abruptly. "I think it's trying to tell us we're going home soon!"

Elrond had stopped believing they were ever going to go home. When Mother was forced to choose between the Jewel and her boys, she chose the Jewel.

Elrond chose his words carefully. "I'm willing to believe it's an omen, but I think it means that we've been cut loose, and that we'll have to figure out our own futures."

Elros looked at him. "Meaning?"

"I think the star is trying to tell us our ransom will never be paid."

As soon as Elrond spoke the words, he felt that they were true. He was filled with an aching sense of sadness, but at the same time, he'd never felt so light or so free.