The Singer's Girl by Lady MSM

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Fanwork Notes

This is actually the first fanfiction story I ever wrote. I believe I was about thirteen at the time and quite frankly, it was terrible. No wonder its reviews were pretty bad.

Anyway, now I've decided (because I'm nuts) to completely revamp it, post it here, and hope like heck that it's better now.

All the usual notes from my other stories apply. I'm sure you know the drill.

Oh, and if you've read my other things and are wondering what the deal is with Romenella and Celegorm, some of that is dealt with in this. And if you haven't read anything I've written and have no idea what I'm talking about, boy are you in for a treat.

So, enjoy, have fun, and tell me what you think. And happy holidays, everyone.

Fanwork Information

Summary: Andril didn't mean to get involved in all this, really. Is it her fault that an exiled prince and his family are living two miles away from her village? And is it her fault she's got a weakness for talkative, musical boys? A sort of romantic dramedy. Major Characters: Amras, Amrod, Caranthir, Celegorm, Curufin, Fëanor, Finwë, Maedhros, Maglor, Nerdanel, Original Character(s), Sons of Fëanor Major Relationships: Genre: Drama, Humor, Romance Challenges: Rating: Teens Warnings: Expletive Language
Chapters: 14	Word Count: 27, 295
Posted on 22 December 2010	Updated on 20 August 2011
This fanwork is complete.

Chapter 1

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The Singer’s Girl

You’re a male prima donna, but I can’t help but want you…

—from The Office

Chapter 1

They say that love is like riding a horse that wants to kill you: It’s risky, it can be unpleasant, and there’s a good chance that you’ll break a few bones in the process.

Fine, so that isn’t actually a saying. I made it up. But this story actually begins with an evil horse, so it’s appropriate, I think.

I suppose you’d prefer a little background information to stupid jokes. My name is Andril, and I used to live in the north of Valinor near a small village called Elk Woods. I didn’t live in the town—I lived a ways outside of it, in the actual woods. Mostly I only interacted with other people when they needed my doctoring skills, or, more frequently, when someone had a good, juicy piece of gossip to share. People in Elk Woods liked to gossip, and I’m not going to deny that I liked hearing it.

Although I’d lived in Elk Woods for a long time, I hadn’t been born there. To tell the truth, I wasn’t really born anywhere. I just sort of…woke up. See, I’m one of the original Elves, the ones from Cuivienen. No parents, no siblings, just the permanent knowledge that I’m—well, old. Such fun.

I traveled around for some years after I woke up, living for a while in that one big forest in the south (I think they call it Taur-im-Duinath now). Frankly, it was a pretty dull place, and I’m glad I left when I did. The only thing I accomplished there was learning how to communicate with animals.

Don’t look so shocked. Plenty of people in history have been able to communicate with animals. Elwing did it. Maglor’s brother Celegorm kind of did it. That one other guy did it. I’m just better at it then most people.

I lived in the city for a while when I moved to Valinor, but it didn’t really appeal to me. Everyone there was in a hurry all the time, which made me nervous. So when my friend Vanafinde said she was moving to a small settlement in the north called Elk Woods, I came along. It was a nice, quiet town, with only the occasional broken arm or broken engagement to liven things up.

Of course it couldn’t stay like that. Not with all the political trouble in the city we were hearing about and that Melkor fellow being on the loose again. Honestly, it was only a matter of time before things changed, and changed in a big way.

Vanafinde was the first to tell me about it. She was usually the first one to tell me about anything, since she and I went way back—we’d come on the ship to Valinor together and held each other’s hair back when we got seasick. Not only that, but I’d delivered all three of her babies, so we knew we could trust each other. So one day in late spring, she bounded through my door with her youngest son Earya in tow and some big news. Earya had a nasty cut on his arm, but that could wait.

“Andril, Andril, have you heard about Prince Feanor?” she said breathlessly.

“I’ve heard of him,” I said. Prince Feanor and his family owned some land near Elk Woods and visited there occasionally, but he didn’t come often and of course I’d never met him. I picked up Earya and set him on my table. “Had a bit of a fall, did you, love?”

“Oh, just listen to me, Andril,” Vanafinde cried. “Prince Feanor’s been exiled from Tirion. For seven years.”

“Lords, that’s some time,” I said, pulling out some herbs from my cabinet. “What’d he do?”

“Apparently he pulled a knife on his half-brother. I haven’t heard why yet, but it must have been pretty bad. Oh, oh, but you haven’t heard the most exciting part yet! Apparently he and his father and sons are coming here. You know, to Formenos?”

“What’s his wife going to do?” I asked.

“I heard she’s so mad she won’t even speak to him. Says she’s put up with his nonsense long enough and if he wants to go and get himself exiled that’s fine, but she’s not going to come with him.”

“Now that’s a sensible woman,” I said. I rubbed a few of the herbs on Earya’s arm and wrapped a bandage around it. “There we are, all set. You watch out when you’re playing in the woods, hear me? You never know what you’re going to run into.”

“Don’t you care about this at all, Andril?” Vanafinde said with a frustrated shake of her head. “This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened to Elk Woods.”

“Of course I care, but it’s not like I’m going to get all excited. I don’t know Prince Feanor, so why should I bother myself about what he and his family get up to?”

“I suppose you’ve got a point,” Vanafinde admitted, picking her son up off my table. “Well, so long, Andril. I’ll see you again soon, I expect.”

“Of course you will, with this one always running around having his adventures,” I said. “Let me know if you hear any new developments.”

Vanafinde kissed me on both cheeks and left, and I sat down in my chair and thanked Eru I’d been born a peasant. Pulling a knife on your half-brother, for Varda’s sake! Who did things like that?

Prince Feanor and his family moved to Formenos (that was their lodge two miles to the west of Elk Woods) about a month later. Everyone in town was hoping to catch a glimpse of them, but they kept to themselves mostly. I approved of that. If I’d been kicked out of my city for pulling a knife on my brother, I wouldn’t want to go out in public much either.

I was honestly too busy to care about any of it. Spring and summer were good seasons for me, as I generally got plenty of business due to clumsy farmers hurting themselves while planting and young lads buying hangover cures (summer was a big season for parties). Naturally, I thought it was one of those when someone knocked hard on my door one warm evening.

“Come in,” I called.

The door opened with a bang, and a young man I’d never seen before strutted in (as well as he could strut, since he walked with a bit of a limp). He was quite good-looking—thin and fairly tall, with pale skin, amber eyes, and wildly curly hair that might have been red or brown or maybe black. But I’d seen plenty of handsome boys before and I certainly didn’t like that It’s-an-honor-for-you-to-meet-me look on his face.

“Can I help you?” I asked briskly.

“I certainly hope so,” he said in what was possibly the most dazzling voice I’d ever heard. “You see, I was riding my incredibly despicable horse Delroch—yes, I’m talking about you! You know what you did!” he yelled out the door. There was a faint whinny in reply, which I understood to mean I could not care less. “Anyway, I was out riding, and suddenly Delroch decides to take a sudden left turn and get me smacked in the head with a tree branch, effectively knocking me off and causing me to injure my leg on a rock. So now I can barely walk and I’ve got a headache even worse than the kind you get after playing a gig in an Alqualonde tavern. Which is saying something.”

“I…see,” I said. To tell you the truth, I’d really been listening more to his voice than what he was saying, but I’d gotten the gist. “Would you sit down on the table, please? I don’t think your leg is broken, but I’d like to make sure.”

“Whatever you say, darling,” he said, sitting down gracefully. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Thank you, and don’t call me darling. My name is Andril. Hold still.” I rolled up the leg of his trousers and inspected the injury. “No, it’s not broken. It looks like you’ve sprained it.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said with a dazzling smile. “My name is Maglor, by the way.”

“Well, Maglor, I’m sorry to say that you’re not going to be doing much walking for a while. You’re going to need to rest this for the next week or so, at least. And I would advise apologizing to your horse for whatever you did to offend him, seeing as you’ll be depending on him to get you home.”

“Apologize to Delroch?” said Maglor. “Good Lords, I don’t have the slightest idea what I did to offend him. And besides, I doubt he’d understand a word I’m saying.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Horses are pretty sharp, you know. Would you like me to ask him what you did?”

“You can do that?” asked Maglor, surprised. “So are you one of those people who can talk to animals?”

“In a way, I suppose. At least, we can sort of understand one another. A lot of it’s body language, really. Excuse me a moment.” I left Maglor looking over his injured leg and stepped outside to meet this despicable horse.

Delroch was a beautiful chestnut with a look in his eyes that reminded me a lot of his owner. He didn’t look the least bit sorry to have grievously injured said owner, however; on the contrary, he looked quite proud of himself.

Hello, I said. You’re quite the handsome horse, aren’t you? It’s Delroch, yes?

Delroch snorted. That’s what arrogant two-legs calls me. Two-legs couldn’t pronounce my real name.

I’m Andril, I said. Can I ask you something? Maglor feels bad he offended you but he doesn’t know what he did. What was it?

Wasn’t just one thing, Delroch replied. Treats me like a plow horse. I’ve got breeding. My father…

Thank you, I interrupted. I’ll go tell Maglor.

“He says you act like you’re better than him,” I explained once I was back inside the house. “He says you treat him like a common plow horse when he’s actually got breeding, and something about his father.”

Maglor sighed. “His father was some famous racehorse. Delroch’s right, he is a pretty well-bred animal, though I don’t know why I got him when he would have been much happier with my brother Celegorm. I guess it’s too late to do anything about that now.”

“You’re right, it is too late, and so you should apologize. Come on, put your arm around my shoulders. I’ll help you walk outside.”

“Wait!” Maglor protested, putting his arm around my shoulder (he sure didn’t have trouble with that suggestion). “What about my leg?”

“Your leg’s not going anywhere. We’ll deal with it once this is done.”

He sighed, and gingerly stepped down from the table onto his uninjured foot. “Fine, but if I’m forever crippled because of this…”

“You won’t be, trust me. You think this is the first horse-related injury I’ve treated? And remember, your apology has to sound sincere. Horses can detect phony apologies and if he thinks you don’t mean what you’re saying, he’ll probably throw you even harder next time.”

“Oh, I can do sincere,” Maglor assured me. We’d managed to walk/hop out the door by the point, and he carefully put down his right foot and took his arm off my shoulders.

“Delroch,” he said, taking a few careful steps towards his horse. “Listen…”

Now, I’ve never been quite sure if he actually meant what he said next (it’s always a little hard to tell with Maglor). But I swear, his apology in that molten-gold voice of his was possibly the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard. And Delroch looked pretty mollified, too.

Did you get all that? I asked him once Maglor had finished.

Most, replied Delroch. Tell him it’s fine.

“He says he understood what you said and it’s fine,” I told Maglor. “But you had better remember this incident next time you’re out riding.”

“I will, I will,” said Maglor nonchalantly. “Are you going to do anything about my leg now, or are we just going to keep apologizing to animals? I think I might have knocked a squirrel out of his nest when my head hit that branch—should we try to find him?”

I had a hard time not laughing at that one, I’ll admit. “No, a squirrel wouldn’t know an eloquent apology if it hit him in the face. Let’s go back inside and I’ll whip up a poultice for you to put on your leg.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear!” said Maglor, slinging his arm around my shoulders (in more of a friendly way than an I-can’t-walk way). “And take your time, I like to keep away from Formenos for as long as possible. The less time I spend around my father, the better.”

“Ah! So that’s why I’ve never met you before,” I said. “You’re one of the infamous exiled royals.”

He cringed. “Yes, but I’d like to point out that I personally wasn’t exiled for anything. I just came along because all my brothers did and frankly, my life is incredibly boring when they’re not around.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s not your fault what your parents do.”

“Damn right it’s not!” Maglor said angrily. He shook his head and smiled. “Sorry, it’s just that I run into a lot of people who think the exact opposite.”

“Ah, don’t let them get to you,” I advised. “There are a lot of idiots in the world, and the best thing to do is just ignore them.”

“Now that,” said Maglor, “is the best advice I’ve heard in a long time.”

Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

“So, I met one of them,” I told Vanafinde when she was over three days later. Trust her to be barely paying attention.

“One of who?” she asked absently, stirring her tea.

“One of Feanor’s sons.”

That got her. She sat bolt upright, almost spilling her tea all over my table. “You did? Which one? What did he look like? When did you meet him? What did he say?”

“Yes, I did. He said his name was Maglor. He wasn’t bad-looking…pale, curly hair, smiled a lot. Nice voice, too. I met him three days ago when he had an accident while riding—well, it wasn’t so much of an accident as a deliberate act of revenge by his horse. He said a hell of a lot, and I don’t remember all of it, but he kept calling me ‘darling’ until I told him to stop, and we talked about how people shouldn’t blame other people for what their relatives do.”

Vanafinde squealed. “You met Maglor? Oh, don’t tell me you haven’t heard of Maglor, Andril. He’s the most famous singer in all of Arda!”

“Is he now?” I said. “That would explain a lot.”

“Oh, Andril. Sometimes I think I could cut off your foot and you’d just sit there and say, “Interesting,’” Vanafinde sniffed.

“That’s an odd analogy.”

“Shut up! So, did you like him?”

I shrugged. “He was all right. Seemed to think quite a lot of himself, but that’s to be expected, him being a prince and all. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m probably not going to see him around very much.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know about that,” said Vanafinde, taking a sip of her tea. “I’ve heard he and his father don’t get along very well, and visiting a pretty girl like you might be a nice escape for him.”

“First of all, I’m not that pretty. Second of all, he’s a child compared to me. And third, I’m a healer who lives in the woods, which is a pretty inconvenient location to visit. He’s only going to stop by here again if his horse doesn’t accept his apology.”

“Wait. If his what doesn’t accept his what?”

“Never mind. My point is, you’re getting too excited about this. As always, I might add.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Vanafinde, getting up to go. “You’ve got some things going for you, and men like a girl with a healing touch.”

“Of course,” I said sarcastically. “And that’s why all the lads in Elk Woods are lined up outside my door waiting to ask me out to dance. Get out, I have to clean.”

“Fine, I will,” said Vanafinde. “But I’d just like to point out that you never listen to me, Andril.”

“Say something smart and maybe I will!” I retorted. “Oh, you know I’m just joking, dear. See you next week?”

“Of course.” A quick kiss on both cheeks and then I was alone again. I glanced around at my house, spotting a dried blob of some greenish paste on the table. That’d have to be taken care of. I grabbed my bucket and headed to the pool out back of my house to get some water.

I wonder if I am pretty, I thought, glancing at my reflection in the pool. To be honest, I hadn’t given it much thought before. After all, I was healthy and I wasn’t ugly, and that had been good enough. But I kind of wanted to see for myself if Vanafinde was right or not.

So, I looked at my reflection and I inspected myself.

My hair—that was all right, wavy and coppery-blond. I usually kept it in two braids because it was fine and it got tangled when it was loose. My eyes were greenish-blue, with pale eyelashes, so no real problems there. I didn’t much care for my nose—it was sharp and pointy, like a beak, but it wasn’t overwhelming. My mouth was small, but my lips weren’t too thin at least. I was short, and my figure wasn’t much to speak of—small chest, small waist, wide hips—but all in all, it could have been worse.

I shook my head and went back to filling up my bucket. Any more of this silly obsessing over my looks and I’d turn into Vanafinde. And Eru knew, Elk Woods only needed one of her.

“So you fell off your roof?” I asked the boy.

He nodded ashamedly. “I was trying to impress a girl.”

“Well, if she was impressed by that, I don’t think that’s the kind of girl you want to marry. A sensible girl would have been more impressed if you’d stayed on the ground.”

The boy looked glum for a moment, then brightened. “Well, at least it was just a broken nose! Besides, everyone will think I’m tough now.”

I sighed. Trying to drum some sense into these boys was like trying to convince a deer to stand still, and honestly, I was pretty sick of acting like everyone’s mother. What were their real mothers doing that I had to stand in for them?

Summer and autumn had passed uneventfully, and it was getting to be the middle of winter. There was snow a foot deep on the ground and I had to shovel the pathway to my house every other morning. Elk Woods wasn’t much of a town for moderate weather—every summer it got so hot you’d feel like you were going to drown in your own sweat, and then in the winter your toes would freeze if you spent more than an hour outside. I’d had to treat plenty of cases of frostbite already, though thankfully no one had lost a toe yet (that’d happened to one poor girl a few years back and she still limped a bit).

“Well,” I said, “it looks like that’ll set properly. If the swelling comes back put some snow on it. And stay off roofs!”

He nodded again, handed me my payment (I only charged one silver coin with small injuries like this) and went on his way.

Almost as soon as he had left, my door swung open again with a bang, causing a pile of snow to fall onto my rug.

“Lords, I’m sorry,” said Maglor, shaking some more snow off of his hair. “Do you need any help cleaning that up?”

I sighed (I was doing that a lot today). “Don’t worry about it. So what brings you here again? Don’t tell me your leg hasn’t healed properly.”

“Actually, it’s healed perfectly. See?” He hopped up and down on his right foot to demonstrate its healed-ness. I snorted a laugh—he looked just like a schoolboy, hopping on one foot. “And in fact, I wanted to pay you back a bit for doing such an excellent job.”

“Er…Maglor, you already did pay me.” He’d more than paid me, in fact. When I’d finished up with his leg he threw a bag of coins on the table, said, “Will this about cover it?” and dashed off before I’d had time to say a word. There was enough money in there to buy me a new cloak and a pair of boots, although I hadn’t actually gotten around to spending it yet.

He snorted. “That? Please. That barely counted. No, this is much better. You see, I convinced Dad to have a celebration up at Formenos for Yule, and we’re inviting some people from the village, and I’d like you to come as our honored guest.”

“Sorry, but I can’t,” I declined. “What if someone gets hurt that night? They won’t have a healer around and it could get nasty.”

“So, they could come to Formenos. It’s no farther away from Elk Woods than your house is.”

I frowned. It sounded like he’d thought this through quite a bit. “Why are you so insistent on inviting me? Do you even remember my name?”

“Yes, your name’s Andril, and I want to invite you because you fixed my leg and smoothed out my relationship with my horse and you seem like a good egg, and quite frankly I could use some good friends in this town.”

“Did you just call me a good egg?” I asked, trying to repress a smile.

“Yes, I guess I did. It’s something my mom says,” Maglor explained. “So, are you in?”

What could I do? I gave in. “I suppose so,” I said. “But you have to invite my friend Vanafinde and her husband, too. And if anyone needs healing while this is going on, it’s coming out of your pocket, understand?” If he was going to throw around money like it grew on trees, I intended to get some good for the people of Elk Woods out of it.

“Deal!” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t wait. It’s in two weeks…try to get there around dusk, all right? Do you need directions?”

“No, I’ll be able to get there fine. I have a good sense of direction.”

“Excellent. I’ve told my grandpa and dad and brothers all about you, and they can’t wait to meet you. See you then!” He practically bounded out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

“It’s a miracle he hasn’t broken all his bones, running around like that,” I muttered, beginning to clean up the snow. “And I don’t know why he’s so set on having me come and meet his father and brothers…”

It hit me like a ton of rocks. If I went to this thing, I would have to meet Maglor’s family. I could probably handle the granddad and the brothers, but the father? I didn’t know what I’d say to someone who’d been kicked out of Tirion for threatening his brother. If his second son was any indication, Prince Feanor would probably be charming, pushy, careless, and kind of annoying, but I knew that people were rarely just like their parents. And who knew? Maybe if I said something that offended him, he’d pull a knife on me.

I shrugged and went back to cleaning. As nervous as I might have been, I’d already accepted the invitation, and in Elk Woods if you accepted an invitation you were pretty much bound to show up. Snubbing someone’s gathering was just about the rudest thing you could do.

Besides, wouldn’t Vanafinde be excited when I told her the news?

Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

Vanafinde was excited. Very excited, in fact. Actually, she squealed like a stuck pig when I came to her house to tell her, and danced her husband all around their kitchen.

Her husband seemed pretty pleased, too. Mardan was a quiet, sturdy boy, and not much given to excitement—how he wound up married to Vanafinde I’ll never know—but even he was grinning. “Folk like us, going to a royal banquet,” he kept saying. “Doesn’t that just beat all?”

“Can I come?” asked Rille, Vanafinde’s oldest girl. She hadn’t quite come of age and already all the boys in Elk Woods were chasing after her. And she knew it, too.

“No, Rille,” said Vanafinde sternly. “You’re too young.”

“But Mama! I want to meet royalty! You never let me do anything!” she whined. “Dad, convince her to let me go.”

Mardan shrugged. “I guess your mama’s right, Rille. Don’t worry; they’ll be here for seven years and once you’re a little older you can meet them.”

Rille sniffed. “I’m nineteen, you know. I’m not a child anymore.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” said Vanafinde.

“Yeah, look at your mother,” I pointed out. “She’s as old as I am and she’s still a child.”

Vanafinde, apparently eager to prove my point, stuck her tongue out at me. Rille had a laugh at that one, before she remembered she was supposed to be sulking. Mardan just leaned back against the wall and shook his head.

“I swear, I don’t think I’ll ever meet an odder family than yours,” I sighed.

The day of the banquet, the path up to my door was under two feet of snow and it hadn’t let up by afternoon, either. I wondered for a moment if the whole event would be called off—after all, I sure wasn’t the only one who would have a hard time getting out of their house—but I knew damn well that Maglor wasn’t the type to call off a party once he’d set it up. So I girded my loins and spent two hours shoveling my path, and then headed off to Vanafinde’s house with my best dress (it was green velvet, with gray trim, and I’d owned it for years) under my arm. She’d insisted that I come over so we could help each other get ready. I knew what it was going to be like—a lot of fussing with our hair and helping her pick out which of her six (six, and I’m not joking about that) fancy dresses to wear. Still, this was a pretty special occasion, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to look smart.

Vanafinde sniffed when she saw my dress. “You’re wearing that?”

“What’s wrong with this dress?” I asked indignantly. “I’ve been wearing it to every village event since we came here.”

“Exactly. It’s old, Andril. And you at least have to wear your hair down,” Vanafinde insisted. “The candlemaker’s wife has this smashing new way of doing her hair—and I know she’s not invited, so you won’t have to worry about seeming like you’re copying her!”

“Joy!” I said sarcastically. “Just as long as it’s not too complicated.”

“Oh, it’s not, that’s the beauty of it! But before we do that, help me pick out which dress I should wear.”

I advised her to wear her green dress (it didn’t show stains much and besides, we’d match) but it took her ten more minutes of deliberation to finally agree with me. Meanwhile, I’d already put on my dress, picked out Mardan’s outfit, and promised Rille and the other children that we’d tell them all about the event once we’d gotten back. There were things to be said for only owning one nice dress.

After we’d gotten the dresses figured out, Vanafinde insisted on sitting me down and doing my hair—half of it twisted into a knot on top, half of it down. It looked pretty sharp, I had to admit, though I knew it’d be a mess by the end of the evening. Vanafinde was wearing her hair down and curly (I knew she’d probably had to spend hours curling it, since her hair was flat as a board).

Formenos wasn’t far in the spring, but on a night like this we’d surely freeze if we tried to walk there. Luckily the blacksmith Rekano and his wife Aldea had been invited, and they had a sleigh, so we hitched a ride with them. Vanafinde and Aldea spent most of the ride squealing in excitement, while Mardan and Rekano and I talked about our various businesses and tried to keep warm.

A thin man with brown hair and an indifferent expression greeted us—if you can call it that—in the entrance hall, which could have fit three of my houses inside it.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he said coolly. “May I ask your names?”

Vanafinde took it upon herself to be the spokeswoman. “Yes sir, I’m Vanafinde and this is my husband Mardan, and these are Rekano and Aldea. And Andril.”

“I see.” He examined the list of names in his hand. “Master Mardan, Mistress Vanafinde, Master Rekano, Mistress Aldea, Mistress Andril…very good. May I take all of your cloaks? Romenella will show you to your seats in the banquet room. Mistress Andril, if you would come with me, please.”

The others gave me confused looks over their shoulders as Romenella, a tall, gangly girl with black hair, led them through the large double doors in front of us. I just shrugged and followed the butler (I assumed that was his title) down the hall to the left.

“So…” I said, just to break the silence. “Are you taking me anywhere special? Or are you just trying to confuse my friends?” I smiled while I was saying that, so he’d know I was joking. Luckily, he smiled back.

“Well, Mistress Andril, as I’m sure Prince Maglor has told you…probably several times…that you’re being considered a guest of honor at tonight’s event. And of course we can’t have the guest of honor entering through the same door as the regular guests, now can we?”

“If you say so,” I said, shrugging. “This is my first royal banquet, so I guess I’m stuck doing whatever I’m told to do.”

He laughed. “I see, then I’m in a position of great power.” We stopped at a door, which he pushed open and bowed. “Do come and find me if you are in need of anything, my lady.”

I stepped through the door and onto a stage.

Well, it wasn’t so much a stage as a platform with a table on it at the front of a large banquet hall. But the way everyone turned to look at me, including the nine men seated at the table, sure made it feel like a stage.

Maglor, unsurprisingly, leaped up from his seat and threw his arm around my shoulders. He was wearing a green shirt and didn’t look half bad. “Happy Yule, Andril! Come on, come on, sit with me. You’ve got to meet my family.”

“I suppose I ought to, if I’m going to be sitting with them,” I replied, sitting down in the chair he enthusiastically pulled out for me. The table was shaped like a square with the corners cut off, and my seat was at one of the corners, so I had a pretty good view of everyone around me, but I kept my eyes down.

“All right, all right, excellent,” said Maglor, sitting down next to me. “Everyone, this is Andril, she’s the one who…”

“Fixed your leg and reconciled you with your horse and managed to keep from decking you when you were talking her ear off, we know,” said the young man on my right. He had blonde hair and an expression I didn’t quite like.

“This arrogant bastard to your right is my brother Celegorm,” Maglor explained. “He’s three years younger than me. Try not to listen to a word he says.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “Nice to meet you, Celegorm.”

“This here on my left is Maedhros…he’s the oldest. You can listen to him, but not too closely.”

“Evening, Andril,” Maedhros greeted me. He was a real looker—tall, athletic, wavy red hair, the works. Maglor and he had that same earnest, enthusiastic look about them, even if Maedhros seemed a little more restrained.

To Maedhros’ left was another young man with straight black hair and a sullen look, who Maglor introduced as Caranthir, the fourth-oldest. He didn’t say anything—just nodded curtly and went back to staring at the ceiling. On Celegorm’s right was Curufin, the fifth-oldest, who was similarly dark-haired and arrogant-looking but who did bother to say hello. Sitting across the table from each other—one on Curufin’s right, one on Caranthir’s left—were Amrod and Amras, who in addition to being the youngest were identical twins and looked almost exactly alike, down to the red hair and charming smile. All seven brothers had the same amber eyes, pale skin, and long eyelashes, but other than that they weren’t a very similar-looking bunch. I suppose with seven sons there’s bound to be more variety than usual.

The man across the table from me, a dignified-looking gent with dark hair and blue eyes, laughed. “Looks like he’s saving the best introductions for last, Feanor.” He smiled kindly at me. “I’m Maglor’s grandfather, Finwe. And you, my dear, look a bit familiar. Have we perhaps met somewhere?”

“I wouldn’t think so, your majesty,” I said. “Unless…” I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“So this is the famous Andril,” said the last man, who I could only assume was Prince Feanor. He had intense amber eyes, black hair neatly cropped to his chin, and a completely unreadable expression. “Well, so far you fit the description.”

“Do I, milord?” I asked, and looked sharply at Maglor. “Maglor, what have you been telling them about me?”

“Well, he told us that you have blondish hair and blue eyes, which is the only part of the description you’ve fit so far…” Curufin began.

“Oh, only good things, I can assure you,” said Prince Feanor, cutting in coolly. “He’s been talking about how clever you are and how much we’ll like you for the past two weeks.” He looked me straight in the eyes, as if he was saying, You’d better be clever, girl, or don’t think this “honored guest” thing is going to last more than an hour.

“Well, I h…hope I fit that part of the description,” I stuttered. Dear Gods, I’m afraid of him.

The clock struck eight and the food was brought in. That girl Romenella seemed to be in charge of serving our table…she winked at Celegorm as she put a big tureen of soup on our table, and he grinned.

The soup looked good, with vegetables and barley and all the good things you usually get in soup in the winter, but there were some big chunks of venison in it that I kept having to eat around. I looked at Maglor, who I could tell was doing the exact same thing.

“You neither, eh?” he asked with a smile. He had some nice dimples, I noticed.

“Nah,” I said. “I find that when you can talk to the animals it takes some of the fun out of eating them.”

“Oh, Lords,” groaned Celegorm. “Don’t tell me you’re a self-righteous vegetarian too. It’s too much, it really is.”

“Don’t pay Celegorm any mind,” said one of the twins—I think it may have been Amrod. “It’s just because he’s addicted to hunting…”

“…and meat is practically all he eats, you know?” said the other twin (Amras this time—I later found out that the main way they could be told apart was that Amras phrased most things as questions). “But we don’t mind. I guess it’s just good that Maglor’s finally got someone to not eat meat with?”

“It’s so lonely not eating meat all by myself,” Maglor sighed melodramatically.

“So tell us more about your relationship with animals,” said King Finwe. “Maglor says you’re very good at communicating with them?”

“I suppose I am,” I said. “It’s just something I’ve picked up over the years. If you can decipher the body language and the sounds they make, it’s not so difficult.”

“I know what she means,” said Celegorm. “I use that a lot, especially while hunting. My dog Huan and I, we understand each other.”

“You have a dog?” I asked. “You’ll have to introduce me sometime. What kind is he?”

“The giant gray kind,” said Caranthir sharply. “And he jumps on people. And licks their faces. So if you’re into that, you’ll love him.”

“I can call him in if you like,” suggested Celegorm.

Everyone at the table shouted “No!” in unison. Apparently giant dogs weren’t popular at royal feasts.

“There are a lot of people here,” I remarked. Supper was over and everyone had moved into the ballroom for the dancing/awkward conversation portion of the evening. Maglor and I were standing in a corner watching everyone else make fools of themselves (one thing about these city folk was that they liked their liquor strong). “I take it they can’t all be family members?”

Maglor laughed. “No, I’ve got a big family, but not that big. Actually, my dad’s got a lot of friends in Tirion, and so a number of them came here with us. Say, you still haven’t told me what you think of my family.”

“Well, I like Maedhros and the twins and your granddad,” I said. “Celegorm’s funny, but he gets on my nerves. Curufin and Caranthir have barely said two words to me, which isn’t exactly a mark in their favor. And your dad terrifies me.”

“The C’s are all terrible, so don’t let them bother you,” said Maglor. “And Dad terrifies most people, though I think he actually likes you. He just…kind of considers himself superior to most people and so it’s difficult to impress him.”

I smirked. “I’ve noticed that arrogance seems to run in your family.”

“It does,” he admitted, “but not completely. Maedhros seems confident, but he’s actually so neurotic that he spends hours deciphering every comment anyone makes about him. And with me, well, I’m a famous singer, so people would be disappointed if I didn’t act all arrogant and privileged. Really, it’s just playing a character. I have fun doing it, and people think it’s funny, so it’s good all round.”

“Well, if it works…oh, Lords, will you look at that?” I indicated Vanafinde, who’d had a bit too much to drink and was now attempting to flirt with Celegorm while Mardan stood by rolling his eyes. “I swear, you’d think she’d remember she’s married, no matter how tipsy she is.”

“Is that your friend Vanafinde?” said Maglor. “She seems…lively.”

“She’s usually…well, she’s usually a little more coherent. I don’t know about more sensible.”

“You two go way back, I assume?”

“Yes, way back. I delivered all three of her children.”

“Dear Gods, she has children? What interesting childhoods they must be having.”

“Oh, they are, believe me. And what a time her poor husband has of it.”

“Wait,” said Maedhros, sidling up to his brother. “You mean that cute girl’s married? Damn. All the best girls are taken.” (I frowned at him—I knew I probably wasn’t one of the best girls, but he could have been a bit more tactful about it) “Anyway, Maglor, Grandpa’s insisting that you play something, so I hope you’ve got your fiddle somewhere nearby.”

“Don’t I always?” He winked at me. “See you in a bit, Andril.”

“Have you ever heard Maglor sing?” Maedhros asked me after his brother had disappeared into the crowd.

“No, I haven’t.”

He laughed. “Well then, you are in for a treat! I’ve never met anyone who could sing better than—or louder than—Maglor.”

I was about to reply, but was interrupted by the screech of a bow being drawn across a fiddle. Everyone around me (even Vanafinde, surprisingly) stopped what they were doing and turned to face the center of the room.

“Sorry about that, ladies and gents, but I had to get your attention,” declared Maglor. He was standing on a table in the center of the room that had had drinks on it, but those had been rapidly cleared away (presumably to avoid a huge mess). “A-hem!”

And he started to play.

I swear, in my entire life I’d never heard music that good. He made that fiddle sound like it was alive, and his voice—his voice was even more beautiful when he was singing than when he was talking. Not to mention that he was able to sing and play the fiddle and dance on the table at the same time, which would be quite a feat for even the most coordinated person. Even Maedhros, who was probably used to this, was smiling and tapping his foot. Me, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Maglor could be a little flighty and annoying, but right then, I absolutely adored him.

He only played three songs (knowing full well that we all really wanted to hear more), then bowed dramatically, leaped off the table, and came straight over to me.

“What did you think?” he asked.

“I’d say you’ve got every reason to act like an arrogant arse, at least sometimes,” I responded. “But don’t let this go to your head.”

He scratched his aforementioned head. “I think that statement was a little contradictory, darling.”

“Don’t call me darling.”

It was far past midnight by the time us four poor villagers headed home. Everyone was exhausted, but all in all we were a cheerful bunch—especially Vanafinde, who was still a bit drunk.

“Prince Maglor liiikes you,” she stated gleefully. “Are you gonna marry him, Andril?”

“Are you going to marry his brother?” I retorted. “I think poor Mardan here might have a few things to say about that.”

“Oh, relaaax, dear, I was just joooking…”

“Were you now,” said Mardan gruffly. “Believe me, my dear wife, we are going to have words when you sober up.”

“Don’t bother, she probably won’t remember any of this,” laughed Aldea, who was driving the sleigh while her husband slept. “I know Rekano won’t. Look at him; he’s out like a light. But really, Andril, the guest of honor! I think Vanafinde may have a point.”

“Tooold you,” slurred Vanafinde. “And you had a good time, didn’t you, Andril?”

I closed my eyes. The last song Maglor had played was still going through my head and I had no doubt that it would continue to do so for the next week at least. But I didn’t mind.

“I sure did,” I said.

Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

Spring came unusually early that year, which was a relief for everyone as winter had been a lot harsher than usual. I was plenty busy and didn’t have much time for worry, but there was just one thing that kept nagging at me, that I couldn’t figure out no matter how much I thought about it.

See, the thing was, I had met King Finwe before. It’d been a long time since Cuivienen, but I had a somewhat shaky memory of seeing his face when I first woke up. He’d patted me on the back and smiled when he saw how confused I was (he didn’t say anything, but that’s to be expected as we didn’t know how to talk yet). You didn’t forget a thing like that, not when it’s the first memory you have in your life.

And I’d known that when King Finwe mentioned that I looked familiar. I knew damn well where I’d met him. But I hadn’t said anything about it. That right there was my problem. I’d sort-of lied to a king, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why.

So I tried, as hard as I could, to put it out of my mind. Sure, I’d lied, but there wasn’t any harm done. And I had more important things to focus on, like the fact that my herb garden needed replanting and that half the girls in the village were having babies. All those engagements last summer were paying off, it looked like.

When the rain had finally let up for long enough for the mud to dry up, I went out to replant my herb garden. It felt good to be doing some proper work outside after having been shut up in that little house all winter. I set to work, whistling one of the songs Maglor had played at the feast—they’d been going through my head nonstop all winter, and I somehow wasn’t sick of any of them.

Trust my trowel to pick that moment to hit a rock and snap in half.

I let out a scream of frustration that probably sent all the animals in the area running for cover. Honestly, I’d had that trowel for five hundred years and it snapped in half now? How the hell was I supposed to get any work done?

After a minute or two of cursing, I finally gathered up the pieces of my trowel and went into town. I figured Rekano would probably know how to fix it—he’d been fixing everything in town for as long as I could remember.

When I showed it to him, he sighed. “Andril, how long have you owned this trowel?”

“Five hundred years, give or take a few.”

“And you’re surprised that it’s broken?” He shook his head. “Take my advice, Andril, go buy a new one. There’s no way I can fix this rusty old thing, and you hold onto your possessions for too long anyways.”

“Fine,” I sniffed. “I’ll take my business elsewhere. I was willing to pay very handsomely for this repair, you know.”

Rekano, unfortunately, remained unmoved, so I eventually gave up and headed to the town square. It was market day, and I knew I’d probably be able to get a trowel there for cheap (no way was I going to ask Rekano to make a new one for me—he’d charge an arm and a leg). I was just in the middle of a good haggle when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“Andril, isn’t it?”

I turned around and sighed. “Yes, it’s Andril, and if you don’t mind, Curufin—it’s Curufin, right?—I’m in the middle of buying something.”

“What are you buying?” he asked…no apology or anything.

“If you’re so keen to know, a trowel. My old one broke in half and Rekano wouldn’t fix it.”

“He wouldn’t fix it? Give that here,” demanded Curufin. “It had better be pretty destroyed if a smith would refuse to fix it.” When I handed him the pieces, he snorted. “Please. I’ve fixed older and brokener things than this in my sleep. Come on.” He took my arm and half-pulled me down the street.

“Where are we going?” I wanted to know.

“Formenos. I’m fixing your trowel.”

“I see. And how much is this going to set me back?”

“First one’s on the house; after that it depends. And trust me, you’ll be back. Dad and I are both brilliant at fixing things.”

It sounded like he did this kind of thing a lot. “Fine, but don’t keep me away from home too long. What if there’s an emergency?”

“Is that all you ever think about? If people are stupid enough to get injured let them figure it out.”

“If everyone thought like you, I’d be out of a job.”

We continued to argue this point the entire ride to Formenos. I had to admit, no matter how much Curufin aggravated me, I was having a good time.

When we arrived, Curufin took my arm again (these boys really didn’t understand the concept of personal space) and led me briskly through the house. He threw open the door to a sitting room and pulled me in. Maedhros and Maglor were both inside—the former reading, the latter fingering a lute.

“Look, it’s Andril!” said Curufin. “Entertain her for a bit while I’m fixing her trowel.” Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

“I assume you’re going to explain what’s going on a little better than he did?” Maedhros asked.

“Well, long story short, my trowel broke in half and Rekano wouldn’t fix it, and then I ran into Curufin at the market when I was looking for a new one and he said he could fix it. So here I am.” I looked at Maglor. “Say, you didn’t jump out of your chair and run to greet me when I came in. Am I to believe you’ve finally calmed down for once?”

“He’s playing his lute,” explained Maedhros. “That means he hasn’t been paying attention to a thing any of us have said. He probably doesn’t even know you’re here. Oy, Maglor, snap out of it! Andril’s here!”

Maglor’s head snapped up. “Andril’s what now? Oh, hello, Andril! When did you get here? For that matter, why are you here?”

“You were right,” I said to Maedhros. To Maglor I said, “I’m waiting for Curufin to fix my trowel.”

He nodded. “That’s a good idea. Curufin’s brilliant at fixing things. Maedhros, remember how Curufin always used to take apart our clock and put it back together when we were kids?”

“Ohhh, yes,” laughed Maedhros. “And how we always avoided going in his room because we didn’t want to step on some clock part and break it?”

“Did your parents really allow him to just take things apart?” I asked.

“Of course. For one thing Dad’s exactly the same way, and for another whenever he took it apart and put it back together it worked a hell of a lot better.”

“Now do you see?” said Maglor to me. “Do you see why I act the way I do? Growing up in a household of geniuses, it’s enough to drive anyone mad.”

“As if you’re not a genius yourself,” said Maedhros. “Andril, you’ve heard his music. Is he or is he not a genius?”

“I’m afraid to answer that,” I replied. “He could use it against me.”

“Don’t worry, I know I’m a genius,” said Maglor. “Although I’m not sure Dad thinks much of my particular brand of genius-ness.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

“Well, back when I was a kid and it became obvious that singing was really all I could do, he was pretty hostile about it,” Maglor explained. “Once I got older and starting singing in pubs and making some money, he thought a little better of me. Now he’s mostly gotten used to the idea, although it’s obvious that he still wishes I had a career slightly more suited to a Noldorin prince.”

“Look at how confused she looks,” said Maedhros, smirking at me. “I guess out in these parts families are a lot less complicated than ours.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said. “Maybe it’s just because your family is royal.”

Maedhros shrugged. “Could be.” Absently, he reached over, pulled one of Maglor’s curls straight, and sent it springing back. “Boing!”

“Maedhros,” said Maglor seriously, “please stop boinging my hair.”

“But it’s so much fun! Andril, you try.”

“Don’t boing my hair, Andril,” said Maglor, shaking his head.

“Boing his hair,” insisted Maedhros.

“Let’s see, who should I listen to…” I said pensively. “Ah, to hell with it.” I reached out, pulled on one of Maglor’s curls, and let go. “Boing!”

“I hope you’ve gotten that out of your system now,” said Maglor, trying to look stern and failing horribly. “Anyway, here we are talking your ears off about our family, and we don’t know anything about yours! Judging from you they’re a lot more normal than we are.”

“Well, actually, I don’t really…” I began, but was interrupted when Curufin entered with my newly fixed trowel. Relief flooded through me, for some reason.

“Ta-dah. Good as new,” he said sharply, handing it to me. “And it’ll last twice as long as your old one.”

I looked it over. It did look new, like it’d never been broken at all. I had no doubt that it’d probably last for the next millennium at least.

“Thank you very much, Curufin,” I said, standing up. “Boys, it’s been a pleasure, but I’d better go…”

“Nonsense, you’ve just gotten here!” said Maedhros. “Stay for dinner or something.”

“Yes, stay,” said Maglor eagerly. “We haven’t even gotten to the good part of the conversation yet.”

“Oh, no, I’ve been away for far too long. Some poor boy could have broken his nose and I’m not around to fix it! Curufin, could you give me a ride home?”

“Sure,” said Curufin indifferently. He turned and stalked out of the room without waiting for me, and I had to run to catch up.

We didn’t talk for most of the ride home, but right after I got off his horse he said abruptly, “Listen, Andril, Maglor may be an annoying nutcase, but he’s also my brother and I don’t want to see him get hurt. So…just don’t mess with him, all right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied honestly.

Curufin looked at me long and hard, then nodded. “All right then,” he said. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” I said, and watched, bewildered, as he rode off. Since when did Curufin go around giving people advice? And why was I so completely unable to be honest about my age and my family (or lack of one)? There was something funny going on here, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. But there was no time to worry about that, because I had to get back to my garden.

Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

Rille turned twenty that summer, so Vanafinde and Mardan had a bit of a party for her—“to celebrate the last year she’ll ever listen to us,” Mardan said. I went, not only because Vanafinde had invited me but because Rille was a sweet girl and it was fun, being around a lively kid like her.

Hallamar, Rille’s seventeen-year-old brother, had managed to pull himself out of the stable for once, even if he didn’t look too pleased about it. He was a big lad with his mother’s dark gold hair but none of her social graces, and felt a lot more comfortable with horses than people. I got along with him just fine, though, since I knew how to talk to horses and was teaching him.

Rille, being the village darling, was of course surrounded by a group of boys all eager to talk to her or dance with her. I practically had to elbow them away as I went to give Rille her present—a blank book with a green cover, since I knew she liked to write things down.

“I know it’s not much,” I said. “But you’ve got just about everything anyway, so what can a poor old lady like me possibly give you?”

“It’s beautiful, Andril, thank you,” she said, giving me a hug. “But of course I don’t have everything. No one’s got everything.”

“Well, you’ve certainly got enough boys,” I said wryly. “I have to say, I’m a little jealous.”

Rille laughed. “I would think one would be enough for you, Andril!”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You and Maglor, of course. I was talking to the blacksmith’s daughter and she said her mom said that you and he are practically a couple now.””

“I wonder where she got that idea?” I asked, shaking my head. “And here I thought she was sober at that Yule party.”

“You mean it’s not true?” said Rille, sounding disappointed. “Too bad. I mean, he’s a prince. He’d be good for you.”

“I think you’d better wait until you meet him to decide how good he is,” I said. “Now, your young men are all glaring at me for taking you away from them, so I think I’d better go. Enjoy that book.”

She promised she would, and I went back to Vanafinde’s side. “Your daughter seems convinced that Maglor and I are a couple.”

“I’m sure she’s got her reasons,” said Vanafinde ambiguously. “Go talk to Hallamar; he’s just standing there, poor boy.”

Eager to talk to someone who didn’t give a crap about my romantic life, I complied and spent the rest of the party teaching Hallamar how to apologize to a horse. He was really a nice boy—it was a shame he was so shy.

I walked into our local pub, The Cart and Horses, some days later after shopping at the market, and nearly dropped my basket in shock.

“Maglor!” I said. “Also, Amrod and Amras! What are you three doing here?”

Maglor flashed me his usual grin and raised his mug. “I’m visiting this smashing pub, my friend. And Amrod and Amras insisted that I take them.”

“He hadn’t shown us around the village at all yet, even though he’s the one that spends the most time here,” said Amrod, shaking his head. “It’s really too bad of him, don’t you think, Amras?”

“’Course,” said Amras. “I mean, we’re living here now, aren’t we? We ought to know our way around it, shouldn’t we?”

“That does make sense,” I admitted. “But I didn’t have any idea that Maglor spent a lot of time here. I certainly haven’t seen him around very much.”

“I’m in the village all the time,” said Maglor indignantly. “It’s you who’s never here.”

“Who have you been spending time with if I’m not here?” I asked, feeling a bit indignant myself. “I mean, you barely know anyone here.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, darl…Andril. In fact, I’ve been spending a bit of time with your friend Mardan—nice chap, lets me do most of the talking, which I appreciate—and a few of the regulars here have been quite friendly to me. You all love me, don’t you, Alkarinque?”

Alkarinque, the pug-nosed, freckled barmaid, giggled and spilled some of the drink she was pouring. I frowned at her. Really, like his ego wasn’t inflated enough already…

“Observe, boys,” said Maglor, gesturing to me. “This is Andril’s Please-stop-inflating-Maglor’s-ego look. You’ll want to remember that one; she uses it a lot.”

“I can see why,” said Amrod. “Doesn’t take much to get Maglor to start acting all cocky.”

“He says it’s an act?” Amras added. “But we really don’t believe him.”

“I had my doubts about that, too,” I said, sitting down at their table. “To be honest, I’m never sure if Maglor is telling the truth.”

“I wonder if they realize I’m still here,” remarked Maglor, seemingly to himself. “Ah, well.” He took a swig of his drink and hummed quietly to himself.

“Well, he’s out,” said Amrod. “Now we can have a real talk.”

And we did. Amrod and Amras (and Maglor, once he’d gotten out of his reverie) told me just about everything about their family—their half-uncles and step-grandmother, why their father hated their half-uncle Fingolfin so much and therefore pulled a knife on him (Amrod said it was a sword, not a knife, but I had no idea what the difference was), and the Silmarils, which were these fabulous jewels that Prince Feanor had made a few years back and which were his most prized possessions. Maglor rolled his eyes when we mentioned those, but the twins seemed real proud of their dad, although they did admit he’d been acting plenty paranoid ever since he’d made them.

“I don’t know if I ought to tell you this,” said Amras, “but they’re in Formenos, right now. Half our family fortune is. Dad thinks it’s the safest place in Arda, I guess?”

I nodded. “I’ll make a note of that for next time I want to rob you.”

“Better you than Melkor,” said Maglor. “It’s that bastard’s fault we’re in this mess to begin with…not, of course, that we’re not enjoying being here,” he added, and glanced around at the pubgoers who were obviously eavesdropping on us. “I think it’s best if we don’t go into that right now.”

“Well, I’d better get going,” I said, disappointed—I’d been wanting to hear about Melkor. “I’m glad we met up.”

“We’ll see you around, of course?” said Amras.

I nodded. “You still haven’t told me everything I want to hear.”

After that, I started going to town a lot more often. If Maglor and/or his brothers were hanging about, then I certainly didn’t want to miss out on any of it. After all, I’d known them for a good deal longer than anyone else in Elk Woods.

Maedhros and Maglor apparently decided to meet me halfway, as they began to drop by my house fairly often (usually when I was in the middle of working). I acted like they were annoying me, but truth be told, I appreciated it. I’d never realized how lonely living out in the woods was before.

On the fourth or fifth time they came to visit, the first words out of Maglor’s mouth were, “Andril, do you have any remedies for overcaffeination? I unwisely decided to have three cups of coffee within the last three hours and I feel like I’m going to black out.”

“I thought you were fidgeting more than usual,” I remarked. “Here, have a seat. You too, Maedhros.” They complied, and I went about making up some tea for Maglor. When I handed it to him, he drank the entire thing in one gulp and then fell fast asleep.

“Good Lords, is he all right?” said Maedhros, looking dubiously at his brother.

“He’ll be fine; he just needs to sleep it off,” I replied.

Maedhros shrugged. “You’re the healer. Maglor drinks too much coffee anyhow.”

“Is that where he gets all his energy from? I knew it couldn’t possibly be natural.”

“Actually, it mostly is. High energy runs in our family. You should’ve seen Mom when she was working on a project…” He trailed off. “I miss Mom.”

“I heard she didn’t want to come to Formenos,” I said sympathetically, trying not to sound too curious. “Did she…”

“Basically, things had been off between them for a long time—ever since Dad made the Silmarils, really. Dad started spending more time in his workshop, Mom would go visit her hometown for days at a time, and then when this whole thing started with Dad and Uncle Fingolfin they got into this huge fight and Mom refused to come with us. It’s a shame…she’s the only one whose advice he’s ever taken.”

“Maglor’s told me a bit about your mom. She sounds smashing.”

“He’s the one that takes after her the most.” He gave me a look I couldn’t quite decipher. “He likes you, you know that? I’ve never seen him this excited about a girl.”

“I like him too,” I said. “I think he’s a nut, but I like him.”

“How?” asked Maedhros.

I stared at him. “How? I…I don’t know.”

“Well, think about that.”

Bewildered, I told him I would, and the conversation changed to something funny that the twins had done recently. Eventually, Maglor woke up, seemingly cured, and they finished off most of the food I had in my house and went on their way. I smiled as I watched Maglor walk away—that skipping walk of his was really adorable, and he’d looked so sweet when he’d been asleep in my chair.

And of course it was at this moment that I figured out why I and everyone else had been acting so odd lately. Curufin, Maedhros, the twins, Rille—even me, with my constant covering up of my real age.

Apparently, because Maglor was sweet on me.

And why had I been lying about my age? Because I hadn’t wanted Maglor to think I was an old lady.

Because apparently I was sweet on him, too.

Who would’ve thought it?

Chapter 6

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Chapter 6

I suppose it was a bit of a relief that I didn’t see any of the exiled royals for a while after that. They might have been in the village some, but I didn’t really have any reason to go to the village. No, I wasn’t avoiding them. I was just busy.

Okay, I was avoiding them. Especially Maglor. I had a lot of thinking to do as far as that boy went. Maglor was handsome, and talented, and charming, but on the other hand he was flaky and rich and his family was weird. How did I like him? I had no idea. So naturally, all I could do was avoid him and hope that I would eventually figure it out.

I’m pathetic, I know. It was probably fate that he showed up without warning at my door one evening. After a brief moment of panic, I took a deep breath, smiled, and let him in.

“Hello, Maglor!” I said. “You haven’t dropped by in a while. How’s the family?”

“They’re all fine, thank you, but if you don’t mind I’d rather not have an in-depth discussion of my family right now. Look! I brought cider!” He handed me a green glass bottle with something that smelled delicious inside.

“You’re a dear,” I said, kissing him on the cheek (no, I have no idea why I did that). “Want a scone? I just baked some.”

“Far be it from me to turn down free scones.” Maglor picked one off the tray and sat down. “So, treated any interesting injuries lately?”

“Oh, you’ll never guess!” I said eagerly. “Maikalambe—she’s the tailor’s wife—just had twin girls. Their dad’s real pleased; he says now he’s got a pair of built-in workers.”

“That’s great,” said Maglor, his eyes shining. “I’ve always liked children.”

“I like them too, which is surprising considering the amount of them I’ve had to deliver and fix up.” I poured myself some cider and took a sip. “Mmm…this is delicious.”

“Romenella made it. She’s a terrible cook, but let me tell you, no one can make cider like her.”

“Say, I’ve been meaning to ask you: What’s going on between Celegorm and Romenella? Are they together, or what?”

Maglor shook his head. “I have no idea. Sometimes they act like they’re friends, sometimes they act like they love each other, sometimes they act like they’re enemies. I try to stay out of it.”

“Well, I think they’d look real good together if they ever do figure it out.”

“You sound like quite an expert,” Maglor said. He had a funny smile on his face. “What kind of girl do you think I’d look good with?”

I said the first thing I thought of. “Some tall skinny Telerin girl with black hair and green eyes who’s quiet and polite.”

“Hmm, that’s funny,” said Maglor, standing up and taking a few steps toward me. “See, I always thought I’d look good with a short blondish Northern healer who doesn’t take any of my crap.”

He leaned towards me, and I knew—I knew—that he was going to kiss me. No! I thought in a panic. He doesn’t know yet!

“Wait!” I said, pushing Maglor back. “I think I ought to tell you something.”

Maglor groaned. “Oh, Lords. You’ve got a boyfriend, haven’t you.”

“No, nothing of the kind. Do you remember when your granddad said I looked familiar and I said I didn’t think we’d met?”

“Vaguely, yes. Is this going somewhere?”

“Yes, because actually, I have met your granddad before. At Cuivienen.” I paused. He didn’t seem to have gotten it yet. “Maglor, I’m two generations older than you.”

He nodded. “Duly noted. Now, I believe you were about to kiss me?”

“So this doesn’t bother you?”

“Not at all. Actually, it’s probably all for the best—you’ll be a good influence on me.”

“All right,” I said. “If you don’t mind, I don’t mind either.”

Grinning hugely, Maglor plopped down into my armchair, pulled me into his lap, and kissed me.

He was a good kisser, as far as I could tell—it wasn’t like I had much (or any) experience in the matter. At least he seemed a lot less awkward than I did (probably had kissed dozens of girls, the rascal). His breath smelled like coffee and cider, and why hadn’t I ever noticed what nice arms he had?

“Listen,” said Maglor after we’d kissed for a while. “I think you already know how I fell about you.”

“Hmmm…I’ve guessed a few things, and your brothers have made some hints, but all the same I’d like to hear it from you.”

“I love you,” he said simply. “And I’ve never told any girl that before.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“And what about you?” he asked. “I take it you don’t hate me, since you haven’t slapped me yet.”

“Well, I’ll be honest with you, Maglor: I’m not the kind of girl that falls in love easily,” I replied. He looked disappointed, so I hurried on. “But let me tell you, Maglor, you’re an absolute doll and I like everything about you, and if you give me a little time I’ll probably be completely stuck on you.”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” said Maglor brightly. “And you may not believe it, but I can be patient sometimes. Just let me know within five years, all right?”

“Done and done,” I said. “Want another scone?”

“I’ll have one later,” he said. “Scones are pretty damn boring compared to this.”

And I had to agree.

“Hello, Earya dear,” I said, when Vanafinde’s youngest opened their door later that night. I’d run to Vanafinde’s house the moment Maglor had skipped out my door (taking a few scones with him, of course). “Is your mama around?”

“I’m here, Andril,” said Vanafinde, coming out of the kitchen. She looked at me curiously. “Phew, what’s happened to you? You’re all red and your hair’s messed up.”

“Well, that’s hardly surprising, considering what just happened to me!” I replied. “Come on, I’ve got to talk to you. Privately.”

“Andril, you naughty girl, what have you been up to?” giggled Vanafinde, pulling me back into the kitchen. “Tell me everything.”

Everything that had happened that day had finally hit me, so I’m afraid I was pretty incoherent when I answered. “Vanafinde, you were right…about him…and so was Rille, I mean, everyone was…and he doesn’t mind that I’m old, really he doesn’t…and I’m not making a bit of sense, am I?”

“No,” said Vanafinde, giving me an odd look. “This has something to do with Maglor, doesn’t it.”

“He kissed me, Vanafinde,” I whispered. “And then he said he loves me.”

Any success I’d had at keeping Mardan and the kids in the dark was canceled by Vanafinde’s ear-splitting shriek. “He kissed you? He kissed you! Oh, Andril, this is brilliant! You’re going to be a princess! I’m so happy for you!” She stopped suddenly and frowned. “You didn’t do anything stupid like slap him, did you?”

“No, but no one’s saying I’m going to become a princess either,” I said. “It’s not like he proposed to me.”

“So what did you say to him?”

“I said that I’m not the kind of girl who falls in love easily, but that he’s a doll and I’m sure I’ll fall in love with him eventually.”

Vanafinde thought this over for a second, then nodded approvingly. “That’s good, I guess. Play hard to get for a while. It’s a trick that always works.”

“Vanafinde, I am not playing any tricks on this poor boy. I told him the truth, and he didn’t seem to mind.”

“Of course,” Vanafinde replied, not seeming to entirely believe me. “Well, I’m very, very glad for you, Andril. And if you marry him, you’ve got to let me come and stay in the palace sometime.”

“Andril’s getting married?” said a confused-looking Rille, peeking in the door. “And what did you say about a palace?”

“I’m not getting married, dear. Your mother’s getting ahead of herself, again,” I said, looking at Vanafinde significantly.

“Does this have something to do with Maglor?” She smirked when we hesitated. “I knew it.”

“You mind your own business, young lady!” ordered Vanafinde. “I’m sure you’ll hear about it from all those gossipy friends of yours eventually.”

Rille continued to smirk. “I think I’ve heard all I need to hear for now.” Sticking her face out the kitchen window, she cried, “Hey, everyone! Andril kissed Prince Maglor!”

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “I’ll bet at least half this street heard that.”

“You’ll thank me later,” said Rille brightly. “Now you don’t have to worry about keeping it a secret from everyone. And besides, I’m sure Maglor will tell everyone about it, too. Hey, now you’ll have to introduce me to him!”

“If I promise to do that, will you leave?”

She looked offended. “I was planning on leaving anyway,” she said, and stalked out of the room.

“You are happy, aren’t you, Andril?” Vanafinde asked me. “You’ve been very ambiguous about your emotions.”

“I am happy,” I said. “That’s what’s so confusing.”

Was I surprised when I received a very tersely worded letter from Celegorm inviting me to Formenos for lunch three days later?

No, not really.

I was, however, surprised that Maglor was not there.

“Where’s Maglor?” I asked as I sat down.

“Not around,” said Celegorm vaguely.

“He didn’t know you were coming,” said Caranthir. “Which is precisely how we planned it.”

“All right, what is this?” I asked, thoroughly confused. “Maedhros? Care to explain?”

“Well, you see, Andril, Maglor explained to us what happened three nights ago and—as I’m sure you can imagine—his account of it was very detailed,” explained Maedhros awkwardly. “We know about the kissing, the scones, your real age, and yes, we know about the…the L word, Andril.”

He was too embarrassed to say the word love. I thought that was pretty funny. “So basically, you invited me here because you wanted to gossip about Maglor.”

“Really?” said Curufin. “That’s really your theory? Sweetheart, the only people who actually want to gossip about Maglor are irksome adolescent girls.”

“Don’t you call me sweetheart, young man. As Maglor may have told you, I’m old enough to be your grandmother.”

“The reason we invited you here is because we wanted to establish exactly what’s going on between you and our brother,” said Celegorm. “Maglor’s never told a girl he loves her, Andril. This is serious.”

“I don’t know what you expect me to say,” I said, shrugging. “It’s not like we’re engaged. He likes me and I like him, and that’s all I know right now.”

“No, he loves you,” said Amrod. “You’re the one who’s being ambiguous.”

“Why is everyone calling me ambiguous?” I muttered. “Aren’t there lots of other words for that?”

“Andril, the point is, we need to know you won’t break Maglor’s heart,” said Caranthir, all traces of sarcasm gone. “He’s all—” he paused to roll his eyes— “artistic, you know. He won’t get over it quickly if you do.”

“Stop it!” I cried. “Just stop it, please. I don’t want to break Maglor’s hear. I told you, I like him. But isn’t it kind of unfair to him to just say I’m in love with him if I haven’t figured out how I really feel yet?”

“Caranthir, leave her alone, would you?” said Amras, looking considerably more serious than usual. “She’s a nice girl; do you really think she’s going to break Maglor’s heart?”

There was a long silence. I looked down at my lap so I wouldn’t have to see everyone staring at me, but I could still feel it.

“She could,” said Caranthir finally. “But I don’t think she will.”

“Well, thank you,” I said crossly. “How much of this are you going to tell Maglor about?”

“All we’ll tell him,” Curufin said calmly, “is that if he wants to marry you it’s all right with us.”

I sighed and got up. “Thank you, boys. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.” Without waiting for them to say anything, I turned sharply and headed out the door. I should have been relieved, but I was steaming mad. I’d never been so insulted in my life. The nerve of these boys, feeling like they needed to make sure I was all right, like parents inspecting their son’s new girlfriend! Who did they think they were?

“Who does who think they are?” said a familiar voice. Maglor stepped out of the shadows and looked at me quizzically. He must have just gotten back. I hadn’t realized I’d spoken out loud, but apparently I had, and it was making Maglor look pretty concerned. And he was adorable.

“It doesn’t matter. I love you,” I said, and kissed him.

Chapter 7

Sorry it's taken me so long to update this. I got kidnapped by aliens, and I couldn't bring my computer on their spaceship. Hope you all are still reading!

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Chapter 7

Needless to say, things were a little odd after that.

Rille and Maglor’s brothers made absolute certain that everyone in Elk Lake knew all the sordid details of Maglor’s and my relationship. I couldn’t go into town without people winking at me or mock-curtseying or being called “princess” (real original, Aldea). Maglor wasn’t the butt of quite so many jokes—I think people were still a bit afraid of him—but he did tell me that his dad had muttered, “At least you’ll have someone to fix you up after all those scrapes you get in.” I still had no idea what Prince Feanor thought of me and highly doubted if I ever would.

A lot of people asked me if we were engaged, and the truth was, we really weren’t. I’d told Maglor that I didn’t want to talk marriage until he’d gotten his family-exile situation figured out, and he respected that, but it was quietly understood, by us and everyone else, that we were steady. Engaged-to-be-engaged, you might call it.

I did eventually introduce Rille to Maglor and company, with the stipulation that her parents be there as well. Amazingly, she was so intimidated that she was barely able to speak, and she didn’t flirt with anyone at all. Mardan and I were so proud of her.

And that’s how the next five years passed.

To tell you the truth I think we’d all forgotten Maglor and Co. weren’t going to be in Elk Woods permanently. Seven years isn’t a long time, but it’s long enough for people to become fixtures in a small town like ours.

But the seven years were up, and so next time I went over to Formenos, Feanor wasn’t there.

Naturally, I asked where he was.

“Where’s your dad?” I asked.

“Well, the seven years are up, aren’t they?” said Celegorm. “He’s gone down to Tirion to patch things up with Uncle Fingolfin. Eru knows how that’s going to work out. I expect one of them’s going to get beaten up.”

All of this was news to me. “The seven years are up?”

“That they are, my dear future sister, and if all goes well we’ll be back in Tirion in a week,” declared Maedhros. “I assume you’ll be coming along?”

“We’ve written Mom about you, and she says she’d love to meet you,” added Amrod.

“I wouldn’t know,” I said, looking significantly at Maglor. “We haven’t discussed it yet. Elk Woods needs a healer, you know.”

“So train an apprentice and then come down to Tirion,” said Curufin. “It wouldn’t be that hard.”

“Don’t pressure Andril, guys,” said Maglor. “We’ll figure it out. If she’s insistent on not leaving, maybe I’ll move here.”

His brothers looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“Maglor…living…in the country,” gasped Caranthir. “Oh, that’s rich. Can you imagine?”

I didn’t say anything. I’d known that I’d have to make this decision sooner or later, but I’d been making a heroic effort to not think about it at all. No matter how much I weighed the positives and negatives of leaving, I couldn’t figure anything out.

I can imagine, remarked Huan, Celegorm’s giant gray wolfhound, from his seat by the fire. Over the years he and I had become fairly good friends, and as a result he licked my face a lot. He’d get bored. Me, I’m never bored, he added self-satisfiedly. As long as there’re rabbits around for chasing.

Thanks, Huan, that’s real helpful, I replied sarcastically—or at least tried to. Dogs don’t really understand sarcasm.

“Celegorm, tell your dog to stop conspiring with my girlfriend,” ordered Maglor. “I’m feeling somewhat threatened.”

“You would be,” muttered Celegorm.

That was the end of the conversation about my future.

I knew as soon as I woke up a few days later that something was wrong.

The reason? It was pitch black. And while I wake up early, I don’t wake up that early. No, there had to be something else going on.

I cautiously stepped outside and glanced around. The stars were out, but otherwise there was no light at all. No Laurelin, no Telperion, nothing. A fox stepped out of the bushes, and I bent down to talk to it.

Do you know why it’s so dark? I asked.

Something bad. Very bad. The lights went out in the middle of the night. It spoke rapidly…obviously terrified. Something big…bad. Don’t know what it was. Get outta here, girl. Before I could ask it anything else, the fox darted across my garden and disappears into the dark.

I understood the fox’s fear, but I wasn’t going to stay in my house and wait around…no sir, I’m far too nosy for that. I lit a candle, put on my cloak, and went to Vanafinde’s. Her face was stark white when she opened the door, and she ushered me in quickly, slamming the door behind her.

“H…hello, Andril,” she said, sounding as scared as the fox. “Good…well, I guess it’s morning, isn’t it? Good morning.”

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” I asked. “All the animals around where I live either don’t know anything or have run off. I’ve got no information here and it’s driving me mad.”

“Oh, Andril, if you don’t know then how should we? No one knows what’s going on. We don’t even know the time.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” I said with a sigh, sitting down. “I’m just desperate for information. This is honestly frightening.”

For the rest of the day, as far as I could tell, I sat at Vanafinde’s house and drank tea. And waited.

And waited.

Until finally, when I assumed it was night because I was starting to feel tired again, Maglor burst through the front door without knocking.

“Andril, you’re all right! Thank Varda!” he cried, picking me up and swinging me around. “I was so worried. You weren’t at your house, and I was worried something might have happened…”

“Well, that’s the thing—something has happened, hasn’t it,” I said. “And judging from how you’re acting, you know more about it than I do.”

Maglor let go of me and stepped back sharply. I realized when I got a good look at his face that he’d been crying.

“Maglor,” I said, my dread rising. “What happened?”

He collapsed into a chair and buried his face in his hands. “MelkorbrokeintoFormenoskilledGrandpastolesmls.”

“What?”

“Melkor. Broke into. Formenos. And killed. Grandpa. And stole. The Silmarils,” Maglor said, very slowly and clearly. “I’m not exactly sure why everything’s dark, but I’m guessing the two are related.”

Vanafinde appropriately chose that moment to drop the teapot on the floor, smashing it. We were all too shocked to really register that, however.

“Oh,” I said softly. “Oh, Lords. Maglor…”

“You mean…” said Rille.

“I mean that my grandfather, who everyone loves, is dead, and the most valuable things my family owns has been stolen, and no one can see where they’re going, and this is probably going to tear the Noldor apart and cause my father to have a mental breakdown, that’s what I mean,” said Maglor harshly, and burst into tears.

Without saying anything, I sat down next to him and put my arms around his shoulders. In all the time I’d known Maglor, I’d never seen him so upset. He just looked so helpless.

We all just stayed like that, almost without moving, for hours.

I accompanied Maglor back to Formenos that night. No way was I leaving him alone, not even with his brothers.

As I’d predicted, all the boys were in much the same mood as Maglor. They were all gathered around the fireplace, not saying anything…just staring into the flames. That couldn’t have been good for their eyes, but I decided not to point this out.

“Er…” I said. “Hello.”

Celegorm laughed bitterly. “Hello, Andril. Looks like we’ve found a problem even you can’t fix.”

“Yes, it looks that way,” I said softly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Curufin heavily. “This is our family’s problem. We don’t need help from outsiders.”

“And I’m an outsider?” I replied angrily. “I’m sorry if I misunderstood, but I thought we considered each other family. I want to help you guys. You’re the closest thing to actual family that I’ve got.”

The boys all looked at each other. “She’s got a point,” Amrod admitted finally.

“Well,” said Maedhros, “if she considers herself a part of this family now, she’s got a chance to prove it.” He lifted his head and looked me in the eyes. “We’re going back to Tirion tomorrow. All of us.”

“But…” I stuttered. “My job…I mean, what about…”

“Andril,” said Maglor quietly. “Please come. Just for now.”

And I knew that I had to.

Chapter 8

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Chapter 8

In case any of you were wondering, no, traveling to Tirion when it’s pitch black outside is not fun. Particularly when you’ve never ridden a horse in your life and aren’t used to having your legs stretched like that. And the ride to Tirion from Elk Lake was nearly a day long, if you went fast. But it wasn’t like I had a choice, now did I? No, I didn’t. I’d made a commitment here.

Good Lords, what had I been thinking?

But no, I wasn’t going to complain. I didn’t have any right to complain. After all, how many of my family members had died recently?

Maglor valiantly tried to keep me entertained, but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it. Poor dear. I wondered if he’d ever get back to being his usual cheerful self. I wondered if anything would ever get back to being its usual anything.

The Tirion city gates were locked tight when we arrived, and it took us a full ten minutes of banging on them and yelling to finally get someone to let us in. The gatekeeper eyed us suspiciously as we entered—especially me.

“Who’s the lady?” he asked sharply.

Maglor put his arm around me defensively. “My fiancé.”

I wanted to ask when he’d decided that, but figured it probably wasn’t a good time. The gatekeeper nodded and allowed us through. We were in the city.

Eru Almighty, it was quiet.

I’d lived in the city for about ten minutes when I’d first arrived in Valinor and even I knew that in general cities were ridiculously loud and crowded. That day, while there were a few people on the streets, they didn’t talk and barely looked up. It was kind of disturbing.

As if he was reading my mind, Caranthir remarked, “I’ve never seen Tirion this quiet before. Not even at night.”

“Try not to think about it,” said Maedhros grimly.

“Well done, Maedhros,” said Amras. “You do know now we won’t be able to think of anything else?”

Right enough, the silence was all we could focus on as we slowly rode to the north side of the city. The buildings got steadily more opulent as we rode on, and Maglor pointed out a particularly grand, dark mansion.

“That’s our house,” he whispered. “We’re going there to see Mom before we meet up with Dad. Dad told us to meet him at the Grand Hall—that’s where all the big decisions get made. I think he’s up to something.”

That didn’t sound good. I couldn’t imagine what would happen when Maglor’s father was up to something.

We were greeted at the door by a sturdy, freckled woman with Maedhros’ red hair and Maglor’s features—Nerdanel, I assumed. She broke into a relieved smile when she saw us.

“Ah, boys, yer all right,” she said, ushering us in. “Sure, I was hopin’ that nothing much had happened to ye, after what happened to yer granddad and all…not to mention what happened with the Trees…”

“Speaking of that, Mom, what did happen to the trees?” asked Maedhros. “We haven’t heard any of the details yet.”

“First of all, we need to get something straight,” said Nerdanel firmly. “Is this girl Andril?”

“Yes,” said Maglor. “It is indeed.”

“Nice to meet you, dear. Welcome to the family. All right, boys, sit down and I’ll explain everything.” We all complied, and she launched into her explanation. “Apparently our boy Melkor went off and hired some giant spider named Ungoliant…”

“Excuse me,” interrupted Caranthir. “Did you just say a giant spider?”

“I did, and don’t interrupt. He hired this spider-lady to help him destroy the Two Trees and therefore get rid of all our light. So the two of ‘em destroyed the Trees, and then went up North and did all the things there that ye all know about.”

“Makes sense,” said Celegorm, who was apparently not as shocked as the rest of us that an evil ex-Vala and some kind of giant spider had effectively destroyed our homeland. “But what’s the matter with Dad? What’s this plan of his he told us about?”

Nerdanel sighed. “Sure and I don’t know exactly. All I can tell ye is that the Valar tried to convince yer father to give them the Silmarils in order to restore the Trees. And ye know how yer father is…that didn’t go well.” She looked at us gravely. “I’d advise ye to find him as quick as ye can and figure out what he’s up to. I have a feelin’ that it’s not good.”

When we reached the Grand Hall, which was a gigantic building at the very northest end of the city, and tied up our horses and went inside, I discovered why we hadn’t seen anyone in Tirion’s streets.

It was because just about every damn person in Tirion was in that building. That place was packed so tight that I was worried I’d break bones if I went in. I also realized that as a group, city people might not smell great.

“Come on,” said Maedhros. “Dad wanted him to meet us up front.” He deftly led us through the crowds to the speaking platform at the front of the room, where Feanor was waiting for us.

“Good,” he said in a hard voice. “You’re here. And so is she,” he added, glancing at me.

“Dad,” said Maedhros cautiously. “What’s going on here? What are you doing?”

“You’ll see,” said Feanor, still in that frightening tone. “There are some changes that need to be made in this country. Big changes. The Valar have pushed our people around long enough, and it’s high time the Noldor took a stand.”

And he stepped up onto the platform.

It’s a bit too painful to go into what happened next, if you don’t mind.

“You’ve got to be joking,” I said. We’d all come back to the house after the big debacle (except Feanor—he was off making plans for their departure the next day and whatnot).

I was furious.

“You’ve got to be joking,” I repeated.

“I’m not joking, Andril,” said Maglor heavily. “I have to go.”

“You don’t have to go,” I argued. “This is ridiculous!”

“The second part I agree with. The first part…not so much. I actually do have to go. I swore an oath.”

“An idiotic oath!” I yelled. I rather wanted to cry, but I wasn’t going to give that rat bastard the satisfaction. “I can’t believe you went along with them like this! I knew your dad and brothers were lunatics, sure, but I thought you were better! I thought you had at least half a brain!”

“Do you think I wanted this?” roared Maglor—yes, roared, and I’m not joking about that. “Do you think I’m just like my dad? This isn’t about the Silmarils for me, Andril. This is about my family. They need me.”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I need you too?” I shouted back.

Maglor shook his head. “Andril, we both know that when it comes down to it, you don’t need me. You’ve got a job and a home and friends. You’ve got a life that’s actually halfway normal. And furthermore, you have a lot of people depending on you. You’ve got to stay just like I’ve got to leave.” He shook his head. “I never should have pressured you to come down here. I didn’t know that this was going to happen…”

“No,” I said, more softly this time. “I’m glad I came. I’m glad I was here for you.” I blinked rapidly a few times. “You won’t think less of me if I take this opportunity to bawl, will you?”

He just shook his head.

I sat down and tried to bawl, but I was still in shock and couldn’t really get any tears out. So I just sat there, with my head in my hands and my shoulders shaking, in complete and utter silence.

After a while, Maglor spoke up. “Er, Andril, sorry to interrupt, but there’s something I’d like to get straight before I leave.”

I looked up. “What is it?”

“You may recall that when we arrived in Tirion I told that guy that you were my fiancé.”

“I think I remember that, yes.”

“Well…” Maglor took a deep breath. “Andril, if I survive this mess and somehow make it back in one piece, will you marry me?”

No, I thought, no! Why the hell was he asking me if I would marry him now? He was leaving the next day, for Varda’s sake! There was no way I was going to get engaged to him, not after he’d been such an idiot and sworn away his entire future. How stupid did he think I was, to get engaged to a boy I’d probably never see again? No, no, no!

“Yes!” I blurted out.

Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

So I was stupid, I get it.

And it was probably also stupid to get up ridiculously early that morning to see Maglor and his brothers off, too.

However, I did just that, giving each brother a huge hug and telling them how much I’d miss them. I told Maedhros not to worry so much and told Celegorm to stop being so arrogant all the time. I advised Caranthir to actually say hello to people and told Curufin to avoid being exactly like his father. I told the twins that they were doing just fine and they shouldn’t change at all.

I really didn’t tell Maglor anything except goodbye. We were honestly too busy kissing and crying. Don’t give me that look, we were saying goodbye for possibly forever. You expect me not to get emotional?

Romenella had apparently gotten wind of the impending departure somehow, and apparently the news had arrived very quickly because she somehow managed to get down to Tirion immediately before the boys left (don’t ask me how she did it; that girl has powers that amaze me). When she did get down, she barely said two words to the rest of us before dragging Celegorm into the next room for a very loud and emotional conversation, the particulars of which escaped me but the gist of which we all got. It seemed that Romenella and Celegorm had figured out an arrangement similar to mine and Maglor’s.

“Sure and why is it that me sons can’t get engaged before they run off to Middle-Earth?” grumbled Nerdanel. I was amazed at how calm she was managing to stay.

“Mom, once again, please consider forgiving Dad and coming with us,” pleaded Maedhros. “We need you to balance him out.”

Nerdanel shook her head. “Maedhros, ye know it’s much too late for that. Yer father’s made his choices and that’s his business, but he’s not gettin’ me involved, not this time.”

There was a long silence, punctuated only by some occasional sniffling from Romenella. I myself was trying to hold in some tears—the only way I could hold it in was by not looking at Maglor at all. At long last we heard someone open the front door and Feanor entered, looking disheveled and very determined.

“It’s time to go,” he said. “I assume you’ve said your goodbyes.” He turned to his wife. “Nerdanel…”

“If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, Feanor,” Nerdanel interrupted. “Yer a self-centered idiot, and now yer draggin’ our children into all yer crazy. If you ever decide to get yer head on straight again ye can come back. Until then, goodbye and get out.”

Feanor looked at her for a long moment. “Fine. Boys, come on.”

Maglor began to leave with his brothers, but at the door he turned and ran back to me. For maybe two seconds, I got my hopes up…

“Andril,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

He gave me one kiss on the cheek and just like that, my fiancé and his family were gone from my life.

“Romenella, please calm down,” I entreated, patting her on the back.

“I can’t,” Romenella sobbed. “I’ve been so stupid.”

Nerdanel snorted. “You’ve been stupid?”

“Yes!” cried Romenella. “I just thought of Celegorm as some goofy younger friend for years and years and then I finally figure out that I like him about ten minutes before he leaves.” She let out another sob. “If only I hadn’t spent all those years chasing after Maglor…”

“Wait,” I said. “What?”

“Sorry, I should have told you about that,” said Romenella with a sniff. “Back when I was younger I had it pretty bad for Maglor. I mean this started a really long time ago, back when I was around sixteen. I was pretty ridiculous about it, to be honest…trying to bump into him around the house and all that.” She gave me a concerned look, as if she was worried I might slap her or something. “If it’s any comfort, he never liked me back. It just took me a long time to get over him.”

I sighed. “I expect it’ll take me a long time to do that, too.”

“You want to get over him?” asked Romenella, surprised. “Why? He’s your fiancé now! You want to just forget about him?”

“I don’t want to forget about him as such,” I replied. “I just don’t want to spend centuries waiting for him to come back and neglecting my own life because of him. I can guarantee that in a hundred years I’ll just be a distant memory to him and he’ll have fifty other girls head over heels in love with him. And that’s really not something that I want to think about. So I’ll still remember him and I’ll still have feelings for him but I will get over him. And you’d be wise to do the same with Celegorm.”

That may have been the wrong thing to say, because it made Romenella just start crying even more. I looked over at Nerdanel to enlist her help, and there were tears in her eyes too.

“Have ye girls ever heard how Feanor and I met?” she said sadly. We shook our heads, and she went on. “I grew up in a small town called Fana’s Crossing in the Northeast, and me da was a well-respected craftsman named Mahtan. One night he came home from the pub with some skinny Tirion rich boy who said his name was Ernil and who’d come to study with Da. So we took him in, and I hated him right off because he acted all spoiled and entitled and thought he was better than us. Sure and I was mad at everyone back then because I wanted to move to Tirion and be an artist but me parents didn’t have the money to send me. I nearly got engaged to this boy Bril—who was nice, but annoying as hell—just out of desperation.

“But eventually Ernil started to grow on me and after awhile we realized we were quite fond of each other. Sure, I liked him so much that when I found out that he was actually a runaway prince and he’d been lying about his name and everything, I didn’t even mind very much.

“I thought then, when I found out he’d been lyin’ to me, that that was the stupidest thing he would ever do. I thought he’d get all the crazy out of his system when he was young. I should’ve known that people like Feanor don’t change, not even for the people they love.” She ran her fingers roughly through her hair. “So if ye’ve got to call someone here stupid, say it to me. Sure and if it weren’t for me none of us would be here.”

Romenella shook her head. “We’re not going to blame you for anything, Lady Nerdanel.” She looked around at us sadly. “The reason we’re all here is because we all fell in love with the wrong guy, that’s all.”

During the next two days, I did two important things.

First, I told Romenella and Nerdanel that I considered them friends now and that with their permission, I would visit them every so often. Nerdanel invited me to come and live with her, since under better circumstances I would be her daughter-in-law and probably living there anyway, but of course I knew that wouldn’t work out.

And when I got back to Elk Woods, I went up to Rille and told her that she was my apprentice now.

I honestly wasn’t prepared for her reaction.

“Really?” she said, all teary-eyed. “You’re serious? Oh, Andril, this is such an honor I can’t believe it! Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I have to say, you seem more excited about this than I expected.”

“Well, you’re one of the most educated people in this town. And you’ve never taken on an apprentice before. Why did you decide to know, by the way?”

“Er…” I said. “I have no idea.”

Rille shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter either way. Mom and Dad will be so proud of me!” She gave me an exuberant hug. “This is the best day of my life!”

I smiled as I watched her run to tell her parents the news. It was good to know that I’d done something right, even if I had no idea why.

Vanafinde came to my house that evening. She seemed awkward, as if she didn’t know what to say.

“Thank you for making Rille your apprentice,” she began haltingly. “It means a lot to her.”

“Of course,” I said. “Rille has a lot of potential, and Varda knows I could use some more help at this job.”

“Andril,” said Vanafinde. “I’ve known you for hundreds of years and you’ve never even mentioned wanting to take on an apprentice before. Does this have anything to do with…”

“You’re allowed to say his name, Vanafinde.”

“Fine. Does this have anything to do with Maglor?”

“Since when would me taking on your daughter as an apprentice get my fiancé to come back?”

“You do not have to get sharp with me, Andril,” Vanafinde snapped. “You can do that I’m-so-damn-strong thing all you like but you’ll never fool me. You miss him. You’re down. Can’t we just have an actual talk about this?”

“What would you know about being abandoned?” I cried. “You’ve got your perfect husband who forgives you even when you get drunk and flirt with other men, and your three great kids, and you’ve never had anyone walk out on you in your life. I’ve already discussed this with Nerdanel and Romenella, who are going through the exact same thing as me, by the way. Please, Vanafinde, don’t make me talk about this anymore. You won’t be able to give me any help and it’ll just make me feel worse. Can’t we just act like none of this ever happened?”

Vanafinde shrugged. “If that’s what you think will really help you, sure. But don’t let yourself get too close to the edge, Andril. I know perfectly well that in a town this size, you don’t take on an apprentice unless you plan on going somewhere.”

Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

In contrast to what I thought, we did not receive news of the deaths of Maglor and his father and brothers a year after they’d left. Honestly, we didn’t hear anything. Even the Valar themselves didn’t seem to know what was going on. They did eventually come up with a replacement for the Trees—two Maiar were picked out to serve as new lights, which were referred to as the Sun and Moon. Other than messing with our timekeeping a bit, this didn’t really change anything.

I think Vanafinde sent a note to the entire town saying something like No one is allowed to mention Maglor to Andril or she’ll go crazy and die of a broken heart, because barely anyone did mention him. There were a few sympathetic looks and people asked me if I was all right with a little more concern than usual, but otherwise the subject of my errant fiancé was left untouched. It was actually quite touching, seeing my friends control their natural instinct to find out every single detail of anything scandalous that happens ever.

As for me, I believe I handled things quite well, considering. I never cried in public, and rarely in private, although I did occasionally have vivid dreams of Maglor’s death and wake up bawling. When I felt an overwhelming need to reminisce with someone, I headed down to Tirion to visit Nerdanel and Romenella. It wasn’t as easy to avoid questions in Tirion.

I wasn’t famous or anything, of course. Since I was a nobody from a small town and Maglor and I had never actually been married, I wasn’t half as interesting as Nerdanel or Queen Indis. But that didn’t stop people from knowing who I was, or occasionally stopping me on the street to say things like, “You’re that one girl, right, the one who Maglor was going out with or something?” To which I would always reply, “Yeah, I guess so,” and then hurried on my way before they could ask me anything else. Only a handful of them actually knew what my name was.

On my third visit to Tirion, I met one of the few who did know my name. Marvana was tall, dark-haired, and blue-eyed, came from one of the richest families in Tirion, and, as I found out later, had spent good portion of her time chasing after Maglor after he got famous (what could you say? The boy had charisma). She approached me when I was sitting on the porch of Nerdanel’s house one evening, possibly assuming that I would automatically know who she was.

“Andril!” she said cheerfully, as if I was an old friend she hadn’t seen in a while.

“That’s me,” I said, thoroughly bewildered. “Do I know you?”

She gave a fake-sounding laugh. “You might. I’m Marvana.” When she saw that my confused look hadn’t gone away, she sighed and explained, “I knew Maglor back when we were younger. And I’ve heard of you, of course.”

“I see,” I said (thinking what exactly does she mean by “knew”?). There was a long pause, as if Marvana was expecting me to say something else. When I didn’t, she smiled and sat down next to me on the porch.

“Listen, Andril, I know this must be really hard on you, having Maglor abandon you and all,” she said in a tone that was probably supposed to sound sympathetic but actually sounded oddly aggressive. “But you know how musicians are…”

“No, I honestly don’t,” I said. “How are musicians?”

“Well, you know, they have such short attention spans,” Marvana continued, giving me an unnervingly psychotic-looking smile. “A different girl in every town, you know. You shouldn’t take it too personally. I got over it quickly enough when he passed me over.”

Two thoughts popped into my mind. First, how many more times was she going to say the phrase you know when referring to things I was completely unfamiliar with? And second of all, despite my earlier speech to Romenella about how Maglor would find a new girl and forget about me, I was pretty pissed off that Marvana would treat my relationship with Maglor like it was just a quick dalliance. What the hell did she know about it?

“Maglor didn’t pass me over,” I responded, trying to keep my annoyance in check. “He’s just stupidly loyal to his insane family. And I have to say, you don’t know crap about our relationship, so I’d advise you to keep your misguided advice to yourself.”

“Don’t get so defensive,” said Marvana, still with that same unnerving smile. “It’s not like you two were engaged or anything.”

I laughed triumphantly. “See? You don’t know anything about our relationship. He did ask me to marry him, right before he left. And honestly, I have no idea why I’m arguing about this, since we met five minutes ago and you’re a psychopath! So I’m going inside now. Good afternoon.” I got up from my seat and fled into the house.

“Who were you talking to out there?” asked Romenella when I arrived inside.

“Some weird girl named Marvana who said she used to know Maglor,” I said. “And then she told me that she sympathized with Maglor ‘passing me over’ and tried to act like she knew all the details of our relationship. Is everyone in Tirion that crazy?”

Romenella wrinkled her nose. “Not everyone, but Marvana definitely has some severe issues. Just about everyone in town stays out of her way. And if she told you she and Maglor were ever involved, she’s lying—he hated her.”

I have to admit, it was a relief to hear that. And for the rest of my visits to Tirion, I most definitely followed Romenella’s advice.

“You’re leaving?” shrieked Rille some years later at my house. “Does Mom know about this?”

“Course she does,” said Hallamar. “I told her and Dad this morning. They’re both pleased for me.” He looked at me pleadingly. “Are you pleased for me, Andril?”

“Well, sure, I guess so,” I said. “How exactly did you get this job?”

“Well,” Hallamar began, “I was at the pub getting a pint when this well-off-looking guy comes in and says hello. So I say hello back, and we get to talking a bit, and he tells me he owns this big horse farm out west. So I tell him I know a bit about horses and how you taught me to understand them and all. And then he says he’s been looking for a new hostler and would I like to come and work for him, and I tell him I’d like to.” He shrugged. “It’s a good job, Rille. I’ll like it. And I haven’t been accomplishing much around here, you have to admit that.”

“But…” said Rille mournfully. “I mean, we’ll miss you.”

“Aw, sis…” said Hallamar awkwardly, putting his hands in his pockets and looking down at the floor. “I’ll write to you and all…”

“You’d better,” said Rille, sounding a little choked up. “You’d better, you dork, or I’ll never forgive you. When do you leave?”

“Tintilar leaves in three days and I’ll be going with him then,” said Hallamar. “That’s my new boss, Tintilar. I’ll introduce him to you. You’ll like him.” He glanced around nervously. “Listen, I’m going to go pack. See you at home.” He practically fled out the door while Rille just stared after him.

“This is unbelievable,” she said faintly. “What is it with guys? Why do they have to just…leave?”

“Well, be a little more realistic, dear,” I said. “Your brother’s never really felt like he fit in around here, and this job is perfect for him. And honestly, I’m surprised that you’re so upset about it. You’ve never seemed that attached to Hallamar.”

“Oh, Lords,” groaned Rille. “Do I seriously come off that cold? Oh, don’t tell me, I know I do. Listen, I love Hallamar. No matter how weird he is, he’s my brother and he’s always been there for me. I don’t want him to head out west and never come back.”

“He’ll be able to visit for holidays and all that,” I said. “Come on, Rille, be happy for him. This is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to him.”

“You’re right,” said Rille with a sniffle. She gave me a hug. “Oh, Andril, this must be how you feel all the time.”

“Er,” I said. I couldn’t really explain to her that having your fiancé run off to almost certain death was a lot different than having your younger brother go out west to work on a horse farm. So I just patted her back and said, “It’ll be all right.”

True to his word, Hallamar left three days later. Rille, predictably, cried throughout the process, but Vanafinde was surprisingly calm.

“You’ll take care of him, won’t you, Tintilar?” she asked Hallamar’s new boss.

“Course I will,” said Tintilar. He was a handsome man with a cleft chin, sleek brown hair, and a drawling way of talking. “Honestly, m’dear, I don’t think this boy’s going to need much taking care of. I’ve never met anyone with more of a way with horses than Hallamar.”

Hallamar winked at me, which was both very kind and made me have to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I’d never seen Hallamar wink before.

“…wouldn’t need a new hostler at all,” Tintilar was saying, “but my son’s gone off to the city to study and my daughter’s a sweet girl but not strong enough to handle the beasts, Varda bless her.” He winked at Hallamar. “You’ll like her, my man. Pretty as a picture and nice as hell.”

“I…I’m sure I will,” mumbled Hallamar. Rille grinned at me conspiratorially. Apparently the possibility of Hallamar “liking” his boss’ daughter was funny enough to lift her out of her depression.

“Well,” said Mardan finally, “good luck, Hallamar. Work hard. We’ll write to you.”

“We’ll miss you,” said Earya. He had recently entered his adolescent years and had become rather sulky and withdrawn, but now he looked nearly as choked up as Rille.

“I’ll miss you all, too,” said Hallamar. He embraced all of us in turn, whispering “Thanks, Andril,” when he came to me.

“Well, it’s been real nice meeting all of you,” said Tintalar brightly. “And now, m’boy, I think we’d best be on our way!” He hopped up onto his horse, and Hallamar got onto his. He waved at us once, cheerfully, and the look on his face was one of more excitement than I’d ever seen on him before.

“Goodbye!” he called, and the two of them galloped off, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.

Chapter 11

Look, I'm back! And I've brought an emotional roller coaster of a chapter with me!

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Chapter 11

In the last few centuries, I’d become accustomed to things I would never have expected happening. Honestly, with all that had already happened to me, I was quite convinced that I would never be surprised again.
But I was wrong. Because one of the few things I would never have expected to happen, not even after everything else, was Hallamar getting married before Rille did. No, not even after he’d been out west for over five hundred years and Rille seemed to have backed off from her flirtatious demeanor somewhat.
However unlikely the situation seemed, Vanafinde and Mardan received a letter from their son that simply stated:

Ma and Dad—Getting married to Tintalar’s daughter Tara. Wedding’s next month on the farm. Tell Andril she can come too. You’ll like Tara, she’s great.

When Rille read it, she was so surprised she fainted. Vanafinde nearly did. Earya just laughed hysterically until he nearly fell off his chair. I kind of wanted to do that too, but I kept it under control. I had a reputation to uphold.
“This is all the warning he gives us?” asked Mardan. “In a note that’s 25 words long? The boy never was one for good timing.”
“Well,” said Vanafinde, “I for one can’t wait to see this girl. She’d better be something pretty special, to get a boy like Hallamar to fall for her.”
“Yeah,” said Rille groggily, having recovered from her faint. “She’s probably a brilliant cook.”
“Or she’s a great kisser,” snickered Earya, and collapsed into helpless laughter once again.
I shook my head. “I cannot wait for this wedding.”

Hallamar greeted us cheerily at the front gates when we arrived at the farm. He looked the same, yet different—more sunburned, more muscular and a lot more confident.
“You all came!” he said.
“Of course we did,” said Earya. “You think we’d miss this? Where’s the girl?”
“Back at the house,” said Hallamar. He jumped in our cart and tapped the horses to get them going again. “Tintalar invited all his family, and they’re a big clan, so be prepared to make a lot of small talk.”
Tintilar’s family were exactly the way I expected them to be—loud, rural, eccentric, and hilarious. His son (also named Tintilar, though he preferred to be called Junior to keep things straight) was slightly more cultured than the rest, but he still had the same twangy accent and sense of humor as his father.
And what of Tara, Hallamar’s future bride? In a word: Tiny. I mean she was shorter than me, which I hadn’t previously thought possible. But aside from that, she was an extremely nice girl and seemed to adore Hallamar.
After we ate and before the ceremony, I made sure to talk to Hallamar one last time.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “As ready as I’ve ever been for anything. I mean, I’ve known this girl for centuries, Andril. We’re hardly rushing into things.”
“I know, I know,” I said, sighing and smiling. “It’s just kind of too bad that you fell in love and I wasn’t around for it.”
Hallamar laughed. “It might have been useful to have you around giving me advice. But I figured it out in the end. So it’ll be all right.”
“Good,” I said, and gave him a hug. “I can’t wait to see what your children look like.” I finished hugging him and patted him on the back. “Now go become a man.”

“…and then he fell in the fountain,” I said to Romenella. “It was ridiculous.”
    “Gods, I haven’t been to a wedding since my sister got married and that was nearly a thousand years ago,” said Romenella. “But I had two drunk uncles at mine, so I guess that makes up for it.”
    “Girls?” said Nerdanel, coming in the room with an odd look on her face. “I just got a letter ye may want to read.”
    “Is someone else getting married now?” I asked, taking it from her. “That seems to be what all the letters in my life are about right now. Eru has a cruel sense of humor.”
    “No,” said Nerdanel, shaking her head. “Just read it.”
    So I opened the letter, and it said,

Idril Celebrindal daughter of Turgon to Nerdanel of Tirion

Dear cousin Nerdanel,
    Hello! I don’t know if you remember me (I was about six when I left Valinor and we never spent a lot of time together before that), but I’m your husband’s half-brother’s granddaughter, so I believe that makes us…half-cousins-twice-removed-in-law. Let’s just call it cousins to make everything easier.
    Now that we’ve gotten the relationship technicalities out of the way, we can get down to why I’m actually writing to you. My husband and I have recently returned from Middle-Earth after a series of events I’d rather not get into right now, and it’s come to my attention that none of our family members still here in Valinor have any idea what’s been going on across the pond. So I thought perhaps I would stop by and catch you up on everything your relatives have been up to. It’s not all good, just to prepare you. But it’s not all bad, either. Write to me and let me know.

Love,
Idril

    I am infinitely ashamed that instead of saying, “Oh Varda Almighty she has news about your relatives and possibly my fiancé and I am so excited!” I said, “Half-cousins-twice-removed-in-law?”
    “She was always a very precise little girl,” said Nerdanel. She sat down with a sigh. “Sure and is it wrong that I am really tempted to tell her not to come? I’m not sure if I want to know what’s happened to me husband. I mean…what if he’s dead?”
    “I know how you feel,” I said. “But honestly, I’d rather find out and be sad than just sit around and drive myself insane with worrying. I’d tell her to come.”
    “I’m with Andril on this one,” said Romenella in a small voice. “Tell her to come.”
    Nerdanel stared at the floor for a moment, and then nodded. “All right,” she said. “I’ll write to her.” She got up and left the room. Romenella turned to me.
    “So,” she said. “How would we be related to her?”

    Three days later, Idril and her husband arrived at our doorstep.
    To be honest, I’d pictured Nerdanel’s half-cousin-twice-removed-in-law as being small, dark-haired, bookish, and polite. I certainly wasn’t expecting her to be tallish, curvy, and brash, with hair so blond it sort of hurt to look at. She was pretty intimidating, but I couldn’t help liking her anyway.
    “Cousin Nerdanel, excellent to see you,” she said, sweeping in the door as soon as Nerdanel opened it. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Doesn’t seem like much has changed around here, not that I would really know. Are you Andril? Great to meet you. And you’re Romenella, I take it. Smashing. Oh, this is my husband, Tuor. He used to be human, but he’s counted as one of us now, so don’t let the beard fool you. Long story.”
    Tuor—a tall, strong young man with a mop of messy gold hair—smiled and nodded awkwardly (We later learned that his lack of talking was due to the fact that he’d grown up speaking Sindarin and knew very little Quenya; plus, he was just sort of an awkward person). Idril grinned at him adoringly and then went on with her monologue. “Anyway, I’ve got over five hundred years’ worth of news to catch you up on, so is it all right if we sit down? I can guarantee you that this will take at least an hour and involve a lot of emotion.”
    “Yes, of course,” said Nerdanel faintly. “Please, sit down.” The five of us took our seats, and there was an uncomfortable pause. Finally, Nerdanel took a deep breath and asked, “So. What news do ye have of Feanor?”
    “Well,” said Idril bluntly, “frankly, he’s dead.”
    Romenella and I both gasped. Nerdanel went pale, but otherwise seemed unflustered.
    “Sure and I suppose I was expecting that,” she said quietly. “It’s still not easy to hear.”
    “I can imagine,” said Idril, patting Nerdanel on the knee. “I’m very sorry.”
    “How did it happen?”
    “Balrog.”
    Nerdanel smiled wryly. “It would take one of those to bring him down.”
    “Lady Idril,” Romenella blurted out. “What about Celegorm? Is he still alive?”
    Idril shook her head. “I’m afraid not, honey. He was killed in the attack on Doriath. Along with Caranthir and Curufin.”
    “What?” shrieked Romenella. “What the hell? Why would they be attacking Doriath?”
    “Evidently, King Thingol had gotten hold of one of the Silmarils,” said Idril calmly. “The Oath and all, you know.”
    “That idiot!” cried Romenella. “That complete stupid idiot!” She burst into tears, and Tuor flinched. “Now we’ll never be together!”
    I looked over at Nerdanel, who had started to cry, quietly. Understandable, since four members of her family were dead—hell, I felt rather choked up myself. But I couldn’t cry, not yet.
    “And what about the others?” I asked. “Maglor?”
    Idril shrugged. “Last I heard, he and the rest were still alive. We’ve been sailing for a few years, so I can’t be certain, but I’m fairly sure Maglor, Maedhros, and the twins are still around.”
    “Oh, thank Varda,” I gasped, and then joined in the crying.
    “Woman, you didn’t tell me there’d be this much crying,” I heard Tuor hiss to his wife. He had an interesting, twangy accent and, obviously, was not fond of overt displays of emotion.
    “Put up with it,” Idril hissed back. “You know damn well this kind of information isn’t easy to hear.”
    “So,” said Nerdanel once she’d stopped crying. “What about the rest of the family? Which of them are dead?”
    “Well,” said Idril, and proceeded to launch into a detailed explanation of everyone who had died and how they’d died and when, and who had gotten married and been born and which cities had been founded and destroyed and what Morgoth had been up to and everything else that we’d missed over the past five centuries.
    “…and so we left after our son Earendil got married to Elwing, and when we finally got here Mandos told Tuor that to make things more convenient he’d count him as one of the Noldor, and then we moved to this fishing town by Alqualonde, and then I wrote to you, and then you wrote me back and I came here, and then it was now, and then I don’t know what happened,” finished Idril with a shrug.
    “I…see,” said Romenella. “That’s rather a lot to process.”
    “Thank you for telling us all of this, dear,” said Nerdanel. “Excuse us for being so emotional, Tuor.”
    “Nah, it’s fine,” said Tuor. “My family’s all dead too, I know how it is.”
    “I think we’d best be going now,” said Idril, standing up. “It was excellent to see-slash-meet all of you.”
    After they’d left, the house was silent—Nerdanel and Romenella mourning, me quietly celebrating.
    He was alive. After all these years, he was still alive. And if that wasn’t worth being excited about, I didn’t know what was.

Chapter 12

You all haven't forgotten about me, right? Good. :D

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Chapter 12

   "So what are you going to do now?" Rille asked me when I gave her my good news.
   "What do you mean, what am I going to do?" I asked, confused. "Pray like hell that the war ends and he can come home, I guess."
   "Really?" she said. "That's it? Honestly, Andril, I never pegged you for the wait-and-hope type."
   "Excuse me?" I said, putting a hand on my hip. "Exactly who is the teacher and who is the apprentice here, my dear?"
   "Apprentice? We've been working together for centuries! I thought we were business partners now!" argued Rille. "Anyway, I'm not saying go to Middle-Earth and find him, because I don't think that's particularly possible, but you could always, you know, go to the Valar and demand that they do something to end the war."
   "Right, because the Valar and I are so close. Why, hello, Varda, how's the family? Lovely house you've got. By the way, do you think you could possibly do me a teensy favor and mount an opposition to Morgoth so my slightly idiotic fiancé can come home?" I shook my head. "That's not going to happen, Rille."
   Rille shrugged. "It was only a suggestion. No need to get upset."
   "I'm not...oh, never mind," I said. Rille had been particularly infuriating lately. Or maybe I'd just gotten more high-strung. She was right about one thing, though-over the years our professional relationship had been more business-partners than teacher-and-apprentice. I was a little disturbed by how much she'd grown to be like me over the years-she was still plenty more outgoing than I was, but she'd started to value her work more than other aspects of her life and talked to some of the village boys like they were her own children. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I should be concerned for her or proud of her.
   After Idril's emotion-filled visit, I didn't go down to Tirion for some time. I got the feeling that Nerdanel and Romenella would be spending a lot of time fretting about the remaining boys, and I didn't want to get caught up in that worrying again. I wanted to believe that they were all right, and that they'd come back. They could take care of themselves.

   I do wish I hadn't been up in Elk Woods when Earendil came to Valmar.
   In my defense, the journey to the city was long and festivals were expensive, and I didn't want to waste an entire week dodging "you're-Maglor's-fiancé-aren't-you" comments. How was I to know that something actually interesting and world-changing was going to happen?
   Luckily, Romenella and Nerdanel had gone to the festival, and they were more than happy to fill me in on all the details of the event.
   "He almost...sparkled," explained Romenella thoughtfully. "It's hard to explain. We didn't see him for very long, since Eonwe rushed him through to see Manwe right away, but he just seemed...powerful, like he could fix everything."
   "And he might," Nerdanel added. "They say he might convince the Valar to march against Morgoth."
   "Gods, that'd be great," I sighed. "Takes a lot of pressure off me."
   "Sorry?" asked Romenella.
   "Oh, nothing. Just something Rille and I were talking about."
   "I wonder..." said Nerdanel. "If the Valar do go to war, and they do sort this mess out, might they..."
   "Let the boys come home?" I finished. "We can only hope. We'll have to wait and see if Earendil will be successful first."
   Romenella snorted. "We've met his mother, remember? If he's anything like her he'll just order them around and not take no for an answer."
   As it happened, not three days later it was announced that the Valar had seen the light, decided enough was enough, and were gathering an army to march on Middle-Earth to finally get rid of Morgoth. The feeling of relief in the city was almost palpable-nearly everyone had friends or relatives in Middle-Earth who they were desperate to have come home.
   Truthfully, I know very little of the details of the war. I do know that Earendil was involved, and I know that none of the elves who'd moved to Middle-Earth were involved at all, and I know that it was a long, harsh, and difficult battle.
   And most importantly, I know we won.
   Now, I am not an easily shocked kind of woman. And I am certainly not the type to get all faint when I hear something surprising. But I will admit that when I heard the news that Morgoth had been defeated and the war was finally over, I did faint-and in the middle of dinner, no less.
   News began to slowly trickle in of the events that had transpired concerning various notable people of Middle-Earth. We didn't hear much about Maglor and his brothers, though-snippets about battles at the Havens of Sirion and the disappearance of the Silmarils were about all we got. Needless to say, this was pure torture.
   Some months after the end of the war, a letter from Nerdanel was delivered to my door in Elk Woods. My hands were shaking a little as I opened it.

Dear Andril,

I trust you and yours are all right. We've received some news of the boys that I felt you should hear.

Oh, Lords, that did not sound good-especially since the next lines had blurry spots, presumably from tears. I read on.

   We were recently informed by one of the lads who'd worked for Maedhros that the twins were killed in the battle at the Havens of Sirion. I'm sorry to have to tell you this as I know you were very fond of the twins, as we all were. I can imagine that Maglor and Maedhros took it very hard.
   Sadly enough, (nearly every other word was blurred in this section) Maedhros did not survive either. After he and Maglor regained the Silmarils, Maedhros found he simply couldn't handle it.
   She didn't go into any more detail, but I knew exactly what had happened. Maedhros had killed himself. Poor, perfect, neurotic Maedhros had finally snapped. I wiped my eyes hastily and continued to read.
   I have not heard anything about Maglor's condition, alive or dead, other than that after Maedhros died he threw the last Silmaril into the sea. He hasn't been seen since Maedhros' death. I suppose we can take comfort in the fact that if Maglor was in the mood to die, he would do it in a very dramatic manner and everyone in a three hundred-mile radius would hear all about it.
   I'm sorry to have to tell you these things, love. You're a part of the family too and I know you must be as torn up about it as we are. Please don't give up hope about Maglor-he's quite tough, really, and I'm sure he'll stick it out...

   There was more, but I didn't read it. I leaped up, dropped the letter on the floor, and set about packing up all my most necessary possessions.
   Maglor wasn't coming back, and I knew it. He couldn't come back, not after all that'd happened. But I wasn't going to let him out of our agreement.
   So it looked like I was going to have to find him.

Chapter 13

Read Chapter 13

Chapter 13

   By the time I'd finished packing, the sun had started to set and the feeling of determination I'd felt earlier in the day had begun to wear off. Feelings of determination do that, I've noticed.
   I mean, there was always the possibility that Maglor had died, or gone crazy, or met another girl-hell, there was always the possibility (I thought with a gulp) that he'd married another girl. And I would be leaving behind my job and my friends and my apprentice, and I could die or go crazy myself...
   Oh, to hell with that, I thought. I'd rather give it a go and have an adventure than sit around here being bored and miserable. If I don't find him I don't find him and that'll be that.
   So I girded my loins, hoisted my bag over my shoulder and started down the path out of my woods for the last time.
   I'm leaving now, I informed any of the animals I was acquainted with who I came across. I wish you luck.
   Will you return? one fox asked me.
   Perhaps, I replied. Unlikely.
   You will be missed, said the fox, and disappeared back into the forest.
   I sighed. It was sad saying goodbye to the animals, certainly, but it was a hell of a lot easier than saying goodbye to Vanafinde would be. I got the feeling she wouldn't really understand the situation.
   Vanafinde was already in her nightdress when she answered the door. "Oh, hullo, Andril," she said, yawning. "Sorry I look like this, I was planning to go to bed early. Do you want to come in?" She looked confusedly at my packed bags. "Why do you have all your bags with you?"
   I took a deep breath. "I'm leaving, Vanafinde."
   "Oh, all right. When will you be back?"
   "Maybe never," I replied. "Vanafinde, I'm not going to visit Nerdanel and Romenella. I'm going to Middle-Earth to find Maglor. He'll need me now that the war's over."
   The expression on Vanafinde's face went from bewilderment to pure fury. "You're leaving?" she hissed. "You're ridiculous! I thought we were friends, Andril, and now you're abandoning your home and your job to chase after some lunatic prince who probably won't even remember you..."
   "He is my fiancé, Vanafinde," I interrupted sharply. "Which means he's my family, the only family I've got. Not to mention that right now, I'm really the only family he's got. You think I'm not worried about this? I'm terrified, Vanafinde. But the fact of the matter is, you don't need me. He does. So I'm going to go rescue him."
   There was a long silence, during which I got increasingly nervous. I knew I was leaving, but at the same time I knew I couldn't leave without Vanafinde's support.
   At last she sighed. "Fine, I suppose you know what you're doing." She laughed and shook her head. "But your children are going to be incredibly strange, you know that?"
   I laughed too. "I know, my dear, I know." I hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Vanafinde."
   "Thank you, too," she said with a sad smile. "Try to come back someday, all right?"
   "I will," I said. "Goodbye, Vanafinde."

   I'd been planning to walk to Tirion, but fortunately I came across a farmer driving a wagon of vegetables to the city and managed to catch a ride with him. I felt a bit guilty about waking up Nerdanel and Romenella before the sun was even up, but I figured that since it was Nerdanel's son I was heading off to rescue I owed them an explanation and a goodbye.
   Nerdanel was surprisingly calm about the whole business. "Good luck, dearie," she said with a nod. "When ye find him, make sure ye feed him. Sure and he never did eat enough when he was under stress."
   Romenella, as usual, went for the bawling-her-eyes-out approach. "Oh, Andril, you're so brave," she sniffed. "I wish I could do what you're doing. If only it weren't too late..."
   "There, there," I said, patting her on the back. "At least Celegorm's probably going to get reembodied in Valinor. That'll make things a lot more convenient for you."
   She nodded and hurriedly wiped away her tears. "I'll really miss you. You've been like a sister to me, you know."
   "Same here," I said, giving her a hug. "And Nerdanel...this may sound odd, but you've really been like the mother I never had. Even though you're actually younger than me."
   "Sure and I'm just the motherly type, I suppose," said Nerdanel with a smile. She patted me on the cheek. "Now go off, girl, and rescue that damn son of mine. You can take one of the horses from the stable."
   I nodded and silently left the house. Saying goodbye probably would have made me burst into tears, which would have been pretty inconvenient at the time.

   The journey to Alqualonde took about three days, during which I was in such a hurry that I barely stopped to eat or sleep. By sunset on the third day, I finally arrived, exhausted and stinking, at the city gates. The guards gave me odd looks but didn't question my entrance.
   My first order of business was to find an inn near the seashore, where I sold my horse and inquired of the landlady how I might find passage to Middle-Earth.
   "Are you crazy, girl?" she laughed. "You want to go to Middle-Earth? Love, no one wants to go to Middle-Earth, everyone's coming from there...or have you been living under a rock for the last ten years?"
   I rolled my eyes. "I'm aware that this is an odd request. I just want to know if it can be done."
   "Not without help from Osse himself," said the landlady sharply. "Now are you going to order anything, or just stand there asking me ridiculous questions?"
   I ordered some supper and sat down to think. Evidently getting passage to Middle-Earth wasn't going to be an easy task, but I'd expected as much when I set out on this quest and so the landlady's reaction wasn't much of a surprise. The trouble was figuring out what to do now. Sailing myself over was out of the question, as I had no idea how to sail a boat and a one-person craft would be smashed halfway across the sea anyway. Paying a captain to take me east would cost a fortune, and even with my accumulated life savings I was no millionaire. And as far as I knew, unless you were a bird, the only way to get across the sea was to sail. Heavens, the landlady had been right, I really couldn't do this without help from Osse himself...
   I paused with my fork halfway to my mouth, and grinned.
   Well, it was worth a try.

    In the wee hours of the morning I tiptoed out of my room at the inn and headed down to the beach. The lights around town had finally gone out, and I could carry out my plan without fear of being seen.
    The only noises as I walked down to the shore were the waves and the, which was cold for the time of year. I wrapped my cloak around me, took off my shoes, and stepped carefully into the edge of the sea.
    I took a deep breath and began yelling.
    "Osse!" I cried. "Lord of the Seas! I am in need of your assistance!"
    There was no response. Feeling a bit foolish, I nonetheless carried on.
    "Please, Lord Osse, listen to me and give a poor girl some help," I said in a slightly more pleading tone. "I'm at your mercy here."
    Still nothing. I began to feel fairly annoyed.
    "Oh, come on, Lord Osse, I know you can hear me. You're a god for Eru's sakes, and here I am standing ankle-deep in this freezing cold water practically begging you for a bit of a favor, and I know I'm nothing special but at least I respect you enough to ask politely, which ought to be worth something..."
    I was cut off by the wind, which had rapidly increased in speed and volume. The sea looked like someone was stirring it with a giant spoon, and the water that had been up to my ankles was now halfway up to my knees. Though I could barely see through the sand that the wind whipped into my eyes, I could make out a tall, dark figure rising up through the water.
    "Speak," said Osse.
    It's difficult to describe exactly what he looked like. He was rather -blurry around the edges. I could make out that he was about three feet taller than me, with a long beard and some kind of blue glow emanating from him. I felt like I ought to say something, something respectful and humble...
    Unfortunately, all I could think of to say was, "I can't believe that worked."
    "Do not waste my time with thy foolish comments!" boomed Osse. "Thou hast called me from the sea in an exceedingly rude manner which I ought not to have acknowledged at all. I would advise thee to spend the few minutes of my attention with which I grant thee to prove that thy troubles are worth my while."
    "Right. Sorry," I said. "Well, I'm aware of how odd this sounds, but I need to get across the ocean. Eastwards across the ocean. To find my fiancé."
    "And why cannot this fiancé of thine return of his own volition?"
    "Er, well..." I said. "My fiancé is Maglor Feanorion."
    "Oh," said Osse with a note of disapproval in his voice. "I am very familiar with that name. He and his family have committed crimes that thou dost not know of, child."
    "Oh, I'm aware of all the scandalous details," I replied. "And I think he's been an absolute idiot, but the fact is that I love him and I really think he needs me at a time like this. And I've heard you're tough, Osse, but I know you're fair, and I think you'll be able to help me out."
    There was a long silence, during which I was certain I was going to be drowned and tried to come up with some profound last words.
    "Art thou aware," said Osse finally, in a gentler voice, "that if thou moves goes after Maglor, the same curse that is on him will be on you, and you will be unable to return until he is permitted to?"
    I squared my shoulders and nodded. "That seems reasonable. So you'll help me?"
    "I shall do what I can," said Osse grudgingly. "Because I believe loyalty should be rewarded. And a woman who is willing to risk her life to attempt to rescue someone who the rest of the world reviles certainly has loyalty, if not common sense."
    I couldn't help it. I beamed at him.
    "Thank you, thank you so much," I gushed. "So what form exactly will this help take?"
    "I am sorry," said Osse. "I believe my time is up."
    There was a deafening crash of waves, and then he was gone, the sea returned to its earlier calm. Wiping away the tears that had somehow appeared in my eyes, I whispered a silent prayer of thanks.
    And then I curled up on the beach and slept for a long, long time.

Chapter End Notes

Yes, I know it's ridiculously far-fetched. Don't give me that look; you think this is an easy job?

Chapter 14

Read Chapter 14

Chapter 14

   When I woke up, there was a ship.
   It appeared to be early afternoon, and in the bright daylight I could see that this wasn't a fishing boat or anything of the like-it was a huge, full-fledged ship that seemed built for voyages across worlds.
   A ship. A ship!
   I scrambled to my feet and ran towards the dock. There were a few young gents loading cargo into a rowboat, so I figured I still had time to ask them what was going on.
   "Excuse me!" I called as I raced toward them. "Excuse me, lads, where is this ship going?"
   A tall young fellow with curly dark hair turned and bowed to me. "Captain Inglor at your service, Lady. This ship is headed across the sea, to the Grey Havens."
   "Wait," I said. "You mean it's going to Middle-Earth? I didn't think any ships went there. I didn't think any ships could."
   "Well, Lady, as it happens, my uncle's company has been working on this ship for some years-‘A ship to cross worlds,' he calls it. No one ever really thought he'd have any use for it, but early this morning he received word from the Valar that Lord Cirdan couldn't possibly build enough ships to accommodate all the return traffic from Middle-Earth and if his ship was ready for use. And he couldn't turn down the offer, could he? This is the opportunity of a lifetime."
   "Damn, Osse," I whispered in awe. "You are good."
   "Excuse me?" asked Captain Inglor.
   "How much for passage on your ship?" I demanded. Before he could answer, I pressed a few gold coins into his hand. "Will that about cover it?"
   He looked bewilderedly at the coins. "Well, yes...it should...but, I mean, you want to go to Middle-Earth?"
   "That is indeed the size of it, good sir. And I might be useful to have along, too. I'm a healer, and I know a great deal about seasickness and other problems you might experience."
   Captain Inglor looked confused for a few more seconds, and then the look of charming calm was back. "Of course, Lady, it would be a pleasure to have you along. May I ask your name?"
   "Andril," I replied. "Of Elk Woods."
   "Andril?" commented one of the boys in the boat. "Like that girl who was engaged to the son of Feanor?"
   "Yes," I said. "Something like that."

   The voyage to Middle-Earth took months. It was cold, turbulent, dirty, hungry, nauseating, and uncomfortable. I didn't care. I wouldn't have minded sea monsters as long as I made it to Middle-Earth alive.
   After what seemed like a century, we finally spotted land, and not a week later we finally docked in the Grey Havens. It was a crowded, confusing place, full of people who looked as desperate to leave as I'd been to get there. Captain Inglor eyed me concernedly as I made to step onto the dock.
   "Will you be all right, Lady Andril?" he asked. "Do you know where you're going?"
   "I've got an idea, and that's good enough for me," I said. "Listen, it's not your job to worry about me, all right? It was your job to get me here-and you didn't even have to do that, so I'm grateful. Really, I'll be all right."
   "Very well, Lady Andril, if you insist," he said. "Please be careful."
   I smiled and nodded, slung my pack over my shoulder, and set off.

   Despite how confidently I'd spoken to Captain Inglor, my idea of where Maglor could be was shaky to say the least. My clues were this: Maglor loved the sea and hated the cold, so it was likely he'd be along the southern coast. And since he was now alone in the world and really had only one means of supporting himself, all I had to do was look for him in every roadside pub along said southern coast. I'd track him down, I knew I would.
   But what I hadn't figured on was how big Middle-Earth is. And how long the southern coast is. And how many seaside towns there are, and how many pubs are in them, and how many bartenders who, when I described Maglor in my heavily accented Sindarin and asked if they'd seen him, would shake their heads ruefully and say, "No, ma'am." Occasionally the "No, ma'am" would change to an "I think so, ma'am," and then I'd be off on another wild goose chase to the next town, the next pub, the next place where my fiancé wasn't.
   That's not to say my life on the road was all bad. I got some healing work, and met some interesting animals-not to mention humans. I'd never met any humans before, but I'd heard of them, and they were a real jolly bunch for the most part, and quite tolerant of my language barrier (a surprising amount spoke Sindarin, which I was slowly picking up). Not to mention that they got sick, just like animals, and they taught me a few interesting things about treating coughs and flus and fevers. Some of the Sindarin elves I ran across were quite happy to help me learn their language, and there were times when I actually enjoyed myself.
   Weeks passed, then months, and before I knew it I'd been in Middle-Earth for a year and accomplished nothing except learning Sindarin and a few healing tricks, and burning through most of my life savings. I was beginning to despair. Of course I'd gladly search every nook and cranny of Middle-Earth for Maglor, but what if he didn't want to be found? Or if he was dead? If I'd left everything behind for him just to find out he'd died...well, I might feel like dying too.
   One chilly, foggy autumn morning, I trudged into a pub called Lily's with three gold coins in my pocket and almost no hope left. Lily herself-a stout blonde mortal woman-nodded amiably at me as I entered.
   "Something to eat or drink, dear?" she asked.
   "Some tea. And some bread and cheese," I ordered sullenly and slumped down at the bar.
   Lily sniffed. "Fine manners you've got. I thought you Elves were supposed to be so sophisticated."
   "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I sighed. "Don't mind me. I've had a rough year of it."
   "I can tell," Lily remarked as she bustled about making my food. "What'd you do, run away from your husband or something?"
   "The opposite, really," I said. "My fiancé went missing during the war and I've been searching every roadside pub on the coast for him. No one's seen him or has any idea where he is. Honestly, I'm beginning to think he's dead."
   "Well, what's he look like?" asked Lily. "We get our share of Elves and other peculiar types in here. Maybe I've seen him."
   I ignored the fact that she'd called me a "peculiar type" and snorted. "All right, fine, it's worth a go. Have you seen a tall, thin young man with curly hair that occasionally looks brown and occasionally red and sometimes black, with a Noldorin accent and presumably carrying a fiddle?"
   "Sure have," said Lily.
   "See what I mean? That's why I'm thinking about gi...excuse me?"
   "Yeah, I've seen him," said Lily in a comically slow voice. "He was here last night. Played a few songs in exchange for food and a room and left three hours ago."
   "He...he did?" I stuttered. "Was...was he all right?"
   "Seemed fine to me, if not particularly cheerful. Great singer, that boy. Had some of the old men in tears, even." She frowned. "Aren't you going to ask me which direction he went off in and whatnot?"
   "Yes, yes, which direction was he headed?"
   "I think he went south, along the beach. He can't have gotten too far, not in three hours on foot." She deftly wrapped up my bread and cheese, placed it in a basket, and handed it to me. "Here. I'd advise you to run. Come back when you find him and we'll make you a proper dinner."
   I thanked her and then, as per her advice, ran. Boy, did I ever run. I sped out of that bar like there were demons at my heels, across the road and down to the misty beach. One of my shoes got stuck in the sand, and I kicked I off and kept going. I didn't want to think about the condition my breakfast would be in when I stopped.
   After an hour or so of running, I stopped to catch my breath. I'd been going so quickly that it felt like my lungs were about to explode, and I stood doubled over on the beach, gasping for air.
   It's useless, I thought. I'll never catch up to him at this rate, not when he's so much taller and fitter than I am, and Lily might have been mistaken about where he was headed anyway...
   My inner monologue was interrupted by a faint sound from somewhere ahead of me. At first it sounded like a bird, but as my heart rate slowed and my breathing became calmer, I realized what it actually was.
   Someone was singing.
   Kicking off my remaining shoe, I took a deep breath and began sprinting toward the sound. Through the fog I could barely make out the figure sitting on the edge of the sand, but as the sound grew louder I began to hear how familiar it sounded, and finally I glimpsed a familiar head of wildly curly hair...
   "Maglor!" I screamed. "Maglor!"
   He barely had time to look up before I tackled him to the ground and began kissing him like a maniac. I dug the fingers of my right hand into his hair and held down his arm with my left one as I planted kisses all over his face.
   "I missed you so much," I said between kissing him. "You have no idea how much I missed you."
   Maglor seemed paralyzed with shock for the first few seconds, but after a bit he managed to sit up and pull away from me a bit (I'll admit it couldn't have been easy).
   "Andril?" he said incredulously.
   "Yes," I said, beaming.
   He shook his head. "Andril?"
   "That's my name."
   "Is this a dream? Would you mind pinching me? Actually, I don't think that'll be enough. Perhaps you should slap me in the face."
   "Oh, I can assure you, this is not a dream," I said. "When I heard the war was over, I decided to come and rescue you, so I begged Osse for help and he helped me get a passage on a ship coming back here, and then I spent an entire year searching roadside pubs for you. And then Lily said she'd seen you, and...here you are!" I kissed him again for good measure.
   "This is...insane," said Maglor. "Insane. "Why did you come for me? Haven't I screwed up your life enough?"
   "Well, I love you, and I missed you, and I figured that with everything that's happened to you, you would need me." I frowned. "You do need me, right? You haven't gone off and got married to some other girl?"
   Maglor looked at me blankly for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Gotten married!" he cried hysterically. "To some other girl! Andril-" he gasped for breath-"As if I would ever, ever leave you for some other girl! I love you, you madwoman! I just can't believe you're here!" He fell back onto the sand and made some more hysterical noises that might have been laughing or crying, I couldn't tell which.
   "Are you laughing or crying?" I asked.
   He sat up and wiped his eyes. "A little of both, I suppose. Sorry, it's been a difficult few centuries for me."
   "I can imagine, what with the war, and your family all dying, and -say, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want," I added, seeing the look on his face.
   "No, let's just get it all out now so that we don't have to bring it up again." He sighed. "I can't believe my entire family is dead over three stupid jewels."
   "I know," I said. "So I hear the last one's in the sea?"
   Maglor smirked. "Chucked it right in. One last act of rebellion against my father. Would you believe I actually miss that crazy bastard?"
   "I can believe it. However much you deny it, I know he always loved you."
   "I think you're right. How's Mom?"
   "She misses you. And Romenella misses Celegorm. She's really mad about him-too bad it took her so long to find out."
   "Well, maybe he'll get reembodied someday and she'll remember what an arse he is," said Maglor. "And I think that's about all the family talk I can stand right now."
   "All right, new topic," I said. "You said if we ever saw each other again, you'd marry me. Well, I want to get married. Right now."
   "Right now?" said Maglor. "But...we're alone on a remote beach and we haven't got any rings or anything. Or food."
   "I hate jewelry," I said. "And we have my lunch...or what's left of it," I added with a grimace. "And since when do we need people around? That seagull over there can be our witness." I stood up, pulling Maglor with me, and cleared my throat. "Maglor, with Eru and that lecherous-looking old seagull over there as my witnesses, I take you as my husband and promise to stick with you for the rest of forever. Amen." I nodded at him. "Your turn."
   "This is ridiculous."
   "Just do it, or I'll boing your hair."
   "A-hem!" said Maglor in his most theatrical voice. "Andril, my dear parentless and ridiculously loyal healer, with Eru and that lecherous-looking old seagull and that even more lecherous-looking starfish as my witnesses, I do officially take you as my wife and solemnly swear on my father's ashy grave to stick with you for the rest of forever and take whatever you dish out. Amen." He gave me a smacking kiss on the lips and sat down to dig into the remnants of my lunch. I did, too.
   "Well, we're married, as promised," said Maglor when we were done eating. "Fat lot of good it's going to do us in this place."
   "Don't talk like that," I said, smacking him on the back. "Sure, it's hard here, but it's not like there aren't any opportunities. You can sing in pubs, I can heal people-there's loads of business, what with all the humans about-and we can have a family. Maybe in the future-a long time in the future-we can go home. But for now, we can get by. Can't we?"
   He looked out over the sea for a long moment. I knew he was thinking about our home; all we'd left behind. Then he turned to me and grinned-his old grin, the one he'd had before this entire fiasco.
   "You're damn right we can," he said. "Let's go back to Lily's; they'll make us a proper wedding feast. And then maybe we can get started on that family, hmmm?"
   I grinned back and elbowed him. We both stood up, packed up our things, and started off up the beach.

The End

Chapter End Notes

Au revoir, mes amies, and I'll see you next time.

Comments

The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.

(1) Comment by Angelica for The Singer's Girl [Ch 1]

How good to get your teen-Feanorians back! I had forgotten how irresistible your teen-Maglor is. A horse with that personality can only be a part of Feanor's household.

(2) Comment by Himring for The Singer's Girl [Ch 4]

I like Curufin's combination of snootiness and helpfulness here! And I sympathize with Andril over the trowel.

(3) Comment by Erulisse for The Singer's Girl [Ch 7]

I'm so happy that you got another chapter up in this story. And now she may be swept up into the bigger picture - it might have been better for her to have never met the brothers, but either way, she's in for the penny and in for the dollar.

- Erulisse (one L)

(4) Comment by Himring for The Singer's Girl [Ch 9]

I'm glad that the aliens returned you safe and sound to your laptop to continue the story!

Nitpick: At the beginning of this chapter, you've got "Caranthir" twice where the second time you seem to mean "Curufin"?

Re: (4) Comment by Himring for The Singer's Girl [Ch 9]

Whoops! Thanks for pointing that out...I hate it when typos get in there!

(5) Comment by Erulisse for The Singer's Girl [Ch 12]

I'm so happy to see another chapter in this. I was wondering what you would do about the slight "glitch" of distance between the two of them. Now...how is she going to get across the Sundering Sea in the "wrong" direction?

- Erulisse (one L)

(6) Comment by Himring for The Singer's Girl [Ch 13]

Hey, why not?

I guess she probably stood a better chance with Osse than she would have with Uinen on this one.

(7) Comment by Aerlinn for The Singer's Girl [Ch 14]

Somehow there was country music playing in the background when I read most of this, and somehow that made the accents and farmer elves even more hilarious. The end was...I chocked on my tea. So beautifully unpoetic. Eru and that lecherous-looking old seagull"...hah! These were some of the most entertainingly un-elvish elves I've read so far.

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The Singer's Girl by Lady MSM

Fanwork Notes

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter End Notes

Chapter 14

Chapter End Notes

Comments

(1) Comment by Angelica for The Singer's Girl [Ch 1]

(2) Comment by Himring for The Singer's Girl [Ch 4]

(3) Comment by Erulisse for The Singer's Girl [Ch 7]

(4) Comment by Himring for The Singer's Girl [Ch 9]

Re: (4) Comment by Himring for The Singer's Girl [Ch 9]

(5) Comment by Erulisse for The Singer's Girl [Ch 12]

(6) Comment by Himring for The Singer's Girl [Ch 13]

(7) Comment by Aerlinn for The Singer's Girl [Ch 14]