The Singer's Girl by Lady MSM

Chapter 12

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

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.