A New Life in an Old Home by chrissystriped

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Chapter Four

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The bell tinkled when Maedhros opened the door to the shop and ducked through. He’d already seen by the pieces in the shop windows that Caranthir was selling all manner of things here. A blonde woman with a scar on her cheek smiled at him from behind the counter and Maedhros walked over.

“How may I help you?”, she asked.

“I’m looking for my brother”, he said. “I’m told he owns this shop?”

“Oh!” He could see her scrutinising his height and hair and coming to the right conclusion. “Of course, Prince Maedhros. He’s in a meeting with a business partner, but I could maybe fetch him?” She sounded doubtful and Maedhros was sure that she was only offering because he was who he was. He knew how Caranthir reacted to disturbances of business matters.

“No need”, he said and saw her suppress a sigh of relief. “I’ll just look around a bit.”

There seemed to be a bit of everything. Fabrics, jewellery, pottery, catalogues with drawings of clothes, shoes, even furniture you seemed to be able to order here.

“Excuse me”, Maedhros turned around to the shop assistant again. “What exactly is this place? My brothers were a little vague about it. Don’t craftsmen usually sell their own works anymore.”

“They do, yes, but…” She averted her eyes then looked back at him purposefully. “Some of us can’t easily talk to strangers, even if it is in our own home. Your brother takes a percentage of the sales, but he makes it possible for our people to sell their craft in the first place. He has a good heart, your brother.”

Maedhros lifted his eyebrows. “Caranthir?” He doubted his brother had ever done anything that didn’t profit him — at least in his former life.

“He is way better than his reputation.” She glowered impressively at him and Maedhros decided to steer the conversation into a different direction.

“Who is ‘us’?”, he asked.

“Oh, the Angband-elves, of course, I thought you must know.”

“The what?”

She looked at confused as he felt. “The Angband-elves, us former slaves.”

“And why would you call yourselves Angband-elves?”

She shrugged. “I think Ecthelion came up with it. It’s what links us all together. We come from different backgrounds, but we’ve all been through the same hell. You’re one, too, you know. I’m Valde, by the way.”

“Maedhros”, he said mechanically, breathing deeply to push down the memories that had reared their heads at her words. “And I’m not…”

“Maedhros?” He turned towards his brother but his eyes stopped on the person who accompanied him.

He was tall, almost as tall as Maedhros himself — he felt himself straighten up instinctively and brushed the ceiling in the process — he was also very visibly an orc. The memories snaked into his brain against his best efforts. His hand was fumbling for a sword he didn’t wear, his heart thundering, cold sweat running down his body.

Caranthir, who’d seen him in this state before and knew how much he hated others noticing, said calmly: “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in my office, brother? Just down the hallway, I’ll be with you in a minute.”

Maedhros walked past them, keeping the orc in his line of sight for as long as possible. He couldn’t believe that the Valar had let the likes of him into Valinor, he couldn’t believe his brother was trading with him. He couldn’t believe anything of this! He noticed that he was trembling and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself.

When Caranthir came back, Maedhros’s heartbeat had almost slowed to normal. “I’m sorry. If I’d known you were coming, I’d have planned Lantelen’s visit differently.” He opened a cupboard and took out a bottle and glasses.

“I can’t believe you are consorting with orcs!”, Maedhros said sharply but accepted the glass of clear liquid. The strong spirit burned down his throat.

Caranthir’s eyebrows rose up. “I think you aren’t yet up to date with events. And Lantelen isn’t an orc, even if he looks like one.”

Maedhros accepted another drink and leaned back. “What did I miss?”, he asked weakly.

“There are orcs on Tol Eressea”, Caranthir started. “When it became clear that the Valar would win, they were ordered to kill the elvish slaves — they decided to free them instead and the Valar allowed them a place in Aman for that. They get on pretty well with their telerin neighbours, but many Noldor are still wary of them, so I sell their wares and Lantelen is their agent.”

“And you trust them?”, Maedhros asked disbelievingly.

“The Angband-elves do.” Caranthir shrugged. “I figured, they must know.”

Maedhros shook his head and grabbed the bottle to fill his glass again. “I must be dreaming! When did you become a philanthrope? What’s in this for you?”

Caranthir grimaced. “You wound me, brother”, he said. “People can change, can’t they.”

“Sorry.” Maedhros blushed. “I’m just… a little unbalanced after running into your business partner.”

Caranthir waved his hand. “It’s alright. I’m living well on what I earn as middleman, but I also like to help these people sell their stuff for a good price. They were only selling by word of mouth before I became aware of them.”

Maedhros smiled to himself. Yes, that sounded more like Caranthir. He hated when things were done inefficiently.

“It’s good to see you, brother.” Caranthir reached over the table and squeezed his hand. “I’m glad that you are back.”

“It’s good to see you, too.” He looked happy, Maedhros thought, not as haunted as he’d seen him last. “Even if you’re making common cause with orcs.”

Caranthir chuckled. “I won’t hear the end of this, I can see.”

Maedhros grinned back, he already felt more magnanimous — the alcohol was burning pleasantly in his belly. “You can bet on it. Are you in contact with Maglor?”

“Yes. I’m visiting him regularly. He’s alright.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Maedhros hadn’t known what to think about the situation. It felt wrong to him that Maglor should atone for them all, as it felt to him, even if that wasn’t the official view.

“The Teleri are way nicer than we deserve. He’s carrying a lot of groceries, he says, and that’s about it. But you can talk to him yourself.”

“Oh, I will. I intend to pay my respects to King Olwe soon.”

Caranthir nodded. “Yes, I understand. Do you want some company?”

Maedhros shook his head. “I need to do this alone. But thank you for offering.”

Caranthir shrugged. “You’re my brother. And I know how hard it is to meet the people you wronged.” Caranthir’s eyes filled with grief and Maedhros wondered if one of he reasons his brother was keeping this shop was guilt. “But Olwe is a kind person. He won’t make it hart for you.”

Maedhros nodded gratefully. “Let’s see if we can get all of us together one of these days. I’d like to have a family gathering — and mother sounded like she’d like that, too, when I met her on my way here.”

“Yes, let’s try that. Also, if you need new clothes, I’d suggest you look through the catalogues in the shop.” Caranthir winked at him. “I can recommend all my tailors.”

Maedhros laughed. Caranthir might have developed a helpful streak, but he hadn’t changed that much.

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Chapter End Notes

And this is the point were my AU starts to sneak into this fic. If you are as confused as Maedhros about what Angband-elves are and what orcs are doing on Tol Eressea, here's the fic to go to: Finding Lost Family