One Flesh, One Soul. Part II by FellFireFan

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Chapter 3

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Norgothrond

386 A.D.

 

Uninvited Visitor

 

 

   Finrod sat comfortably in the dimly lit chambers. Soft scribbles of the quill sounded from the parchment as he penned a missive. Its intended recipient was Aegnor. Taking a rest mid-way through, the wooden, elven carved chair creaked as he leaned back and sighed deeply. In the rush of thought that clouded his mind, he found himself utterly bereft of words, and for a long, lingering spell, he was deeply troubled. 

   He was faced with an impossible decision. To allow his brother the freedom to choose to continue on this path, knowing only grief and despair without union waited for him at the end, or to protect his brothers heart, sparing him the grief of her loss, shouldering the blame entirely. 

   He plucked his quill up from its inky prison. Just as it made contact with the parchment again, an unexpected sound caught him off guard, pulling him from his stormy thoughts. His curiosity switched to alarm when a pair of hands grasped the bottom of the window from the outside. Finrod leapt to his feet to confront the unexpected intruder only to see Aegnor's robust figure, clouded in shadow pulling himself upwards and inside.

  "Aegnor!" Finrod yelled, his voice laced with surprise and annoyance.

  "Your guards are extremely diligent, Finrod!" Aegnor's laughing voice fluttered as his bright smile filled the room. He pulled himself in, clambering over the sill rather unceremoniously.

  "Aegnor! Why do you so brazenly disregard the formality of seeking an audience through penned missive before you're coming!? Had my guards seen you, they would have shot you without warning!" He scolded him. Aegnor laughed. His enchanting echo dancing through the room

  "Is it not my duty as your brother to shield you from the tedious and gruel shadows of dullness?" Aegnor quipped, his witty grin widening further.

  "Do not make light of this, Aegnor!" Finrod responded sternly, his long finger pointing at him. "Henceforth, you shall not enter my realm or scale my walls without first notifying my guards of your presence. Do I make myself clear!?" Finrod's anger caused Aegnor's smile to wane and morph into one of confusion.

  "Does some affliction trouble you?" Aegnor spoke, his brow furrowing with concern. 

   Finrod's stern countenance softened, his gaze fixated on Aegnor's eyes, shimmering with life and love. Releasing a tense sigh, Finrod gently closed his eyes, allowing them to linger in a prolonged blink. "I was in the proceeds of penning a missive addressed to you," he sighed wearily as he returned to the writing desk. A heavy burden weighed upon his features, casting a dark shadow over his countenance. "There are matters of great significance I need to discuss with you, words that can not be written by letter," Finrod continued, Aegnor's excitement surged forth, his voice brimming with unbridled joy.

  "Finrod, my heart is a flutter of joy, I fear it may burst from me and take to flight. There is something I yearn to share with you!" he exclaimed, his voice flushed with his bright grin.

   Silence fell, heavy and deafening. As Finrod rested his elbow on the desk, his head cradled in his hand. Sensing his brother's sombre mood, uncharacteristic for him, Aegnor paused, his grin sinking into a look of confusion.

  "Brother?" Aegnor spoke. Finrod sat silently, and his form was cloaked in shadows. "Finrod, have I committed any deeds that have brought a wrinkle to your noble brow?" 

   Finally, Finrod rose and turned around. "No, Aegnor, you are innocent of anything, I pray you forgive my sombreness, for a great burden weights upon me that is not of your doing." Finrod reassured him, offering him a gentle smile. A wave of relief washed over Aegnor's countenance, and his smile rekindled.

   "I had truly thought you held a grievance toward me," Aegnor replied, "That I had transgressed upon your weary soul. I am glad for that,"

   With a graceful sweep, Finrod sat down upon the furnishings, his form sinking into the softness of a cheslonge suite, extending his hand. He invited Aegnor to occupy the one parallel to him. Aegnor came and sank down gracefully before him. A small round table, decorated with afew flowers nestled in a small glass vase, separated them. The brothers stared at one another quietly, the air thick with unspoken words. A smile, masking a profound sense of dread, gently uplifted the corners of Finrod's plump lips. 

   "I am relieved to witness your happiness, Aegnor, truly," Finrod replied. Breaking the silence. A tense pause lingered between them. Aegnor observed his brothers hands that sat upon his lap. Their form tightly clenching together with one finger tapping rhythmically at the back of his hand. The tension thickened, and Finrod cautiously posed his question. "Are you ready now to divulge the name of the maiden, the very one who has cast her spell upon your heart?" He asked.

   Aegnor maintained silence for a moment as his squinting gaze fixed upon him. "You are nervous, Finrod," he remarked. Aegnor was no fool; Finrod could not deceive him, and he was foolish to believe he ever could. Finrod released a heavy sigh. His hair shimmering like moonlight upon a field of snow, his full, plump lips tensing. 

  "I first discerned the change within you at the gathering of the Eldar and the Edain in the years passed." He began. "I noticed how lovingly you tended to Andreth. Her sway over you is remarkable, to say the least. I watched you from a far as you sat close beside her, never straying from her side. Then I witnessed you both rise to retreat to the quiet of the wood." There was a tense pause that followed. "I bore witness to all that had happened between you there after." Aegnor rose from his seat, his lip curling in rage.

  "You followed us?" He growled

  Finrod remained in his place. His steady gaze meeting Aegnor's. "Yes," he replied. "Understand Aegnor, that what I did, I did for good reason..."

  "Good reason!?" Aegnor snapped, his voice course with building rage. "What reason could you provide to justify this blatant abuse of my trust, Finrod!?" Aegnor bellowed, his anger charged the room.

  ("Sit down, Aegnor!") Finrod commanded in elvish, his words carried the weight of a calm authority. Seething still, Aegnor reluctantly obeyed his command and gradually sank back down, his furious glare burning into him.

  "You are justified in your anger toward me, my brother. Know that I never seek with a deliberation to involve myself with the matters of your heart for you above all others hold them deep. In this particular instance, it was necessary."

  "You may be the eldest Finrod!" Aegnor hissed venomously. "And you may wear even atar's own ring! But you do not hold the right to decide what is necessary in the matters of my heart!"

Finrod paused, his calm expression witnessing Aegnor's unravelling further into rage, he continued with a slow disappointed shake of his head, "The countless times I protected the love between you and Amarië! Keeping your secrets, lying to amil and atar on your behalf, however much it pained me to do these things, my love in witnessing your bliss never wavered! Here now, I stand on the precipice of a love of my own only to find your shadow cast over me, invading my privacy and meddling in my affairs!" He yelled, his white teeth bared like a cornered animal, ready to lunge. 

   Finrod sighed, and broke his gaze, seeking a moment to recover himself. "I must ascertain, beyond a shadow of doubt, the maiden you have chosen, is it Andreth?"

  Glaring sternly into Finrod's eyes, Aegnor spoke with unyielding certainty and undeniable firmness. "Without a shadow of doubt... brother!" Aegnor spat through bared teeth, "It is..."

   The confirmation hung over Finrod like a leaden cloud. His head sunk low into his chest, and a look of despondency engulfed his visage as his last facade to conceal his emotions from Aegnor shattered. Anger blazed fiercely within Aegnor as he observed Finrod's crestfallen state.

  "Be cautious, Finrod, that you do not further invoke my wrath, lest I succumb to deeds I shall surely, deeply regret!" Aegnor seethed. His hand tightened. Finrod regarded him slowly as Aegnor's fortitude was tested to its limit. 

  "You show caution, Aegnor, that you do not make threats toward me! Cease the tempest that rages within you!" Finrod ordered steadily, his voice resonating with a low, commanding timbre. The profound scowl etched upon Aegnor's countenance pierced into Finrod. A mysterious darkness shadowed Aegnor's brow lending power to the profound flames that lit up his eyes. A terrifying glow that burned with such intensity never before was witnessed by Finrod. Though it did frighten him to behold such a sight, Finrod showed no fear. Then, as if caught by a sudden realization, Aegnor twitched and disengaged. Burying his head in his hand, messaging his brow.

    "So, you disapprove," Aegnor grumbled. His subdued gaze clinging to the floor. "She is no princess or maiden of high birth. She is more unlike the pompous, flittering, babbling, senseless ones you and Angrod throw at me at every hurdle!" He groaned

  "On the contrary," Finrod countered, "I hold a great fondness for her. She is after all the fore daughter of my most trusted servant and friend," Finrod replied, finally prompting Aegnor to look at him. A heavy pause hung in the air, and choosing to switch to elvish, he used their mother tongue to speak to Aegnors heart.

 ("When you came to me, to first seek my counsel, you unveiled the captive state of your heart, withholding her name from me, and I respected your silence. I presumed, brother, that this mysterious maiden belonged to our kind and not of mortal lineage. It was only through the glimpses of the intimate embrace you shared with her that fateful night that the gravity of my misjudgement unravelled before me,")

    With an icy, low growl, Aegnor responded chillingly. ("... What did you say?")

    Finrod explained on. ("The call of the feä is a phenomenon that resonates only within the Eldar. Bestowed upon us by the Valar, it is a connection that eludes the comprehension of all other races. Whether the depth of Andreth's love for you matches the fervent longing in your own heart, none can say with certainty. As Eldar, we are bound to seek out our spouses only among our own kind.")

   Aegnor, his face shrouded in an icy, vacant gaze, stared at Finrod, the pause pregnant with tension. Then, without a warning, Aegnor's leg swung out in a release of terrifying rage. His hard boot slammed beneath the small table between them, upturning it in a loud sudden crash. He sprung to his feet, his teeth and jaw clenching tightly.

   "Not only do you abuse and disregard my feelings, now you seek to insult me by calling into question the legitimacy of Andreth's love for me!" He roared, rejecting his brothers attempts to sooth him with elvish words, "Whether Andreth bears the blood of Eldar or the Edain, She is no less worthy a maiden in my eyes, and I discern no distinctions between our genders. Why then do you seek to erect barriers of your design to drive us apart for no reason other than the blatant bigotry in your heart!?"

   Finrod rose to his full height. His eyes thunderous and his voice deepened, resonating with authority. "You shall not besmirch my character with words that have no place in my home!" he retorted

   Aegnor's gaze darkened into a taunting glare, leaning forward, "Did it vex you, brother? To watch us in ecstasy in a heated kiss?" He hissed, his eyes narrowing, "I tasted her fully, and it pleasured her! My tongue savoured her with blissful delight!"

  "Enough of that vile talk, Aegnor!" Finrod thundered, his eyes flashing. "You are vulgar and contemptuous and bereft of the decorum of the Eldar! Once a thought takes root in your head, it consumes you, and you lose all sight of yourself! Are you utterly incapable of learning from your mistakes?" Finrod roared.

  "My mistake lies in ever placing trust in you!" Aegnor screamed, his strong, guttural roar reverberating through the air, near shaking the delicate ornaments that adorned the shelves.

   "I care not for your sentiments! Here my words, once this accursed war is over, Andreth and I shall be wed, and if you deny me a ceremonial union with her, then through our hroä's alone, we shall have it!" Aegnor spun to leave, walking toward the window. Finrod watched him, his silence heavy within the air. Aegnor stopped.

  "I do not want enmity with you, Finrod," he spoke, his voice now a fragile murmur. The light from the window cast upon him as he turned back, catching the glistening in his watery eyes. His pained countenance concealed a vast ocean of torment. "I came in hopes of celebration, that we might both rejoice in this newfound love within my heart, just as you have known... with Amarïe." Finrod's gaze descended to the ground, a profound, trembling sigh escaping his flaring nostrils, burdened with the weight of Aegnor's pain. "Must you deny me the very same desire?" Aegnor quivered, his steely grey eyes glistening in the light. 

  "Is this truly what you desire Aegnor?" Finrod asked, lifting his gaze. "Forsaking all our customs should you choose this path, knowing the consequences a physical union bereft of ceremony will bring? To cast aside your entire kin, every soul that loves you like a burdensome pebble thrown to the relentless waves, all for the sake of this love?"

   Aegnor sighed deeply, his gaze averted, as if deeply contemplating the depth of his words. "Know that it is not a decision I make lightly, for I alone bear its heavy cost. I love you, but I must follow the call of my heart, even as it breaks me to part ways from you and from Angrod. There is no other way for me. No matter how it pains me to speak these words."

   Finrod sighed mournfully, his brow wrinkled with profound sadness, "If that is what you truly feel... then I know not even my words can reach you now." He slowly turned from him, his head hung low with deep sorrow. 

   "Finrod... please!" Aegnor's voice, coarse with anguish croaked. "I can no longer live like this! This burning longing, this vast emptiness that consumes my beaten heart! All my life, I have served you with no desire for return, I have done all that you have asked of me! Why are you doing this!? It is not fair!!" He cried, his face wet with tears. "Why must you punish me so cruelly?" His voice had waned to but a fragile crack. Desperate for Finrod's acceptance. The sound was too agonising for Finrod to bear and he turned back around once more, his eyes finding Aegnor's. His narrow cheeks wet with heavy tears. Aegnor crumbled before him, the agony in his face pleading with Finrod. His head hung in defeat, he slowly turned back to the window just as tears gushed from his eyes as his quiet sobs echoed like thunder claps between them.

   "Dry your eyes and follow me," Finrod finally replied with remarkable steadiness. "There is something I want to show you." He swiftly left, leaving Aegnor alone. With a heavy sniff and trembling breaths Aegnor did as he was asked and wiped away his flooding tears, taking a moment to collect himself. He then slowly followed his brother's lead out of the dim room and into the darkness of his caved palace.