Elvenhome

by Soledad

Disclaimer: see in the Foreword.

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38. Epilogue

In the next morning Meril surprised everyone with her announcement that she intended to return to Kortirion, and that right away. In fact, her handmaids had already packed her travel bags, ready to depart.

“I no longer wish to waste my time with listening to ancient tales,” she explained to her crestfallen charges. “I have work waiting for me, back at home; and I prefer looking forward to the future, instead of lingering in the past, anyway.”

“But I do want to learn more!” protested Aracáno. “Who knows what other tales Ilmarë still has to tell? ‘Tis easy for you to dismiss it all; you were here, you saw it all with your own eyes, but I… I was dead, for three whole Ages! I know nothing!”

“I understand that, Ara, and I am truly sorry,” said Meril with uncharacteristic gentleness, as if she were talking to a small elfling. “But I cannot linger here any more. I have duties.”

“Well, I do not!” Aracáno crossed his arms like a particularly stubborn elfling. “And I want to stay and have some more fun!”

“I would prefer to remain here a little longer myself,” said Elenwë. “Many former subjects of Turucáno live in this town, as you know, and some of them have asked to meet me.”

“You do not have to meet anyone you are not willing to,” reminded her Meril, seeing that she was not entirely comfortable with the idea.

Elenwë nodded. “I know. But they see me as their Queen, even though I never sat upon the throne of Ondolindë. And as Turucáno is trapped in Mandos still, and no-one knows the fate of Itarildë, I am all that they have left.”

“They still have Eärendil and Elwing,” pointed out Meril, but Elenwë shook her head.

“What support could somebody as alien and remote as the evening star be for anyone? Eärendil is but a symbol – few of them have ever met him as a child – and Elwing, who has never lived in their city, is perchance even less than that. My return, although most had never met me before, gives them hope; something to hold onto ‘til their King returns. It is my duty to give them that hope.”

“And I would not dream of keeping you from fulfilling your duty,” said Meril. “But you have been entrusted into my care; both of you. I cannot leave you behind.”

There was a brief shimmering in the air, and in the next moment Erunyauvë was standing in their midst, clad as if she were one of Meril’s handmaids.

“There is another solution,” she said. “I shall stay here with them until they grow tired of the past and choose to look into the future. When they have come so far, I shall escort them back to your home. Would that be satisfactory for everyone?”

Both Aracáno and Elenwë nodded, though the former looked a lot more enthusiastic about the whole thing. After a moment Meril sighed and gave in.

“What about you?” she asked Celebrían. “You are my guest, not my charge; the choice is yours.”

Celebrían thought about that for a moment. “I, too, shall stay here for a while yet,” she then decided. “I wish to spend some more time with my friends. We can all return together when these two are willing.”

Elenwë and Aracáno exchanged looks, then nodded in unison.

“You are welcome to stay in the House of the Hundred Chimneys for as long as you need, of course,” said Lady Vainóni. “You would not be the only permanent residents, as you know.”

The two Reborn accepted the offer gratefully. Celebrían, however, shook her head.

“I thank you, my lady, but I believe I will be more comfortable among my own people. Galenbrethil and Findalor have offered me one of their guest rooms, and I accepted. I shall be visiting from time to time,” she added, seeing the crestfallen faces of the Reborn, especially that of Aracáno, “or you can visit me, whenever you fell like. But ‘tis time for me to begin rebuilding my life, and I can do that best surrounded by people of my household of old.”

Meril nodded thoughtfully. “Yea, I believe you are strong enough to move on. Depending on others would only make you weak again. But what are you planning to do in Tavrobel? You are used to run a large household – what will you do with all the time you will suddenly have at your hands?”

“Well, I can always help Galenbrethil with her herbal remedies,” answered Celebrían with a shrug. “I have some practice with that. I think, however, that I will go to the Tower of the Wise and learn. I have been married to the greatest lore-master of Middle-earth, for an Age and some, and there were times when I felt woefully inadequate. Not that Elrond would ever treat me like that,” she hurried to add,” but unlike him, I was never instructed in sagecraft. Oh, I did read a great deal! I even learned Quenya to understand the older books; but it all happened haphazardly, without any particular order. I would like to change that.”

Lady Vainóni nodded, clearly impressed. “’Tis a worthy goal; and it will put all that spare time you will have to good use.”

“Not to mention that it will enable you to discuss deeper topics than just old times with your husband, once he feels ready to Sail,” commented Erunyauvë with twinkling eyes.

“I, too, want to learn more about what happened after my death,” said Aracáno. “So I might accompany you in the Tower from time to time, if you do not mind.”

Celebrían smiled at him. “It would be my pleasure.”

She meant it, she truly did. She had become quite fond of the youngest prince of Fingolfin’s House who, in many things, reminded her of her sons. Or rather what her sons had been like when very young. For strangely enough, Elladan and Elrohir had lived a lot longer than her mother’s cousin – not counting the millennia Aracáno had spent in Mandos, that is.

“What about you?” she then asked Elenwë, who shrugged uncertainly.

“Oh, I do not know. I believe I would like to learn more about Uncle Laurë and his deeds in the Outer Lands; I miss him so much. May I visit you from time to time, too?”

“Of course; I would be delighted to tell you about him,” promised Celebrían. “After all, I have known him for an Age and a half; and so have Galenbrethil, Findalor and Lindefal. They will be able to tell you more than ever I can, as they used to live in the court of Lindon at the same time as he.”

“Very well,” said Meril, “Then this is settled, for the time. Now, I must truly depart and return to my duties. Do not linger too long, you two,” she looked at the Reborn. “When Erunyauvë says ‘tis time to come back to Kortirion, do so.”

“Yes, Ammë,” replied Aracáno sarcastically, while Elenwë simply nodded.

“Do not make me change my mind,” warned Meril; then she turned to Erunyauvë. “I thereby entrust these two into your more than capable hands.”

The Maia smiled. “Worry not. Is hall keep a close eye on them; especially that one,” she nodded in Aracáno’s direction, who sputtered with indignation.

And so it came that Celebrían, Elenwë and Aracáno took their leave from the Lady of Tol Eressëa for a while. Meril-i-Turinqi returned to her house in Kortirion, in the great korin of elm trees and continued to rule the Isle, a Queen without a crown or a title but with all the wisdom that was required to do so.

The two Reborn stayed in the House of the Hundred Chimneys, under the protection and care of Erunyauvë the Maia, and Celebrían…. Celebrían began to build herself a new life.

~The End – for now~

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End notes:

This is not how I originally planned to end “Elvenhome”. I wanted to finish it at 40 chapters because, well, that is such a nice, round number. But the muse died on me, and while I am certainly capable of going on by sheer willpower – have, in fact, done so many times – this is not the kind of story that can be forced. Inspiration either comes – or it does not.

So, instead of a nice, round number of chapters in, oh, another six years, I decided that having a nice, finished story now would be better. There will be a second part, definitely, picking up the tale a hundred or so years later, when Celebrían finally feels strong enough to move on to Aman itself, at least temporarily; and perhaps even a short third part, eventually, in which Elrond and Celebrían will be reunited. I cannot tell when, though. As I said, Inspiration must come on its own, in this case.

In the meantime, I am planning to pick up some old WIPs again, namely “Emissary of the Mark” and “The Book of Mazarbul”, which are also overdue for an update. Other than that – whatever the muses are willing to do.

My heartfelt thanks for the interest and support of all those who kept reading and reviewing – you know who you are. I hope you enjoyed the trip to Elvenhome and will be back for more, eventually.

Soledad@2012-05-29