Half-elven week: Day 6 - Parents of Half-elves
"Elladan, what are you doing?" Elladan whirled around to see his mother standing behind him, just inside the balcony doors.
"Umm... nothing. Enjoying the fresh morning air?" Celebrían raised her eyebrow suspiciously. Two answers always meant that one was false, but usually both. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, waiting.
Eventually Elladan's shoulders slumped. "I was just messing with the cattle herders."
Celebrían's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She and Elladan stood on the third floor balcony, the cattle was grazing nearly half a mile away! They were near enough for a loud voice to reach, but the cows of Imladris were trained not to startle at loud noises.
Elladan noticed her confusion. "Do you see that group of cows right there?" He pointed to the group of cows nearest to them. She nodded. "They are going to run in a circle and frighten their minder."
He turned to the group and took a deep breath, then he opened his mouth and began to sing. His voice was not one, nor did it come only from his mouth. He sang as a multitude, wordless music exuding from his entire body.
The cows did indeed run in circles, their watcher running after them and trying to keep them from stampeding. As Elladan stopped singing, the cows stilled.
Elladan turned towards her, smiling proudly. She smiled back and tried not to let her disquiet show on her face. "Very impressive..."
She turned and left him to his own devices. His display had disturbed her to the core. It was unnatural and terrifying all at once.
She thought of what could have given him that capability. It could not have been her. Her family, while powerful, existed within the realms of understandable. His power must have come from Elrond’s side of the family, Melian specifically. The thought did not ease her mind.
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"Nanneth! Come and see what I can do!" Celebrían walked down the final steps into the garden. She hoped that he was going to show her that he had learned to cartwheel but, given that the... cattle incident had occurred a week ago, she was not optimistic.
"What is it you can do?" Elrohir scrunched his face in focus. All around them, plants began to grow and move. The grass felt like wriggling worms beneath her bare feet. The flowers split and grew and split again, their colors dizzyingly vivid. Even the tree above them creaked and rattled it's branches.
Finally, Elrohir released them, breathing hard from the exertion. He looked up at her expectantly. "That's amazing Elrohir. You are very talented."
The grin on his face outshone the sun. Someday, perhaps this gift would be useful, but still she could not rid her feet of the sensation of writhing grass. She determined to wear shoes in the gardens from now on.
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"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Elrond and Celebrían's heads immediately swiveled towards the source of the noise. A dignitary of Rohan was backed into a corner attempting to defend himself from a tiny ball of teeth, claws, and hair. Arwen...
Elrond sighed, remembering the last time he had done that same thing. He had grown tired of the whispers, pity, and malicious insinuations. One poor elf had tried to be kind to him but he had taken it the wrong way. He never smelled anything ever again.
Elrond decided to intervene before the same fate befell this unfortunate man. He saw Arwen poised to pounce, but he leaped and caught her in mid-air before she could do any harm. She struggled, snarling, hissing, and snapping.
"Arwen, what is the matter with you!? Go to your room immediately." Arwen only snarled in response, clawing at the air to try and reach her opponent.
Elrond looked to Celebrían pleadingly. She took the still-struggling Arwen to her room to try and calm her down, leaving Elrond to try and smooth things over with the dignitary.
Now that the twins were older, this kind of thing did not frighten her so much. It was unnerving and disturbing, yes, but it was expected now. She still did not want to be on the business end of Arwen's teeth however.
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"Oh, it is so nice to have a break from the children today." Celebrían and Maedel were taking tea on a secluded balcony. Maedel also had a child near Arwen's age so they often met, both for their children to play, and so they could swap stories. Today, the children were playing in the back garden being watched over by Elladan and Elrohir.
"Yes it is. So tell me, what has Arwen been doing?" Celebrían laughed.
"Do you remember the Rohirrim who came to visit last week?" Maedel nodded.
"Well, she had said something reasonably intelligent to one of the dignitaries, so he patted her on the head and called her a very smart girl. Apparently, she took offense to that and started growling at him. He backed into a corner and she was about to pounce on him when Elrond stepped in. We got her into her room eventually, but it still took an hour to get her calm enough for her teeth to shrink back to regular size and for the claws to turn back into fingernails."
Maedel looked at her in astonishment. She said these things as if it were completely normal. Offhandedly, Celebrían added, "Given the look on that poor man's face, I don't think that was an Edain phenomenon. Valar, I wish I had payed more attention when studying the Edain. Then perhaps I could tell the difference between elven, mannish, and maian traits."
The two women took sips of tea in tandem. "It must be so difficult raising mongrel children. I honestly don't know how you do it."
Celebrían's world stopped in an instant. Mongrel?!? How dare she!? Her children were perfectly wonderful! Yes, they bore the blood of many different kindreds. Yes they did strange and unnatural things because of it. But they were still HER CHILDREN.
The twins shared the eyes she inherited from her father. Elladan inherited his grandmother's ambition and strength of will. Elrohir inherited her laugh and her heart. Arwen inherited her love of the woods. Yes they were their father's children, with the energy and susceptibility to illness of the Edain, and with the undefinable eldritchery of the Maia. But they were also their mother's children.
She schooled her expression into one resembling the ice of her mother's past. Cold, beautiful, serene, it would crack beneath the feet of its unsuspecting victim to reveal sharp, jagged edges, leaving nothing behind but a mangled corpse.
"I beg your pardon. Mongrels?" Maedel looked up from her tea, eyes wide, suddenly realizing her blunder.
"Don't misunderstand me, I have the utmost respect for your husband... but even you must admit he is a little... eccentric. And he's clearly passed on his abnormalities to his children." Maedel watched Celebrían's expression, hoping to see the tiniest bit of forgiveness, or even mercy.
All she saw were crystal spikes, beautiful and terrifying to look upon.
Celebrían took a deep breath and rose to her feet. "Get. Out. Take your child and leave."
Maedel blinked in confusion and fear, her mind still not comprehending the depth of her transgression. Celebrían growled out, "Since your simple mind fails to understand the command, I will use a saying that has been prominent in MY family's history for millenia."
She drew up to her full height and pointed towards the door. "GET THEE GONE AND TAKE THY DUE PLACE!"
Maedel's eyes widened comically and she scurried away. Celebrían sat back down at the table to enjoy the rest of her tea.
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@halfelvenweek also, the singing part was inspired by this cattle call here.
