Title: A Bond of Brothers 
Chapter Two (b) - Family Affairs
Author: Oakenshield (Oakenshield@lonelymountain.zzn.com)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Elladan/Elrohir, implied Gil-galad/Elrond
Warnings/Spoilers: Incest
Archive: Anyone who wants it is welcome to have it, just let me know first.
Disclaimer: The characters and the places all belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, and I
am making no profit from this at all.
Summary: Elrond and Celebrian learn of their sons' incest. 

------

Chapter Two(b) - Family Affairs


Something was wrong, Celebrían decided, as she made to leave her chambers. She
wasn't entirely sure what was wrong, it wasn't a feeling she could put a name
to, but something was definitely amiss and she was bracing herself for its
coming. It wasn't a war, no. Something far smaller, yet far bigger. Far closer. 

The children were all fine. Weren't they? Arwen seemed happy enough. Elladan
had been rather anxious at times, she had noticed, as if he was hiding
something. And Elrohir had spent most of the last three months in a daydream,
waltzing around with a smile constantly fixed to his face. She blamed it on
love. Elrond had dismissed the idea with a hearty laugh, and Elrohir himself
had blushed near beetroot and indignantly denied it when she had asked him of
it, but she had always been able to read her younger son's heart, and it told
her he had found someone. 

She wondered why he was being so guarded about it, it seemed strange that he
should keep anything from her. But she knew that if it were serious he would
tell her in his own time. Perhaps that was what was wrong with Elladan, he was
hiding his brother's secret. The more she considered it, the more she thought
the boys had been very secretive of late. Not that there was nothing unusual
about that, they'd always been very close with each other, ever since they had
been children, maybe closer than brothers should be. But were they more so
lately? 

As for Elrond, she felt he truly had need for her concern. He had been working
himself to exhaustion in preparation for the autumn festivities. And she knew
he was being plagued with dreams again; his words in his sleep told her so,
though he never spoke of it when he was awake. It did not worry her overly, it
was not the first time - and probably not the last - for the Lord of Imladris
to be gripped with nightmares of the past. Though while it did not worry her,
it angered her a little, and she wasn't sure if she felt jealous or just
helpless that he should shut her out of something that obviously pained him so
much. 

The sound of rustling sheets pulled her from her thoughts and caused her to
turn back into the room. Elrond stirred under the bedcovers, reaching across to
her pillow, subsequently exposing his body as the covers moved. 

Celebrían's eyes wandered across the many battle scars that laced across his
skin. Each scar told a tale; some she knew of, some she could only imagine. The
scars were pale, some only visible as they caught the pale light of the
morning, like threads of silver; long healed, as far as the flesh conveyed. 

Though millennia old, Elrond's appearance did not betray his age. Every muscle
was still firm, if not as pronounced as it had been when he was an active
warrior. His skin was still flawless and unlined, ageless as every Elf. Though
his form had a sturdiness that was not quite Elvish, his body was not as lithe
as other Elves, his features were not so sharp. The Man's blood showed, but it
was what made him so different, and so beautiful. It was what had attracted
Celebrían to him when they had first met. He had stolen her heart the moment
she had seen him, though at that time his heart had belonged to another. Maybe
it still did. 

Sighing, he mumbled in his sleep. "Into darkness fell his star..." 

Celebrían trod lightly back to the bed and reached to run a hand through his
dark hair, leaning close to speak into his ear. 

"What are you dreaming of, my love?" she dared to ask, steeling herself for the
familiar stab of pain that she could only liken to a kick in the stomach by a
horse. The sound of his name on her husband's lips, the sad glow of the pain in
his eyes that she knew she could never heal, and she knew Elrond would never
allow her to. He would rather bear the pain, as it was the only reminder. 

He reached out for a hand that would never be there. "Ereinion..." he whispered
into the pillow. 

Celebrían sunk bonelessly to the edge of the mattress, closing her fingers
around Elrond's blindly groping hand. "I'm afraid it is only me," she
whispered, fighting against her heart's urge to cry. "Will I do?" 

As if her touch had pulled him from his dreams, Elrond opened his eyes to look
at her with confusion. "Will you do what?" he frowned, apparently unaware of
his sleepy uttering. "Is it time to wake already?" he yawned. 

"No, it is only just dawn," she told him, as she rose to her feet and released
his hand. 

Elrond sat up and glanced, bleary-eyed, to the window to confirm the time of
day. "What are you doing then?" He raised the edge of the coverlet in
invitation. "Come back to bed." 

"As tempting as it is, I cannot," she declined, forcing her eyes to look away
from the soft mattress, the warm covers, and her husband's naked figure. "I
have things to do." She stooped to kiss his cheek, making sure she didn't lean
far enough over the bed for him to pull her in. "Go back to sleep. You have
been working too hard these last few weeks, you need to take some rest." She
refrained from adding that she also knew about his disruptive sleeping
patterns. He would know that she was not blind to it, but it did not need
mentioning. 

"I know, but I must get everything prepared." Elrond wearily kicked the
remaining covers from where they clung to his legs. "The festival will be upon
us in less than two weeks. I still have to finalise the guest lists." He
appeared to have to wrench himself from the pillows. 

"No you do not, I am going to do that now." Celebrían pushed him back with a
firm hand and covered him again. "Then, if I have not lost all sense of reason
and patience, I may be persuaded to bring you breakfast in bed." 

"And come and help me eat it?" He smiled slowly at her, though the smile failed
to sweep the haunted look from his eyes. She could see it as if it were fire.
Whatever he had been dreaming of, he had definitely not been reliving one of
the finer moments with his ex- lover. 

"Elrond, I will not get anything done if you put thoughts like that in my
head." Giving an equally forced smile, she swiped at his shoulder. "Now sleep.
I will sort everything, do not worry." She kissed him once more, firmly on the
mouth, maybe to comfort him or perhaps to comfort herself, to possessively
remind him he was her husband. 

"Celebrían," he called softly after her as she turned to leave the room. "Did I
say anything? In my sleep just then, I mean." He avoided meeting her eyes. 

She didn't try to look at him. "No," she lied. "No, you did not say anything at
all." Allowing herself one last glance at her husband as sleep reclaimed him,
she slipped through the door shutting it quietly behind her. 

Ereinion. 

Few had called him that. Mostly he had been called "Gil-galad". It was like it
was special that Elrond should have called him that. She could not help but
wonder - and imagine - had he called him that every day? Or only at night? Only
when they were alone in each other's arms. 

/'Ereinion...'/

He never whispered her name like that. He never had. She didn't think he could,
even if he were to try and lie. 

"He does love me," she assured herself, as she ambled down the corridor, and it
was the truth.

She knew that Elrond loved her, but she also knew that he would never be in
love with her in the same way he had loved the Elven King. It had never been
discussed, but it was something she had always known, and had always accepted
with dignity. But it didn't stop it hurting any less when Elrond called his
name in her bed, when he was lying in her arms. And it did hurt. It hurt so
much. 

Perhaps that was what had been worrying her of late, underneath it all? 

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Elladan darting towards his room until
he collided with her as he ran past her. 

"Sorry Mother!" he called back over his shoulder as he kept running. 

"Good morning, Mother," Elrohir nodded to her as he passed on her other side. 

Her deep contemplation was not enough to prevent her noticing her sons' state
of disrepair and it was certainly not enough to stop her questioning them about
it. "Just a moment, you two, if you don't mind." She walked to them as they
both obediently halted, only yards from Elladan's bedroom door. "Elladan, what
has happened to your shirt?" She fingered the torn material, noting the missing
buttons. 

Elladan's mouth fell open and he glanced to his twin for support. 

"We were just tousling," Elrohir offered unconvincingly with a shrug. 

"Just tousling, were you?" Celebrían pulled the younger twin's arm from his
side, where he was clearly trying to conceal something. "Then why do you have
blood on your sleeve?" As hard as she looked, she could not see the source of
the blood. Neither of them had any visible cuts. 

Elrohir looked down at his sleeve and gasped, seeing the red stain. "It got a
little out of hand," he muttered sheepishly, passing a fleeting look at Elladan
before they both shifted their eyes to the floor. 

Celebrían held them both in her stare, waiting for Elrohir to start to fidget,
as he usually did before confessing all. But he did not flinch. Whatever
trouble they had been up to this time, they were both adamant to keep it a
secret. 

"Very well," she said. "I suppose that's the only answer I am going to get from
the two of you." She fixed her eyes on Elrohir again, holding him in a stare
that would have made a fearsome warrior quake in his boots. "As long as you
have not been doing anything you should not have been doing." Instinct told her
that she should not let the situation go so easily. 

Elrohir's head snapped up to look at her so hard that it must have hurt his
neck. "Like what?" Guilt was written across his face. 

"I do not know Elrohir, maybe you can tell me," she probed. 

"No!" he cried, paling then blushing. "I mean... no." He took a breath and
calmed his tone. "We have not been doing anything we should not have.
We...we... well, we have not been doing *anything* actually," he dithered. "We
were just out..." 

"Walking," Elladan finished his sentence, taking two steps backwards in a sly
attempt to get away. "And we must go and wash and dress or we will be late
for... for..." he looked back at Elrohir for assistance. 

"Breakfast?" Against herself, Celebrían had to smile. They were like oversized
children. 

"Yes, breakfast!" Elrohir piped up, instantly cringing. 

"It is over an hour until breakfast," she could not avoid pointing out. "Does
it take you that long to bathe?" 

It was Elrohir's turn to gape open-mouthed like a drowning fish. "Well...
erm..." 

Elladan intervened, grabbing his brother's arm. "Excuse us, Mother." He bowed
politely before dragging Elrohir through his bedroom door and slamming it
quickly behind them. 

Celebrían knew they weren't telling her the truth but she decided to let it
rest for now. Elladan being awake and out of bed at that time of the dawn was a
strange thing in itself, and Elrohir's scared reluctance to come clean - not to
mention the blood on his shirt - made her fear that they had done something
quite terrible, and she would rather let their father deal with them. 

Again, the feeling of uneasiness crossed her mind. Perhaps she had inherited
some of Galadriel's foresight. Or perhaps it was just something as simple as a
mother's instinct, something older and stronger than any magical power. 

She ordered herself to push it aside and attempt to concentrate on the
morning's duties. The guest lists for the autumn festival still needed checking
and they would not do themselves while she brooded on her worries. She was to
find Erestor, who she guessed would more than likely be already in his office
working through some tome, as was his habit of rising an hour before the birds. 

Leaving the family's annexe, she crossed a small footbridge, pausing for a
moment to feel the spray of the water coursing beneath. The sun had not yet
risen high enough to burn the fog from the air and there was a chill in the
air.

Folding her arms about her chest and berating herself for not wearing a cloak,
Celebrían quickened her step. Another walkway and three turns in the corridor
brought her to Erestor's office, rather faster than she would have liked and
she sighed heavily as she reached the door and raised her hand to knock. 

Before her fist could make contact with the wood, the morning hush was rudely
interrupted by the sound of raised voices, from inside the office. Without a
second thought, she stepped close to the door and pressed her ear to it. She
was not fond of eavesdropping, but something held her back from intruding on
the quarrel. 

"We *must* keep this to ourselves Erestor!" 

It was Glorfindel, and he sounded anxious. Glorfindel was many things, but
anxious was never one of them. In all the time she had known him, Celebrían
could never remember him losing his composure. 

"What in the name of the Valar is going on in this house this morning?" she
whispered to herself. 

"Are you sure that is wise?" Erestor's voice argued. "Elrond should be told.
His sons are breaking laws. Would you keep it from him if they were roaming
around pilfering and murdering?" 

Celebrían leaned her weight against the door as her heart stilled and fell into
her stomach. So, she had been right. Something was wrong with the twins. She
cursed herself for not instantly trusting her instincts when they had told her
so. 

"This is a little different, Erestor, and well you know it!" Glorfindel was
shouting in earnest now. "Elrond is my dearest friend and I could not bear to
hurt him by telling him of this. It will break his heart." 

"And it is because you are his friend that you must tell him!" Erestor shouted
back. "He is bound to find out sometime. How would he feel to hear of it from
tittle-tattle to discover you had known for months?" 

Unable to contain her curiosity a second longer, Celebrían turned the brass
handle and pushed the door open, not caring one bit if she appeared
discourteous by not knocking first. 

"What is it my husband cannot know?" she demanded, adopting a tone and posture
suiting to her position as the Lady of Imladris. Though she had to clasp her
hands to stop them visibly trembling. "I heard you speak of my sons, that
concerns me also." She looked between the two of them, and they looked as
guilty and conspiratorial as the twins had just moments ago. "Glorfindel." And
like she had done with the twins, she picked out the weaker of the two to
interrogate. 

Glorfindel floundered helplessly. 

"Tell her," Erestor demanded of him. "Tell her Glorfindel, or I will!" 

Glorfindel looked at Celebrían briefly before tearing his gaze away and
crossing the room to the sideboard. He leaned his weight on his arms with his
head lowered and she could see he was trembling. "Forgive me, my Lady," he
whispered. 

"I had never imagined you to be such a coward," Erestor continued to attack
him. "She has a right to know what her sons have been doing with each other." 

"Erestor, please!" Glorfindel almost yelped as he turned to raise a hand to
silence the counsellor. 

A dark wave of dread crossed over Celebrían, clutching at her heart, and for a
moment she forgot how to breathe. What had they been doing together? No, not
together. With each other... 

An image flashed into her mind, but so disturbing and ridiculous it was that
she dismissed it without further thought. 

"I think you should come with me, Glorfindel." She indicated for him to follow
her. "You can tell both Elrond and myself in private." Whatever he had to say,
it was clearly going to be difficult, and neither of them needed Erestor
ranting in the background. 

Glorfindel followed slowly and silently behind her as she walked back to her
chambers. They both stole a glance at the twins' rooms as they passed them;
Elrohir's door was wide open and the room was vacant, Elladan's door was firmly
closed. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a slight shiver run through
Glorfindel's frame, but she refrained from questioning further until she
reached her room. 

"I have to wake Elrond," she told him. "Will you wait here?" 

Still silent, Glorfindel merely nodded once as Celebrían left him outside the
door and crossed the bed to Elrond. Reluctantly, she reached out to gently
shake him by the shoulder but he turned and sleepy grey eyes met hers. 

Already awake, he sat up to regard her. "Back so soon?" 

"I am afraid so," she sighed. "And I am afraid you do have to get up after all.
Glorfindel has something of importance to tell us." 

Giving a discontented groan, Elrond got out of bed and slipped into a light
robe of blue silk as Celebrían held it out to him. 

"Send him in, then." He dropped into a chair by the window, running a brush
quickly through his hair to tidy it. "This had better be of *great*  importance
if it warrants me being pulled from my bed so early in the morning." 

Celebrían opened the door. "Come in, Glorfindel." 

The Elf Lord looked like a man condemned to death as he crossed the threshold
with a heavy step. 

"Yes, Glorfindel, what is it?" Elrond indicated for him to sit on a plush red
couch opposite himself. 

Glorfindel declined the offer with a shake of the head and stood tensely before
Elrond. He took a breath as his eyes travelled around the room before settling
on the vase on the small table beside Elrond's chair. "It is with deepest
regret that I have to tell you this, my Lord, my Lady, and it breaks my heart
that it is I that has to break this news," he dared a glance at Elrond, who
merely frowned in response. 

"Well, out with it Glorfindel. What is it?" 

"It is about your sons..." Glorfindel crossed to the window, staring out into
the gardens as if some memory drew him there and again a shiver wracked his
body. 

Celebrían seated herself beside her husband to draw support from him. It would
break her heart to hear anything bad about her children and she wished
Glorfindel would hurry up and break to them whatever terrible news he had. 

"Is something wrong with them?" Elrond questioned, blatantly not yet awake
enough to note Glorfindel's nervousness or to take in the seriousness of the
situation. 

"Well, yes and no." Glorfindel closed his eyes and appeared to brace himself.
"They themselves are well, but things between them are... amiss, you could
say." 

Celebrían felt herself tense in response to Glorfindel's posture. She had to
force herself not to reach out to grasp Elrond's hand. 

/'They have probably just been fighting,'/ she told herself, though her own
words gave her no comfort for she knew they were just a cushion. Glorfindel
would not be so frantic if they had only been fighting with each other.
Besides, they had seemed amicable enough with each other when she had seen
them. 

Elrond raised an eyebrow. "They have fallen out?" he voiced her thoughts. 

"No." Glorfindel swallowed and lowered his head as if a great pain were
weighing on him. "Far from it, in fact." 

Celebrían rose from her seat and crossed to Glorfindel, seeing tears in his
eyes. "Glorfindel, please, what is it?" She laid a hand on his shoulder. "You
are worrying me." 

"Yes, forgive me, my Lady. This is hard to put into words." He turned back
towards them but still did not dare to look at Elrond. "Early this morning, I
was out walking when I saw your sons together in the far gardens..." His words
ran dry again. 

"And?" Elrond pushed impatiently. 

"It seems..." Appearing to shake himself, Glorfindel straightened up and
finally turned his eyes to Elrond. "Elrond, when you said the twins were too
close as youngsters it appears that whatever you may have foreseen has come
true." He closed his eyes in anticipation of some explosion from Elrond. 

Instead, a crushing silence filled the room as both Celebrían and Elrond came
to their own conclusions about his implication. 

/'Too close...'/

/'Closer than brothers should be...'/

/''What they have been doing with each other...'/

She remembered the look of revulsion that had crossed Erestor's face as he had
said those words, though her own thoughts had prevented her from consciously
noticing it at the time. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest as the image
returned to her. Why had she dismissed it as being so ridiculous? It was so
obvious! Elladan had been edgy, Elrohir was reluctant to speak of his newfound
love, both had been this way for the same amount of time. Since they had both
come home after the great thunderstorm and had dashed to their respective rooms
without a word to anyone. 

Thunderstorm... A great thunderstorm many many years earlier, when the twins
had been in their youth... She had heard cries in the night... 

"No, it cannot be," she whispered, only loud enough for herself to hear. She
had to be certain before she could allow herself to believe it. "Glorfindel,
when you say 'together' you mean...?" She could not bring herself to put it
into words. 

Glorfindel nodded solemnly as a tear escaped his eye. "They were... they
have... joined together." 

"Glorfindel," Elrond said quietly through clenched teeth, "when you choose to
speak to me of my sons' incest, please have the decency to use the word!" 

As Elrond voiced her worst fear Celebrían dropped to the edge of the bed,
shaking as her stomach tensed so forcefully that she feared she would lose
control of it. "I cannot believe it," she whispered, though in fact it was not
that hard to believe at all. 

Glorfindel reached a hand to her shoulder but was stopped by a harsh look from
Elrond. "I wish I was mistaken, but I know I was not." He took a moment before
delivering the next blow. "They have made a pledge in each other's blood." 

"I saw blood on Elrohir's shirt this morning," Celebrían remembered, and tears
mutely escaped her as everything fell into place and confirmed the truth. 

"I am sorry," was all Glorfindel could offer as comfort. 

Elrond sat silent and stiff-backed in the chair for several moments before
rising to his feet. "How long has this been going on?" he raged as he knocked
the vase to the floor with a swipe of his hand. "This could have been going on
under my roof for months for all I know! Years, even!" He crossed to
Glorfindel. "Why did nobody notice?" 

The shattering of the glass broke the spell that was holding Celebrían in a
frozen stance. "Elrond, be calm!" She jumped to her feet and caught Elrond's
arm to still him, fearing he may strike their friend in his anger. "Glorfindel,
you may be excused." 

He bowed gratefully. "Thank you, my Lady." He turned to nod to Elrond. "I am
sorry to be the bearer of such ill tidings." 

Celebrían could feel Elrond shaking beneath her hand, though his face did not
betray his feelings. Or maybe it was her own hand that was shaking so
violently. 

"Not a word of this is to be spoken of to anybody," Elrond ordered firmly to
Glorfindel. "And Erestor will be told the same, do you understand me?" He did
not give him a chance to reply. "I will see the both of you in his office
before breakfast," he said. "Now leave us." 

Glorfindel obeyed instantly with only a brief apologetic smile at Celebrían,
openly glad to be able to leave. 

As the door clicked shut, Elrond pulled out of Celebrían's grasp and resumed
his seat, picking at a loose thread on the corner of the tablecloth as he drew
a long breath through his teeth. 

She followed to crouch beside his chair. Everything he had said when the twins
had been children, everything she had denounced, rung clear in her ears as if
the words had just been spoken. "You said they should have been separated in
their youth and you were right! Oh why did I not heed your words?" She tried to
read his face, but he held up a deceptively calm front, despite his tense
posture. "You knew, didn't you?" 

"Of course I did not!" he snapped, turning to look at her and then she saw the
pain and anger and betrayal in his eyes. "Why should I have known? You are
their mother, Elrohir tells you everything, why did you not know?" 

"You cannot blame me!" she cried. "I could not have known anymore than you
could have! They are not children anymore, Elrond; they do not have to tell me
all. I told you I suspected of Elrohir being in love and * you* were the one
who dismissed it as being nonsense!" Even as she defended herself, she wondered
how could she not have seen it? Though maybe she had, and she had just been too
cowardly to admit it to herself. She took a breath to calm herself and crossed
a trembling hand over her face. "Neither of us could have known about this. We
are wrong to try to pass the blame to each other." 

Elrond remained surly, apparently not having heard her. She could see something
was warring beneath the calm surface of his face and could only wait for its
eruption. The silence was consuming, only serving to allow her imagination to
wander. 

What had Glorfindel seen that morning? How much had his eyes had to endure? He
had seen them make vows, but what else? Had they been there - in the gardens of
their home - making love? Is that what he had seen? The two of them, entwined
in each other's flesh, in each other's arms, naked and unaware of his presence.
Her stomach twisted painfully as the images refused to let her be. She knew
they would plague every waking and sleeping moment for eternity. 

"Elrond, please say something." She touched his arm. 

Quicker than she had anticipated, he rose from the chair again, this time
attacking the table with his fist. "How dare they?! They know the punishment
for this sort of thing! I should send for them both now and..." 

"Do not act rashly upon this!" she pleaded of him. 

"How am I supposed to act?!" he shouted as he paced the room. "It is
disgusting! How could the children of my blood lower themselves to this
depravity? They are no longer fit to call themselves my children!" 

"You will not cast them out of the family, Elrond, no matter what they have
done!" She could not think how he could even suggest such a thing. Every
rational nerve in her body told her that she should agree with him, but her
heart would not let her. Nothing her sons could do - however terrible and
despicable - would ever make her disown them. "If you do, you will also have to
cast me out. I will not let you do it, and I know you do not really want to." 

"At the moment I would not care less if they never graced my sight again," he
muttered tersely. "In fact, I would welcome it!" 

"You do not mean that. I know you cannot mean it." She crossed to him and laid
a hand against his arm, desperate to stop his tyrant ranting before he did
something they would all regret. "Elrond, listen to me." 

"What?" He shrugged free. 

"Perhaps all of us have been guilty of wanting something we cannot have," she
could not help accusing him, perhaps in a personal act of spite rather than to
defend the twins. "Perhaps some of us have been guilty of loving someone we
should not love." She could not help but say it. "I do not think a love affair
between an High King and his herald would be thought of as ethical." 

Elrond slowly turned to face her, and his eyes were the last thing to move, but
when they did they met hers with a harsh glare. "I beg your pardon?" His anger
was barely restrained in his voice and she saw his body visibly stiffen in
resentment of the comment. 

"I am only saying that before you cast them from the family without a second
thought, you should think about your own past," Celebrían trod cautiously. "You
are not free from sin yourself." 

"My past is irrelevant," he snapped. "And this is very different indeed to
anything I may have done. Yes, my affair with Gil-galad may have been
unethical, but this is more than that. This is incest, my dear - love between
kin - it is not only immoral but illegal. Do you actually realise the weight of
what we are dealing with here?" 

"How dare you patronise me!" she snapped back, angered by his condescending
tone. "I know very well what we are dealing with, but surely there is another
way to remedy the matter without destroying our family." 

He considered the matter for a few moments. "If they wish to continue this...
this... sordid affair," he spat the words as if they were poison, "then they
must leave Imladris, it is as simple as that. I will not allow this to go on in
my house." 

"I will not allow it," she stated firmly. 

"Then one of them must leave," he refused to back down. "Elladan is soon due
for a period of guard training in your mother's realm, is he not? He will leave
in the spring, and by the time he is due home these foolish feelings will
hopefully have passed. That is the only solution that fits your requirements,
if you wish to hedge. And I will agree with it, for your sake." 

"Do you think it will all have gone away by the time Elladan returns to us?"
she argued. "Two years is nothing to an Elven heart! I think you underestimate
the bond between the twins. They are inseparable as brothers, goodness knows
what they will be like as lovers. It will not work. The two years will pass,
they will bide their time, and then we will be back where we started." 

"It is not love!" he barked. "It is foolish lust and they will see that! They
must be separated in order for these feelings to pass. They have never been
close to anyone but each other. While they are apart, they will have to learn
to expand their personal relations. There is many a fair maiden in Lothlórien,
I will suggest to your mother that she introduce Elladan to one or two of them
during his stay." 

Celebrían gave a staggered laugh, in disbelief that Elrond was fooling himself
so completely. His proposal did not fool her. "You do not seriously think you
have the power to change the way they feel? Could you stop loving me, if my
father ordered you to? You would not, you would become even more stubborn, and
Elladan is just like you. You speak nonsense, if you pardon me saying so." 

"I will not pardon you saying so," he retorted. "Celebrían, you speak as though
it does not bother you. They are committing an atrocity that I will not permit,
and you would allow this if I did not stop you, wouldn't you?" 

"I most certainly would not!" In her anger at him, and at the twins, tears
consumed her again. "Elrond, I do not know what to do. I do not know what to
think! I cannot get my mind around this!" She sniffed and took a minute to
compose herself. "I think we would do better discussing it when we are
calmer," she suggested. 

He regarded her for several moments, warring for dominance with his eyes as
words were futile, but she would not back down. 

"Very well," he gave in. "I have my own thoughts on how to deal with this, but
as you are too hysterical to want to hear them at the moment, we will sit on it
until after the festival. But then a decision will be made. And nothing will be
said to the twins in the meantime, as far as they will be concerned their
filthy secret is still just that." 

"All right," she agreed. "We will treat them as normal, yes?" 

"Treat your sons how you wish," he said shortly, as he strode into the
bathroom. "Excuse me, I need to wash." 

Celebrían crossed to the window, and leaned against the frame as she stared out
into the gardens. The far garden was visible from the balcony, but shrouded in
trees. She had looked from that window when she had first risen from bed, she
had glanced down there. The twins had been there, but she had not been able to
see them. How could they have been carrying on this affair, so close to her,
without her knowing about it? 

"How could they do this to me?" she whispered to herself, absently fingering
the green gemstone around her neck. Elladan had made the necklace for her in
his fiftieth year. It was fixed in silver and hung on a thin chain of gold. It
had been a birthday present and she had not taken it off in all the years she
had owned it. As he had handed it to her - wrapped in a small cloth bag - he
had told her to look upon it whenever she felt sad, for her knew green was her
favourite colour. The gold was meant to symbolise the Golden Wood, and the
silver was meant to remind her of the waters of the Bruinen. It had been
crafted - not perfectly - but thoughtfully and with love, and she had cried
when she had received it. Back then, she had never imagined he and his brother
would grow to break her heart with such a crime. 

"Mother?" Elrohir's voice said softly as the door creaked open. "Pardon my
intrusion." 

She jumped at the sound of his voice and quickly wiped her tears, but she did
not move to face him. "Yes, Elrohir?" 

"We heard you and Father arguing," Elladan stepped into the room, not requiring
an invitation, and crossed the floor to stand beside her. 

"What did you hear?" she asked quickly, panicking and spinning on her heel to
look up at her firstborn. "Did you hear what we were arguing about?" 

"No," Elladan replied. "We just heard a lot of shouting, and breaking glass."
His eyes wandered to the fallen vase on the floor. "And we saw Glorfindel leave
looking flustered." 

She could not hold in a sigh of relief. "It was nothing," she said. "Nothing
for you to concern yourselves with, anyway." She hated lying to them. Her heart
was pulling her two ways, and she was not sure whether she would rather weep
and embrace them both, or slap their faces and throw them from the window. 

"Have you had an argument with Father?" Elrohir followed his brother into the
room. "You have been crying, I can tell." He hugged her tightly in concern and
comfort. 

"No," she insisted. "No, I am fine, honestly I am." She felt sick in her own
son's arms. "Let me go, Elrohir," she requested as calmly as her voice would
allow her. 

He released his hold on her and stepped back, scrutinizing her in his gaze, as
if he were trying to read her soul. She could not look in his eyes; if she did,
she would not be able to hide the fact that she knew. 

"Mother, are you sure you are well?" he asked again. 

She nodded, unable to speak lest her voice betrayed her. 

"Come, Elrohir," Elladan tugged at his sleeve. "She said she is fine, let us
go." He stepped back to the door, pulling Elrohir with him. "Sorry, Mother, we
will leave you be. I beg your pardon." He caught her eye and gave a frown of
concern before exiting the room. 

Celebrían stared after the brothers as they left the room. It felt like she did
not even know them. From now on, they would be strangers to her. She could not
look at them without seeing the lies and guilt in their eyes. She could not
even embrace them without picturing their arms wrapped around each other in a
passionate clinch. 

They had gone behind her back. They had lied, and they were still lying with
every seemingly innocent breath. They had betrayed her, more than a loving
mother could ever be betrayed. But she still could not harbour ill feeling
towards them. She still loved them. And that made it all the more difficult to
bear.