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Chapter Five…………………THE GOOD AND THE BAD NEWS

            Failariël stared absently out the window. The skies were overcast today, the sun veiled by thin, grey clouds. She sighed, discouraged, and paced back into her room and through the hall.

She hadn’t seen him at all today, and that made the day seem even drearier. He had been down to visit her at least once – briefly – since their first meeting, and she was growing accustomed to his stays. He was very amiable towards her, and she drank up every minute of it. She was far too used to being alone, to having no one to talk or listen to. He made up for all of that, and much to her amazement, was implausibly flawed, yet perfect at the same time. He understood, and everything about him seemed refined and faultless, but when he spoke of his own hardships… He was so imperfect and beautiful at the same time that it brought her an exquisite agony to see the two emotions thrown together.

                He was terribly eager for the remaining members of the Fellowship to get together. It was obvious that he harbored a deep affection for each of the members – his face lit up and his eyes sparkled. It made her heart ache for her own friends – for Elilian, who was gone for some sort of training, and for her cousin, now too important to spend time with her now. It made her look forward to his visits even more. However, the Dwarf Gimli had arrived, and he held little time for her now.

                A soft knock on her door roused her. She had not known that she had fallen asleep, but when she heard the knock, she found that she was curled up in her bed.

                “Coming,” she stood up slowly, and shook her long hair from her shoulders, brushing strands of it from her eyes. The door opened.

                It was Elros, her father, and brother of Elrond. He cracked the door a bit wider.

Judging by the dim light shining in, she figured it was nearly noon, just at midday.

                “Did I wake you?” he asked. She shook her head. “Good. We are setting up decorations for the Reunion, and I was hoping that you would help,”

                “Yes, I’ll come down,” she said, brightening. If it concerned the Reunion, he would most likely be there. “Give me a little, and I will be there very soon.”

He left, and she swiftly combed through her hair, and straightened her clothes. She deliberated a moment, and then flitted down to the Main Hall.

                She found her brother, Atanalcar, conversing with Elros, and she skirted around them.

                “Failariël!” she recognized a voice, and wheeled around. It was Eldárwen Táralóm, a childhood friend. Eldárwen grinned.

                “I haven’t seen you in ages!”
                “I know!” replied Failariël rather breathlessly. “Listen, Eldárwen, I need to find somebody…”

                “Let me guess,” laughed her friend. “It’s that Prince fellow isn’t it?”

Failariël felt her jaw drop, but she shut it quickly.

                “Where would you get an idea like that?” she asked sharply. How did she know?

Eldárwen glanced at her curiously, her head cocked.

                “Do you not want anyone to know?” she questioned. “I shall drop the subject, if you like.”

                “No, no,” Failariël said, looking about carefully. “Here, come with me and explain,”

The two ambled casually into an empty hall. Checking to be sure that no one was eavesdropping, Failariël allowed her voice to be a bit louder.

                “So…” She gestured uselessly. Eldárwen leaned against a pillar and laughed quietly.

                “What’s so funny?” muttered Failariël, feeling slightly angry. Eldárwen shook her head.

                “I’m not laughing at you, though,” she said. “I think your reaction is interesting. You were wondering how I found out, right?”

Failariël nodded.

                “Just to answer your suspicions, I wasn’t spying on you or anything like that,” Eldárwen smiled. “I’m not that cruel. No, I could tell from other means,”

                “Such as?” asked Failariël impatiently. Hurry on with it!

                “That Prince, what-his-name, or whatever – “

                “Legolas,” she replied automatically.

                “Right,” Eldárwen continued. “I heard him talking about you to his friend, the stubby Dwarf fellow – “

                “Gimli,” said Failariël. She had heard Legolas’s account of him so often, she felt as though she could know each of the Fellowship by heart.

                “Sure,” Eldárwen seemed to grow slightly irritated with her interrupting. “He was talking to him, and he mentioned you quite a few times.”

Her heart leapt.

                “He seemed to fancy you, from what I heard.” Eldárwen adopted a deeper toned voice, though it sounded nothing like his. “’She’s a lovely person, Gimli. She has a good heart, but she is lonely. I think I can help her with such and such, blah, blah, blah…’”

Failariël couldn’t help but smile. This meant that he would come see her more often, surely!

                “Are you alright?” Eldárwen peered at her. “You look kind of… red.”

Failariël put a hand to her face. Sure enough, her cheeks were flushing again.

                “Yes, I’m fine,” she said happily. “Never better. Thanks for the news, Eldárwen – it’s probably the best I’ve heard in a long time. I guess I’ll see you sometime soon,” she said vaguely, and then skipped out of the hall, leaving Eldárwen standing there with her mouth hanging as though unhinged.

                Failariël helped hang decorations and clean with a light heart. She felt Atanalcar’s eyes on her as she hummed and dusted shelves.

She moved on to water a plant when she felt his hand at her elbow. Turning around, she found him standing placidly by her stool.

                “May I speak with you?”  he asked coolly. She nodded, and got down. “Come along,”

He led her down a hall.

                “I heard Prince Legolas is becoming very…congenial…with you,” he began evenly. She pulled away from his grip, her eyes narrowing as she stared at him.

                “It’s not at all like that!”

                “I understand. Walk with me, sister,” he continued calmly, gently, but firmly grabbing her arm again and steering her down the hall. She did not resist, but her posture became stiff.

                “I am not implying anything, Failariël,” he said in his unruffled manner. “But please understand that you cannot be anything more than friends with this Mirkwood noble.”

                “Why?”

Atanalcar sighed, a long and drawn sound. “He is not for you,”

                “Why?”

                “Do not question me on that yet,” answered Atanalcar sharply. “You will find out when the time is right. I just wanted you to know that you should not develop any relationship with Legolas. It is only through my love for you as a brother that I tell you this – I would never do such to harm you in any way.  Know that.”

She nodded slowly, feeling numb.

                “But…I will find out, won’t I?”

                “I know not. You shall be the judge of that.”

He let go of her arm, giving her a small, grim smile. He turned and left, leaving her in the murky hall. She felt much like the weather of that day – grey, confused, and left in the dark