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Events occurring during the timeline of "The Dance of Eternity" (after Thranduil's departure from Imladris and before Glorfindel's wedding).

Synopsis: Signs in the heavens remind Legolas of secrets Glorfindel unwittingly divulged, and Elrond must face the consequences.

Pairing(s): Elrond/Legolas assumed, Elrond/GG assumed in the past

Rating: PG 13

Not mine, no harm intended, the sheep are lying through their teeth! Thanks to Emma for the beta job.

Comments are always cherished.

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"The song I can sing is but shreds one remembers
Of golden imaginings fashioned in sleep,
A whispered tale told by withering embers
Of old things far off that but few hearts keep."

--  JRRT, "The Bidding of the Minstrel, from the Lay of Earendel"
 

Part 1:

[Laire 37 of the Year 2717 of the Third Age, the valley haven of Imladris, known in the Common Tongue as Rivendell]

Silence settled into the serene stone-hewn byways of Imladris, illuminated by the slenderest sliver of the setting smile of Ithil and the gentle warm glow of freshly lit candles. Daylight hours were many this time of year, and it was so long than noon seemed but a memory before the sky finally slid into the velvet comfort of full darkness. The lord of this realm leisurely strolled into the bedroom he recently shared anew with his lover, expecting to be greeted with a smile and a playful chastisement for the late hour of his arrival. Instead he raised a quizzical eyebrow upon finding his bed strangely empty.

Legolas had certainly become restless of late, Elrond painfully reminded himself, the younger elf finding his mandated rest a veritable prison. The elder elf had earnestly tried to refrain from acting too much the part of a jailor, albeit a well-intentioned one, or worse still a parent, and had on more than one occasion bitten his tongue when he found Legolas wandering the walkways of Imladris at hours the recently wounded prince should be taking his full measure of rest.

He had welcomed the golden prince back into his bed a mere two nights before, yet all was far from right between them. Elrond used obvious restraint in expressing the physicality of his love for Legolas, despite the prince's pleas that such was unwarranted and unwelcome. Was it truly only a fear for his lover's wounds which was the wall Elrond felt between them? Did he hold back for reasons of the past haunting him as never before? What of the still unexplained, newly-developed reticence of the younger elf? They had still not discussed whatever it was Glorfindel had said which had so obviously troubled Legolas, despite his attempts to hide it. Elrond knew he should be heartened that Legolas could not seem to completely hide this from him, yet found he could take little comfort from that fact.

Elrond was sorely tempted to confront Glorfindel on more than one occasion and ask what it was he had discussed with the prince. He had only been stopped by his wish to not put his friend in such an awkward position. Neither did he wish to insinuate himself into a private conversation between his beloved and Glorfindel, his most valued confidant, for that would surely be a betrayal of trust.

It was several minutes of silent, sullen surveying of his home before Elrond found the sight he sought. He spied a familiar silhouette standing by a stone railing in a seldom-used nook. The graceful figure was looking past the mountains to the north, his delicate features upturned in an intense study of the heavens above. With a triumphant smile tugging upward the corners of his lips, Elrond casually ambled to his lover, not trying to hide his arrival nor attempting to announce it my any means other than his breath. He stood for a moment, enjoying the beauteous expression of rapt wonder gracing that lovely countenance before breaking the moment with a question. "What manner of the Lady's wonders holds your attention in thrall this eve, Malthenel-nin?

Without a word, the prince raised a graceful hand skyward in a fluid motion, directing his lover's attention to the northern horizon, to a cleft in the mountains where the sky could be viewed with less obstruction. While closing the already diminutive distance between them, Elrond instinctively sucked in a breath at the flickering fire-lit tapestry of the heavens.

Diaphanous, billowing curtains of ruby and emerald rippled and fluttered in stunning silence, dancing in time to a melody unheard by all but the Valar's ears. Here spikes of purple light shot upward from the horizon, piercing the still-shimmering flags of air, there eerie hints of a pearly glow intermingled with the luminescence already present. "So the menelnaur visits us this night," he huskily whispered. He spooned up behind the prince's robe-draped form and protectively wrapped his arms around the familiar slender figure. Running his lips along the sensitive rim of an ear, he joyously felt the responsive flesh quiver beneath his intimate touch. "Some say it comes to remind us of battles of the past, and those which are still to come," he whispered with half-hearted interest.

Resting his chin upon one of the prince's solid shoulders, Elrond sighed in contented appreciation of the normalcy of the moment they shared, for a moment forgetting all his earlier fears.

Together they stood in breathless silence, enjoying the wonders of the celestial storm in the safety of their tight embrace, when poetic words of awe slowly sang from the prince's lips.

"In Turgon's square, by fountains once fair,
The birds no longer sing.
The night of fire, flames by treason wrought higher,
Forever stilled their wing.

The marbled stones soon filled with bones
As blood was swiftly shed.
And from his tower, the King lacked power
To save the doomed and dead."

"You speak of the fall of Gondolin," Elrond interjected with palpable surprise, craning his neck to get a peek at his lover's expression.

Legolas shrugged slightly, sighing as he continued to stare skyward at the ever-changing light show above their heads. "Glorfindel told me of the bravery of both Man and Elf kind that day, as they fought not for glory, but for love and loyalty."

"'Tis true, and none was more valiant and loyal than the Captain of the Golden Flower himself. I owe my very life to his courage, as my father would surely have died that day, had it not been for Glorfindel's bravery and skill."

The prince nodded slightly. "Truly, he was one of the bravest of Gondolin's sons, yet there were heroes from all the houses that day." With an effortless inhalation of breath, Legolas continued his harmonic honoring of the fallen faithful.

"Twelve houses sure, with banners unfurled,
Vowed to save beloved Gondolin.
Yet no warrior knew till death's cold wind blew
The deep treachery of kin.

The Scarlet Heart played out their part
With sign of sun and moon.
The King's own guard fought brave and hard
But fell before too soon.

Folk of the Wing, sworn to Man and King,
Stood firm by Tuor's side.
Stout of will and blessed with skill
Yet still too many died.

With voices strong, swords pale and long
Ecthelion's kin strength did lend.
Their Lord himself, for love of a Man, not Elf,
Did follow Gothmog to his end.

The Harp's valiant host, with tassel's gold boast
Squat Salgant led the way.
Yet Maeglin's vile lies easily clouded his eyes.
Of his fate, none can say.

The Swallow's archers keen were led by swift Duilin
Into this hopeless strife.
Proudly he stood as any Eldar would
A Balrog took his life.

Gems brightened the march of Egalmoth's Arch,
Arms bedazzling despite the blood.
Their House once found riches nearly unbound
Now death came like a flood.

The Tower of Snow did the Pillar's force follow
Led by Penlod, tall and brave.
Despite their skill, and steel of will,
Their Lord did not them save.

For the House of the Tree Galdor's valor was key.
And songs do proudly sing
Of raiment green, and eyes so keen,
Bringing death with club and sling.

Rog's craftsmen fell, the tales do tell,
Seven foes ere each was dead.
Now anvils dark without a spark,
Lay silent in their stead.

With armor dark, and foul of heart,
Stood Maeglin's vile band.
Swift justice came to that now-cursed name
At Tuor's vengeful hand.

The Golden Flower stood brave that hour,
Glorfindel was their chief.
In shadow and flame his life's end came,
Boundless was the Gondothrims' grief."

The prince's voice fell to barely a whisper by the end of that verse, blending with the cool rush of the gentle summer breeze.

Elrond tightened his affection-filled hold on his beloved, pressing a complimentary kiss upon the slightly ticklish line of the other's jaw. "The lay is lovely, yet 'tis unfamiliar to my ears."

"'Tis because I have never sung it before," the other elf sheepishly admitted.

"So it is your own work?" Elrond asked with palpable pride. "I had no idea your tongue was so masterful with words."

"Perhaps you were preoccupied with its other skills," Legolas cheekily teased, relaxing more completely into the enveloping security of his lover's arms.

Elrond chuckled softly, pressing a kiss into the back of the golden, softly textured hair. "I fear it would take more than the passing of a single age to learn all of your talents." He exhaled loudly, and lovingly his lips lingered upon the smooth sea of silk. "If the Lady smiles upon me, I may yet get the chance to do just that very thing."

To his considerable surprise, he felt Legolas stiffen ever so slightly within his embrace, a curious reaction to his heartfelt expression of affection. "What brings you to such an intent interest in the past?" he dared ask, despite the prickled sense of impending danger.

"We should not forget its lessons, lest we doom ourselves to repeat the folly of our forefathers."

"That is true," Elrond calmly retorted, "yet we should not dwell upon its sorrows, all the same."

The response was delayed for the palpable passing of several seconds. "Not all of the past was sorrow."

Sensing the moment had finally come, whether or not he was ready, Elrond gently but purposefully spun his lover in his embrace so they were finally face to face. He raised a hand and tenderly caressed a highly arched cheek with the back of his fingers, rejoicing in the obvious enjoyment reflected in the other's closed-eyed expression. "Is there some specific moment of the past which weighs on your mind? Perhaps something Glorfindel shared with you when you spoke to him in private?"

"We have spoken of much that has passed - of war and death, of love and hope." The prince slowly opened his eyes, his gaze then wildly searched the other's face. An awkward moment of hesitation passed between them, then with a swift nerve-driven tongue swipe of his lips, Legolas laid bare his fears. "I know I am not the first to claim your heart."

"That is true, but you lay complete claim to it now."

"Do I?"

That insecure query struck Elrond as surely and suddenly as a bolt of summer lightning. "You doubt my love?"

Legolas slowly shook his head. "No, Ithilas, but neither do I doubt the strength of your love once for another. One who called you hervenn."

Part 2:

Elrond was taken aback, his gaze as widened as the full face of Ithilas, his body as taut as a bow's cocked string. Yet although his hold on his beloved was loosed, it was not released. "Glorfindel presumes much when he converses, I see. 'Twas not his place to speak of my binding to the High King without my knowledge, least of all to you."

"He merely presumed that you would have already told me of your marriage to the High King. It was not his fault he was wrong in his presumption."

With a loud release of breath, Elrond reluctantly nodded his guilt-laden agreement. "No, 'tis mine, for not broaching the subject with you when the chance arose, as it has more than once, I must admit. I did not wish to make you feel more discomfort or insecurity than what you have already expressed at the hearing the High King's name. What is past should remain so. I believed there was nothing to be gained by honesty, and much to lose. Forgive me."

Legolas pulled back out of the other's grasp, the fire in the heavens paling in comparison to that which now blazed in his eyes. "What was there to lose? Do you believe me to be such a child that I would succumb to jealousy over one who now lingers in Mandos' Halls, one who is kept there by...." The prince reined in his acerbic tongue before finishing the statement, but not before his intent was made completely clear.

"By a choice I made at the beginning of this age," Elrond painfully completed. "You need not remind me of what I have done," he bitterly added, lowering his gaze to his hands as they wrung together.

"Do not think I judge you..." the prince interjected with sincere vehemence, instinctively stepping closer to the other, yet Elrond cut short his words with a curt wave of his hand.

"Why should you not, when others have, and I, myself, still do?"

"You think of him still," Legolas morosely whispered.

With a stilted nodding of his head, Elrond kept his gaze safely fixed upon the neutrality of his own hands. "In certain moments, yes, but not nearly as oft as I think of you, and never when I hold you in my arms." Keeping the distance between them, agonizing as it was, Elrond slowly raised his eyes to hesitantly meet the pain-soaked, cerulean gaze which stared at him in silent accusation. "My guilt remains, as an imperfection in a statue which the artist cannot remove with chisel nor hammer. He, and I, can only hope the passage of time will render such things less obvious."

"Glorfindel spoke with certainty that the choice was not truly yours to make," Legolas offered in cajoling encouragement, his brief lapse into hopefulness as much for his own peace of mind as his lover’s. "He says 'twas the Valar's will, and you were not free to argue."

Elrond nodded unhappily, his self-doubt and self-loathing undiminished. "The Valar wished my line to continue, for reasons none may know, and though I do not regret my children, who have brought me joy immeasurable, still my heart bleeds for the sorrows which the circumstance of their conception brought to my hervess, and my hervenn."

"You call him that still," Legolas sullenly noted, the word spoken from the other's lips far too naturally to bear.

Flames of protective indignation and frustrated self-reproach were kindled in the lord's tone and demeanor. "Yes, for that is what he is and ever shall be. Thus it is for our kind. Do not ask me to deny what we once shared, nor his presence still within these halls, though dim it has become with the relentless passage of time. 'Twas his hand which brought you back from Mandos' care as surely as 'twas mine!"

Legolas blinked hard, unnatural creases of concern and confusion forming upon his brow.

Elrond immediately softened his tone, trying in vain to assuage and smooth without explaining more than Legolas needed to know. "Do not trouble yourself, Malthenel-nin. I merely speak in the riddled language of the past. The ghosts of the Timeless Halls have no place in our bed." He raised a hand to recapture the prince's fingers but found his gesture strangely rebuked.

"Perhaps not, but still they come between us. All the while I believed it was Lady Celebrian who stood between us, between my selfish, childish hope that one day you and I might bind as one, as Glorfindel and your son are free to do. Now I know there is not one wall which separates us, but two. There might as well be as many as ringed Turgon's city."

The sullen pout of defeat and sorrow which sullied the other's radiant beauty cut through Elrond as the sharpest blade of Celebrimbor's smiths. "You are a precious gift to me, from the Lady of the Stars herself. Of that I have no doubt. She smiles upon us, and gives her blessing to our love. Is that not enough?" he beseeched, his hands pleading in concert with his words.

"The ways of the Valar are fickle; have you not witnessed that enough firsthand? Who is to say they will not find some other task for you to fulfill which will require my removal from your bed?"

Elrond scowled, shaking his head with unwavering conviction. "I would not allow that. I have paid a heavy enough price to satisfy their bidding."

"You would refuse their call? You would openly rebel?"

"I would be as Feanor himself, when faced with the loss of his precious jewels, if any were to try and take you from me. My father bears a Silmaril upon his breast, as likewise I treasure the brilliance of your spirit and hold it just as treasured. We may be prevented from binding, but none shall come between us - not Valar, nor duty, nor kin, nor even ghosts. That I would swear in the Lady's name."

"You are swift to take oaths so grave, but have you thought it through?" A sorrowed ghost of a slight smile fleetingly graced the prince's lips. "I fear that is an oath many may take, but few hearts keep."

"I do not need to think before I speak," Elrond vehemently exhorted. "I have felt this way in my heart for the passing of many moons and more."

"But what if Lady Celebrian chooses Miriel's fate at last as her own? What if her pains cannot be succored by the healing powers of the Blessed Lands and she remands herself to the Silent Lord's care?"

Elrond glanced up at the continuing battle of luminescent weapons which clashed overhead in the sultry summer sky. "That is her choice to make, and I would grieve that her pain was so deep," he mournfully replied.

Urgency and desperation braided in the younger elf's reaction. "Has your guilt blinded you so much that you cannot see how it may all end? If she departs from life then naught will keep the High King from his return."

"You speak as if one's return be guaranteed, or even timely. Do you think one may be returned to life before the passing of a single age?"

"Glorfindel was."

Elrond had no repartee readied in response, and silence was his uncomfortably guilty cloak. He sighed, lowering his gaze from the sky above to the stones below his feet, avoiding his lover's agonized expression.

"You know that I speak the truth," Legolas calmly spoke. "But do not trouble yourself with the burden of choice, for I have already made it."

"And what choice might that be?" Elrond warily questioned, tentatively raising his face.

Legolas forced a mockery of a slight smile and raised a hand to fleetingly stroke the side of his beloved's troubled face. "Upon your hervenn's return, I will step aside, and rejoice in the knowledge that he shall love you as well as I. I will be content to cherish what time was ours."

"You speak as though that is what I would wish," Elrond incredulously spoke, his voice wavering in shock and emotion unbounded.

"Can you truly say that it is not?"

Elrond found himself beyond the capability of words and lost the sole, fleeting opportunity he had to convince Legolas that he was utterly and completely wrong. Before Elrond could find his tongue, the golden prince nodded sadly at him and backed away, and with the saddest hint of a knowing smile upon his lips turned and melted into the muted shadows of the melancholy night.
 

The End
 

(Mercifully brief) Notes:

1) Glorfindel and Legolas discussed the Fall of Gondolin in http://www.ithilas.com/fos/tdttdhg.html . It was in this story that Glorfindel let it slip that Elrond and Gil-galad were actually married.

2) Legolas' poem is an original composition. The style is that of JRRT's poem "Eala Earendel Engla Beorhtast" ((The Book of Lost Tales 2), while the content is based on JRRT's descriptions of the Twelve Houses of Gondolin in "The Fall of Gondolin" (The Book of Lost Tales 2)

3) Some Sindarin:

Menelnaur = sky fire (a term I have made up to describe aurora)

Hervenn = husband

Hervess = wife

4) Tolkien never literally discusses the phenomenon of aurora in his works, but his descriptions of "fires in the north" and the sky turning red reminds me of auroral displays I have seen (most notably a magnificent display I saw from Vermont in September which served as the driving force behind this particular story). The photograph at the top of this page was taken at that event by my SO.
 

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