The Marring of Bliss

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of Fan Fiction. I will not be receiving any payment of any kind for this story. The characters and settings are the property of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and possibly New Line Cinema. I am just borrowing them for a little while.

CHAPTER TWO

BLOSSOMING

Aredhel’s horse was a gentle creature and was in no hurry to catch up to the spirited stallion Calimo, and so she and Curufin lagged behind while Celegorm took Calimo at full speed across the open green pastures that spread out before them in low, rippling hills. With the wind in his face, his fair hair blowing back behind him and crouched low over his father’s steed, Celegorm gave Calimo his head and let him fly. All that Celegorm cared about was the exhilaration of riding at top speed. He thought only of that moment in time and no other. In minutes he was out of sight of the others.

Curufin and Aredhel rode on side by side at a gentle canter, having begun an easy conversation that neither wished to end. Aredhel was interested in learning what sorts of things Curufin was required to make in the forge. She was impressed by his knowledge of metals and precious stones. Curufin answered her questions happily, not noticing that Aredhel never wore much jewelry, nor seemed to be as interested in it as other young females of the same age.

Presently they saw Celegorm galloping back toward them at full speed. As he came close to them he called out: “Why didn’t you keep up? Calimo and I have found a perfect spot for a picnic!”

“You know the mare cannot match Calimo for speed!” Curufin shot back at him. He was about to say something further but was rendered speechless by the glorious sight of Celegorm upon his father’s horse. Both were high-strung creatures with impulsive natures and it could be seen in the way they both moved: Calimo kept shaking his noble head from side to side and pawing the ground with his forefoot. Celegorm was running a hand through his thick blond hair at the same time, shaking it and trying to untangle it with his fingers. The muscles on the horse’s powerful shoulders and thighs twitched impatiently, its silky coat gleaming in the summer sunlight. Celegorm’s solid thigh muscles twitched as well under his tight pale breeches. They both looked back at Curufin with bright eyes shining with impatience to be moving on. He chuckled to see them so similar to each other in that moment and remarked how wild and beautiful they were.

“Have you brought anything to eat? Because I haven’t”, Curufin asked his brother.

“Oh, bother it all!” cried Celegorm. “No, I haven’t either. Never mind, though, come and look at this place! It’s beautiful!” He turned Calimo around and they started to canter off in a southerly direction.

“Do you want to go, Nell?” asked Curufin, turning to look at her.

“Oh, yes, please!” she cried.

“Come on then, let’s see how fast our horses can run!” And he dug his heel into the palomino’s side as Aredhel did the same to her mare.

They galloped over the fields, inhaling the refreshing air of the summer morning that smelled sweet like the white clover in the meadows. When they caught up with Celegorm at the picnic spot he had found and they dismounted and looked around, they were delighted. They saw before them a peaceful little haven beside a pond and surrounded by some widely spaced apple trees. It lay in a shallow basin, the sides of which sloped down toward the water at such an angle that the pond could not be seen until one got quite close to the trees. Therefore, the basin was hidden from sight and was the perfect place for a secluded swim and a picnic.

“Isn’t this a grand spot?” Celegorm asked the others, looking up at them with a satisfied grin on his handsome face. Curufin smiled back at him.

“It’s grand”, he echoed, and tied his horse’s reins to a tree before joining his brother at the water’s edge. Aredhel tied up her horse as well and ran down to take off her shoes and stockings. She followed them splashing merrily into the water, holding up her dress and petticoats, and screaming breathlessly as the cold water shocked her skin. Celegorm laughed and splashed water on her, making her squeal even louder.

“Turko!” cried Curufin. “Have you tied up Calimo? I didn’t see him when we were still up at the trees!”

“Uh, no, I don’t think I did”, replied Celegorm. He shrugged. “He’ll be all right”.

“No, Turko, I didn’t see him up there! You’d better go and find him and tie him up properly!”

Celegorm grumbled at the spoiling of his fun, but he splashed out of the water and walked up the bank toward the trees.

“Are you too wet?” Curufin asked Aredhel as she squeezed water out of her hair.

“No, no, I’m fine!” she laughed. “I shall dry on the way home”.

“Well, if you need to dry your hair properly, I will give you my shirt with which to do so”, he offered kindly.

Aredhel looked surprised. “No, Kurvo, you need not take such pains. My hair will dry in the air. But thank you for being so kind to me”. She smiled sweetly at him, gazing into his eyes as she had done in the stables. He blushed slightly and turned his face away from her. Just then Celegorm returned and Curufin called out to him, “Have you tied up Ada’s horse properly, Turko?”

Celegorm said nothing until he approached them more closely. Curufin could see that the expression on his brother’s face was anxious.

“No, I haven’t”, said Turko, running a shaking hand through his hair.

“Why not?” asked Curufin, worry now beginning to creep up through his insides like a spider crawling up his leg.

“Because he’s gone”, replied Celegorm.

“Gone?” echoed Curufin. “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

“He’s run off”, said Celegorm, a wide-eyed look of dismay now crossing his face.

“He can’t have run off”, said Curufin. “He’s Ada’s favourite horse”.

“Well, Kurvo, I do not see how being Ada’s favourite horse would make him unable to run off any time he wished”, Celegorm retorted, digging an agitated foot into the ground.

“You should have tied him up”, said Curufin, as Aredhel waded out of the water and walked up the slope to join them.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Ada will kill you”, said Curufin. He thought a moment. “Painfully”, he added.

“Thank you for that. I know”, replied Celegorm.

“Kill Turko for what?” asked Aredhel.

“Turko has lost Calimo because he didn’t tie him up”, said Curufin. “Therefore Ada will probably beat him senseless and make him do Caranthir’s chores for a month”.

“Oh Gods”, whimpered Celegorm, dropping his face into his hands.

“That is ridiculous”, said Aredhel. “Calimo must be somewhere nearby. We should take the other horses and go to look for him”. She sat down on the grass and began to put on her stockings and shoes.

“Where should we look?” asked Celegorm, glancing around for his shoes. “Where could he be? These open lands are vast”.

“We might try in the general direction of where you lost Ada’s best bow two months ago”, said Curufin sarcastically. “Perhaps Calimo has found it”.

Celegorm shot his brother a scathing look. If Aredhel hadn’t been there, he would have punched him.

“Come on”, she said cheerily. “I’ll ride with Kurvo on the mare. Turko, you take the palomino. He’s faster than she is. I’m sure we will find Calimo in no time”.

The three friends searched for hours with no luck. Disheartened, disheveled and with empty hearts and bellies and no horse, they returned home to Fëanor’s house. It had become dark as Telperion’s light shone dimly in the night sky. As they slowly approached the house, Celegorm sighed. “What am I going to tell Ada?” He was distraught.

“Do not lie”, Aredhel pronounced sternly. “The truth is best, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because your punishment will be less severe than if you are caught out in a lie and have lost the horse as well”.

Celegorm gulped, but he nodded in agreement with her.

When the three came closer to the house along the pebbled pathway, they could see that Fëanor and Maedhros were standing waiting outside for them.

“You are late”, announced Fëanor in a stern tone. Maedhros looked at them and shook his copper head.

“Aredhel”, said Fëanor. “Please go in the house with Maitimo. He has prepared a bath for you in your room. You will wish to use it while the water is still warm”.

Aredhel slid meekly down from the horse. She picked up Curufin’s limp hand and squeezed it before following her oldest cousin inside.

“Why have you only two horses when there are three of you?” asked Fëanor when he and his two sons were alone.

Both boys stared at each other in silence.

“Well?” asked Fëanor, his dark eyes glinting like a hawk’s at its prey in the dim light.

Celegorm hung his head. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Ada”, he mumbled.

“Try very hard”, said Fëanor quietly. Curufin felt a chill travel up his spine and silently thanked the Valar that it was not he who had lost Calimo.

“We lost the other horse”, whispered Celegorm.

“What do you mean you lost the other horse?” asked Fëanor. “What other horse would this be, then?”

Celegorm shifted uneasily in the saddle. “Ada, I am afraid that it was Calimo”.

“What?” asked Fëanor.

“C – C – Calimo”, repeated Celegorm, his throat dry and his empty stomach rumbling in shared agony.

Fëanor was silent for a long, deadly moment. He stood still and stared at the two boys until they could no longer hold his gaze and dropped their heads, trying not to cry, as they were tired, hungry and as miserable as anyone could possibly be.

Finally Fëanor spoke. “Do you boys understand what you have done wrong today?” he asked, his voice very quiet.

“Both of us?” asked Curufin.

Fëanor gave him a sharp glance. “Please dismount, the two of you”, he said. The boys did so and stood on shaking legs, each leaning against a horse for support.

“Bring your horses to the stables and your first job will be to unsaddle them, feed them and prepare them for rest”.

“Oh Ada”, groaned Curufin. “Can the stable hands not do that? We are tired and very hungry –“

“Enough!” shouted Fëanor, and though his voice was somewhat calm his eyes flashed with terrible anger.

The boys, both feeling miserable, slowly walked their horses to the stables and into their stalls. The acrid smell of soiled hay and horses’ droppings assailed their nostrils, making them feel both sick and hungry at the same time. When they walked past the stalls to look for rakes, they saw something that lifted their spirits. There was Calimo, groomed and fed and in his stall, looking very pleased with himself. Celegorm spotted him first and sighed with great relief.

“Look, Kurvo!” cried Celegorm. “Calimo has returned on his own! Oh, thank the Valar!”

“What are you thanking them for?” asked Curufin. “Ada is still going to punish us for taking the horses without permission, and for losing Calimo and keeping Aredhel out again late at night. We were wrong to do those things, Ada is probably still mad about us losing his bow and worst of all, having to apologize to Uncle Nolofinwë about keeping Aredhel out all night the last time. The Valar are not going to be helping us to get a more lenient punishment, because we did wrong and now we must stand up like men and suffer for it”.

Celegorm paused while raking out the dirty straw and looked upon his brother with sad eyes, realizing the truth of the matter. “You are right, Kurvo”, he said. “We must start behaving more like men and put aside our childish pranks, or we will never gain the trust and confidence of Ada and Nana”.

“That is what I needed to hear”, said a voice from the stable door. The boys turned and beheld their father, who stood straight with arms folded in a strict manner. Then he softened and came toward them and took them both in his arms and embraced them. “I have sent the stable hands to bed, so I will help you to finish with these horses and help to muck out the mess. Calimo returned before nightfall and your mother has had another fit of worry about you. When we are done, you will first go in and apologize to her, and then clean yourselves and go to the kitchens for something to eat. It isn’t much, Macalaurë made it, so it isn’t very good, but it has been kept hot for you. Then we will have a talk”.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~

Two weeks later, Curufin stopped his work in the forge for a moment to mop his brow. He had been given a particularly arduous job by his father: to make amends he must fashion a set of iron railings to replace the old fence around their house. It was tedious work as many hundreds of rails must be forged. When these were finished, he must then help Celegorm build the fence. The boys had been confined to the house for a month. Curufin had been given extra work in the forge and Celegorm had had to take over all of Caranthir’s chores plus some of Curufin’s, as well as to do his own. Aredhel had been sent home and the boys had not been allowed to see her until their month of penance was up. They had agreed to this punishment without complaining and had accepted their extra tasks with quiet resolution. Even Celegorm had tolerated Caranthir’s taunts with mature equanimity, and this had the added benefit of causing Caranthir to become more of an adult himself and stop bullying his brothers.

As Curufin wiped away the sweat, dabbing at his face and neck with a towel, he heard someone calling him from the doorway. “Can I come in?” the sweet voice asked. He looked up to see Aredhel running towards him without waiting for his answer.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “It has been only two weeks into our punishment time. We cannot see each other for another two weeks!”

“Do you want me to go away then?” she asked, teasing him.

“No, no!” he blurted out. “I have missed you, Nell! I am delighted to see you!” And he grabbed her in a tight embrace, pressing his lips to her cheek and kissing her with big wet smacks. Then, realizing that he had probably soiled her elaborate dress, he quickly released her. “Oh, I am sorry!” he cried in dismay. “Have I gotten you dirty?”

“Well, who cares if you have?” she said, a new tone entering her voice.

He looked at her carefully. There was a different colour in her eyes; a deeper, duskier shade than before. She looked back at him under lowered lids and her lips seemed to him to become fuller, riper than before. She moved closer to him and he put his hands to her waist and drew her in to him so that their lips met. He closed his eyes and savoured the kiss. It was only brief but he would always remember the feel of her tender mouth and the small rush of breath that came from her lips as he kissed her. They parted, both panting, and then Aredhel said, “I must go now, lest we be caught together. My father is meeting with yours on some matter, and I had begged him to let me come just for the ride. I must not be seen talking to you or Turko. In just two more weeks we shall see each other again”. She kissed him briefly on the cheek and ran for the door.

“It will be the longest two weeks in the history of Arda”, he called after her.