Denied Rights

AN: Thanks for all your reviews and encouragement… I am so so sorry that it took me so long to update this story. I blame my schoolwork. Ok, that’s not really a good excuse, but it’s the only one that I have right now. Once again, I do not own these characters, and I am not making anything by using them in this story. And this story does contain slash. “These marks mean speech” and ‘these marks mean inner thoughts’.
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“Celeborn is Haldir’s father,” Legolas repeated. “But you are not his mother?” Galadriel almost seemed to flinch at those words.

She sank down onto the stone bench beside her. “I would not normally speak of this. Few know this information, but I feel that if you are going to be involved with Haldir, then you should know.”

“So Celeborn is the father of Rumil and Orophin also?” the Mirkwood elf asked, trying to pue pie pieces together. He was even more confused when she answered negatively.

“No. He is only Haldir’s sire. Haldir took in Rumil and Orophin when they were very young. Their parents had been guardians, and perished in an attack on the borders. Once he saw the two, Hr fer fell in love with them. The three of them have been together ever since.” Sensing his next question, she continued. “They do look eerily alike, and most automatically assume that they are brothers. Which in a sense they are, all but by blood.”

Legolas nodded his head. He had seen the way that Haldir acted with Rumil and Orophin, and he did treat them as his kin. It was one of the things that had attracted the Mirkwood elf to the Marchwarden—the closeness of the ‘siblings’.

“You must know, Legolas, that Celeborn and I sometimes each take others into our beds. I suspect that you did know this, for you questioned whether or not I had taken such liberties with my Marchwarden.” Legolas blushed and nodded again.

“Well, this was one such case. Celeborn took a young elleth to bed bed. What he did not know is that this woman deliberately got with child. Once she was pregnant, Celeborn would have been heartless if he did not say he would support his own child.” She blinked. “I supported this decision, for it was not his fault that the elleth decided to have a child, and I would not want the baby to suffer. But publicly he could not claim the child as his own. Not only was it disrespectful to me, if he did this, he would lose the respect from our people and his orders would be continuously questioned. He is the Lord of Lothlorien, and was needed to rule and protect his people. Sadly, he could not give that up, not even for his own son, and Haldir was denied the title of Lord.”

Legolas immediately felt sadness wash over him. “So Haldir did not have a father growing up? And he also soon lost his mother?”

“Celeborn gave Haldir as most attention as he could spare publicly, and then in private he visited the elfling relentlessly. When Haldir’s mother was killed, Celeborn publicly adopted him. Even then, he was unable to fully be the father that Haldir needed, and still could not give Haldir his title. My husband is most grieved over how he has treated Haldir ovhe yhe years, especially since his son has never seemed truly happy.” Galadriel put a hand on his shoulder. “I should hope that you can change that.”

“I will do my best, my Lady, but I fear that by coming here, I have only brought Thranduil’s wrath down on Lothlorien.” He hung his head, “And he would never approve of me courting Celeborn’s son.”

“Why should he not?”’ she asked. “Haldir’s denied title is equal to the one you should hold. I only wish that you both could have lived the lives you deserved.”

“But that is not why I spoke, my Lady. Thranduil does not approve of males lying with other males. For him to find out that I am involved with Haldir, even though our relationship has not yet gotten to that step, would bring danger to the Marchwarden.” As an afterthought, he added, “As well as me.”

The Lady of Light opened her mouth to respond, to say something that would lay his fears to rest, but found that she knew not how to reassure him.

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“Haldir and Legolas are ‘together’?” asked Elrohir as the small group of elves continued on towards where they woulet tet their grandparents.

Rumil smiled. “I do not think they are yet in a relationship; however they have been in each other’s company for most of the time that Legolas has been here.” He looked at Glorfindel pointedly, “My brother is very happy.” He paused, considering whether to continue, and then nodded. “I have not seen him this way for a very long time. Thranduil’s advisor also seems happy, and to tell the truth, in all his visits to Lothlorien, I have never seen him smile, as he does now.”

Glorfindel nodded, silently agreeing to do nothing to disrupt this happiness. “I am glad,” he said simply, ignoring the astonished looks from the twins. ‘That’s right you little monsters, I do have a heart, and if Haldir and Legolas are together then I will do nothing stand in their way.’

Elrohir and Elladan exchanged a look, and then Elladan grinned. “Well, I must tell you Rumil, that we are simply overjoyed that Legolas is here,” he said as he grasped his twin by the shoulder. At Rumil’s questioning look, Elrohir continued.

“Oh yes, anything to keep us from having to visit Mirkwood. You see Rumil, Legolas somehow left one of his knives in Imladris, and father asked us to return it.” The younger twin could barely contain his glee. “I cannot tell you how delighted we are that we do not have to venture into Thranduil’s halls.”

Elladan repressed a shudder. “To me it seems like he grows nastier every time we see him.” Rumil clenched his fists as he thought of Thranduil’s dismissive tone when he had asked the King to aid him in the search for Haldir. The guardian looked over at the Balrog slayer to see if he had any thoughts to share, but only saw him nodding in agreement with the younger s sts statement.

Elrohir’s lips suddenly twisted into a sneer. “You know why he treats us the way he does, don’t you?” Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “It’s because we are Half-Elven. He treats father the same way, as if we are beneath him!”

Elladan rubbed his twin’s back soothingly. “His opinion matter naught to us, brother. Do not trouble yourself thusly.”

Both twins suddenly stopped moving, and both cocked their heads to the side simultaneously. Rumil recognizing what was happening, merely slowed to a stop and waited expectedly. Glorfindel looked puzzled and reached out to grasp Elrohir by the shoulders. Rumil smiled and touched the elder elf’s hands before they reached their target. “The Lady is speaking with them,” he murmured reassuringly.

Before long, awareness returned to the twins. Instead of speaking to the two who were watching them, they turned to each other. Glorfindel was a little annoyed that he and Rumil were being excluded from their silent conversation, but respectfully did not interrupt them.

Elrohir finally nudged his twin, “We’re being rude, brother.” Turning to Rumil and Glorfindel, he said, “Forgive us, we did not mean to alienate you.” Taking Elladan by the hand, he continued walking down the path. “Grandmother is expecting us, we mustn’t keep her waiting.”

The twins were soon far ahead of their companions. Watching them, Rumil faced Glorfindel. “I had forgotten their quirky behavior!” he laughed. “I will admit that as long as they do not touch my weapons, then I welcome them with open arms.”

The elder elf pondered this. “They have their moments, both good and bad.” Seeing that his young charges had stopped to wait for them, he smiled fondly. “I cherish them as if they were my own,” he professed, and then without waiting for a response continued onto the twins.

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Calimara looked anxiously around her. They had finally stopped after they felt the horses could take no more. Although the princess trusted her eldest brother’s judgment, she wanted to get to Lothlorien as soon as possible. Angancaicediced her apprehensive look, and sat down onto the log next to her. “Do not fear, sister. We will get there safely. I trust Vorimarao to guide” H” His smile warmed her heart, and she rested her head on his shoulder, as his arm came around her.

Aranisilo sat with the grs ths three captains, two of them telling embarrassing stories from their youth, in an effort to make the youngest prince laugh. Calenallo, the captain who served under Vorimarao, told the tale of falling out of a tree in front of several new recruits. Silnel, the captain who served under Anganca, told of when he had repeatedly yelled at a warrior for wearing his gloves, when in truth, they had identical pairs, and Silnel’s were at the bottom of his pack. Aranisilo’s captain had confessed that he could not think of any embarrassing stories about himself, and that if they could do it for them he would be much obliged. “I’m afraid I’m just too perfect!” Latekaimelar exclaimed when his three companions failed to come up with a humiliating incident. The captains all laughed, and even Aranisilo smiled. Latekaimelar exchanged glances with Silnel and Calenallo. ‘I can take a smile,’ he thought smugly, and knew that his captains were also overjoyed. Aranisilo’s eyes traveled over his sister and Anganca, and then he searched for his eldest brother and his eyes widened at what he saw.

Vorimarao stood in the far corner of the campsite, and next to him stood Elenwen. Their fingers were intertwined. The pair had their heads bent close together and appeared to be whispering. In any event, Aranisilo could not hear a word they were saying, over all the noise from the rest of the camp.

The youngest prince realized he was staring and quickly averted his gaze, but the image of Elenwen and Vorimarao was burned into his brain. ‘Father will not be happy,’ was all that he could think of.

Latekaimelar had followed his prince’s stare, and frowned. It was common knowledge that King Thranduesiresired Elenwen. It was also common knowledge that Elenwen had refused the king, but that had not stopped him from relentlessly pursuing her. Vorimarao had already made an enemy out of his father by leading his brothers and sisters to Lothlorien, and this was just adding fuel to the fire. The king did not need another reason to be angry with his son. ‘This will not do.’

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Reviewer Responses:

Ivorybrowneyes: I’m glad you like the story and I’m sorry that this update took so long! Lol, I partly understand how you can’t envision the ‘enfolding into his arms’, but I feel that behind Celeborn’s façade is a loving father, and I do believe that he could have a close relationship with Haldir. Hope you like this chapter too!

Haldir’s Heart and Soul: The question of Rumil and Orophin is kinda answered in this chapter, I didn’t go too much into it, and didn’t name their parents. I didn’t feel that it was necessary for the story, but if you would like a little more background, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

Kept-Secret: Lol, indeed you aren’t the only one who had brother problems. I am so tful ful that my brother and I are able to be civil to each other now! Unfortunately, this update was nowhere near as fast as the last one, and I’m not sure when the next one will be. There will be a slight Haldir/Glorfindel confrontation, but you’ll have to wait to see what happens for that. Hope you liked this chapter!

Astrid: Yes, Haldir is Celeborn’s son. I’m sure some people were expecting it, but I hope I was able to surprise most of you. Now you’re all seeing the second reason of why I chose ‘denied rights’ as my title. Sorry this update was so late!!

Willow Myst: Lol, I’m glad you liked the ‘twinness’, and ‘Glorfy’! As for story suggestions for Elrond/Glorfindel, I can’t really think of any right now. Now, I don’t want to offend anyone who’ve actually written such stories. But anyways, right now I’ve just been working so much at school that I haven’t had time to read as many stories as I’ve wanted.  I know that I’ve read them though!! However, you are right when you say that those are hard stories to find. As for Haldir’s mother, that was answered in this chapter, and I’m not sure if I’ll go into it anymore… but it’s a possibility. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

TheSilentSenshi: I’m sorrleftleft you for so long!! And you are correct, the twins do not yet know about Legolas’ parentage, although they may find out in the near future. I’ve read some great Haldir/Legolas fics, but it really depends on what kind of story you’re looking for. There’s a lot of serious slash out there if you’re interested. Although for myself, I like slash more if it has an actual plot. (Hence, why I wrote this story) But you are right; Haldir is a tough character to portray. I’m not sure I was able to describe him correctly, although since so little is written about Haldir by Tolkien, most of it is just the way I believe him to be. I also enjoying reading stories with the twins, and I’m glad that you enjoyed the way that I wrote them in. Lol, sadly, my brother and I did use to have senseless arguments like that.

Lucien: I couldn’t tell you if it was Quenya. I wrote that first chapter a long time ago, and got the phrases from one of those: ‘useful elvish phrases’ websites.

Falling Hawk: I’m so sorry this update was so late!! But I’m glad that you’ve enjoyed the story so far. Hope you liked this chapter too!

Epilachna: I also used to be one of those terrible people who would read and then not review. But when I started to write one myself, I realized how much reviews mean to an author, and I began to review whatever I read. So on behalf of all the other fanfic writers out there, I thank you. All 17 chapters in one sitting? I am impressed. I’m touched that the story had such a profound impact on you, and you think me so talented. I do try to make sure that all the errors have been fixed before I post. I totally agree with you about ones without proper punctuation and grammar. I also finselfself having to stop reading stories because of this, and it really is a shame because I’m sure that some of them would be wonderful. I hope you liked this chapter and I’m sorry I kept you waiting so long!

Dur En Thurnin Naur: I’m glad you enjoy the, lol, ‘beautiful torture’ as well as the comedy. As for more Leggy torture, I do believe that there will be more…. Cross your fingers! Oh and Luimhenn is going to be a problem I’m afraid, although I’m not sure about him shooting Legolas in the back. Here’s another chapter with his siblings, not too much on them I’m afraid, but when they *finally* reach Lothlorien, I’ll be writing about them more.

Angelgirl: I’m glad you like the way I portray the twins. As for Haldir, Legolas will definitely try to make him all better! Hope you like this chapter!

Anon: Once again, thanks for your help with the formatting! And I’m glad that you’re intrigued, and I hope that you liked this chapter!

Breach Cannon all must die: Lol, hopefully Glorfindel will stay out of trouble. He is a good guy after all. However, there may be a problem when Legolas finds out about it…. You’ll see… I hope you liked this chapter.

Amarelle: Lol, I love that you’re so enthusiastic! And I’m glad that you’re loving my s. I. I’m so sorry that this update took so long! Let me know what you thought!