The darkening of hearts

Darkness fell and sorrow sang

Ariniel was a quiet child, and one that was easy to care for. Saeriel tried to handle her daughter as little as possible and Lerina was the one to bathe and carry her and speak to her. Her real mother was only there when the babe needed food and as soon as she no longer relied upon her mother's milk for sustenance Saeriel stayed away from the baby. It hurt her terribly but there was no other way. Maedhros was beside himself with pride and joy and proved to be a terrific father and Fingon also loved the little nis with all of his heart.

Saeriel slowly returned to her old self physically, she got her figure back and her laugher too but there was a sadness in her now. Lerina did understand, and she wished so badly that things were different but nothing could change the way it all had turned out. Ariniel grew fast, she was a large baby and everybody who came to visit was shocked by the idea of her being born by Lerina. Lerina had to pretend to be frail still, to be exhausted and injured by a hard birth and Nerdanel was there all the time and made sure that she never gave herself away. The two nissi became even better friends now and the child brought them together and they formed almost a sort of mother daughter bond that gave Lerina a lot more self-confidence. Elf children grow extremely fast their first year and Ariniel was no exception, by one year of age she was crawling around and on the verge of walking and she could talk and sing too. Lerina was spending all her spare time with the girl, teaching her all sorts of things and to the little one Lerina was mother. Saeriel was an aunt and Nerdanel was grandma. It was good this way. Then Saeriel received a letter from home, they wanted her to return for there was a possible suitor and Saeriel did almost get hysterical. She knew that her body showed what she had been through, she had stretch marks and her breasts were heavier than before and her hips too had changed.

She could of course hide these things for her family, after all, the fashion demanded rather tight dresses that didn't show much skin and she could wear a corset and just claim that she had put on weight but to a ner who expected to see her naked the changes would be obvious. And so there was just one thing to do. Saeriel wrote a polite letter to her parents explaining that she already had a suitor and that she had agreed upon a betrothal being announced soon. Fingon didn't need much time to think of it, in this way he too could have a child of his own one day and nobody would suspect anything if the two couples stayed together much of the time, after all, their wives were related and very good friends. Saeriels parents were beside themselves with joy, a son of a noldorin prince, it was a huge leap upwards when it came to social status. The betrothal was celebrated with a lot of pomp and circumstance and Lerina was there, holding little Ariniel and acting like a very proud mother indeed. She did see herself as Ariniel's mother, as her caretaker and protector and everybody were impressed by her skills and dedication.

Saeriel and Fingon got married early the year after and it was a beautiful wedding too. Fëanor didn't attend to it, he was so hostile against everybody of his brother's family they barely dared to invite him. Finwë was terribly sad but there was little anybody could do about it, Fëanor had become very paranoid and hostile and Nerdanel feared for his sanity. Saeriel and Fingon got their own home and Maedhros and Lerina often visited them there, and Ariniel loved it there. The girl became a very boisterous little rascal who reminded Maedhros of his youngest brothers and she did keep Lerina busy much of the time. They hired the best teachers and made sure that she never had to worry about anything and Lerina knew that Maedhros only regretted that she would be an only child. Maglor got married too, to another musician and Lerina did notice that things were changing in Tirion. There were less gossip being heard and things seemed to have cooled down a lot.

Lerina knew it was thanks to a combined effort made by both Finwë and Ingwë, the vanyar seemed to become more moderate by the day and the harsh piousness wasn't seen in public anymore. Lerina was even at court a few times, she no longer feared it and everybody was in awe of little Ariniel and forgot about her. Ariniel was a very beautiful child, her hair darker than her father's and more like that of Nerdanel and she was going to be tall and slender no doubt. Things seemed to be going well, to be peaceful and good and for years Lerina relaxed more and more and forgot about her fears and doubts. Fingon and Saeriel didn't have any kids yet, Saeriel wanted to wait a little longer for she still remembered the very tough birth she had been through and she was afraid of facing yet another situation like that.