Estateillio

the Fellowship of the Ring

• "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear", Gandalf was quick to assure him and stood at the young hobbit's side and Estateillio too smiled and knelt down to be on eye level with him.

• "Many times have I travelled from Imladris to Mordor and many times have I traversed the dark lands. I shall be your guide, if you will have me, and I shall keep you safe from as much harm as possible", she offered and Frodo replied: "I would be honoured, my lady."

• And she rose, standing next to the Istar to make way for Aragorn, who knelt down as well and promised: "If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."

• And Legolas, not wishing to leave his friend alone on such perilous journey, chimed in: "And you have my bow." This of course caused Gimli to join them as well and after little contemplation Boromir decided to accompany them as well: "You carry the fate of us all little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."

• And without great hesitation, Sam left his hiding spot in the bushes and declared: "Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me!" And he positioned himself next to Frodo and Estateillio smiled and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, for she could sense his nervousness.

• Of course, where two hobbits were, the other were not far and so it was, at least to the elleth and Mithrandir, of no great surprise that Merry and Pippin came barrelling into the room from behind two pillars and the former exclaimed: "Wait! We are coming too!"

• "You'd have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us", the latter added, "Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission... quest... thing." "Well, that rules you out, Pip", Merry whispered.

• "So be it. You shall be the fellowship of the ring", Elrond declared, after no-one else had volunteered. "Great, where are we going?", Pippin asked and Estateillio started laughing.

• The next days there was a lot of preparation to be done and, as Estamíriel decided, a serious talk with her niece.

• "Thy father wants thee to leave Endórë", she began, when she found Arwen in the library. "I will not leave", the daughter of Celebrian answered, "I will not hide away from the danger, from the war."

• "I know, I would not ask thee to do so, thou hath the same right to fight as we all do. But that is not all that keeps thee here, is it?" The younger elleth turned away and stared out of a window for a few seconds, before she whispered: "I love him."

• And Estamíriel extended an arm and gathered her niece in a hug as the first tears came. "I just- I do not understand why Atar does not accept it."

• Her aunt held her tight and stroked over her hair. "Elrond fears for thee, Rendiel, he does not want to loose thee like he did Firyafinwë and so many others", she explained.

• "But it is my choice! It is my decision what to do with my life!", Arwen exclaimed and her aunt rubbed a soothing hand over her shoulder blade. "I know, it is. Such choices need to be considered carefully, yes, but thou didst so and now thy heart is set and thy father has no reason to forbid it."

• "But he does", the elleth replied and left the embrace and Estamíriel sighed and inquired: "Thou canst still do everything without his consent. For that bond thou startedst thou hadst no permission, I believe."

• Arwen twirled around to face her aunt in surprise at having been caught so soon, before admitting: "I don't think there was a way thou wouldst not have noticed it."

• "It's my task as thy aunt to notice such things. Arwen, why didst thou create such link between you? If anything happened to Aragorn on the journey thou wouldst feel it, should he die it would create such severe backlash that thou wouldst be in agony for weeks", Estateillio retorted and put her hands on her niece's arms to hold her there, "Arwen, such things are not done lightly."

• "I know! But that was before the council. I hoped to at least somewhat be able to help him, for I knew that whatever happened my Aragorn would ride out to war, into the danger, and that father would not let me go. I wished to be able to talk to him, at least in dreams, and to know at least something about his health."

• "And it would give you a very good reason to stay here, especially if presented to thy father correctly", Estamíriel added and sighed, "Does Aragorn at least know about it?" Arwen shook her head: "He would not approve of it."

• She brought her niece back into an embrace and advised her: "Thou shouldst tell him. He at least deserves to know." The Evenstar nodded, but stayed silent for a while.

• "Did it hurt a lot", she finally asked timidly, "when Élfaradis died?" Her aunt tensed for a second before replying: "Yes. I do not remember much of it, I sat in shock mostly and the memory is blurry, but I know that Hráven took the pain out on the orcs. Ráven told us, once, that it felt for a moment as if we were back in Angband. I'm not sure, I don't know, but together with the death of Ereinion it was enough to split us further and thou knowest what Halieth did during the first years of the third age."

• Arwen was very tense at that and Estateillio quickly set to calming her: "But I doubt that thou wouldst feel it so strongly. Our bond was stronger, both because we were elves and because we were much more emotionally reliant on each other... she helped me heal, encouraged me on when life seemed too much... And your bond came from nothing, basically, while ours developed from a bond of deep friendship into more."

• "Thank you, Rendataro", the younger elleth whispered and hugged her tighter. "We promise you, Rendiel, we will do our best to keep your Aragorn safe. There has been enough grief in this family."

[《◇》]
As I said, here's the third chapter for today.
Hope you enjoyed it!
AT
P.S.:
Endórë -> middle earth
Atar -> father
Rendiel -> niece (lit. Cousin daughter)
Firyafinwë ~> Elros
Rendataro -> aunt (lit. Father's cousin)
P.P.S.: The bond they are talking about is not a marriage bond. I am of the strict belief that elves have bonds with all the people that are dear to them, though in varying strengths.