So Comes Snow After Fire

28.iv

"Congratulations, sister," Fíli said with a merry grin and set the wide crystal chalice, brimming with several pints of ale, on the table in front of Tauriel.

"Thank you, Fíli," she returned warmly. She glanced back down at the chalice and Fíli was sure he detected only the slightest widening of her green eyes to indicate she was astonished by his offering. Her enthusiasm and sheer unflappability in the face of what must surely be very strange customs was one of the things Fíli liked most about her.

"It's the marriage cup," he explained as she put a hand out to the unwieldy drinking vessel. The proprietary, fraternal affection he already felt for her would not allow him to carry this slight jest into true confusion for her. "You're not supposed to drink it all yourself. Kíli will help."

"I see! We elves do something like this, too."

"Here, love." Beside her, Kíli took the chalice carefully in both hands and raised it to her lips so that she might drink. She did, her eyes on him the whole while, barely contained laughter clearly tugging at her lips so that Fíli was impressed that she finished the draught quite as elegantly as she did.

"It's a traditional blessing, the marriage cup," Fíli went on. "This is just the first part, actually. You and Kíli empty the cup together to symbolize the life and happiness you will share."

"That's why it's so big," Kíli put in with a meaningful lift of his brows. "To ensure there's plenty of both."

"Of course." Tauriel smiled and repeated Kíli's gesture by offering him a drink. When she had set the cup back on the table, she said, "So, there is another part to the custom."

"Yes; just wait," Kíli assured her. "We have to empty it first. I'll explain when we get there."

Fíli chuckled. "You may be a while. I'll be back!" He turned away to the nearby table where Sif was seated with her parents. Fíli slid onto the bench beside her and looped his arm through hers.

"Darling," he said, and she smiled up at him.

"They look so pretty together, don't you think?" Sif asked. "Tauriel looks like someone out of a fairy tale, and your brother is very handsome." She giggled. "And today, all the girls from Ered Luin secretly mourn."

"All of them?"

"All but one," Sif corrected herself.

"Where's your brother?"

"Oh, he's with her." She indicated a table at the other side of the hall, where Freyr sat across from Audha, who laughed at something he had just said.

"Maybe he's telling her about last night," Fíli guessed.

Sif laughed then, too. "Did Freyr really beat Kíli in the wrestling match?"

"Yes, though this time I'm sure Kíli hardly minded." He paused, thoughtful. "I'm very glad your brother and mine can still be friends."

"You mean because of Audha?"

"Yes."

"You know that before Kíli was ever a rival, he saved me from the disappointment of losing you. Freyr won't forget that."

Fíli pressed her arm to his side. "Your brother loves you dearly." He remembered how Freyr had nearly denied him seeing Sif when she had been heartbroken.

"And," Sif went on, "Freyr would never even have met Audha if she hadn't stayed here for Kíli. I don't see how he can resent your brother for giving him the chance he otherwise could not have had. So in the end, things turned out better than anyone could have hoped."