Chapter Text
First Age - 542
Elros peered out from behind the wall. Without turning back around, he beaconed towards Elrond and within seconds he was standing at his side.
“His sword is gone, look!” The older twin whispered and pointed to where Maedhros’ sword usually lay, the bench now empty, excluding the whetstone Maedhros would sharpen weapons with after use.
Elrond peered out over his older brother's shoulder and nodded with excitement.
“He shall not be back for some time. He must be out hunting.”
Elros turned to him with confusion.
“How is it you know of this and I do not?”
Elrond giggled and pulled Elros by the wrist, saying.
“Because I listen, hanno. Maedhros spoke of it at dinner yesterday.” Elros rolled his eyes but laughed also.
“Hurry, we shan't waste time, unless you ought to explain our doings to him!”
**********
Cautiously, they ran through the different chambers and halls, purposefully taking a detour to avoid the music chamber, and with it, a questioning from Maglor.
The mischievous and curious grins stuck to their faces and they struggled to contain their excitement, in fear of being heard by a nosy follower.
They were out of breath by the time they reached the sleeping chambers. But not tired enough to not finally express the thrill they both felt.
“One, two, three, four, five…” Elros counted the doors in the hall loudly, skipping along as he did so.
“Shhhhhh…” Elrond scolded him and they both erupted with laughter. They raced towards door number six and stopped abruptly.
“Go on Elrond, the door shall stay shut until you push it.” Elros panted against his neck, eyes wide as he watched Elrond’s movements.
“Are… you certain that we really shall?”
Elros moved back at his brother’s words. “Shall what?”
Elrond looked away from Elros as he spoke. “Intrude. Will that not bring him offence, Elros? Maedhros has cared greatly for us, and as thanks we decide to neglect his privacy and his wish to not enter his chamber?”
He turned his gaze back to his older twin, who in turn seemed to consider his words.
Then he laughed. “But… he shall not know we did so. Therefore no harm is done!”
Elros smiled at his brother and beaconed him to push the door.
Hesitantly, Elrond did so, and cursed Maedhros inside for not locking the door shut before he left.
The door squeaked slightly at the force and both twins were blinded by the sudden ray of sunlight it revealed.
Elrond gasped as he felt someone pushing him inside.
Elros followed his brother confidently and before he closed the door behind them, he spared a quick glance across the hallway, in case someone saw them.
Then, he turned around to face the forbidden chamber.
It looked quite familiar. The same grey stone walls, the same wooden door and window-frame. The same deer-skin rug in the middle of the chamber. Same wooden bed frame and bedsheets that were as white as snow.
All the room's features matched their own, except for the bigger window and metal chest that stood at the foot of the bed.
Suddenly Elrond spoke up.
“It looks like ours, but feels…”
“Different.” Elros finished the thought. His gaze was fixated on the metal chest ever since he entered the room. Elrond seemed to have noticed it too.
It was as if the whole chamber was mourning someone. The visible ivy vines along the side of the window-frame didn’t look unhealthy nor sick. Just tired. The sunlight that entered the room dimmed, but not in a scary way, but as if it was grieving for something, or someone.
“Is it Maedhros they miss?” Elros voiced his thoughts.
Elrond shook his head. “Listen.”
Two robins sat on the window-sill, that same feeling of sorrow acting on their every movement.
And then they sang. A slow tune at first, loud and full of feeling, but as they continued, the melody sped up and quietened. The structure of the song remained the same, but the melody built up tension towards the end, and as it did so, one robin flew away.
The other one silenced completely. It watched its companion until the trees swallowed its shadow.
Then the lonely bird broke into a quiet lament.
Elros looked at Elrond knowingly. Nothing compared to a lament for your beloved.
In silence, Elrond and Elros walked up to the metal chest, as if a strange force pulled them towards it.
They kneeled in front of it and together they pulled the hinged lid upwards.
The chest was filled to the top with books and boxes and free-flying pages.
The twins were overwhelmed by its contents, staring wide-eyed into it, goosebumps forming on their skin. It was as if opening the chest brought them back in time. Yet nothing in the chest smelled old, but rather different.
A sun-like light surrounded some of the objects, as if they were gifts from the Valar themselves. The light was so familiar, but warmer and simultaneously more distant. As if they had seen it before in their dreams, or in their younger years.
“Hanno, these ought to be from Aman, right? They feel so ethereal.” Elrond broke the heavy silence with his ponderings.
Elros nodded but didn’t look at him.
Instead he picked up a small box from the top of the pile. Its weight brought down his hand and he struggled to hold it. Its wooden frame was decorated with small engravings of leaves and flowers, ones neither twin had ever spotted or were taught about by Maglor.
The box lacked the Valinorian glimmer, but nevertheless, was one of the most eye-catching objects in the chest.
Elrond’s shoulders tensed as he watched Elros remove the lid off the box.
He knew he should stop his brother, and they shouldn’t intrude on Maedhros, that they were specifically told not to, and oh if they were to get caught -
He was pulled out of his spiral by a sudden movement next to him. He quickly caught sight of the lid disposed by Elros’ side, shutting his eyes from the splash of light that suddenly blocked out his vision.
Elros did similarly, but curiosity got the better of him and his eyes didn’t stay shut for much longer.
His breath hitched as he gazed inside the box.
Inside, lay two silver rings.
Engagement rings, by the customs of the Eldar.
He could feel Elrond’s dumbfounded breaths against his shoulder, his twin's shock comparable to his own.
Maedhros was married, or at least engaged, and no word was ever spoken of it.
Elrond leaned in and lifted the ring for examination, eyes wide as he reminisced the tales Maglor spent his evenings telling, of the bliss Valinor and the Two Trees, of the songs and tunes of the Eldar then, of Valinorian pearls, diamonds, gold and silver.
Elrond turned to Elros, wide eyed.
“This is the silver of Valinor, from the tales of Maglor of Valinor’s bliss.”
Elros closed the box once Elrond completed his examination, and the light was once again shut inside.
His hands came to the top of the chest, feeling the guilt of trespassing weighing in on him. He had seen enough. Enough to silence his curiosity further.
He turned to Elrond, with a plea for help in closing the chest on his tongue.
But Elrond wasn’t looking at him. He was reading what seemed to be a … piece of sheet music?
It’s as if their views had swapped completely.
Elros now felt unsure, no longer curious but rather guilty, and Elrond, Elros watched the smile on his face grow as he stood up.
“I must hear this played, for it’s composed with such care and emotion. It shall make for a beautiful melody Elros, it ought to!”
His cautious younger brother, lost in his love for music, had lost all his senses and left the chamber, clutching the sheet of notes in one hand and beaconing Elros to follow with the other.
Elros took one glance at the opened chest and shrugged.
He was powerless to fight reason with excitement and ran after his brother.
The half open door revealed the meddled-with chest perfectly behind both twins, yet neither thought to look back behind them.
**********
Maglor sat in the corner of the music chamber, polishing his harp and humming to himself when he heard a knock on the door.
“Enter my friends!” He called towards the door, already predicting who stood on the opposite side.
Elrond slid inside, followed closely by Elros and they stood in front of him impatiently.
“What brings you to me at this hour?” he asked them carefully.
Elrond handed him a sheet of music and answered.
“We bear this melody with us. I read the notes and we ought to hear it now!”
Maglor smiled at their excitement.
“And where do you bear this to me from?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
He played this tune so many times that he could play it blind or in pitch darkness and make no mistake.
Many nights, when Elrond and Elros slept, he would sit with his brother and console him as he wept. Many times, he had told Maedhros to tell the tale of him and his beloved to the young ones, but he refused, and Maglor knew why.
Maedhros blamed himself.
For the oath. For Thangorodrim. For the Nirnaeth. For his death.
He was kind to the twins, he told them tales of Valinor nearly as often as Maglor did.
He taught them swordsmanship, hunting and the lore of old. He taught them how to cook wild meat, what herbs were poisonous and which were used for healing.
But when Maglor told the twins of his life, Maedhros stayed silent.
Because if he spoke, no words would come if they were not to be followed by tears.
All of Maedhros’ life had been spent by the side of his beloved.
And each memory spoken aloud served as a painful reminder of what he’d lost.
The twins looked to one another with panic, but Maglor didn’t expect an answer. Instead, he pointed to the deer-skin rug and let Elrond and Elros settle down comfortably.
The panicked look on the twins' faces dissolved immediately, as their anticipation for hearing the piece grew.
Maglor put down his polishing cloth and began to play, the sheet placed on a stand in front of him, no matter how well he knew the tune.
The melody was smooth yet quick-paced, something Elrond had never heard Maglor play before.
The notes merged together to form the most beautiful harmony of feelings and sounds and tones. It felt god-like even, each pluck of the harp string widening the smiles of wonder on the faces of the twins.
It was so different from the other tunes Maglor had played for them, but even the lightness and sheer beauty of the tune couldn’t hide the depth and importance of it.
And Elrond was scared to admit it, but he felt like Maglor’s skills didn’t do it justice, yet he was the greatest musician Elrond knew.
It was as if only one specific person was meant to play it, and others who tried would come short every time.
No words were spoken throughout, but thoughts and questions raced in each person's mind. All surrounding one person.
Maedhros.