Serenity

[Elnara Aldrich]

An Unexpected Visit – Part I

The fourth floor of the inn was always the busiest floor, for that was where the family made their home. Well, most of the family at least. But in light of the Aldrich part of the family’s recent move to the third floor (for space reasons), the two floors were more hectic than usual. It had only been a few days since the move, and Serenity was still getting used to it – and still running up the stairs to her old room every once in a while to find something else she had forgotten to bring down.

On this particular trip up the stairs, she was in search of a special quill: one that her mother had made fresh for her from one of Skye’s wing feathers. Serenity always preferred quills made from her sister’s wing feathers; it instilled in her a sense that they had a special bond between the two of them. And they did: Celebor got his quills from their mother; he liked the phoenix feathers the best. Skye didn’t do much writing at this point, but when she did, she used a quill from her own wings.

But she had many things on her mind at this point in time, and so it was that she wasn’t paying any attention at all to which doors she was opening and going through. Thus it happened that she went through the wrong door completely, and rather than ending up in someone else’s bedroom, she ended up … in a dark hallway she had never seen before.

There was a lot here that she hadn’t seen before … that she hadn’t even known was a part of the inn. White stone walls … marble, if she recalled correctly from something her mother had shown her a long time ago. And sticks with fire on them hanging on the walls … torches? But what were those carvings on the walls?

Phoenixes, she realized, recognizing the magnificent bird from the shape her mother so often assumed for Celebor.

Pretty.

But there were other carvings in the walls: runes like the ones her mother showed her, had taught her to write with. Intrigued now, she started reading them, following them along the walls without paying any attention to where she was going. She learned a lot from the runes: about the creation of a place called the Four Lands by deities called the Valar … how one Vala named Melkor had tried to ruin it … how the others had saved it, and how some of them had come to live among the elves for a time, until the world became too dark.

Serenity blinked. Elves? Mama was an elf, she knew that, and Lore was an elf …

Where was she?

She felt a sudden pang of fear, and she turned to go back where she had come from – but there were several doorways, and she couldn’t remember which she had come through, or how many … well, perhaps the best thing then would be to continue to go forward. Perhaps she would meet up with someone who could help her … though that thought was frightening as well. Serenity was terrified of strangers. But in a case like this, she realized that even meeting a stranger would be better than wandering, lost, through the halls that all looked the same.

Some time later, she wasn’t sure how long, she heard a noise. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she was scared and lonely by this point in time, and she called out in a wavering voice, “Hello?”

Her voice echoed back at her hauntingly: “Hello hello hello …”

A moment later, there was a reply. “Hello … one moment, I’ll find you in just a moment.”

The voice was soft and kind, youthful.

Serenity pressed against the wall beneath a torch and waited patiently for the owner of the voice to appear. Her heart was beating wildly, and she was sweating a bit: from fear, and perhaps from the prolonged darkness.

After less than a minute, a boy came into view. He was a little taller than Serenity, perhaps about five feet tall, and he had short, neatly kept black hair and thin, angled eyebrows. His face was narrow, his eyes a bright green, his skin a dusky copper. He was dressed in whites: tight white pants and a looser white tunic, rather like Celebor’s style of clothing. His ears were also pointed …

“Are you an elf?” Serenity squeaked, curiosity overcoming her nervousness, before the boy could say anything further.

He blinked at her and looked at her scrutinizingly. “Are you human?” he asked, equally curious. “How did you get in here?” His eyes grew wide. “Did you come the same way Yue and Yukito came? The angels?”

Serenity was flabbergasted. “You know my uncles?” she asked excitedly, forgetting her shyness. “They were here before?” Good! Then she knew that this was an okay place to be. It wasn’t dangerous.

The boy was delighted. “They were here when I was little! By the way, my name is Eärendil.” He put two fingers to his forehead and bowed his head politely. Then he straightened and asked, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Serenity,” the young girl replied with a blush, waving a bit.

Eärendil smiled and held his hand out to her. “Welcome to the Four Lands, Serenity,” he said warmly, his youthful eyes sparkling mischievously. “Let me show you around.”  

[Elnara Aldrich]

An Unexpected Visit – Part II

It took Eärendil a while to lead Serenity to the room that led out of the labyrinth, and neither of them spoke a word for the duration of the walk: Serenity because she was too shy and scared, and Eärendil because he didn’t want to frighten the girl any further.

But as soon as they were out of the darkness of the maze, Serenity turned to her guide and asked, “Where are we, exactly?” She had a funny feeling they weren’t in the inn at all anymore.

That was a fact that Eärendil verified immediately: “We are in the palace in Tor Karad,” he told her with a grin. “After you meet my great-grandmother, I can show you around a bit, if you’d like,” he offered. He paused, staring at her openly, not even trying to hide it.

Serenity blushed uncomfortably and nodded. Her voice seemed to have disappeared on her again …

Eärendil noticed her sudden discomfort and smiled kindly at her. “Don’t be scared,” he told her softly, taking her hand. “Ninako’s nice! Everyone here is nice!” He started leading her up a tall set of stairs.

She followed obediently, wondering if she was going the right way, if she shouldn’t rather be headed down the stairs, back towards home …

As a Surprise, she had always been exponentially smaller than everyone she knew, except for Skye and a few of her relatives. But now, going down the enormous hall and pausing in front of the door that was at least four times her height, she felt smaller than she had ever felt before. And it didn’t help that when the door was opened, it was opened by two men who were taller than Lore was – and Lore was the tallest person she had ever seen in her short life.

They were all dressed in shining armour, and they all bowed to Eärendil as he and Serenity entered the room. Serenity watched them all silently for a moment, but then her attention was drawn to a tall elvish woman who was standing by a tall window in the wall to the left. She was wearing a colourful dress, and her long black hair was pulled back in a fancy braid. Sitting atop her head was a silver crown.

Serenity tried to hide behind Eärendil, but the woman spotted her and called out in a different language – but one that Serenity understood.

“Who is this, Eärendil?” she asked, her tone curious.

Eärendil grinned and stepped aside to show Serenity, who was now blushing furiously. “This is Serenity, Ninako,” he said cheerfully in English, not realizing that Serenity knew their language quite well. “I found her in the labyrinth, she says the angels Yue and Yukito are her uncles!” His excitement was evident, both in his tone and the glittering of his emerald eyes. He turned to Serenity and grinned again. “Serenity, this is my Ninako, Queen Atalya.”

Serenity didn’t know much about queens and the like, only what she had read in books with Celebor. But she did know that you were supposed to do something polite when you met one … so she bowed at the waist. She felt far too intimidated to say anything, so she didn’t.

The little girl intrigued the queen, and she moved closer to her to see if she could find out more about her.

“Hello,” she smiled kindly, kneeling down to get herself closer to Serenity’s height. “I understand you’re from Gaia, is that right?”

Serenity looked shyly into the queen’s dark brown eyes and nodded jerkily.

“And the angels, Yue and Yukito are your uncles, is that correct?” the queen pressed.

Serenity nodded again.

“And you know Kara Winters, then, as well?”

Serenity nodded and smiled, and this time she opened her mouth to reply: “She’s my grandma.”

Atalya was delighted. “So your full name is Serenity Winters, then?” she asked happily.

Serenity shook her head, her eyes never leaving the queen’s face.

The queen was confused now. “What is it, then?” she asked softly, puzzled.

Serenity put her hands behind her back and clasped them tightly together. “Serenity Aldrich Winters.”

For a moment, there was a stunned silence. The queen was staring at the child wordlessly, taken completely by surprise. It was only after a few minutes that Eärendil piped up, “That’s our name, too!”  

[Elnara Aldrich]

An Unexpected Visit – Part III

The queen stared at Serenity in shock for another few moments before she finally was able to speak.

“What’s your mother’s name?” she asked cautiously, her eyes both eager and wary.

Serenity shuffled her feet a bit and swallowed once before replying, very quietly, “Elnara Aldrich Winters.”

She squealed, nearly screamed, as Atalya swept her up into a huge, tight hug. It had been sudden and frightening, and she had no idea what was going on.

Eärendil was delighted. “That means you’re my cousin, Serenity!” he laughed, joining in on the hug. “Your mother is my Ada-thêl!” He shushed suddenly, and added in a very quiet voice, “But make sure we don’t talk about her when my Ada is around, he doesn’t like that at all.”

Serenity squirmed around and looked at the boy. “Why not?” she asked, puzzled. “And what’s an Ada?”

Eärendil ruffled her hair and grinned at her, very much like a big brother would have. “Ada is our word for Father, Serenity. My ada doesn’t like your nana very much, he doesn’t let me or Daeron talk about her. But he’s not here right now, he won’t be here for a while – so maybe it will be all right!”

His eyes grew wide and excited. “You have to meet everyone else, too! Nana and Tinúviel and everyone!” He grabbed her hand and started tugging her along, away from their great-grandmother. “Come on!” he urged. “Ninako, are you coming, too?”

Atalya rose, letting go of Serenity, and shook her head. “Dinner is shortly, why don’t we wait for that?” she asked the boy in elvish.

Serenity blinked. “Dinner?” she asked curiously in English. “But I thought it was just after lunch!”

It was Atalya’s turn to blink with surprise. “You speak our tongue?” she asked cautiously. “I suppose your mother taught you …”

Serenity nodded, smiling finally. “And my nako!” she added. “She came to visit two weeks ago!”

Atalya stared. “Your nako?”

Serenity grinned. “The one Mama named me after!” she added. “She looks a lot like Mama, too!” She giggled, starting to feel relaxed enough to do so. Her look of fear returned for a moment, and she asked, “How many people do I have to meet?”

Atalya thought about that for a moment. The girl seemed to be very shy, but she knew the family would like to meet her – at least, most of them. Despite the fact that she was human. Or at least … looked like it.

“Wouldn’t you like to meet your mother’s brothers?” she asked, hoping that would help Serenity overcome her shyness.

Serenity’s eyes brightened. “I want to see her brother Gion!” she nodded. “She says he’s really nice! But …” Her eyes grew dark. “She says her other brothers didn’t want her here. I don’t want to meet them if they don’t like Mama.”

“Don’t worry,” Eärendil assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Ada and Uncle Riordan are gone, they’re the only ones who are trouble. Everyone else here will be all right.” He gave her a reassuring smile and put one arm around her shoulders, giving her a slight squeeze.

Serenity smiled up at him. “Okay then,” she agreed softly.

The three of them made their way down a long hall and to an enormous room that had a long, thin table running down its center. Serenity froze when she saw how many people were sitting around the table: there were five adult male elves, one woman, a young girl who appeared to be somewhere near Serenity’s physical age (that is to say, about seven or eight years old), and several more armoured elves standing around the walls of the room.

Atalya stood behind Serenity and put both of her hands on the girl’s shoulders comfortingly, and facing those who were sitting around the table, she said, “Everyone … this is Serenity Aldrich Winters … Elnara’s daughter.”

As one, well over a dozen pairs of eyes snapped to the young human child and stared.  

[Elnara Aldrich]

An Unexpected Visit – Part IV

Serenity was sat at the head of the table, in the place of honour directly beside the queen. Of course, she didn’t know this – she thought she was just put in the place where she would be the most comfortable, away from the strangers and closer to the woman who had turned out to be her own great-grandmother.

One by one, the elves around the table were introduced: Elrohir, the eldest; then Lúthien, Eärendil’s mother; his sister, Tinúviel; Rigel, Reave, Shea and Mikhail, the others. All of them, relatives; all of them, strangers.

Serenity was well aware of the fact that all of them were staring at her, and she tried to shrink down in her chair and hide. But her Ninako wouldn’t let her; each time, she would gently put her hand behind Serenity’s back to make her sit up tall – or rather, as tall as she could. She was, after all, very short.

At first, some of them had tried to talk about Serenity right under her nose, making comments in elvish; but once Serenity showed her knowledge of the language, all chatter stopped. Eärendil tried to lighten things up, but he was sitting midway down the table, between his mother and his sister, and so he was unable to help Serenity.

Elrohir was sitting right next to her, and he made no attempt to hide his curiosity. Towards the end of the meal, he noticed that she hadn’t touched any of the food that had been offered her, and he asked, “Are you well?”

Serenity looked up at her uncle fearfully and nodded once, just one quick jerk.

His brown eyes grew soft, even worried, and he softened the tone of his voice and asked, “Are you frightened of me?”

Serenity didn’t answer that question right away. She knew people didn’t like it when she was scared of them. But she had been raised to always tell the truth: and so she nodded again, this time slowly.

Elrohir offered her a warm smile. “You don’t have to be, you know,” he told her gently. “I can be your friend … would you like that?”

Serenity stared at him thoughtfully for several long moments. She had heard many things about her uncle Elrohir, though at the time she hadn’t known he was her uncle. Or that she would ever meet him. He had been the first to reject Elnara, to make her leave her home. And though Serenity knew none of the details, she did remember that her Mama was very scared of this particular brother of hers. Then again, she had heard her Mama say that she was glad it had happened, because if it hadn’t, she would never have met Lore … and she knew that Mama loved Lore.

She shrugged, her eyes never leaving his face.

Elrohir’s brow furrowed with confusion. “What’s the matter?” he asked cautiously.

Serenity stared up at him. Nervously, she squeaked, “Mama’s scared of you.” And that, of course, was reason enough for her to be as well.

Elrohir’s face fell. “Ah,” he murmured softly, averting his eyes. “I see. Well.” He looked back to Serenity. “Will you be staying the night?” he asked quietly.

Serenity’s eyes widened and she shook her head violently. “I want to go home,” she said timidly, but firmly. She didn’t want to be here anymore – not all by herself.

The queen overheard her remark, and though a shadow of sadness passed over her face, she put one hand on her great-granddaughter’s shoulder. “If that is what you wish,” she murmured, “then that is what you shall do.” She offered her a smile, but it was a sad one.

Elrohir leaned closer to his niece. “Will you tell your mama something for me?” he requested.

Serenity stared at him for several long moments, then nodded.

“Will you tell her that I’m sorry?” her uncle asked quietly.

Serenity blinked, and nodded again. She could do that. But first … she had to get home.  

[Elnara Aldrich]

An Unexpected Visit – Part V

Elrohir offered to take Serenity back to the labyrinth and help her find her way back to the portal. The innocent Second didn’t even notice the look in her uncle’s eyes, and she had no idea that he had a specific reason for wanting to help her.

And so it was that she allowed Elrohir to take her by the hand and lead her back towards the maze where she had entered this world.

For his part, Elrohir was curious to know more about what his sister had been doing in the seven years since she had been gone. Obviously, she had settled down and started a family of her own, but he wanted to know more details – such as why she had a daughter who was, for all appearances, human.

“So,” he began conversationally as he led his niece through the conference hall towards the long stairs, “why don’t you tell me about your father, Serenity?”

Serenity stared up at him though large gray-green eyes. “My father?” she asked in a curious tone. After a moment, she smiled in understanding. “Oh!” she exclaimed brightly. “You mean Lore!”

Elrohir blinked. “Is Lore your father?” he asked, puzzled.

Serenity nodded brightly. “Mama says that he is now, because he loves her and she loves him,” she replied happily. “He’s really nice. I like drawing pictures of him. I just wish we could see him more, he doesn’t visit a lot.”

Now Elrohir was completely confused. “Your mama and your father don’t live together?” he questioned.

Serenity blinked. “Should they?”

Elrohir was silent, thoughtful, as he led her down the tall marble stairs. “Are they married?” he asked finally, hesitant to ask the question and imply by it that Elnara might have dishonoured herself – along with the rest of the family.

Serenity’s reply shocked him even more than he had expected it might. “What does married mean?” she asked, turning her innocent eyes toward him.

Elrohir was horrified. What kind of world was Gaia, exactly, that such dishonourable situations were so accepted there?

But as it was, it wasn’t the child’s fault that she didn’t know what marriage was, so like a good uncle, he did his best to explain the concept to her. Once he finished, he added, “So that man, Lore, he can’t be your father – your father is the man who is married to your mother, and your mother is the one who gave birth to you.”

Serenity was saddened by the news that Lore really wasn’t her father – or Celebor’s or Skye’s, for that matter. But now she had a new question, which she put forth to her uncle.

“What does it mean, to give birth?” she asked curiously.

Elrohir muttered a quick and silent request for patience from the Valar before answering the question. “When you were born, you came out of your mother – that’s what giving birth is,” he told her slowly. “When you were born from your mother.”

Serenity was really confused now. “But I was born from a vase!” she protested. “Mama adopted me when I was just inside the vase!”

Elrohir was confused by all the talk of a vase, but he laughed aloud with relief at hearing the word “adopted”.

“Ah,” he smiled sincerely. “I see now.” He tried to ruffle her hair, but she ducked away from him.

He didn’t let it bother him. He understood now that his sister had not disgraced herself, and he was happy for it.