Idhril

[Elnara Aldrich]

It was a typical day at the inn. Celebor and Serenity were at school, Skye was off with Lore at the library, and at the moment Elnara was checking on the twins, who were up to some sort of mischief. They always were.

Truth be told, Idhril was curious to know more about the inn. After all, she had been born in another world, in her Nako’s world. She had spent her first week of life there. It had only been yesterday that they had returned to the inn.

The tiny Second mused about the differences as she swept between rooms, exploring. At her mother’s relatives’ house, she’d shared a room, a double bed, with her mother and all three of her sisters. Here, she had a room of her own. There, outside was where there was space. Here, it was indoors.

She found her mother’s room and wandered inside. The door was open, and open doors were permission to enter. Once inside, she looked around. Lots of interesting things in here. There was a shelf above a writing desk, and Idhril pushed the chair out just far enough for her to climb up on it, then climb up onto the desk and look at the things on the shelf. There were lots of pretty things on it: mysterious boxes, many of them locked … a dried rose with a note attached, some pretty fans, and a few bracelets.

Idhril picked up the bracelets and tried to put them on. One of them was big on her, the one with engraved runes on it. The other was a chain link bracelet with charms on it. It was so big that it went around her wrist not twice but three times. Still, she liked it. She kept it on and climbed down from the desk, continuing her exploration.

There were other shelves along the walls, and several long pointy things hanging on hooks and pegs on the walls, but she couldn’t reach any of them, and there was nothing near them to climb on, so she ignored them. There were several vases of flowers that were nearly as tall as she was, and she paused at each and every one of them to smell them, smiling. They were so pretty, and smelled so good!

On the table beside her mother’s bed, she could see something else, and she climbed up onto the bed to get a better look at it. It was a curved piece of wood that had several strings on it, several of which were beaded partway down. She picked it up and plucked one of the strings, and smiled brightly when she heard it make a soft sound. She plucked a few more: each one made a different sound, and when she ran her fingers along all of them, it sounded very pretty indeed.

She wondered if her mother would let her play with it, and headed off to find her.

 

[Elnara Aldrich]

It was a quiet day at the café. Storm and Starr were playing beside the now-flowing fountain, still attracted to it even now that there was nothing left for them to do to it. Skye was practicing her dancing in the dojo, Serenity was sitting at the counter, painting with her watercolors, and Elnara was busy cleaning the café, doing the jobs that couldn’t normally be done while there were customers there – the walls, table legs, and so on. Celebor was kind of wandering around, trying to help Elnara, trying to watch Serenity – who didn’t like to be watched – watching the twins and trying to figure out what they were doing … basically trying to keep busy, but being bored.

Idhril observed all of this from where she was sitting on one of the couches by the empty fireplace. Normally she could be found tailing someone, asking as many questions as she could spew out of her curious mouth: but today everyone was busy, and so she contented herself with observation.

She had observed many things besides what everyone was doing. She had noticed that though Celebor, Serenity and Skye were all the same stage, Skye was quite a bit shorter than the others. And that though she, Storm and Starr were all the same stage, and they two weeks older than she, she was much taller than either of them. From there, she observed that the three of them – Skye, Storm and Starr – were all angels, as she had learned to call the winged beings. Which left her with the conclusion that angels in general were smaller than the other Second races.

Except her uncles, Yue and Yukito. But then, there were exceptions in every race.

Or, she mused, her golden eyes following her brother around the room, perhaps it was that she, Celebor and their mother were all the same race – elves. She had observed that elves were in general taller than most other races here. Papa especially. But then, Papa was about the same height as Ulrich, and they were only a little bit taller than Ulani, who was only a little bit taller than Mama … yes, she concluded, the elves were a tall race, and that was why her angelic siblings seemed so short. There was that one short elf that visited the café on occasion, but she must be the odd one in the equation. Yes, that was it.

She blinked slowly at Celebor as he started in her direction. As he drew nearer, he looked as though he were going to sit next to her, so she moved over a bit to make more room for him.

“Hi Idhril!” he grinned at her cheerfully, hopping up onto the couch and sitting down with a bounce that made Idhril bounce a bit as well. “What you doing?”

Idhril smoothed out the skirt of her long dress. “Looking,” she replied seriously, gazing at him so intently that her golden eyes almost seemed to glow. Uncrossing her legs, she folded them instead, unconsciously sitting in a more ladylike position. Then she added, “And thinking.”

“’Bout what?” Celebor asked curiously, adjusting one of his belts.

Idhril turned her eyes back to her siblings and her mother. “How we’re all so different,” she answered softly. “You and me are like Mama and Papa, but no one else is at all … is it because none of us are natural babies?”

“Yup,” Celebor grinned. “But that’s okay, right? It’s fun having a brother and sisters who are different, it means we can do lots of different things! ’Sides, Mommy won’t have a nat’ral baby cos she’s not married, and Lore says she can’t have one if she’s not married.”

“Oh,” Idhril nodded slowly. “But what does it mean, to be married?”

Celebor blinked, surprised by the question. He racked his brains for an answer for several long minutes, tapping at his forehead, scratching the back of his head, twisting one finger around his braid … and finally he had to shrug at Idhril. “I don’t know,” he was forced to admit. “Maybe you should ask Lore.”

Idhril moved her gaze back to their mother and watched her thoughtfully for a long moment. “I think I will,” she nodded. “Next time he comes to see us.”  

[Elnara Aldrich]

I'm a big sister now!

Idhril was several months old by now, but she still slept with Elnara every night. Not because she was scared of the dark, not because she didn’t like being alone, but because right from her first day walking the earth, that was where she had slept and that arrangement was just fine for the both of them.

And she slept a lot, too: morning naps, afternoon naps, early to bed in the evening, and often enough, a late riser. This particular morning, when she woke up, she was alone in the bed. This wasn’t unusual, since Elnara was usually an early riser, but what was unusual was the fact that, despite being the only one in be, she wasn’t the only one in the room. In fact, it wasn’t even just her and her mother. There was another little person in there, a little angel boy whom Idhril had never seen before.

“Mama?” she spoke up, rubbing the sleep from her golden eyes and sitting up in the bed. “Who’s that?”

Elnara had been dressing the little boy, and she finished tying the strings of his shirt and picked him before heading back to join Idhril on the bed.

“Idhril,” she smiled happily, “this is your new little brother, Silvrendir.”

The little red-haired boy put his head against his mother’s chest and smiled shyly at Idhril. He had only been called by that name for less than an hour, but he recognized it as his own and he loved hearing it.

“Hello, Silver dear!” Idhril grinned, climbing to her feet. She stood unsteadily on the bed and reached up to him. “Let me see you!”

Elnara put Silvrendir on the bed next to his sister and held his hands so that he wouldn’t fall. He wobbled uncertainly, but the grin never left his freckled face.

“You’re bigger than I am!” Idhril exclaimed, putting her hand atop her head, then comparing her height to his. She came up to his hairline. Then she turned him around to examine his wings. “Shiny!” she giggled, petting his feathers. “And all like silver, too. Mama, is that why his name is Silver dear?”

Elnara laughed. “Silvrendir,” she corrected her daughter bemusedly. “But if you want you can call him Silver. No, Silvrendir actually means white, because his wings are white, but Silver is a good name for him too, because of the dusty stuff. What do you think, Silvrendir?” she asked, turning to him and poking him lightly in the side. “Silver, too?”

He grinned up at her and nodded. “Silver,” he said, pointing to himself, and added, “Silvrendir.” Then he pointed at his sister and said, “Idhril.” And last but not least, he turned and pointed up into Elnara’s face and said, “Mama!”

“Yay!” Idhril exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. “He knows our names already!” She liked her new brother. He was funny. She looked up to Elnara. “Can we keep him?” she asked hopefully.

Elnara laughed. “Of course, silly,” she replied, ruffling Idhril’s hair affectionately. “Of course.”

The newly dubbed Silver giggled along and put his hand on Idhril’s hair as well.  

[Elnara Aldrich]

Mother’s Log
26 December

What a surprise! Idhril’s grown! I couldn’t believe it when I first saw her, but it’s so wonderful! She’s taller than everyone now, taller even than Serenity. Poor Celebor, he wanted so badly to be the tallest. Well, he still has a chance: after all, he himself is also still a child. Idhril’s grown to be so beautiful … a child she may be, but she looks like a small adult, very mature and very beautiful. Her eyes have grown slightly darker, but they don’t sparkle any less than they did! Her hair is as long, proportionally, of course, as it used to be … it still drags on the ground. Thankfully, Feng’s taught her how to put her hair up a bit, at least enough so that it doesn’t drag.

I suppose the strangest part about Idhril’s growth is the fact that she did, and Storm and Starr didn’t. They after all are … older than her, and by a fair amount. Then again, of late it seems as though there is little about my Second children that makes sense. Perhaps something has happened. I don’t know. At any rate, I’m glad that at least Storm and Starr are still small together. This way, they at least have each other, still, so it doesn’t bother them as much as it might have.

Idhril of course is most concerned about Silvrendir – again, understandable. He had always taken care of her, and now she’s worried that since she’s bigger than him, he might not want to, or see a need to anymore.

We shall see what comes of all of this.  

[Elnara Aldrich]

Mama says it’s time I start keeping my own journal. I know the things that are the most important to me, so I’ll be best able to write about things that actually matter.

Here goes nothing.

I’ve been attending all of my classes at school, and I’ve been doing well enough in most of them. I’m not fond of math. It’s not my strong suit. Then again, it seems as though nothing is. I look forward to the day when I can finish with school and learn things that I care about, or when I can work with Papa …

Skye spends a lot of time with Papa. Going with him to work every day. I know it’s because she can’t come to regular school like the rest of us, but still … I have to admit that it makes me a little jealous. I would love to go with him, learn how the library works, and how I can work with him to help with his workload … Even Shiro gets to go more often than I do.

On the bright side, though, Kaito hasn’t been bothering me as much lately. Not since Silvrendir broke his wrist … it was a horrible thing to do, really, but he couldn’t help it. It was an accident. Kaito knows better now. He hasn’t tried to pounce on me since then, though he still does try to tug my hair, especially when it’s in a braid.

I suppose that’s just his nature.

Silvrendir’s been wonderful, except for that one incident. He helps me with my studies (which I need very much), and he’s been learning barrier magic from Grandfather so that he won’t have another accident like with Kaito. It took him a while, but he’s finally catching on – and now he wants to learn more from Grandfather. Well, I wish him luck – he deserves to do well. He always does so much for me … it’s time he did something for himself.

Celebor brought me another pouch of the henna dye from Niyana – I guess he ran into her in the Seconds world. It makes me feel wonderful to know that she’s thinking of me. I hope I get to see her again.

As for my studies … I suppose I’ll just have to work harder.  

[Elnara Aldrich]

Guardian/Guarded’s log
June 9

I don’t know what to call myself anymore. Am I still the one being protected, guarded, or am I now the one who is doing the guarding? I know that as far as Silvrendir is concerned, I am the one being guarded. He has always been watching over me, learning defensive barrier magic so that he can protect me from whatever might threaten … but I have found someone who needs me more than I need him.

His name is Joruri. He is an angel, a puppet, a marionette … yet he is alive. I found him in the Seconds world, hanging in a tree, his strings all tangled … he wasn’t alive then. According to him, the correct term is “suspended of life” … once I got him out of the tree, and brought his vase back to him, he became alive …

He saved me from the storm, too. I’ve always been scared of storms, even though I’ve never really had reason to be, like Skye. But … the lightning … and the thunder … it’s so scary … but when it stormed there I didn’t feel scared at all, Joruri held me like Mama does and he put his wings around me and even though we were just in a cave I felt warm and safe with him. I’m never going to leave him, never ever, because if I do I’ll be killing him too, just like his old master did …

His old master hurt him. A lot. He’s got a big scar across his chest … like someone cut out his heart or something. I want to help him, I want to make him all better. Mama tried, but Joruri got scared so she didn’t even get to really try … but maybe he’ll let me try, maybe he won’t be scared of me.

I have to go to the library then, and I have to look at books about healing. I bet Papa can help me find books like that. Then I can know how to help Joruri and make him all better!

I’ll go as soon as I can, maybe after school.