Tears Upon Your Face

By The Evil Witch Queen & Edheldae Finarphir

A/N - rating is for violence, language *Evil Witch Queen glares at Edheldae who replies* (don't $£!&**%$(%$$^**** look at me!) *evil witch queen shakes head * Anyway, to get on with what we are SUPPOST to be saying: this is slightly darker than the Evil Witch Queen's other fics, sorry about that. If you are squeamish, or looking for something cheerful and fluffy, then go and read the others. The time frame is also slightly confusing. The prologue is a flashback, and the character in the prologue called Nellas is the grandmother of the character called Nellas in the rest of the story. Sorry again for all the confusion (stop saying sorry!!!). Anyway, please read and review! (lest the swift wrath of the Noldor be visited upon you!!!!!!) Shut up Edheldae!

A/A/N - This is actually a sequel to LotR but it has a lot of Silmarillion based content and doesn't really deal with the LotR characters.

"Ai" cried the Telarian elf as he fell from the rocks, an arrow buried deeply in the back of his neck. He fell onto the muddy ground, and lay twitching, frothy blood coming from his mouth. He reached out with one hand, batting at the air, as if searching for something intangible. Then his hand fell, and he lay, his breathing laboured. But the dying elf was not the only person behind the rocks. Only a few inches away from him (although he could not see her, his eyes had already gone dull), was a small Noldorin girl of no more than six yen. When the elf had fallen, she had not cried out, although if she had, it would have been drowned out by the sounds of the battle around her. Instead her eyes were wide, and she now crouched fearfully, gazing oddly at the elf. Death was not something she knew about; it did not happen in Valinor; at least until now. But now the king was dead.

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"Feanor!" Finrod called

Feanor turned to look at the approaching trio and cursed.

"Agarwaen Angband!" he spat. "I told you to take no prisoners, Maedhros. Why have you disobeyed me?"

"Atar, she is with child. I could not kill that which lives inside her."

"What do you want to do with her then? We cannot leave her here. None can be allowed to alert the Valar to what is going on. They would be furious! I would kill them if it were possible; they are not so different to Morgoth.

The pregnant elf stared. How could he say such a thing!? The Valar were good and kind to the elves. How could this Noldo talk about the Valar like the evil that roamed in Middle Earth? A horrible thought struck her then: what if Feanor discovered who the father of her child really was?

"Who are you anyway?" Feanor's voice cut the Telari's musings short.

"I…I am Maranwe Camcacil. " All of a sudden, she gasped, horrified and pushed past Feanor to drop to her knees beside a dead Telarian elf.

"Melendur! No! Melendur!"

"Is that your husband?" asked Feanor coldly. After a moment's consideration, Maranwe nodded. He wasn't really her husband, he was her brother. But Feanor must not find that out. He must never know who the father was.

"Maedhros! Bring her!"

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The Noldor and the Telari fought by the raging sea, dying the foam red with blood. All this, the girl had seen, and the images would stay with her. The elf on the ground drew a shuddering breath, coughed and then lay still. His eyes dim, his silver hair blowing faintly in the wind. His outstretched hand was close to the girl, and she reached out and touched it tentatively; it was cold. She shrank back, huddled against the stones, as far away from the dead elf as she could get. The cold wind blew about her golden hair. She was tired, lonely, and afraid; her only companion was the elf whose fea had clearly departed. Pulling her cloak around her, she listened as the sounds of battle faded away, to be replaced by the cries of the dying, the shouts of the victors. Suddenly, from a few feet away, a voice laced with panic, cut through the air.

"Nellas! Yelde nin!"

A tall, raven haired, Noldorian woman scrambled over the rocks and saw her child.

"Nellas! Are you alright?" she whispered, stroking the child's hair. The girl's lip trembled, but she did not cry. The woman picked her up and carried her away over the beach; through the carnage the Noldor had reaped. The girl's eyes seemed vacant; she had seen too much.

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So Maranwe had no time to mourn her loss. Feanor's warriors boarded the Telarian ships, while Finarfin's people waited for their leader's orders.

"Finrod! You have been most useful, my thanks. Let us now go reclaim the Silmarilli from the darkness! Namarie Finrod." With that, Feanor boarded the Telarian flagship, and the fleet moved off, leaving Finarfin's people staring after them.

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At the end of the beach, a large group of Noldor were congregating, staring at the ships that were disappearing off into the distance. The elves at the front of the group were two of Finarfin's children, Finrod and Artanis. Finrod was shaking his head sorrowfully. As the woman approached, she could hear that Artanis was being slightly more vocal.

"Curse him! Curse him!" her naked sword was still in her hand, stained with Noldorin blood. "Curse us all for our folly!" she looked as if she might cry. She sheathed her sword.

"What now toron nin?" she asked, turning to Finrod. He had been staring at the approaching woman and child, but he now turned abruptly. He looked further up the coast and sighed.

"There is one way we could cross…"

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Maranwe stared miserably out to sea. She was being held captive in her own ship. Valinor had long since disappeared from view, and now there was only the gentle rocking of the waves, and the faint song of the sea to soothe her soul. Feanor had only given her enough food as would keep her alive, and at a slim chance support a baby as well. The Noldor probably wanted her alive, but not the child. He needed her for some of the maintenance of the ships. Maranwe began to sing quietly, in tune with the gulls and following the beat of the waves.

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It was bitterly cold, and the grinding of the ice sounded like the cries of tormented demons. Those who dared to stop and look back would see the scattered Noldorin corpses; each already covered with a layer of frost. The raven haired Noldorin woman, Celeblas, was carrying her daughter, Nellas. Nellas was shivering violently beneath her light cloak, and even her mother's tired arms did little to ease the chill. After a while, Celeblas became tired, and Nellas walked. Perhaps it was fate, perhaps just luck, but only a minute after Nellas had begun to walk, a great rending sound filled the air; people were shouting, and a friendly elf grabbed Nellas out of the way quickly, as a huge chunk of ice fell from the hulking cliffs. It missed Nellas and several other elves by a hair's breadth. Celeblas, however, was not so lucky. She was half trapped under the ice block.

"Amil!" Screamed Nellas, scrambling free from the elf holding her back.

"Nellas." Celeblas whispered. Nellas' eyes filled with tears.

"Amil." Shakily, Celeblas held out her hand. There was something clasped in it. Nellas took her hand.

"Namarie yelde nin" whispered Celeblas "my spirit fades". Her eyes went dim.

"Lau." Whispered Nellas, as she sank down, her face pressed against the cold ice. She could hear people speaking, but no one seemed to want to get near the strange golden hair child. Celeblas' hand was still pressed against hers, and realising this, Nellas cried properly, the tears freezing on her cheeks.

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The journey at sea seemed to last an eternity. By the time they reached Middle-Earth, Maranwe was nearly ready to give birth. When they landed, a Noldorian woman came to her to help her off the ship. Maranwe stared as she came on deck; she hadn't been to Middle-Earth for a long time. When she had last left here, her beloved Thorongil had still been alive and they had just come of age together. Blinking back tears, Maranwe followed the Noldo away from the ships. Her child moved inside her, sensing her distress and giving what comfort it could. Putting her hands to her swollen belly, Maranwe allowed her unborn child to calm her. This would be no ordinary elf child.

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Nellas sensed someone come up behind her.

"Come," said a voice, "the cold will take you if you stay here."

Nellas raised her head and saw that Finrod was kneeling on the ice beside her.

"I'm sorry." He said as he reached out and closed Celeblas' eyes, "you must come."

Nellas looked up into his blue eyes, he was golden haired like her. For some reason she trusted him. Slowly she prised her hand away from Celeblas' and as she did, a golden medallion fell to the ice. Finrod picked it up and gazed at it with shock. The picture on it was a crown of flowers upheld and devoured by two snakes. Artanis, who had come up to stand behind him, spoke.

"That's your sign…"

Finrod signalled for her to be quiet. Then he spoke to Nellas,

"Do you know where your Amil got this?"

Nellas thought for a minute, trying not to look at Celeblas' body, then spoke,

"She said it belonged to Atar nin."

Mutters came from the crowd. Finrod smiled warmly at the girl. She was the result of his own foolishness, but none the less, he could not refuse to aid her now. He stood and picked her up.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

Nellas nodded and Finrod walked off into the snow, the Noldor following.

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Maranwe lay to one side of the Noldor's camp. They had burned the ships earlier. She hoped that the Valar visited their wrath upon these betrayers and kinslayers; they should pay for what they had done. Night fell and the stars came out, shining brightly in the darkness. Taking comfort in their light, Maranwe began thinking how she might escape. She had heard that Elwe had been found and that he had founded a kingdom. More than that, he had wedded a Maia. Surely he would not turn her away.

Later that evening, with her plan complete, Maranwe began to put it into action. She was free to move about the camp so long as she was guarded. Carefully, she got up and headed for where the horses had been tethered. As she suspected, a guard followed her. When she got to the area, she pretended to stumble and leant on one of the horses for support.

"You shouldn't walk about." Her guard told her, "You're too weak from carrying the child."

"Why do you hold me hear?" Maranwe asked, teary eyed, "I have done you no harm."

"Heru nin wishes for you to buy us safe passage from those Telari that remain. He can't have them getting in the way of his vengeance."

Maranwe gave a small moan. So that was the Noldor's plan. Gathering her strength, Maranwe prepared for the final part of her plan. She quickly drew the dagger from her boot (thankfully, the Noldor had not searched her for weapons) cut the tether of the horse she was leaning on, leap on its back and before the startled guard could do anything, she was off.

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Artanis sat on her pack, to protect herself from the chill of the Helcaraxe. Small crystals of ice had formed in her golden hair, and in the rays of the setting sun, it shone like gold incrusted with diamonds. Artanis' gaze was fixed on the face of the small girl her brother had saved from the ice. The girl lay sleeping now, wrapped in Finrod's fur cloak, a frown crossing her small face; a frown oddly like her brother's. In fact, she was intrigued by the uncanny resemblance between the child and her brother, and the medallion that the sleeping girl clutched in her hand furthered her assumptions: the emblem of the house of Finarfin. Artanis didn't want to think that this could be her brother's child. He was not that sort of elf. But the niggling doubt remained. Finally, she turned to her brother, who was gazing off into the darkness, towards Middle-Earth.

"Toron, might I ask you something?" her voice shook slightly, something unusual for her, but she dreaded what she might hear. Finrod turned to her, looking rather guilty.

"What?"

"Why do you have such an interest in that child?"

Finrod shrugged uneasily.

"Her mother was slain, what else could I do?"

"But Finrod, many other children have lost their parents and you have done nothing. And besides, this child bears too great a resemblance to you."

"Do you mean to suggest that you think that I am the atar of this child!?"

"No, no, I only mean to say that she bears great resemblance to you, and, well…people might talk."

Finrod paused, then decided to tell the truth.

"If they…if you, thought she was my child, then that assumption would be correct."

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Barely conscious, Maranwe rode into Doriath. She hadn't eaten for nearly three days and had barely slept either. Attendants rushed to her side as her horse came to a halt in the courtyard. Few recognised her, but it was obvious just how pregnant she was. The birth was three days away at most.

"Please," Maranwe gasped, "Please, I must see Elwe. I must speak with him."

"You're in no fit state to talk to anyone right now." One of the attendants said disapprovingly.

"I must see Elwe." Maranwe insisted, "Please, this is extremely important."

"Very well. This way."

A few minutes later, Maranwe stood before Elwe and his wife.

"Maranwe!" the Sindarin king greeted his former subject with surprise, "What in Arda are you doing here of all places. I thought you had gone onto to Valinor with Thorongil."

"Thorongil is dead hir nin. He died on the crossing to Valinor. Thankfully for him, he did not have to witness the circumstances that brought me here. It was the Noldor hir nin, they were coming back and forced me to come."

Elwe placed a hand on the obviously distressed elf's shoulder.

"Elwe please," Maranwe said, tears streaming down her face, "I need your help. Feanor must never find out who fathered this child! He thinks it was Melendur."

"What do you mean?" Elwe asked.

"He's gone mad! He's started a rebellion against the Valar because of Melkor."

All of a sudden, Maranwe passed out. Melian ran to help. She turned to Elwe and said,

"The baby's coming."

"But who is the father?" Elwe asked.

Translation:

Ai - Ah

Agarwaen Angband - lit. blood stained Angband*

Yelde nin - my daughter

Namarie - Farewell

Toron nin - my brother

Amil - Mother

Lau - No

Atar nin - my father

Heru nin - my lord

Hir nin - my lord

*Angband is probably the closest thing elves had to hell.

A/N - hehehe, that was kinda long, wasn't it? Ah well, R&R! Just in case you hadn't noticed, this fic is co-authored. And sorry about the confusing a/n at the top, Edheldae wrote it. ( Ai ye! Naur dan lye!) Shut up Edheldae!