A Half Elf's Love

The Father's Death

Days later, something woke me up. Not someone, but something. Like an urge. I rolled over in my bed, feeling oddly lonely. I stood, pulling on my boots. Walking outside, everything was quiet, but the urge was still there. The urge to find someone, or something. I began to walk down the stairs, following the feeling. It led me to a clearing where Lady Galadriel stood. She smiled as she saw me, walking towards me and cupping my face with her hand.

"My Lady." She chuckled, lightly removing her hand from my face.

"Galadriel is fine, really. You and I both know you will be married to my sion (grandson) in the future." I coughed a little, surprised at how bluntly she put it. She smiled at me again, beckoning me to sit beside her on a tree root carved into a bench.

"My-Galadriel-may I ask why I felt the urge to come here?"

"I asked you to." She was surprisingly blunt about certain things. For all her mysteries, she knew when to be blunt I suppose. "I wished to speak with you about your father. I knew him for a time, when we were younger and the world was much darker. He was among the few who could truly see the future, not just feel it. Elrond tells me that he passed his gift to you. Do you know your father's name?" I shook my head. My mother had never really spoken of my father. Aragorn and I had just guessed it was too much for her, losing two husbands and all. "His name was Ferverior."

"Human protector?" Galadriel nodded, a sad smile forming on her face.

"I am presuming you do not know how he died either?" I shook my head again. "You were only a few months old. Maybe a year at most. Aragorn was a few weeks from turning three. Ferverior and Gilraen took you and Aragorn for a ride around the city. There was an orc attack, and they nearly took you both. Ferverior had no weapons. He grabbed you both, giving you and your brother to Gilraen, and telling her to ride back to the city. By the time a rescue party was sent, your father was dead. I believe he knew his fate, and rather than intervene, he chose to allow it to happen. He most likely knew something that no one else does." A tear ran across Galadriel's cheek. She was crying. The Lady of Lothlórien and the grandmother of the sweetest elf alive was crying. She quickly took a deep breath, drying her eyes. "This is all for a reason, Deliadis. Every bit of knowledge or gift passed along serves a purpose. Use your gift wisely my dear. Some have been led astray with their gifts. Do not let yours do the same to you." She stood, disappearing like a ghost into the trees. I sat on the bench, feeling a sense of loss I had never really had.

"Delia?" Looking up, I saw Aragorn standing in the path. He came forward and sat beside me. He still looked half asleep. "Why are you out this late?" My hands shook a little in my lap.

"Do you remember my father dying?" My brother shook his head. "Do you know how he died?" He shook his head again. I told him what Galadriel had told me.

"I...I don't know what to say. Are you alright?" That one question made me crack for some reason. I had been avoiding Aragorn for a few days, trying to figure out how to tell him everything that had just happened with me. It all spilled out in that moment.

"Maybe, I don't know. Elladan and I are courting, I accidentally made the choice to be an elf when I was poisoned, and I'm not entirely sure how you will react, because I'm terrified you'll hate me, and then tonight I finally learn how my father died and I feel some sense of grief that I don't understand, despite the fact I know I'll see him again." Arms immediately wrapped around me.

"Why would I hate you? How could I hate you?" I started crying as my brother hugged me, comforting me like when we were little and I scraped me knee from tripping. "I could never hate you Deliadis. You're my sister. You're my family. Nothing could ever make me hate you." I laughed through my tears.

"I can think of a few things." Aragorn laughed too.

"Then you better not do them." We both laughed and Aragorn hugged me tighter. "I'm glad you finally found someone. Especially now that I know it's Elladan. I can trust him to take care of you when I'm gone." I started crying again. Aragorn chuckled, keeping his arms wrapped around me in a hug.

"I don't want to lose you! You're my brother. You can't leave."

"I'll stay as long as I can Delia. I promise you that."

"It better be a million years." Aragorn chuckled, kissing my forehead.

"I'll do my best Delia. I'll do my best."