Lord of the Rings: The Heir to Lorien

Two Promises

Wattpad did it again, it cut approximately 300 words from this story, which means that there will be gaps, some sentences will not make sense.  I put a lot of time into editing this before I cut and pasted it and I don't feel like re-editing at the moment. I'll fix it later

Glorfindel led the young elves into the armories to let them choose their weapons. There was much discussion between Elladan and Elrohir as to which sword or bow would be the best, but Celebriel made her way alone, testing the tension of bows, the balance of a sword, and made her decision on her own.

When they went outside, a small crowd had gathered to watch the contest. Celebriel had not expected this, but the sons of Elrond seemed pleased at the thought of defeating their aunt in front of an audience.

Glorfindel pointed at a distant tree, "The knot on that tree is your target. Each of you will release one arrow—if it misses its mark you will not be allowed another chance, aim well."

The boys tried to defer to Celebriel, wanting to see if she could hit the mark, but she refused. "You go first, each of you, then it will be my turn." They looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

The sons of Elrond had been trained well. They each selected an arrow, nocked it, and let it fly. Each arrow hit the notch neatly in the center. They smiled, pleased with themselves, then indicated that she should take her turn.

She took an arrow, nocked it carefully and aimed at the tree. The first arrow neat split that of Elladan, then the next that of Elrohir. The sons of Elrond stood, their mouths gaping, aghast at the spectacle before them. She turned to them and smiled.

"You did not need to show off, Celebriel," Glorfindel admonished her, doing his best to hide his smile, "It would have been sufficient to merely hit the target." The three walked over to the tree and Celebriel removed her arrows. "Your aunt has won this first round, now we will see how you fare in sword fighting, but be careful not to hurt each other, or Elrond will be unhappy with me for allowing this."

The three young elves fought, the boys against each other as well as her. There was much laughing and taunting and running around. They showed off their skills shamelessly, clearly enjoying themselves.

"You fight like a girl," Elrohir shouted at Elladan as he knocked the sword out of his brother's hand.

If Elrohir thought to tire her he was disappointed. "Shall I show you how a girl fights?" Celebriel shouted at him. Elrohir was the more skillful of the two brothers with a blade, but he was being hard pressed by her. They circled each other, swords clashing and it looked like the match might be a draw until one last swing knocked the sword out of his hand.

She stood triumphant, breathing hard and clearly happy at her victory. "Oh, well done, Celebriel, well done." Elrohir put his arm around her shoulders, conceding her victory.

"Now you know how a girl fights," she replied and they began, along with the crowd, to laugh and cheer.

Until she saw Elrond standing amongst them. I won't let him steal this moment from me, she thought, this is my victory and I have earned it. If he did not know about me, which I doubt, now he knows for an absolute certainty. I am not Celebrian and Arwen, I am not "My Lady Celebriel", nor shall I ever be. He cannot make me deny who and what I am.

Elrond stepped forward, observing his sons and his niece in silence. "A very impressive display, why did you not invite me to watch?" Celebriel opened her mouth to reply, but a look from Glorfindel silenced her. "Celebriel, will you come with me please?" asked Elrond.