Luimëníssë roused to wakefulness, blinking up at the stars shimmering through the spiny boughs of pines. The fresh coldness of the north gusted through the little dell. In their state of eternal night, it felt like what had happened between her and Curvo was a hazy dream.

The musky furs of his bedroll crushed under her bare skin as she curved towards the fire. Curvo had built up the flames and gathered more dry kindling. He was strapping his sword and knife around his narrow hips, thick hair tied in a hasty queue at the root of his neck, the strands grazing his lower back. His breath misted to clouds in the frosty air.

Despite the oddness of their rushed union, her time with Curvo had left her raw nerves alight. She felt alive for the first time since the Kinslaying. The one time she had lain with Rembano, it had been so rushed, she hadn't been able to truly enjoy it.

But with Curvo, it was different. As attentive to detail in bed as he was in the forge, he left her feeling luminous, blood humming with heat. Curvo had treated her like an intricate foil and gem, savoring the time it took to make her shine.

"I must get back to my father's encampment for a meeting with my brothers," he spoke hurriedly without looking at her, throwing his now returned cloak around his shoulders. "Will you..."

"...will I?"

He met her eyes tentatively, his mouth in a hard frown. "Will you still..."

"Will I be here when you return?"

He nodded solemnly, fearful questions lingering in his eyes. Luimëníssë pursed her lips. Naked with her hair swaying to her waist, she rose from furs and pulled him close, the edges of his cloak enveloping them both as he wrapped his arms around her. She pressed a toying kiss to his lips, his mouth seeking after hers with a wry smirk.

"I will be waiting."

"Very well, wife," he replied, capturing her mouth till she felt flushed to the soles of her feet.

After he left, however, being alone with her thoughts proved impossible. Doubtless, Artanis and her brother were wondering after her. She gnawed on her lower lip, her mind racing. She wondered if her decisions had been made in haste, thoughtless to their consequences. But Curvo was her last card to play unless she wanted to return to Aman humbled. But she did not feel humble, she felt prideful and indignant, the Noldor blood finally revealing itself in her for the first time in her life.

She was owed by Curvo for what had happened to her family. They needed protection and aid in the new world, he would provide that. Love wasn't a part of this transaction for her, despite how she yearned for his touch. This was a necessary and practical partnership. Very necessary, especially now.

Shivering, she swiftly dressed to go see her brother and cousin. Artanis was nowhere to be seen as she entered the warm glow of the encampment. Her brother was busy with her cousin Ingoldo who was giving him further instruction in archery before a makeshift target, much like Náretarnon used to do. The sight pierced Luimëníssë like a spear to the chest.

She grasped the tree next to her, her head spinning. What had she done? Why had she pledged herself to a man who had aided in the slaughter of her people, her family? She was nothing, but a heartless snake.

A hand grabbed her upper arm and pulled her off to the side. Írissë glared down at her, being a couple inches taller. "Where have you been?"

Luimëníssë scoffed. This was the first time her cousin had spoken to her since the Kinslaying. "What does it matter to you?"

"Artanis said you've been meeting secretly with Curvo. Is this true?"

"I don't see why she felt it necessary to tell you anything-"

"Because she went off trying to find you when you went missing. We've kept it from your brother, we didn't want him to worry. These woods are dangerous, they are filled with wild things. You could have been hurt."

"What does it matter to you?" Luimëníssë tore her arm away, her gaze as accusatory as her words. "Whether a Teleri like myself is alive or dead? Weren't you covered in blood on that day as well? Who's blood was it, Írissë? Tell me!"

Írissë's face blanched to match her snow white gown, her eyes glassy with horror. "I didn't kill one of my fellow Eldar that day. At least not in anger or bloodlust."

"Then why was it you were drenched in red?"

"My brother. I tried to stop him, but he was convinced your people were trying to stop us from traveling beyond Valinor. The Noldor of Fingolfin came late to the fray and we did not know how it had started. We didn't know that Fëanor..."

"That he had wantonly murdered innocent elves for the sake of a few ships?"

She turned away with a choked sob. "There was a mariner who was defending himself with only a hunting knife and bow. My brother was caught up in the bloodshed, so willing to defend his kin, our cousins. I stepped forward to stop his broadsword, but it was too late. He murdered the mariner in front of me. Afterwards he dropped his sword and walked away while I held the Teleri as he died. He was in such pain, he asked me to help him... help him to move on to the Halls of Mandos. So I did, out of mercy. Like a stag wounded and suffering in the wood. That's how I was able to do it."

Luimëníssë sank to her knees as tears coursed silently down her cheeks. "What have I done..."

Írissë knelt beside her, her thick, inky lashes clumped with wet. "Curvo. What is between you two?"

"We have pledged ourselves in marriage to each other and sworn it before the Creator. We are husband and wife now," she said numbly.

"But... why?"

"Because I must think of more than only my grief now. Our survival is all that matters and he told me he loved me once before, he was my last option."

"So you are using him for what he can give you in the new world."

Luimëníssë wiped her cheeks. "I know he is under the Doom of Mandos, but I am as well. It won't make a difference whether I am with him or not."

"We are all under the Doom. We cannot escape it." Írissë peered off into the dark wood. "But I plan on living my life on my own terms before it catches up with me."

Luimëníssë nodded. With a hesitant hand, she reached out for her cousin. She grasped her fingers with a heavy sigh. "We are all on borrowed time now. Which I suppose will make our lives the more dearer, our sweet experiences more meaningful. But tell me, which brother was it that killed the Teleri mariner in front of you?"

"Findekáno."

Luimëníssë let out her breath in awe. "The same one that retrieved me and my brother from the ship when the storm still raged at sea?"

"The same one."

"Do you realize how bizarre all this is?"

"We are in a new world now, whether we leave these shores or not. The Noontide of Valinor has fallen swiftly to the night. Will we ever see the light again?"

Luimëníssë rose on aching limbs to her feet. "I must go speak with Vantaro. I must tell him what has occurred. Then I will return to my husband."

Vantaro had been spared the details of the Kinslaying, who started it and why. When she told him she had married, she made sure he understood her reasons and that they should be kept between them. He nodded wisely, peering down at the bow in his little hands.

"And what shall become of me? Where shall I go?" He spoke quietly.

"What do you mean, dearest?"

"You are married now and to have a baby. My mother and father are dead. You have a family. Do I?"

Luimëníssë's mouth went dry, her eyes widening at his words. "A baby? Why would you say such a thing?"

Vantaro shrugged. "Well you are, aren't you? I don't know how, but I can tell."

Perhaps there was more of their mother in Vantaro than any of them had ever known. Tragedy could have awoken an awareness in him, a gift of sight that had lain dormant until then. Luimëníssë pulled Vantaro into her arms, cradling his bright head against her shoulder like she used to when he was small.

"We... I am your family. Never forget that," she breathed onto his hair. "Everything I do now is almost entirely for your sake. I love you, little brother."

Artanis entered the tent. Her gaze was wary on her. "Vantaro, Ingoldo is seeking you for more lessons with your bow."

Vantaro heaved a soggy sigh, wiping his cheeks as he trudged from the tent. Luimëníssë remained on the ground, peering up at her cousin where she stood by the tent flap, the air thick with tension.

"Where were you?"

"You know where I was."

Artanis settled on the furs across from her, her hands pressed to her lips. "Have you committed yourself to him?"

"Yes."

"And he has taken you even in this time of war? Our ways do not allow such unions during times like these."

"Times have changed, cousin. Many worse affronts have occurred against our ways in the past days than a marriage."

Artanis shuddered. "I fear he will bring you only pain."

"Nothing but pain can come to us from now on, now that we have set on our chosen course."

"Is this... is this out of vengeance? What do you plan? It was his older brother Makalaurë that killed..."

She had never heard his name before, the dark ellon with the harp on his breastplate, her brother-in-law now. She stood restlessly, smoothing her hands over the crown of her head. "Curvo does not know this though. Nor does he know that I'm aware of the killer's identity. I plan on keeping it that way."

"Will you seek revenge on your husband's brother?"

"I don't know. But I do know that is not the reason why I married him." She wrung her hands at her middle. "It is possible that I am with child."

Artanis let out a surprised gasp. "Already?"

"It wouldn't be unheard of. Vantaro seems to believe it's true, he's the one who said it. And... I believe him." She pressed a hand to her middle with a wistful smile, the corners of her mouth turning down in momentary sadness. "I have felt something stir within me that I could not name. But now I know."

Galadriel came to stand before her, her spine like a ramrod as she studied her quietly. "I do not understand your reasons now, but someday I might. Know this, however. I will be at your side during this time. To bring a child into the world at a time like this... it will not be easy."

"I know. But I believe this is something I want. I need."

After changing into a new gown of deep blue, she rushed back through the forest. She wanted to be at the fire when he returned, as she had promised. Despite the fact that she had admitted she was using him, she wanted to prove herself as a trustworthy partner. Especially as they were going to be parents together.

Part of her longed to be tangled up under the stars with him once more, with his hair soft against her skin as he persistently rendered her undone, his keen gaze only for her till she felt divinely wanton. She pushed back the shame of those feelings along with her grief, unwilling to examine them for the time being.

Her thoughts hummed around what awaited her as she strode through the dark trees. A rustling startled her. Dark shapes lurked in the gloom. She froze as three massive beasts padded into sight. They appeared to be in the shape of dogs, like the hound that had led her to Curvo that first night, but their fur was spiky and eyes glowed golden red. They were wolves... but not ordinary ones.

She knew then that the Doom had come upon her and now she would die as well, even with a babe inside of her.

The largest fell wolf stepped forward, snarling. But then it paused and looked at her as though she was familiar. A voice drifted through the trees like a wind from the icy north.

Luimëníssë. It spoke her name.

"Rembano?"

A twig snapped somewhere and the wolves retreated, running off into the dark. Luimëníssë inhaled sharply and picked up her skirts. She ran for their encampment where Curvo already stood throwing more sticks on the fire.

"I saw wolves," she blurted out, her heart pounding. "I went to see my brother to tell him where I was and I was walking back when I came upon wolves, they were massive- unnatural even-"

Curvo moved towards her, his brow furrowing as he took her face in his hands. "Are you well? Did they harm you?"

"No, they... no. It was strange. I thought I heard one of them speak."

Curvo's lips pulled tight and he peered over her head into the trees. "I believe it would be best if we returned to one of the encampments for the remainder of our time on these shores. After this cycle of sleep at least."

She tensed in his arms. The thought of going over to his father's encampment felt like an affront, a betrayal. But this would be her life now, her kin. Dwelling among the people who had slain her people.

"Come and rest, I'll stay up and keep watch," he said, protectively guiding her to their makeshift bed.

She gripped his hand, unwilling to let fear of fell creatures or apprehension about the coming day invade their few stolen hours. Snaking an arm up around his neck and brushing her lips against his ear, he shuddered with desire.

"I don't think either of us will be getting much rest."

She did not tell him about the baby. Not yet.

Nor did she notice the pair of primal golden red eyes watching them from the deep of the wood as they made love under the spinning constellations.