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silwritersguildI am posting yet another new chapter of "The Marring of Bliss".
CHAPTER TITLE: PUT TO THE TEST
AUTHOR: Digdigil
RATING: NC-17
WARNINGS: For graphic description of heterosexual activity.
SUMMARY: A frustrated Curufin seeks instruction from an experienced woman in the proper way to woo a lady.
Celegorm kept Curufin’s secret from their parents so that he and Aredhel could continue to see each other as lovers without either of their parents’ involvement. Both young people knew that if their secret affair were found out, they would both be forbidden to be with each other anymore. Celegorm was sympathetic toward the plight of Curufin and Aredhel because he enjoyed their company and riding and hunting together.
In the past, Celegorm had also enjoyed the company of a few young ladies when he was the same age as Curufin, and those relationships had all ended disastrously because he was not careful enough about not letting others find out about them, and once word had reached Fëanor’s ear that Celegorm had been seen with so-and-so’s daughter behind the potting shed half-dressed and in a compromising position, or Celegorm and so-and-so were caught by her parents in the girls’ parents’ bedroom when they were supposed to be away, and once Celegorm had witlessly told Caranthir about an affair he was thinking of having with Ingwë’s sister’s daughter and of course, Caranthir had spread it all over Tirion and Ingwë had caught wind of it from his gossipy Vanyarin servants. Fëanor had been dragged up on the carpet in Ingwë’s palace and had been forced to listen to Ingwë rant for hours about Fëanor’s lack of parenting skills and the wild behaviour and wantonness of his children as a result of it. Fëanor had been livid about the waste of a good day that he had been forced to spend what seemed like an excruciating eternity in audience with the King and Celegorm had had the worst punishment of his life for his foolhardiness. Fëanor had ranted on in a rage about not only his son’s behaviour but making him look a fool in front of puffed up Vanyarin royalty and eunuch tinpot dictators, and he had suggested terrible things, albeit colourfully, about Ingwë’s true lineage. He had then sent Celegorm away to military training school for a full month and away from all women.
These days Celegorm preferred to be footloose and carefree, and the young ladies of Tirion were kept guessing as to which of them would be the luckiest, and land the handsome young Noldorin lord as her husband. It was never that Celegorm lacked for female companionship, but he did not wish to be tied down and become the betrothed of one maiden, so he kept his love affairs short and sweet, while Curufin was convinced that he had met his lifelong match and wished to marry Aredhel.
Celegorm still enjoyed riding with his brother and cousin and after a year had passed, they began to hunt as well, taking bows and arrows with them when they went out. Since the bow-losing incident which had been well over a year ago, and with the boys’ demonstrated new maturity, Fëanor had paid for them all to have archery lessons from the best archer in Tirion.
Curufin had learned much more about the fairer sex during the past year than he had known previously. Since he had six brothers and his mother was too tired most of the time to instruct him in the ways of women, seeming to dote most of her attention on the twins, Amrod and Amras, Curufin had received most of his instruction in sexual intercourse from one of the female apprentices at the forge, a solidly built young lady named Poldanis. Poldanis was delighted when Curufin had approached her with a timid question about female preferences for lovemaking.
“You want to know what?” she had asked, dropping her hammer with a clang onto her work table.
“Well, erm – what do maidens prefer a man to do to them while making love?” he asked, swallowing his timidity and plunging forward with the question. There was no point in being coy. He wanted to know and therefore he would ask in a straightforward manner.
“Who is the man in question?” asked Poldanis, sidling up close to Curufin. He backed up a couple of steps. “You?” She was staring at him intently.
“Um – yes – me”, he replied, not wanting to lie as he was anxious to know the answer without wasting any time, but in truth, Poldanis scared him a little. She was strong and brassy, and had a reputation for being free with her favours. The other apprentices often joked that Poldanis knew more about sexual matters than anyone else of their acquaintance.
Curufin had watched her a great deal over the past few days. He saw how she bent low over her work, her ample cleavage almost spilling out over the top of her apron and how she did not seem to care. He saw how unusually developed were the muscles in her arms, so much like a man’s, and how lustily she went about her work, seeming to throw her whole body into it. He looked her up and down and noted her full hips and her strong legs.
And she noticed him watching her. She had had a crush on Curufin, the boss’s son, for a long time, but had kept her feelings about him to herself. She thought he was too far above her in station for there ever to be a chance for romance between them, and she had resigned herself to that fact.
“Come outside with me”, she ordered him.
“Pardon?” he asked.
“Outside. Now.” She grabbed him by the arm and almost pushed him out of the door. The cool fresh air touched their hot, flushed faces with a calming hand. “It’s too warm and noisy in there to have a proper conversation”, she explained, looking up at him with a wide, friendly smile. “Gods, but he is beautiful”, she thought. “Let’s go for a walk”, she said to him. I know of a comfortable spot behind the potting shed in your mother’s garden where we can sit and talk”.
They walked along one of the pathways leading into Nerdanel’s kitchen garden. It was early autumn and most of the plants, like the corn and tomatoes, the vines growing beans and squash, had grown very tall and rangy, obscuring the view from the house to the shed. Once they had reached the shed, Poldanis led Curufin around to the back, and they sat down upon a long, low hammock that had been slung between two great chestnut trees. The hammock did not lend itself very well for sitting upright, so they had to lean backwards in it until they were almost prone.
“Now”, said Poldanis with a gleeful expression on her ruddy face. “What did you want to know?”
“I need to know what it is that a lady prefers while a man is making love to her”, he said. He felt a little naughty being out in the fresh air and swinging lazily in a soft hammock with Poldanis, but the feeling exhilarated him.
“Well, what are you doing to her now?” asked Poldanis.
“Erm – I don’t know if I can tell you that”, he said.
“You’ll have to show me, then. This?” she asked, and leaning her body against him, she took his face in her hands and kissed him hard on the lips.
“Yes, of course”, he said when she released him. He was surprised by her enthusiasm.
“What else?” she asked breathlessly, and without waiting for an answer, she kissed him again, this time parting his lips with her tongue and probing the inside of his mouth with it. She slid her tongue along his and encouraged his to move and do the same thing in her mouth. He complied and tasted sweetness like honey, mixed with a flavour of metal, somewhat like that of silver. Sometimes, after buffing a finished piece of silver jewelry, the smiths would lick it before polishing it with a cloth. Curufin didn’t know why they did this, but all did, and it became a somewhat addictive procedure. He was well acquainted with the taste of silver.
When they broke apart, he was gasping with pleasure and could feel his manhood rising.
“Do you touch any part of her body while kissing her?” asked Poldanis in a whisper.
“Uh, yes”, he said.
“Show me!” Poldanis purred into his ear, which she then proceeded to nibble.
He then turned his face into hers, his body thrilling from the sensation of having his ear caressed by her tongue, and he planted little butterfly kisses all the way down her neck to her shoulder. “That’s good”, she breathed. “I don’t think the problem is how you perform”.
He then tried to slide the strap of her apron off of her shoulder but it was too tight and wouldn’t budge. She helped him enthusiastically by untying it at the back, tearing it off and flinging it onto the ground. Under it she was wearing a wool shirt and breeches like a man, for working in the forge. She quickly pulled the top few buttons open on her shirt, grasped his hand and placed it on her ample cleavage. Then she sought his lips and kissed him passionately. This caused his hand to explore and squeeze her breast in a sensual way that delighted her. As he did so, she moved her hand along his thigh, noting the smoothness of the long muscle there, and up to the place between his legs where she felt much activity going on. She rubbed her hand over his manhood, putting gentle pressure there and massaging it until she could feel wetness coming through the cloth of his breeches. She then pulled away.
“Oh, Gods”, he moaned. “Don’t stop! Keep going!”
She panted and wiped her face. “This is a lesson”, she said. “Calm yourself, and then we will continue. I want to ask you something first”.
He nodded and crossed his legs, bending forward and wincing as if in pain. “What is it?” he asked.
“Does your young lady do this to you often?” He nodded.
“Is she anyone that I might know?” Poldanis asked. He shook his head.
“Is she a lady of noble birth?” He nodded again. “But I cannot tell you her name”, he said. “We wish to wed but there is much she does not know about lovemaking and she is afraid of moving beyond a certain point when we are – when we are –“
“Having sex?” Poldanis asked. He nodded once more. “That is what I wanted to know”, she said. “I do not want to take you too far in this instruction then, if you have not already wed yourself to your young lady. You are young and you will not be wanting to complicate things by wedding yourself to me before you have wed her”. She smiled sadly at him. “Have you and she progressed to the point where we stopped just now?”
“Not quite”, he replied. “We have not done anything with our tongues, but she has touched my – my –“
“Your cock?” she asked. He looked shocked. “Is that too crude a word for you? Your manhood then?”
“My manhood. Yes, but only because I put her hand there. She did not do it on her own”, he said.
Poldanis laughed. “Well”, she said. “I think I would like to progress to the next step. But keep in mind that we will not be consummating this union”. He nodded once more. “I think the next step is to get undressed. Have you and she done that yet?”
Curufin blushed. “Well, I have”, he said, “but not her. That is, I did pull down the top of her dress, and she seemed to like it when I – when I – kissed her there”, he said, pointing to Poldanis’s breasts.
“She did, did she?” Poldanis asked with amusement. “Well, then you must be good at it. Show me!” And with that, she tore off her shirt and stood before him, her huge, pendulous breasts shaking as she bent to remove her breeches.
Curufin gaped, as he had never seen a bosom this size. He was not so much aroused as amazed by the sight of it. But when she had removed her pants, and he looked upon the fully naked body of this voluptuous woman, he became very excited. Quickly he undressed and stood before Poldanis as naked as she was before him.
Then Poldanis embraced Curufin and pulled him down onto the hammock. She directed his head between her breasts and while he massaged and suckled them, she reached down and touched his manhood, feeling it carefully at first, holding his scrotum in her hand and massaging both it and his erection, relishing the feel of its fullness and ample proportions. She ached to grind her hips against him and feel him between her thighs, but she dared not let things go that far.
Panting and gasping, she pressed her lips to his shoulders, tasting his delicious sweat like citrus fruit and kissing his smooth tanned flesh. She began stroking him as he kissed her, but stopped before he could climax. “Do this now”, she moaned, and taking his hand, she placed it between her thighs. “Find the place where your finger will go and put it inside”, she said.
He hesitated. “Do it!” she cried louder. He then did what she instructed while she brought him to climax with her hand. It did not take more than a few seconds.
“Has your young lady done that to you?” Poldanis asked him, feeling that this had been enough for now, though she was far from satisfied.
Curufin lay back on the hammock, relaxed and spent. “No”, he breathed. “She does not like to touch me there”.
“Then she must be mad”, said Poldanis, but bit her lip before she could tell him that he was the most desirable man she had ever been with. “Well”, she said instead, “You must take things slowly and gently with her for now. Try and get her to do what we have done here today, but let her discover the pleasure of sexual relations in her own time. I shall get dressed first and go back to the forge alone. Curufin, I don’t think you should come back to work today. We would be constantly watching each other the rest of the day because of what we have done, and that may cast suspicion on us. I am well aware of my reputation among the smiths, and I do not want our secret to be known, for your sake. You know how the gossip will spread, and I do not wish to be the cause of your relationship with your lady love to come apart”.
Curufin looked at Poldanis with grateful respect. He certainly felt differently about her now than he had before. Quickly, he got dressed and watched her leave, giving her a little wave as she turned back to look at him. Then, when she was out of sight, he walked home, where he told his mother that he had developed a headache, and went to lie down.
~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~
A few weeks later, Curufin and Aredhel found themselves alone while hunting with Celegorm. The three had gone quite far into the woods to look for an elusive fox that had been disturbing the chickens belonging to a nearby farmer. Celegorm had gone off by himself, and Curufin used the opportunity to coax Aredhel down from her horse.
They stood together in the deep shade of the woods that fell about them like a cloak. The closeness of the atmosphere was comforting, almost as if they were in a small room by themselves. Only the sound of the tree branches rustling as the breeze ruffled through them disturbed the silence. The scent of dry autumn leaves lent a gentle touch to the atmosphere, and Curufin sighed as he and Aredhel faced each other. They had not spoken of their relationship since he had been instructed in sexual matters by Poldanis.
“Nell, I have to ask you something”, he said to her.
“What is it, dear Kurvo?” she asked, reaching out to pick a small bit of leaf out of his hair.
“Do you still wish to wed me?” he asked.
“Of course I do”, she replied. “I love you. Do you still love me?”
“Yes”, he replied. “But I want to love you more. In a different way than just saying the words. I want to feel you against me and to have sexual relations with you”.
Aredhel sighed. “Oh, this again”, she said. “Kurvo, I am not yet ready for that”.
“Have you not received instruction from your mother, as we discussed you should?” he asked.
“Yes. I asked Ammë to explain everything about it to me, and she did. But Kurvo”, she said, a look of worry on her face. “That is how babies are made. I cannot risk that happening. Therefore we must wait another ten years at least before we can declare our love openly and then marry”.
Curufin gave an exasperated snort. “Do you mean that you expect me to wait ten years before you will agree to consummating our love?” he cried.
“Yes, darling. And if you love me, you will agree with this plan”, she said. “That is the test. We must wait for ten years. We will continue to see each other and ride and hunt as we do now, but we will not carry on an affair any longer behind peoples’ backs, and when we become of proper age, then we will declare our love and desire to marry openly”.
“But –“he started to say.
“Hush!” said Aredhel, putting her fingers to his lips. “That is my test for you! If you pass it, then we shall wed!” Then she got back up onto her horse, and smiling back at Curufin as he stood in grave disappointment on the forest floor, she rode off to look for Celegorm.
CHAPTER TITLE: PUT TO THE TEST
AUTHOR: Digdigil
RATING: NC-17
WARNINGS: For graphic description of heterosexual activity.
SUMMARY: A frustrated Curufin seeks instruction from an experienced woman in the proper way to woo a lady.
Celegorm kept Curufin’s secret from their parents so that he and Aredhel could continue to see each other as lovers without either of their parents’ involvement. Both young people knew that if their secret affair were found out, they would both be forbidden to be with each other anymore. Celegorm was sympathetic toward the plight of Curufin and Aredhel because he enjoyed their company and riding and hunting together.
In the past, Celegorm had also enjoyed the company of a few young ladies when he was the same age as Curufin, and those relationships had all ended disastrously because he was not careful enough about not letting others find out about them, and once word had reached Fëanor’s ear that Celegorm had been seen with so-and-so’s daughter behind the potting shed half-dressed and in a compromising position, or Celegorm and so-and-so were caught by her parents in the girls’ parents’ bedroom when they were supposed to be away, and once Celegorm had witlessly told Caranthir about an affair he was thinking of having with Ingwë’s sister’s daughter and of course, Caranthir had spread it all over Tirion and Ingwë had caught wind of it from his gossipy Vanyarin servants. Fëanor had been dragged up on the carpet in Ingwë’s palace and had been forced to listen to Ingwë rant for hours about Fëanor’s lack of parenting skills and the wild behaviour and wantonness of his children as a result of it. Fëanor had been livid about the waste of a good day that he had been forced to spend what seemed like an excruciating eternity in audience with the King and Celegorm had had the worst punishment of his life for his foolhardiness. Fëanor had ranted on in a rage about not only his son’s behaviour but making him look a fool in front of puffed up Vanyarin royalty and eunuch tinpot dictators, and he had suggested terrible things, albeit colourfully, about Ingwë’s true lineage. He had then sent Celegorm away to military training school for a full month and away from all women.
These days Celegorm preferred to be footloose and carefree, and the young ladies of Tirion were kept guessing as to which of them would be the luckiest, and land the handsome young Noldorin lord as her husband. It was never that Celegorm lacked for female companionship, but he did not wish to be tied down and become the betrothed of one maiden, so he kept his love affairs short and sweet, while Curufin was convinced that he had met his lifelong match and wished to marry Aredhel.
Celegorm still enjoyed riding with his brother and cousin and after a year had passed, they began to hunt as well, taking bows and arrows with them when they went out. Since the bow-losing incident which had been well over a year ago, and with the boys’ demonstrated new maturity, Fëanor had paid for them all to have archery lessons from the best archer in Tirion.
Curufin had learned much more about the fairer sex during the past year than he had known previously. Since he had six brothers and his mother was too tired most of the time to instruct him in the ways of women, seeming to dote most of her attention on the twins, Amrod and Amras, Curufin had received most of his instruction in sexual intercourse from one of the female apprentices at the forge, a solidly built young lady named Poldanis. Poldanis was delighted when Curufin had approached her with a timid question about female preferences for lovemaking.
“You want to know what?” she had asked, dropping her hammer with a clang onto her work table.
“Well, erm – what do maidens prefer a man to do to them while making love?” he asked, swallowing his timidity and plunging forward with the question. There was no point in being coy. He wanted to know and therefore he would ask in a straightforward manner.
“Who is the man in question?” asked Poldanis, sidling up close to Curufin. He backed up a couple of steps. “You?” She was staring at him intently.
“Um – yes – me”, he replied, not wanting to lie as he was anxious to know the answer without wasting any time, but in truth, Poldanis scared him a little. She was strong and brassy, and had a reputation for being free with her favours. The other apprentices often joked that Poldanis knew more about sexual matters than anyone else of their acquaintance.
Curufin had watched her a great deal over the past few days. He saw how she bent low over her work, her ample cleavage almost spilling out over the top of her apron and how she did not seem to care. He saw how unusually developed were the muscles in her arms, so much like a man’s, and how lustily she went about her work, seeming to throw her whole body into it. He looked her up and down and noted her full hips and her strong legs.
And she noticed him watching her. She had had a crush on Curufin, the boss’s son, for a long time, but had kept her feelings about him to herself. She thought he was too far above her in station for there ever to be a chance for romance between them, and she had resigned herself to that fact.
“Come outside with me”, she ordered him.
“Pardon?” he asked.
“Outside. Now.” She grabbed him by the arm and almost pushed him out of the door. The cool fresh air touched their hot, flushed faces with a calming hand. “It’s too warm and noisy in there to have a proper conversation”, she explained, looking up at him with a wide, friendly smile. “Gods, but he is beautiful”, she thought. “Let’s go for a walk”, she said to him. I know of a comfortable spot behind the potting shed in your mother’s garden where we can sit and talk”.
They walked along one of the pathways leading into Nerdanel’s kitchen garden. It was early autumn and most of the plants, like the corn and tomatoes, the vines growing beans and squash, had grown very tall and rangy, obscuring the view from the house to the shed. Once they had reached the shed, Poldanis led Curufin around to the back, and they sat down upon a long, low hammock that had been slung between two great chestnut trees. The hammock did not lend itself very well for sitting upright, so they had to lean backwards in it until they were almost prone.
“Now”, said Poldanis with a gleeful expression on her ruddy face. “What did you want to know?”
“I need to know what it is that a lady prefers while a man is making love to her”, he said. He felt a little naughty being out in the fresh air and swinging lazily in a soft hammock with Poldanis, but the feeling exhilarated him.
“Well, what are you doing to her now?” asked Poldanis.
“Erm – I don’t know if I can tell you that”, he said.
“You’ll have to show me, then. This?” she asked, and leaning her body against him, she took his face in her hands and kissed him hard on the lips.
“Yes, of course”, he said when she released him. He was surprised by her enthusiasm.
“What else?” she asked breathlessly, and without waiting for an answer, she kissed him again, this time parting his lips with her tongue and probing the inside of his mouth with it. She slid her tongue along his and encouraged his to move and do the same thing in her mouth. He complied and tasted sweetness like honey, mixed with a flavour of metal, somewhat like that of silver. Sometimes, after buffing a finished piece of silver jewelry, the smiths would lick it before polishing it with a cloth. Curufin didn’t know why they did this, but all did, and it became a somewhat addictive procedure. He was well acquainted with the taste of silver.
When they broke apart, he was gasping with pleasure and could feel his manhood rising.
“Do you touch any part of her body while kissing her?” asked Poldanis in a whisper.
“Uh, yes”, he said.
“Show me!” Poldanis purred into his ear, which she then proceeded to nibble.
He then turned his face into hers, his body thrilling from the sensation of having his ear caressed by her tongue, and he planted little butterfly kisses all the way down her neck to her shoulder. “That’s good”, she breathed. “I don’t think the problem is how you perform”.
He then tried to slide the strap of her apron off of her shoulder but it was too tight and wouldn’t budge. She helped him enthusiastically by untying it at the back, tearing it off and flinging it onto the ground. Under it she was wearing a wool shirt and breeches like a man, for working in the forge. She quickly pulled the top few buttons open on her shirt, grasped his hand and placed it on her ample cleavage. Then she sought his lips and kissed him passionately. This caused his hand to explore and squeeze her breast in a sensual way that delighted her. As he did so, she moved her hand along his thigh, noting the smoothness of the long muscle there, and up to the place between his legs where she felt much activity going on. She rubbed her hand over his manhood, putting gentle pressure there and massaging it until she could feel wetness coming through the cloth of his breeches. She then pulled away.
“Oh, Gods”, he moaned. “Don’t stop! Keep going!”
She panted and wiped her face. “This is a lesson”, she said. “Calm yourself, and then we will continue. I want to ask you something first”.
He nodded and crossed his legs, bending forward and wincing as if in pain. “What is it?” he asked.
“Does your young lady do this to you often?” He nodded.
“Is she anyone that I might know?” Poldanis asked. He shook his head.
“Is she a lady of noble birth?” He nodded again. “But I cannot tell you her name”, he said. “We wish to wed but there is much she does not know about lovemaking and she is afraid of moving beyond a certain point when we are – when we are –“
“Having sex?” Poldanis asked. He nodded once more. “That is what I wanted to know”, she said. “I do not want to take you too far in this instruction then, if you have not already wed yourself to your young lady. You are young and you will not be wanting to complicate things by wedding yourself to me before you have wed her”. She smiled sadly at him. “Have you and she progressed to the point where we stopped just now?”
“Not quite”, he replied. “We have not done anything with our tongues, but she has touched my – my –“
“Your cock?” she asked. He looked shocked. “Is that too crude a word for you? Your manhood then?”
“My manhood. Yes, but only because I put her hand there. She did not do it on her own”, he said.
Poldanis laughed. “Well”, she said. “I think I would like to progress to the next step. But keep in mind that we will not be consummating this union”. He nodded once more. “I think the next step is to get undressed. Have you and she done that yet?”
Curufin blushed. “Well, I have”, he said, “but not her. That is, I did pull down the top of her dress, and she seemed to like it when I – when I – kissed her there”, he said, pointing to Poldanis’s breasts.
“She did, did she?” Poldanis asked with amusement. “Well, then you must be good at it. Show me!” And with that, she tore off her shirt and stood before him, her huge, pendulous breasts shaking as she bent to remove her breeches.
Curufin gaped, as he had never seen a bosom this size. He was not so much aroused as amazed by the sight of it. But when she had removed her pants, and he looked upon the fully naked body of this voluptuous woman, he became very excited. Quickly he undressed and stood before Poldanis as naked as she was before him.
Then Poldanis embraced Curufin and pulled him down onto the hammock. She directed his head between her breasts and while he massaged and suckled them, she reached down and touched his manhood, feeling it carefully at first, holding his scrotum in her hand and massaging both it and his erection, relishing the feel of its fullness and ample proportions. She ached to grind her hips against him and feel him between her thighs, but she dared not let things go that far.
Panting and gasping, she pressed her lips to his shoulders, tasting his delicious sweat like citrus fruit and kissing his smooth tanned flesh. She began stroking him as he kissed her, but stopped before he could climax. “Do this now”, she moaned, and taking his hand, she placed it between her thighs. “Find the place where your finger will go and put it inside”, she said.
He hesitated. “Do it!” she cried louder. He then did what she instructed while she brought him to climax with her hand. It did not take more than a few seconds.
“Has your young lady done that to you?” Poldanis asked him, feeling that this had been enough for now, though she was far from satisfied.
Curufin lay back on the hammock, relaxed and spent. “No”, he breathed. “She does not like to touch me there”.
“Then she must be mad”, said Poldanis, but bit her lip before she could tell him that he was the most desirable man she had ever been with. “Well”, she said instead, “You must take things slowly and gently with her for now. Try and get her to do what we have done here today, but let her discover the pleasure of sexual relations in her own time. I shall get dressed first and go back to the forge alone. Curufin, I don’t think you should come back to work today. We would be constantly watching each other the rest of the day because of what we have done, and that may cast suspicion on us. I am well aware of my reputation among the smiths, and I do not want our secret to be known, for your sake. You know how the gossip will spread, and I do not wish to be the cause of your relationship with your lady love to come apart”.
Curufin looked at Poldanis with grateful respect. He certainly felt differently about her now than he had before. Quickly, he got dressed and watched her leave, giving her a little wave as she turned back to look at him. Then, when she was out of sight, he walked home, where he told his mother that he had developed a headache, and went to lie down.
~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~
A few weeks later, Curufin and Aredhel found themselves alone while hunting with Celegorm. The three had gone quite far into the woods to look for an elusive fox that had been disturbing the chickens belonging to a nearby farmer. Celegorm had gone off by himself, and Curufin used the opportunity to coax Aredhel down from her horse.
They stood together in the deep shade of the woods that fell about them like a cloak. The closeness of the atmosphere was comforting, almost as if they were in a small room by themselves. Only the sound of the tree branches rustling as the breeze ruffled through them disturbed the silence. The scent of dry autumn leaves lent a gentle touch to the atmosphere, and Curufin sighed as he and Aredhel faced each other. They had not spoken of their relationship since he had been instructed in sexual matters by Poldanis.
“Nell, I have to ask you something”, he said to her.
“What is it, dear Kurvo?” she asked, reaching out to pick a small bit of leaf out of his hair.
“Do you still wish to wed me?” he asked.
“Of course I do”, she replied. “I love you. Do you still love me?”
“Yes”, he replied. “But I want to love you more. In a different way than just saying the words. I want to feel you against me and to have sexual relations with you”.
Aredhel sighed. “Oh, this again”, she said. “Kurvo, I am not yet ready for that”.
“Have you not received instruction from your mother, as we discussed you should?” he asked.
“Yes. I asked Ammë to explain everything about it to me, and she did. But Kurvo”, she said, a look of worry on her face. “That is how babies are made. I cannot risk that happening. Therefore we must wait another ten years at least before we can declare our love openly and then marry”.
Curufin gave an exasperated snort. “Do you mean that you expect me to wait ten years before you will agree to consummating our love?” he cried.
“Yes, darling. And if you love me, you will agree with this plan”, she said. “That is the test. We must wait for ten years. We will continue to see each other and ride and hunt as we do now, but we will not carry on an affair any longer behind peoples’ backs, and when we become of proper age, then we will declare our love and desire to marry openly”.
“But –“he started to say.
“Hush!” said Aredhel, putting her fingers to his lips. “That is my test for you! If you pass it, then we shall wed!” Then she got back up onto her horse, and smiling back at Curufin as he stood in grave disappointment on the forest floor, she rode off to look for Celegorm.
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