Title: As Cold As Mithril
Fandom: The Silmarillion
Rating: T
Length: 224 words
Content notes: Mentions of canonical character death
Author notes: I'm writing a lot of Celeborn for my Nano. My head is firmly stuck in writing mode for him and Maglor, so apologies that they will probably show up a lot for a while.
Summary: Celeborn used to believe in good things that came from bad.



Celeborn had used to believe that good things always came from the bad.

That, of course, had been when he was much younger and had hope for the future. After all, even if it had taken his parents away from him, he still had his friends, grandfather, and siblings.

But with Míriel and Indis gone to the Valinor, Elu in the ground with silver hair circled by a silver crown, and Elmo gone, he had lost most of his hope.

Then Nimloth had died, silver hair lining her grave, Doriath had been overtaken, and his great-nephews were lost in the forest. Galadriel had tried to assure him that they would be reborn in Valinor, but wasn’t that a cold comfort when he wasn’t in Valinor and was therefore separated from his family even if they were reborn?

And now Galadriel had returned from her visit with Celebrimbor, silver mithril in a circle around her finger, speaking of how this ring, this latest Noldorin fantasy of superiority, would allow her to keep anything she wanted safe.

And if the silver lining of a ring connected to Sauron was that she could raise borders like Melian had - and they all knew how safe that had kept Elu - than silver linings were as cold and harsh as the mithril the ring was made of.