”Do you question my bravery?”, Telpenaro asked when he was sitting next to the table, trying to negotiate his way out. ”I do, as long as you don't eat your mushrooms”, his mother answered, smiling secretly in amused way, knowing her son. He looked back at her with his pale green eyes and sighed before he chewed a few and finished his meal gladly, without any further protesting.
”Now that wasn't so bad, was it son?”, she said with a smile. ”I know that there still is some house of Beör around, but don't take too much influence from the children of Men. You are much older than them, you see, though you may not look like it”. He swinged his legs while sitting since they did not reach the floor quite yet. He leaned on table while his mother came to take away his used plate. ”It was delicious, ammë, and I'm sorry”, he said.
”It's fine, dear”, she said and kissed him on the cheek while wrapping her arms around him. Her silver hair flowed across his shoulder, and it looked like his own had suddenly grown longer. Some day he would be a full grown sire, as great a warrior as his father. And in that moment his father entered.
”Gillaswen... I have thought of what you said earlier”, his father told her. ”And what are you thinking about it, Erendo?”, she asked. ”I still have my duty with the King”, he answered, ”but I would love nothing more than retire in your garden. But melissë, you are asking me to choose from two different things that are very different, and both of them I love. If I did not have my work, I would have never met you”.
Gillaswen smiled warmly at him at first because it was true. She was one of the Laiquendi, a wild child that always had her hands on flowers and not on steel, and even less so on swords and spears. And then one day Finrod came by wandering, and passed her home in Ossiriand with a few Noldorin guards, and Erendo was one of them. She laid her eyes on this new exotic sight, with a rich dark shiny hair and strange clothing. A friendship was formed between the Green-Elves and Nargothrond, and meanwhile she and Erendo learned to know each other. Eventually she would listen to her heart and leave with him.
Though after the passing happy memory a shadow of sorrow came over her face. She had long wanted her husband to stay still and get away from the dangers of being one of the royal guard of the Finrod. She had often missed him, and though Telpenaro was always with her, she also wanted more time with Erendo, her husband. ”It makes me feel sad to see that expression on your sweet face”, Erendo said, and they walked over to next room to talk about the problem.
Telpenaro overheard it all, and became more determined than ever. He would grow in his father's footsteps, and eventually take his place, hoping that it would make the family more happy. He also longed for an adventure that his father's work would provide.
Gillaswen was not happy for his decision, but eventually it became clearer to her that it was what her son really wanted. But it was not unpleasant for Telpenaro, when he realized that his father was around him more, giving him his first training in the arts of battle.
