My monsters are real, and they're trained how to kill

[tehhumi]

Celebrimbor had thought he’d never see his family again after Nargothrond, but he was wrong.

It started after Doriath. Curufin told his son of his death in person. Caranthir and Celegorm had arrived less than day later. Amras and Amrod had appeared while Gil-Galad was frantically ordering everyone for the ships to Sirion. And it had been mere hours after the theft of the Silmarils when Maedhros had opened his eyes, said “No.”, and started walking north. Maedhros had returned though, they always did.

The ghosts don’t have to do what he says, but they do a lot of the time anyway. He’s their anchor in this world; if they aren’t paying attention they drift back to him. And when all six of them are there, sometimes he can feel, though still not hear, his grandfather. The ghosts can talk to each other, and when Celebrimbor is lucky they’ll entertain each other. When he’s not lucky he has six sources of ‘helpful’ advice on how to dress in the morning.

Celebrimbor is aware he’s gaining a poor reputation. People say he’s standoffish and bitter about what his family lost, that he resents Gil-Galad and Elrond. In reality it’s nearly impossible to focus on living people with his father whispering plans to take the throne. After Morgoth’s defeat he moves as far from the Sindar and other kings as possible. He doesn’t want to become more of a kinslayer than he is.

In time Celebrimbor learns to use it. He invites Maedhros to meetings with diplomats. He rehearses with Celegorm before speeches to the populace. He runs proposed trade deals past Caranthir. He asks Amras and Amrod how to design a city in the middle of grasslands, with emphasis on trade where they chose defense. He listens occasionally to Curufin’s advice in the forge.

The last time Celebrimbor had a moment truly alone was FA 510, when his father, Celegorm, and Caranthir tried to take the Silmaril from Elwing themselves.People say the Lord of Ost-in-Edhil is friendless and solitary, but they have no idea how wrong they are. The whispers in his ears seem like home by now.

People notice, of course. Celebrimbor glares over people’s shoulders at council meetings, seeming for all the world to ignore what’s going on until he catches the flaw in reasoning or financial pitfall they were about to steer the city into. There’s a chill in the air near him, and his bright eyes rarely look straight at yours. He always seems to know what rumors are being spread, though he rarely leaves the forge. But he’s a good smith, and kicking him out would cause the ex-Feanorians to riot.

Celebrimbor consults Maedhros and Curufin on how to slowly build power. He exchanges letters with the kings an lords of Middle Earth as an equal. After years of work, a letter comes form Amdir, all but ordering Celeborn to Lothlorien. Celebrimbor assures his cousin and her husband that of course he’ll look after the city, they’ve done so much for Ost-in-Edhil, they’re welcome to visit anytime. Galadriel had not been sure she would leave rather than wait a decade for Celeborn to straighten things out, but she find herself on the road.

Celebrimbor pays his taxes to Gil-Galad. He answers letters a hair too slow, and Ost-in-Edhil’s soldiers patrol only to the River Gwathlo. King Gil-Galad would look petty if he complained, but he stops sending all but the most critical orders. They wouldn’t be heeded anyway.

Celebrimbor walks around unarmed, and requires that all who meet him do the same. How he finds every dagger hidden in a boot is mysterious. So is how everyone important in the city can no longer speak against him, even in whispers, or they will answer for it before him the next day.

Celebrimbor toys with the idea of calling himself ‘king’. He wouldn’t need  to displace Gil-Galad really, Finrod and Turgon were both kings under Fingolfin. But Maedhros says his position is still too weak, and there’s Numenor to consider as well.  Their kings deal almost exclusively with Gil-Galad, not the landlocked Ost-in-Edhil. If Celebrimbor could get them to support him instead, he would be King indeed. It might take a century or two, with how long-lived the Numenoreans are for mortals, but it will come in time.

Leave your weapon on the table
Wrapped in burlap, barely able
Call a doctor, say a prayer
Choose a god you think is fair

‘Cause my monsters are real,
And they’re trained how to kill

- “Monsters” by Shinedown

Annatar promises knowledge, but that’s not why Celebrimbor listens to him so. It’s because when he’s with Annatar, there’s no one else in the room. The ghosts protest, but the Maia keeps them away without even seeming to notice. Celebrimbor wouldn’t have said he needed a breath of fresh air, but when offered he finds himself addicted.

Of course, Celebrimbor is in the habit to heeding the advice of half-heard voices by now. And as long as Annatar is on the council (when did he get a seat?), he can’t easily consult his kinsman for advice on running the city.

It’s probably fine. Ost-in-Edhil needed a better wall, better army, more consolidated power structure now that Celeborn is gone. And when Celebrimbor does see his uncles, the finances and engineering and politics are all sound. He delegates much of the city’s defense to Annatar - it’s not like Celebrimbor had done anything other than what Maedhros and Amras recommended anyway.

It’s relaxing in a way to have his chief advisor be someone who can answer questions for himself, without Celebrimbor relaying everything. All Annatar’s moves are making Ost-in-Edhil more powerful and more reliant on having a single strong leader. In the end, this benefits Celebrimbor.

Maedhros can’t come up with any specific criticisms to say of Annatar, besides a general uneasiness. Celebrimbor assumes he’s just jealous at being replaced as kingmaker.