Post by Rhonda on May 22, 2014 21:35:06 GMT -5
Chapter 3 – Great Kings and Great Plans
The private sammoth of King Thranduil was buzzing with activity. Housemaids, laundresses, aides and advisors were all busying themselves packing for the great King’s trip to Imladris. After the crisis in Rivendell, the king decided that it was time that he ventured out from behind the safety of his palace walls and pay his Elven brethren a visit. He was anxious to see Elrond again after so many years apart and was looking forward to seeing his old friend Haldir once again. During the alliance Haldir and Thranduil had become fast friends, fighting alongside each other till the battle’s end.
It was Haldir who was at his side when he received the news of his father Oropher’s death in the battle of Dagorlad, and it was Haldir who helped him to assemble and organize the remaining ⅓ of his father’s warriors, seven years later, for their journey back to the Greenwood. Reaching Greenwood, Haldir stayed for an additional six months supporting Thranduil while he reestablished the Elven stronghold, and then returned to the Golden Woods to his brothers and the service of Lord Celeborn and the Lady Galadriel. Thranduil had not forgotten those days, or the bleak hope that was held out to him that he would one day be able to restore his father’s realm to the great green haven it once was. He credited Haldir for much of the hope he’d held on to for the many years it took to gather his people and lead them back to the safety of the Greenwood.
Haldir had been a staunch and steadfast friend and Thranduil would not soon forget it. As the packing continued the king was interrupted by the arrival of his only son Legolas. The young princling entered his father’s rooms in an excited state and flopped himself down on the great oak bed with unceremonious abandon. For the first time in almost 200 years he was about to return to Imladris and to the company of his friends Elladan and Elrohir, a fact over which his father had serious misgivings. It wasn’t that Thranduil disliked the twins; nothing could have been further from the truth. But he was nothing if not a realist, and the reality was that placing these three elves together in any situation was an open invitation for mischief and troublemaking.
He’d been present when Elrond’s sons were born and it was actually quite an event. Elflings were not often born in those times, and at that moment he felt almost as proud as Elrond, while he secretly longed for the day when he too might have a son to present to the world. For many centuries he watched over them from afar, sending out couriers with barely important missives, who would then return to him and report on the wellbeing of the twins. As clandestine as he believed his machinations were, Elrond always knew, and made it a point to not-so-subtly reveal the goings on of his sons.
He knew that Thranduil, who at that time was still childless, was too proud to inquire of their welfare outright and that it was frowned upon for one elf to be envious of another. It certainly was something that would be considered ‘unseemly’ for a king to display, so he deliberately let little tidbits of the twin’s lives be heard where listening ears would hear, knowing full well that everything said would be reported to his old friend. He made a point during the supper hour to tell stories about the twins’ latest adventures, and to repeat well worn stories of their childhood to the great consternation of his sons.
Through all those years the twins never once realized the true intent of their father’s embarrassing forays into their checkered past, but Thranduil knew. He knew that an elf as wise as his friend would not easily reveal such personal information, except to have it heard and repeated to him, and each time his couriers returned with new information he silently thanked the Valar and his dear friend from the bottom of his heart.
So here he stood, gazing loving at his lifelong wish – his son, who was now sprawled on his bed atop a sea of ornately trimmed robes and elaborate cloaks smiling back at him as only he could. Life was good and the king was content.
~~~~
Estel arrived at the dining hall running full tilt straight into the legs of one of his favorite people, Haldir. “Halli!” he exclaimed as the erstwhile stern Marchwarden scooped him up and held him high overhead with one hand.
“Good morn little one”
“Good morn to you Halli” he said as the warden brought him down out of the air and into the safety of his embrace. Estel wrapped his chubby arms around Haldir’s neck and planted a wet kiss on the warden’s cheek.
“I missed you last night Halli, how iss your arm?” he asked as he gently patted the warden’s forearm.
“I am well this morn little one and my arm grows stronger each day.”
“Dat’s good, cause if it starts to twouble you, you just gotta tell me cause Ada has been showin’ me how to make the icky tea, and dat always makes it better.”
The warden laughed a hardy laugh, “The icky tea?” he said as he tickled Estel’s side. “You want to give me the icky tea? I thought we were friends?”
“Oh we are,” the child said earnestly, “You my best friend…you and Wú…and Linwë…and Westor and Glorfy…” the child was about to launch himself into listing everyone inside the gates of the Last Homely House, but the March Warden interrupted him.
“That is a mighty long list little one, but it makes me happy that you put my name first.”
Estel’s countenance became more serious, “Dat’s cause you took care of me, and you watched over me and hid me in da tree from da bad elf, so he wouldna get me. And…and you let me stand to post wit’ da ellith…nobody ever let me stand to post before, and you did my braids,” he said as he fingered Haldir’s hair.
The warden pulled the boy close and buried his nose in the child’s hair inhaling the sweet scent of innocence. “It was my honor little one.” Estel rested his head on Haldir’s shoulder and whispered, “Ada said you could have died.” Haldir was completely taken aback, he could not think of any scenario where Elrond would say something like that to a child. “Your Ada said that to you?” he questioned. “Well…not zackly. I guess I was kinda eardroppin’. I didna mean to be, honest, I was just dere…and I heard Ada tell Westor, dat you risked your life for me,” he said as he kissed Haldir’s cheek again, “tsank you for saving me.”
The Marchwarden’s heart was overwhelmed, here was this tiny boy thanking him when he should have been thanking the boy. “You know little one, thank you’s go both ways, for you risked your life as well, to save mine. You were safely hidden in the tree; the beast did not know where you were. He would have had to search for you and by then the others would have found him. But you saw that I was in trouble and you acted to save me. When you threw your blanket down upon his head he could not see me and that bought us precious time. That allowed me to gain some control over it. It was just the diversion I needed, it saved my life..you saved my life.”
Estel seemed to hold on to Haldir even tighter, as if he was afraid that if he loosened his hold his beloved Halli would disappear from his sight. Haldir could sense the boy’s apprehension and quickly changed the subject. “But let us not speak of such dismal things, our breakfast awaits us and I believe I saw cook bring out some of your favorite eggs. What say we forget all about it and break our fast so that we can go outside and practice with your new sword? What say you?”
Estel nodded vigorously. “Dat’s a good idea Halli, can we take Wú and Phin wit’ us so we can spar?”
“I do not know if Rúmil and Orophin are awake little one, they were up late last night arguing over who would stand watch outside your door, and I am not sure which of them won the battle….knowing them they probably both sat there all night, and will no doubt not be up before noonday.”
“Silly elves” Estel shook his head.
“Yes, stubborn silly elves” Haldir agreed. “I suppose it will not do any harm to check on them after we have eaten, just to make sure they are all right. I have warned them that they will exhaust themselves working all day and sitting up all night, but they are grown now and unless we are on duty they do as they please more often than not.”
“Iss almost like being an Ada right Halli? My Ada says that Dan an Roh seldom do as he says unless he gets ‘ficial’ on dem.”
“Ficial?” Haldir questioned.
“He means official” Erestor corrected as he seated himself at the table and nodded his morning greeting to those assembled.
“And how exactly does he get official little one?”
“Well most of da time he yells at dem and tells dem dat he iss still their Adar and dey will do as he says or face da conse..conse…”
“Consequences” Erestor added.
“Right, thank you Westor, da con-se-quen-ses.” The boy nodded assuredly, confident that he had made his point using the right word.
“Well that may be what it takes with those two” Haldir said as he seated himself and placed Estel in the chair next to him.
“Didna Wú learn his lesson?” the boy questioned as Haldir filled his plate with a honeyed biscuit and Erestor cracked open his soft boiled egg.
“What lesson is that Melyanna?” Erestor asked.
“Dat he iss supposed to do what his big brudder tells him to do. I minded him before when he was being naughty.”
“Re-minded…you reminded him sweetling”
“Yeth, dat. He said I was right, but I guess he forgot.”
“He has a tendency to do that a lot little one, more than to my liking” Haldir responded. “And when the two of them are together, there can sometimes be no dealing with them.”
“Would you like me to have a word with them?” Erestor queried. “Sometimes listening is easier when the words come from someone you are not related too.”
“Thank you, but no Erestor, I will handle those two miscreants myself, I have had three millennia of experience with them and trust me it does not get easier with time.”
The ever reliable Seneschal just smiled, “Believe me I know whereof you speak, I have been having that same conversation with the twins for 2800 years, after a while one learns to just stand at the ready with the bandages and allow them to learn the hard way.”
Haldir laughed as he set Estel’s plate in front of him. ”Are you sure you are talking about the twins and not my brothers? I have lost count of how many bandages I have applied to those two over the years.”
As usual, Estel decided that he needed to be a part of whatever grownup conversation was taking place, and added his tuppence to the exchange.
“Halli, you had to put ban-ages on Wú and Phin? Did dey make mischief like my brudders?”
“Yes to both questions little one, a lot of the time they made mischief with your brothers.”
The boy just shook his head displaying his dismay. “Naughty elves” he said disparagingly. “Dey need to spend some time on da naughty stool” he said as he dipped his biscuit into the golden goodness of his egg. Assured in his opinion he commented further, “Ada would never stand for it…Westor either…Halli you should let Westor put them on the stool, he will make dem behave…right Westor?”
The seneschal had to cover his mouth with his napkin to keep from laughing out loud. “It is nice to know that you have so much faith in my disciplinary tactics little one. I have worked for many years to perfect them, unfortunately my methods did not seem to take on your brothers and I doubt that they would work very well on Rúmil and Orophin.”
“I tink dey would work Westor.”
“Why say you that sweetling?”
“Cause Wú is scared a you,” he said matter-of-factly.
Haldir almost spewed a mouth full of buttermilk across the table, and did indeed have to dab at his nose as the milk threatened to exit using that thoroughfare.
“Did you say Rúmil is scared of Erestor?”
“Oh yeth” came the confident response.
“And you know this because….?”
“Cause whenever Westor is around Wú gets figgitty.”
“You mean fidgety?”
“Umm hum. Wú says Westor is not an elf to be trif…trif...”
“Trifled?”
“Yeth, dat, not an elf to be trifled wit’. Yup, dat’s what he said. Wú said Westor could curl your hair wit’ a look…don’ mess with Westor if you wanna keep on steppin’…dat’s what he said.”
“Tis a pity Rúmil’s opinion has not rolled over to some of the other elves in Imladris” the counselor said has he cast a quick disapproving eye across the room in Timagol’s direction.
Haldir caught the look and followed it to Timagol’s face, then asked, “Is someone giving you problems Erestor…someone from my party?” Haldir was in full Marchwarden mode now, and very little in the way of nuance escaped him. “If that is true you have but to speak of it, I will not stand for anyone creating a stain on the reputation of my wardens, especially since it reflects directly on me and in turn on my Lord Celeborn.”
“It is nothing that I cannot handle; sometimes these young ones just have to be reminded with whom they are dealing.”
Haldir acquiesced with a nod of his head. He could not recall a time when he’d seen the always gracious seneschal subject a guest in the House of Elrond to that kind of piercing scrutiny, and it did not bode well for the receiver of that look. “There is certainly no one better qualified to demonstrate that point than you my friend. The young ones sometimes forget; just because someone is not carrying a sword today, it does not automatically follow that they are unfamiliar with the concept.” Haldir sat quietly as an idea took shape in his head.
”Erestor, are you busy this morning?”
“Why do you ask, do you need something Hal?”
“No, I was just thinking…Estel and I are going out to practice with his new sword after breakfast, we were thinking of taking Rúmil and Orophin with us depending upon whether or not they are still sleeping, but I was wondering…”
“Yes?”
“Perhaps you would like to join us instead, the twins have been doing a bit of bragging about their ‘superior’ skills and I was thinking that mayhaps you could demonstrate for Estel how they got those skills.”
Erestor blushed, “Well, it has been a while since I have taken up a sword…”
“When one wields a sword the way you do Erestor, time is not something that diminishes ability.”
“You are being very kind my friend” he said as he looked in Tima’s direction. “Perhaps I will take you up on our invitation, after all,” he paused, “I did teach the twins, perhaps it is only fitting that I do the same with Estel.” “All right,” he said nodding, “I will wrestle the banes and perhaps Cilinwë as well, and we will meet you on the practice field after they have eaten.”
“Good,” Haldir remarked as he looked at Tima, “I think it will be a very ‘enlightening’ experience…for Estel.”
“Yes, I am sure that ‘Estel’ will gain important insight into what real warriors are made of.”
Haldir smiled a knowing smile and nodded his agreement. Lessons would indeed be taught today.
TBC
The private sammoth of King Thranduil was buzzing with activity. Housemaids, laundresses, aides and advisors were all busying themselves packing for the great King’s trip to Imladris. After the crisis in Rivendell, the king decided that it was time that he ventured out from behind the safety of his palace walls and pay his Elven brethren a visit. He was anxious to see Elrond again after so many years apart and was looking forward to seeing his old friend Haldir once again. During the alliance Haldir and Thranduil had become fast friends, fighting alongside each other till the battle’s end.
It was Haldir who was at his side when he received the news of his father Oropher’s death in the battle of Dagorlad, and it was Haldir who helped him to assemble and organize the remaining ⅓ of his father’s warriors, seven years later, for their journey back to the Greenwood. Reaching Greenwood, Haldir stayed for an additional six months supporting Thranduil while he reestablished the Elven stronghold, and then returned to the Golden Woods to his brothers and the service of Lord Celeborn and the Lady Galadriel. Thranduil had not forgotten those days, or the bleak hope that was held out to him that he would one day be able to restore his father’s realm to the great green haven it once was. He credited Haldir for much of the hope he’d held on to for the many years it took to gather his people and lead them back to the safety of the Greenwood.
Haldir had been a staunch and steadfast friend and Thranduil would not soon forget it. As the packing continued the king was interrupted by the arrival of his only son Legolas. The young princling entered his father’s rooms in an excited state and flopped himself down on the great oak bed with unceremonious abandon. For the first time in almost 200 years he was about to return to Imladris and to the company of his friends Elladan and Elrohir, a fact over which his father had serious misgivings. It wasn’t that Thranduil disliked the twins; nothing could have been further from the truth. But he was nothing if not a realist, and the reality was that placing these three elves together in any situation was an open invitation for mischief and troublemaking.
He’d been present when Elrond’s sons were born and it was actually quite an event. Elflings were not often born in those times, and at that moment he felt almost as proud as Elrond, while he secretly longed for the day when he too might have a son to present to the world. For many centuries he watched over them from afar, sending out couriers with barely important missives, who would then return to him and report on the wellbeing of the twins. As clandestine as he believed his machinations were, Elrond always knew, and made it a point to not-so-subtly reveal the goings on of his sons.
He knew that Thranduil, who at that time was still childless, was too proud to inquire of their welfare outright and that it was frowned upon for one elf to be envious of another. It certainly was something that would be considered ‘unseemly’ for a king to display, so he deliberately let little tidbits of the twin’s lives be heard where listening ears would hear, knowing full well that everything said would be reported to his old friend. He made a point during the supper hour to tell stories about the twins’ latest adventures, and to repeat well worn stories of their childhood to the great consternation of his sons.
Through all those years the twins never once realized the true intent of their father’s embarrassing forays into their checkered past, but Thranduil knew. He knew that an elf as wise as his friend would not easily reveal such personal information, except to have it heard and repeated to him, and each time his couriers returned with new information he silently thanked the Valar and his dear friend from the bottom of his heart.
So here he stood, gazing loving at his lifelong wish – his son, who was now sprawled on his bed atop a sea of ornately trimmed robes and elaborate cloaks smiling back at him as only he could. Life was good and the king was content.
~~~~
Estel arrived at the dining hall running full tilt straight into the legs of one of his favorite people, Haldir. “Halli!” he exclaimed as the erstwhile stern Marchwarden scooped him up and held him high overhead with one hand.
“Good morn little one”
“Good morn to you Halli” he said as the warden brought him down out of the air and into the safety of his embrace. Estel wrapped his chubby arms around Haldir’s neck and planted a wet kiss on the warden’s cheek.
“I missed you last night Halli, how iss your arm?” he asked as he gently patted the warden’s forearm.
“I am well this morn little one and my arm grows stronger each day.”
“Dat’s good, cause if it starts to twouble you, you just gotta tell me cause Ada has been showin’ me how to make the icky tea, and dat always makes it better.”
The warden laughed a hardy laugh, “The icky tea?” he said as he tickled Estel’s side. “You want to give me the icky tea? I thought we were friends?”
“Oh we are,” the child said earnestly, “You my best friend…you and Wú…and Linwë…and Westor and Glorfy…” the child was about to launch himself into listing everyone inside the gates of the Last Homely House, but the March Warden interrupted him.
“That is a mighty long list little one, but it makes me happy that you put my name first.”
Estel’s countenance became more serious, “Dat’s cause you took care of me, and you watched over me and hid me in da tree from da bad elf, so he wouldna get me. And…and you let me stand to post wit’ da ellith…nobody ever let me stand to post before, and you did my braids,” he said as he fingered Haldir’s hair.
The warden pulled the boy close and buried his nose in the child’s hair inhaling the sweet scent of innocence. “It was my honor little one.” Estel rested his head on Haldir’s shoulder and whispered, “Ada said you could have died.” Haldir was completely taken aback, he could not think of any scenario where Elrond would say something like that to a child. “Your Ada said that to you?” he questioned. “Well…not zackly. I guess I was kinda eardroppin’. I didna mean to be, honest, I was just dere…and I heard Ada tell Westor, dat you risked your life for me,” he said as he kissed Haldir’s cheek again, “tsank you for saving me.”
The Marchwarden’s heart was overwhelmed, here was this tiny boy thanking him when he should have been thanking the boy. “You know little one, thank you’s go both ways, for you risked your life as well, to save mine. You were safely hidden in the tree; the beast did not know where you were. He would have had to search for you and by then the others would have found him. But you saw that I was in trouble and you acted to save me. When you threw your blanket down upon his head he could not see me and that bought us precious time. That allowed me to gain some control over it. It was just the diversion I needed, it saved my life..you saved my life.”
Estel seemed to hold on to Haldir even tighter, as if he was afraid that if he loosened his hold his beloved Halli would disappear from his sight. Haldir could sense the boy’s apprehension and quickly changed the subject. “But let us not speak of such dismal things, our breakfast awaits us and I believe I saw cook bring out some of your favorite eggs. What say we forget all about it and break our fast so that we can go outside and practice with your new sword? What say you?”
Estel nodded vigorously. “Dat’s a good idea Halli, can we take Wú and Phin wit’ us so we can spar?”
“I do not know if Rúmil and Orophin are awake little one, they were up late last night arguing over who would stand watch outside your door, and I am not sure which of them won the battle….knowing them they probably both sat there all night, and will no doubt not be up before noonday.”
“Silly elves” Estel shook his head.
“Yes, stubborn silly elves” Haldir agreed. “I suppose it will not do any harm to check on them after we have eaten, just to make sure they are all right. I have warned them that they will exhaust themselves working all day and sitting up all night, but they are grown now and unless we are on duty they do as they please more often than not.”
“Iss almost like being an Ada right Halli? My Ada says that Dan an Roh seldom do as he says unless he gets ‘ficial’ on dem.”
“Ficial?” Haldir questioned.
“He means official” Erestor corrected as he seated himself at the table and nodded his morning greeting to those assembled.
“And how exactly does he get official little one?”
“Well most of da time he yells at dem and tells dem dat he iss still their Adar and dey will do as he says or face da conse..conse…”
“Consequences” Erestor added.
“Right, thank you Westor, da con-se-quen-ses.” The boy nodded assuredly, confident that he had made his point using the right word.
“Well that may be what it takes with those two” Haldir said as he seated himself and placed Estel in the chair next to him.
“Didna Wú learn his lesson?” the boy questioned as Haldir filled his plate with a honeyed biscuit and Erestor cracked open his soft boiled egg.
“What lesson is that Melyanna?” Erestor asked.
“Dat he iss supposed to do what his big brudder tells him to do. I minded him before when he was being naughty.”
“Re-minded…you reminded him sweetling”
“Yeth, dat. He said I was right, but I guess he forgot.”
“He has a tendency to do that a lot little one, more than to my liking” Haldir responded. “And when the two of them are together, there can sometimes be no dealing with them.”
“Would you like me to have a word with them?” Erestor queried. “Sometimes listening is easier when the words come from someone you are not related too.”
“Thank you, but no Erestor, I will handle those two miscreants myself, I have had three millennia of experience with them and trust me it does not get easier with time.”
The ever reliable Seneschal just smiled, “Believe me I know whereof you speak, I have been having that same conversation with the twins for 2800 years, after a while one learns to just stand at the ready with the bandages and allow them to learn the hard way.”
Haldir laughed as he set Estel’s plate in front of him. ”Are you sure you are talking about the twins and not my brothers? I have lost count of how many bandages I have applied to those two over the years.”
As usual, Estel decided that he needed to be a part of whatever grownup conversation was taking place, and added his tuppence to the exchange.
“Halli, you had to put ban-ages on Wú and Phin? Did dey make mischief like my brudders?”
“Yes to both questions little one, a lot of the time they made mischief with your brothers.”
The boy just shook his head displaying his dismay. “Naughty elves” he said disparagingly. “Dey need to spend some time on da naughty stool” he said as he dipped his biscuit into the golden goodness of his egg. Assured in his opinion he commented further, “Ada would never stand for it…Westor either…Halli you should let Westor put them on the stool, he will make dem behave…right Westor?”
The seneschal had to cover his mouth with his napkin to keep from laughing out loud. “It is nice to know that you have so much faith in my disciplinary tactics little one. I have worked for many years to perfect them, unfortunately my methods did not seem to take on your brothers and I doubt that they would work very well on Rúmil and Orophin.”
“I tink dey would work Westor.”
“Why say you that sweetling?”
“Cause Wú is scared a you,” he said matter-of-factly.
Haldir almost spewed a mouth full of buttermilk across the table, and did indeed have to dab at his nose as the milk threatened to exit using that thoroughfare.
“Did you say Rúmil is scared of Erestor?”
“Oh yeth” came the confident response.
“And you know this because….?”
“Cause whenever Westor is around Wú gets figgitty.”
“You mean fidgety?”
“Umm hum. Wú says Westor is not an elf to be trif…trif...”
“Trifled?”
“Yeth, dat, not an elf to be trifled wit’. Yup, dat’s what he said. Wú said Westor could curl your hair wit’ a look…don’ mess with Westor if you wanna keep on steppin’…dat’s what he said.”
“Tis a pity Rúmil’s opinion has not rolled over to some of the other elves in Imladris” the counselor said has he cast a quick disapproving eye across the room in Timagol’s direction.
Haldir caught the look and followed it to Timagol’s face, then asked, “Is someone giving you problems Erestor…someone from my party?” Haldir was in full Marchwarden mode now, and very little in the way of nuance escaped him. “If that is true you have but to speak of it, I will not stand for anyone creating a stain on the reputation of my wardens, especially since it reflects directly on me and in turn on my Lord Celeborn.”
“It is nothing that I cannot handle; sometimes these young ones just have to be reminded with whom they are dealing.”
Haldir acquiesced with a nod of his head. He could not recall a time when he’d seen the always gracious seneschal subject a guest in the House of Elrond to that kind of piercing scrutiny, and it did not bode well for the receiver of that look. “There is certainly no one better qualified to demonstrate that point than you my friend. The young ones sometimes forget; just because someone is not carrying a sword today, it does not automatically follow that they are unfamiliar with the concept.” Haldir sat quietly as an idea took shape in his head.
”Erestor, are you busy this morning?”
“Why do you ask, do you need something Hal?”
“No, I was just thinking…Estel and I are going out to practice with his new sword after breakfast, we were thinking of taking Rúmil and Orophin with us depending upon whether or not they are still sleeping, but I was wondering…”
“Yes?”
“Perhaps you would like to join us instead, the twins have been doing a bit of bragging about their ‘superior’ skills and I was thinking that mayhaps you could demonstrate for Estel how they got those skills.”
Erestor blushed, “Well, it has been a while since I have taken up a sword…”
“When one wields a sword the way you do Erestor, time is not something that diminishes ability.”
“You are being very kind my friend” he said as he looked in Tima’s direction. “Perhaps I will take you up on our invitation, after all,” he paused, “I did teach the twins, perhaps it is only fitting that I do the same with Estel.” “All right,” he said nodding, “I will wrestle the banes and perhaps Cilinwë as well, and we will meet you on the practice field after they have eaten.”
“Good,” Haldir remarked as he looked at Tima, “I think it will be a very ‘enlightening’ experience…for Estel.”
“Yes, I am sure that ‘Estel’ will gain important insight into what real warriors are made of.”
Haldir smiled a knowing smile and nodded his agreement. Lessons would indeed be taught today.
TBC