The Twins of Two Lands
Kieran and Penelope walked though the woods outside their grandparents' home in Northern Ontario. It was summer, and hot so they both wore jeans and t-shirts. Kieran's was blue like his eyes and Penny's were green like the forest. Both had black hair, Kieran's cut short, Penny's long and tied back. They said nothing as they walked. They didn't need to. They'd had their own language of gestures since they were toddlers, now liberally seasoned with American Sign Language, which allowed them to them to point out things of interest without disturbing the peace.
They had been walking for a long time when they realized that the forest had changed some how. They could no longer hear the distant hum of traffic. The paths were no longer in sight no matter how hard they looked. Penelope pushed down panic as she and her brother exchanges a worried glance. They could survive in the woods, for a while at least. Mum and Dad had made sure of that, though they lived in the city. They each had a knife and a small first aid kit. The first thing they did was sit on a fallen log. Wandering aimlessly would accomplish nothing. Sitting still there was a chance of being found. When night came they made a fire and ate an apple each. They were running out of water. They took turns sleeping while the other watched the fire.
In the morning while they were deciding what to do they heard hoof beats. Both teens jumped up and ran towards the sound yelling, "Stop! Help us! We're lost!"
The great white horses stopped as they approached. They riders, tall men with long, braided, dark hair, dismounted. They were dressed alike in tunics and pants that blended with the forest, and wore quivers of arrows on their backs. Swords and knives hung from their belts looking dangerous even in their sheaths.
"They better be friendly," Kieran muttered under his breath and Penelope nodded her agreement.
"Look at their ears," she whispered. They were pointed.
The man on the left spoke, but neither teen could understand his words.
"I'm sorry. We don't understand," Kieran said. "Can you speak English or French?
"Or German?" Penny added. "Parlez vous francais? Sprechen Sie Deutsch?"
The men looked at each other in confusion and this time the one on the right spoke.
Kieran and Penny shook their heads. Penny pointed to herself. "Penelope."
Kieran imitated her. "Kieran."
The men pointed to themselves saying, "Elladan," and, "Elrohir."
"Elladan, Elrohir," Penny repeated, pointing to each in turn. She then pointed to herself and her brother again. "Penelope, Kieran." She waited for the men to nod in understanding. Then she walked in place, stopped, and looked around, shrugging her shoulders. "We're lost." She rubbed her stomach and mimed eating and drinking. "We're hungry and thirsty."
Elladan took a water skin and tossed it to them. Kieran caught it and sniffed the contents before drinking. He took a few swallows and handed it to Penny. "It's okay. It's water."
She drank and gave it back to Elladan. "Thank you."
The men, well Penny was beginning to think they were elves, indicated the horses and beckoned.
"They want us to get on the horses," Kieran said.
"I can see that. I'm also five feet tall and those are big horses. I don't think I can reach the stirrups."
"I can."
"Yeah. You're half a foot taller than me."
"You'll grow."
"Just get on the horse. Show them we understand."
Kieran managed with a little help from Elrohir. Penelope contemplated the horses for a moment before Elladan put her on his mount and climbed up behind her. Elrohir mounted behind Kieran and they started out.
They rode all day with a brief pause at noon. When they reached a valley of trees and beautiful buildings Elladan said, "Imladris."
"Imladris," Penny repeated.
Elladan and Elrohir took them to another man in a huge, wonderful house. He seemed important. He wore a robe, had dark hair, and grey eyes. An air of authority surrounded him.
Elladan pointed. "Elrond." He then said something from which Penny could pick her and Kieran's names and a conversation ensued.
"I hate this," Kieran muttered.
"Me too," Penny said. "Now I know how Mum's students feel."
"Trust you to think like an ESL teacher."
"I'm not exactly, but we should. I've watched Mum teach kids to speak English when she doesn't know their language. We're kind of in the same boat, only we're learning."
"Maybe they'll just send us home."
"I doubt it. I think we're in Middle Earth. The names fit and they look like elves."
"So, how do we learn the language?"
"Well, Mum says that all language has certain things in common. It has a structure, the same types of words, the same basic sounds. We can learn words, then the structure, the grammar we can kind of pick up by listening. That's how babies learn."
"Yeah, but we're not babies. We're almost fifteen. I'm just happy I passed French."
"You're not that bad, and I'm good at languages. It'll take time. That's all."
"We don't have time. Gramma and Grampa are probably already in a panic, school starts in a month and Mum and Dad--" He broke off abruptly and Penny winced. "Mum doesn't have time to worry about us. She has four other kids to worry about."
Penelope looked down. "I know. But we are here and we are stuck. We don't know how we got here, or even when we got here. How long do you think we were here before we noticed the forest had changed?"
"I don't know, but we got here, didn't we? That means there must be a way home. We just have to find it, or let them find it."
"Not everything has a mathematical answer, Kieran."
They waited the rest of the time in silence. When Elrond and his sons were done talking, a female elf showed the kids to their rooms and brought food--bread, fruit, and honey--for them to eat. There were baths and changes of clothes. Penny tested the water in her bathroom and found it warm, so she bathed, but didn't relax. She hoped Kieran had the good sense to do the same. He was smart enough, but stubborn. To Penny's dismay all the clothes left were dresses. Not that there was anything wrong with dresses, but she preferred jeans and t-shirts for everyday life. Maybe the simple, dark green one. It seemed functional, for a dress anyway.
When she was ready, Penny went to Kieran's room. He'd eaten, bathed and changed into a beige tunic and brown pants. He was lucky. He didn't have a wet braid dripping down his back.
"I guess we just stay here," Kieran said as Penelope sat on his bed.
"I guess. I'd just get lost wandering around."
"I wouldn't. How much do you remember about the books? I'm not about to trust the movie."
"Most of it. Not the language, though. They didn't have much beyond pronunciation and a few phrases or pictures of runes. Alphabets, I guess. I don't remember them. Maps I know a bit, and people, time lines."
"I should have read them."
"It wouldn't make much difference. Do you think they'll be okay? Mum and the others?"
"They're strong. They'll be fine."
"I know, but we lost Dad so recently. They shouldn't have to deal with it again."
"I know."
They waited. They did a lot of waiting in Rivendell. Waiting for the elves to take them to meals and back to their rooms. Waiting to be led to Elrond or another teacher who tried to make them understand, but couldn't. It was like being an infant again, able to communicate only the most basic needs and wants. Food. Water. Those were the first words they learned. Beyond that it was hard. Kieran could draw pictures to help, and gestures became Penelope's new best friend.
Walking in the garden about a week later, Elrond pointed out various plants and named them. It was hard to tell if he was naming specific types of plants or using more general terms.
Penelope walked up to an oak. "Tree." She then went to an ash, a willow, a maple and a birch. "Tree. Tree. Tree. Tree." Then she touched them again. "Oak, ash, willow, maple, birch." The third time she reverted back to tree.
Elrond smiled. He went to each tree saying a Sindarin word. Penny and Kieran repeated it. Then he called each tree by its proper name, letting the children repeat them, and ended by referring to each tree as a tree again. They worked in a similar way with flowers and other types of plants. Nouns were easy to learn. Penny could learn over twenty a day easily and with help Kieran could too. Verbs weren't too bad, though the fact that the English language had so many synonyms--like run, dash, jog-- made some of them more difficult. It was impossible to know if Sindarin functioned in a similar way. As long as it would be acted out clearly, though, it wasn't too bad. The other parts of speech weren't so easy. When looking at a brown block of wood, for example, a word could mean brown, hard, smooth, square, or cube. Like learning the word for tree, several different objects with one similar trait were needed.
"Brown tunic, brown block, brown table, brown book." Sometimes adding the noun to the adjectives helped. Adverbs were a lost cause at this point. How did one explain the concept of quickly to someone with no language? They needed more verbs. Prepositions, well, it depended on the preposition. Simple ones were okay.
"I want to be able to ask questions," Kieran said. "I want to be able to ask what's for supper, but I can't say what. I can't say is."
"I know," Penny said. She was pacing Kieran's room while he sat on the bed.
"Why haven't they taught us how to say 'is?'"
"Ich bin."
"What?"
Ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seit, sie sind, Sie sein."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Those are the conjugations of the German word sein, which means 'to be.' 'Is' is a conjugation of the verb 'to be.' There's no way to act it out and I haven't picked up on it yet. 'To be' also tends to be irregular, so I need to pick out conjugations that won't fit the format and probably won't sound alike. I am, you are, he/she/it is etc. It's hard, and they have three forms of 'you,' which doesn't help, though most languages seem to."
"You're supposed to be good with languages."
"I am good with languages! I'm just not so good at picking words out of thin air. I think this is how to say is, though." She repeated a word she heard often enough to guess at its meaning from context.
Kieran went to his desk and took out a pencil and a fresh sheet of paper. "Leave me alone. I'm drawing."
"You should be practicing your alphabet."
"I've memorized it."
Penelope sighed and left. That would be the one area of languages where Kieran's visual memory became more useful than her audio memory; memorizing and copying the runes used by the elves. She was the one who should be practicing. She went to her room and got a pen, book, inkbottle and pad of paper. After nearly two months she felt confident enough to wander the halls of Imladris alone. She wanted a quiet place to practice her writing. A quiet place that was not the room where she now spent most of her life. She passed a few elves. Most no longer took notice of her or Kieran except to give them occasional looks of pity. She hated those looks. Inside there was no way to avoid them so she went out onto one of the many balconies and sat on the bench. She set the book beside her, open to the first page where the alphabet was clearly displayed, and the inkbottle beside it. The paper she kept in her lap and hunched over, concentrating on copying the runes.
She remembered learning how to write in grade one. Gripping the pencil, trying to hold it as the teacher told her. It hadn't worked. Her letters had always been hard to form, big and uneven, edges never straight or smooth. Eventually she had modified her grip so that the pen or pencil was held near the top against her ring finger with the middle finger at the side, the index finger on top and the utensil resting in the crook of her thumb and forefinger. This grip allowed fingers and wrist to push the pen over the page to form the thin lines that formed the English language could appear small and neat on the page. It didn't work for Sindarin. Maybe it was the pen, but it didn't work for Sindarin. It didn't help that dipping and holding the feather pen so that ink didn't run all over the place was an art in itself.
"Penelope."
Penny looked up from her cramped, uneven runes to see Elrond in the doorway.
He beckoned. "Come." It was a word she was familiar with. She nodded as she gathered her materials. He led her to the dining hall that doubled as a classroom. "Sit."
He studied her runes and smiled. "Good." He took her pad and made a number of evenly spaced lines. Then Elrond copied out the runes on the first line, saying their names and sounds as he did. When he'd finished he put the pen back in her hand, adjusting her grip to one considered proper and helped her dip the pen. She had to admit that this grip facilitated the dipping slightly better. Once she started writing though, she reverted to her old grip. Elrond chuckled, but made no move to correct her.
When she'd struggled for long enough, though, Elrond took her hand and, further down the page, guided her hand in forming the alphabet (after correcting her grip again). She recited the names this time.
When they were done, Elrond told her to put her things away and come with him. Penelope knew this command from experience. She obediently put her things in her room and returned.
Elrond led her to a room with a large loom in it and a smaller one. A blond elf sat at the larger one, weaving.
"This is Lauriel. She is weaving," Elrond said. He repeated the word 'to weave' in the infinitive. Penny automatically recited all the conjugations. Elrond then had a brief conversation with Lauriel. Penelope caught several words, including one that she had heard several times but had not been taught. Ironically it was the verb 'to teach' she suspected and grinned. It was nice when things just clicked.
"Penelope, Lauriel will teach you to weave," Elrond told her.
"Lauriel teaches I weaving. You teach I writing."
Elrond smiled. "Yes. Lauriel teaches me weaving. You teach me writing."
Penelope laughed at the thought of Elrond weaving, and at the thought of her teaching anyone to write. "No. Lauriel teaches me weaving. You teach me writing."
"Yes. Very good."
Elrond left as the lesson began. He had expected Aragorn to arrive today, but there was still no sign of him. He found Bilbo enjoying the sun and sat beside him.
"So, you sent young Penelope to learn weaving, I hear," Bilbo said.
"Yes," Elrond said. "I hope she enjoys it. Kieran draws or explores Imladris in his spare time. It would be nice if she had a hobby other than day dreaming."
"She does hesitate to wander, doesn't she? At least without her brother. She doesn't quite have his sense of direction, I think. They're learning the language quite rapidly."
"Considering that we have no common language. Penelope grasps the language faster, but she forces her brother to keep up. She's starting to teacher herself new words. Kieran's an accomplished artist. He's already made several maps of Rivendell. They're both intelligent. I watch them talk to each other and I don't understand any of it, but I can see the complexity of their ideas."
"Yes. It's a shame they're so limited here, but I find it hard to believe that you understand nothing."
"I understand little. Penelope's idea of learning is to teach me at the same time, and I listen to her teach Kieran at times. He seems to like math."
"For all they look alike, they certainly are different people. Perhaps you should teach them swordsmanship and archery. They might need it some day."
"You are right. Perhaps when Aragorn arrives, or when Elladan and Elrohir return." He paused, remembering the sorrow in their eyes that never left. "They are not happy."
"Of course not. They're isolated, cannot understand anyone."
"It is deeper than that. I cannot understand their words, but I can read their hearts, at least in part."
Bilbo nodded. "They look rather like Frodo did after his parents died."
"Where did you disappear to today?" Kieran asked at supper.
"I'm learning how to weave. Lauriel's teaching me." They spoke English to each other, though Elrond was with them.
"We're fifteen today."
"Are we?"
"You always were terrible with dates. I learned the calendar they use."
"How?"
"I stole your book and read the appendix okay? Anyhow, it's October fifteenth."
"Happy birthday. I'm sorry I didn't realize. I don't have anything for you."
"Maybe we should celebrate tomorrow."
Penny smiled. "Okay."
"Should we tell Elrond?"
"I don't know. This is weird. We've never had a birthday without Mum, Dad, and half a dozen sugar shocked kids running around."
"We wouldn't have had Dad this year."
Penelope nodded silently, not trusting herself to speak. She cleared her throat. "I know. Still. How do you think Mum and the kids are doing?"
"I don't know." Kieran became very busy with his food.
Penny put her fork down. "It must be hard on them. I know Katrina and Alice had their birthday last month, but it's ours and they don't even know if we're sill alive."
"Do we have to talk about this?"
Elrond, seeing how dangerously near tears Penny was, stopped eating and asked. "What's wrong?" The children looked at him quizzically. "What's bad?"
"Oh, what's wrong," Penny repeated in English, then in Sindarin without any of her usual enthusiasm for the new word. How to say 'birthday?' Bilbo Baggins had celebrated one last month, but she hadn't been able to pick the word out of the conversation. "It's our birthday," she said in English. She pointed to herself and Kieran and made the sign for birthday. It wasn't the clearest sign in the world, so she made the sign for baby, then day, pointed to herself and Kieran again and said in Sindarin, "Yesterday we is fourteen. Today we is fifteen."
"We were fourteen. We are fifteen," Elrond corrected gently. "Today is your birthday."
"Birthday," both twins echoed. Penny silently repeated it once more, rolling the new word around in her mouth to get a feel for it. She did that a lot these past few months.
"You some-new-word your family," Elrond said.
They could both fill in the blank and nodded. "We miss our family," Kieran said.
"May I be excused?" Penny asked.
Elrond nodded his consent and she left, going to her room. She wasn't hungry anymore. She wanted her family back. She wanted people who could understand her so she wouldn't have to think like a two year old anymore just to talk. She wanted Mum to hold her and tell her it would be okay. And while she was wishing, she wanted Dad to magically appear and be all right.
It was a while before Kieran came in and watched Penny not cry. She was just sitting on the bed, her knees drawn to her chest.
Kieran sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. "I miss them too. Have you cried yet? About Dad?"
"I cried when we found out, and I cried the night he died. Kieran, you went to see the movies, and I know you liked it because you wouldn't shut up about it. Why didn't you ever read the books?"
"Dad loved those books so much. I wanted to wait until I could read them with him. I planned on reading them when he got better. I actually read the Hobbit to get ready. Why didn't you ever see the movie, Pen? You'd have loved it."
"Same reason you didn't read the books. I read them to Dad, actually. He was in the hospital most of the time when it was in theatres. When it came out on video. . .I watched the prologue with him. He fell asleep. I wanted to wait, to see it with him. I guess now I don't have to."
"If we get back you should. It has a good sound track. You'd like that, at least."
"If we get back. I want to go home. I'm worried about Mum and the kids."
"Maybe it's best that we're here," Kieran said slowly. "We'd just be two more mouths to feed."
"How can you say that? It's better to be in a place where we communicate like two year olds? It's better to live in a place where you'll be functional in the language at best? We're learning Sindarin; Elvish. That's no good outside Imladris. If we ever leave we'll need to learn the common tongue. I finally learned how to say 'what' today. I'm learning how to say 'to be' in various conjugations. I still have no idea what the infinitive is. Mum's probably worried sick. She has no free childcare. We might have been able to get jobs and help out, but hey--she only has to feed four kids. Not six."
"And here I was worried that you were being far too accepting of this."
"On the outside I have to be."
"Why?"
"When was the last time Katrina or Alice came to you for help with anything but math homework? Or Jared or Ben, for that matter."
"Hey, I taught Jared and Ben to climb trees. Kat and Allie too."
"Yeah, and guess who they came running to when they fell out of the trees. The ones who could run, anyhow."
"Point taken. You do seem to be the emotionally supportive one while I help out with the more technical things. Why is that?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's because you look at the world in numbers and I look at it some other way.
"Dad once told me that you see the world through music and language."
"Funny. He told me that you see it through math and art--visual art."
"Kat and Alice aren't as different as we are."
"Ben and Jared aren't either, but they're not as connected as we are either."
"What do you mean?"
"Just that they're more independent of each other. We balance each other, like Mum and Dad balanced each other. Not so much anymore, but we still do in some ways. You wouldn't have been able to learn the language without me and I'd still get lost trying to find my way around without you. So, what do you want for your birthday?"
Kieran considered. "A song"
"A song? The lord of the paint wants a song?"
He shrugged. "I miss your singing. You haven't sung since Dad died."
Penny looked down. "You haven't drawn anything but maps or basic sketches. You haven't finished anything. I want a picture."
Kieran stood to leave. "I should get busy then."
"Yeah, me too. Good night."
"Night."
The next day was better. The twins remained locked in their rooms for the most part, busy with their various projects. Kieran did go to 'borrow' some paint early on. He didn't keep any in his room, as he hadn't used colour in a long time.
Penny practiced running up and down her scales, doing various musical exercises. After four months she could no longer turn her voice on and off at will. She also had to choose a song. She knew several from years in church and school choirs.
Kieran brought a rolled up piece of paper to the supper table. After the meal, Elrond had a small cake brought out for dessert. There were no candles, or icing, but it looked good. It tasted even better. Penny guessed that it was a honey cake of some sort.
After dessert Kieran unrolled the paper and gave it to Penny. It was a painting of their family, all of it. It looked like they were in a park of some sort.
Penny smiled; blinking back tears and threw herself at Kieran. "Thank you."
Kieran returned the hug. "It's just a sketch I did. Then I added some paint. Your turn."
Penny straightened and stepped back. "Oh sure. You wait till I can barely talk to ask me to sing."
"And you have to sing here. In front of Elrond."
"Nein, bitte."
"In English."
"Sorry. Okay. When I Am A Roaming."
She sang it shyly at first, but with growing confidence. It felt good to sing again, like she'd found something she hadn't known she'd lost, but wasn't quite whole without.
Elrond smiled as he watched and listened.
A few days later Kieran took Penny exploring just outside of Rivendell. In two months this was the first time they'd left the confines of Imladris. Truth be told, wandering in the forest made them a bit nervous. Last time they'd gone exploring they'd ended up here. Elrond seemed anxious about something, but Penny didn't know how to ask about it, and wasn't sure she'd get an answer even if she could. She was just glad to get outside.
Kieran had brought a pencil and sketchpad. "Sit on that log. I want to draw you."
Penny cocked her head. "Why? You see me everyday."
"That is why. I have a picture of you at home--in New Berlin--and I want one of you here. In Imladris."
"Okay, first of all we aren't technically in Imladris, and secondly, why?"
"To see how you've changes. You look like an elf-maiden except you don't have pointed ears."
"I do not look like an elf. I'm far too short, and not fair enough. I've never seen or heard of an elf with green eyes."
"Just sit," Kieran laughed.
Something moved in the leaves and Penny held up her hand. "Shut up. I heard something."
"Me too. I'm not deaf. It's probably a chipmunk."
"It's too big to be a chipmunk, and the sound didn't move."
"Okay. Let's check it out."
Penny pointed to her right. "It's over there somewhere."
"Lead on."
She did and almost tripped over what she found. It was a man with dark hair and clothes lying unconscious on the forest floor.
"Watch out," Kieran snapped.
"Sorry." Penny crouched down and felt the man's neck for a pulse and was relieved to find one, albeit weaker than it should be and much too fast. "He's alive." Her hand moved to his forehead. "He has a fever. Go get Elrond."
"Why me?"
She turned the stranger onto his side, putting him in the recovery position. "Because you're less likely to get lost and I'm the one always patching things up."
"True." He left at a run.
Penny sent a silent prayer to God, Iluvatar or any other power that might be listening, that Kieran wouldn't break something before reaching Lord Elrond. After he found the elf his limbs were his own business, but she needed him to make it there alive first.
Gently she tapped the stranger's shoulder. "Mister, can you hear me? Sir? Can you hear me? Please speak Sindarin. You hear me, you speak. Understand?" Nothing, but talking made her feel better, so she continued as she checked for obvious injures, carefully avoiding the sword, bow, arrows, multiple knives. What was this guy for him to need so many weapons? "My brother is getting help. Elrond helps you." Why was she bothering with Sindarin? English was so much easier, and it wasn't as if the unconscious man cared. So she continued, adding Sindarin when she could, but not worrying about it. "What are you doing so near Rivendell? Those weapons look almost elvish, but you're as human as me. Are you a friend of Elrond? It makes sense, I guess." And when she realised several minutes later who this man must be, it was so obvious that she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it immediately.
Elrond was in his study when Kieran burst in panting. The child grabbed Elrond's hand and began pulling, speaking rapidly. "Come. Man hurt. Come. In forest."
Elrond stood, getting enough of the message to realise the urgency. It couldn't be… "Show me."
It was Aragorn. Of course it was. Elrond knelt down to let Penelope show him the broken off orc arrow embedded in Aragorn's shoulder. Elrond's face was grave, which only added to the fear etched on Penelope's face. Kieran looked concerned too, but more distanced. Almost cut off.
"Go home. Get hot water and Athelas."
Penelope nodded. Kieran mouthed, 'Athelas?' Penelope said something in English and Kieran nodded. They ran off, easily avoiding the obstacles in their path.
Elrond was pleased when he found everything needed for healing already in the guest room closest to his when he got there. Kieran led him there. Penelope was waiting and pointed out where the various items were. They paid too much attention, those two, to be able to find and set everything up, but there was no time to dwell on that now. Aragorn needed medical attention immediately. The wound was almost certainly poisoned.
"Go," Elrond ordered more sharply than he had ever spoken to the twins before.
Kieran didn't hesitate. He went to the door and waited for his sister.
"I help?" Penelope asked.
"No," Elrond snapped. "Go study."
"Yes, my lord."
She left with Kieran, and Elrond turned to his patient. This would take some time. When Arwen learned what had happened she came in, but Elrond sent her out too. He needed quiet to do this. Absolute quiet.
In the morning Penelope and Kieran re-entered the guest room, now a sick room. Penelope was in the lead, which had to be a first. She had also tied her hair back for the first time in well over a month. Kieran looked hesitant to enter. He said something to Penelope, to which she snapped a response.
"Is he good?" Penelope asked.
"Is he all right? No," Elrond said. "He is ill." There was no way he could explain that, or show it easily, but Penelope nodded, repeating the word, then saying what must be the English translation. "He has a high fever," Elrond specified. To this, Penelope shook her head. He took her hand and led her to Aragorn's bedside. "His name is Aragorn. He has a fever." He laid her hand on Aragorn's forehead and saw her frown deepen. "Fever." Then he put her hand against his forehead. "No fever."
Penelope pulled her hand free and laid it on Aragorn's forehead again. "Fever. Bad fever."
"Yes. It's very high."
"I help?"
"No. You cannot help. Go eat your breakfast."
She nodded and let Kieran lead her away. Why was the girl so reluctant to leave? She had been last night. She was today. She also wanted to help. What did she expect to do? Or was it that she was asking if she had helped? He had been far too short with them last night. There was no way they could understand what was going on. Kieran, on the other hand, seemed to want nothing to do with Aragorn.
Arwen came in. "How is he?"
"I believe he will recover, but it will take time. He is very ill. The poison is strong. He must be watched carefully for the next few days."
"I will sit with him. Go and eat. The children seem upset, especially the girl."
Elrond stood reluctantly, knowing his daughter was right. "I will go. Send for me if anything changes."
"Yes, Ada." She put a hand on his arm and sat.
Elrond squeezed Arwen's shoulder and left. By the time he got to the dining hall, Kieran and Penelope were in the middle of an argument that he couldn't even begin to understand. They were speaking much too quickly. Neither of them were even sitting down, but rather standing, shouting across the table. Of course they'd had arguments before. He'd seen them raise their voices, and dessert each other at times. They were children after all, and siblings had a way of annoying each other when they were young. He remembered that well enough from when his own children were small. Never before had these two actually yelled before, though, let alone for this length of time. Kieran was merely shouting, his voice tinged with concern as well as anger. Penelope was yelling. She seemed angry, frustrated, and closer to tears than Elrond had ever seen her before.
After only another minute Penelope turned and fled the dining hall, tears streaming down her face, and was gone before Elrond could stop her. Kieran made no move to follow, which was unusual.
"Sit," Elrond ordered, exasperated. Kieran obeyed sullenly. "What was that about? Why were you fighting?"
"I don't understand you," Kieran snapped.
"You understand enough," Elrond said, keeping his voice carefully calm, "to tell me why your sister is crying." He brought his fingers to his face to indicate imaginary tears. "Why is Penelope crying?"
"She cannot help Aragorn. She--" he broke off and tapped his head.
"Thinks?" Elrond supplied.
"She thinks she. . ." he trailed off again.
"She thinks she should be able to help. She thinks she should help."
"Should?"
"Should. You draw. You should draw more. She sings. She should sing more."
"I should not yell."
Good. He understood. "No, you should not yell at your sister. Why does she think she should be able to help?"
"My Ada was ill." Kieran stared at the table and said something in English.
"I don't understand," Elrond said, though he had guessed what caused the twins' grief after his talk with Bilbo the other day.
"Ada. . ." Kieran put his hands in front of him, right palm up, left palm down and turned them so the opposite was true. Then he put his thumb with an open hand to his forehead, put his hand over his face and closed his fingers to close his eyes. The last thing he did was to hold his hands, thumb and index finger together, by his eyes, and open both the fingers and eyes at the same time, then shake his head and make an x motion in front of his chest.
"You're father died," Elrond said softly, "and now Penelope believes she should have done more, and you are afraid to care about anyone who may die."
"My father died," Kieran repeated, staring at the table.