A/N: Melyator/muindor: Quenya and Sindarin forms; "dear-brother", bond-brother; an intimate but platonic soul-bond secondary only to a mate's. (A concept that explains why Eldar so often are found in pairs and threes; muinthel is the female equivalent.) And as always, Laurefindë, or Laurë for short, is Glorfindel's Quenya (true) name.
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The Orc Under The Bed
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The restful sounds of a night in Imladris filled the valley; rushing water just far enough away so as not to disturb the sense of peace, night insects and birds singing all about, frogs croaking a quiet counterpoint. Despite half the population of the well-protected Eldarin diplomatic center being awake, the world seemed to be entirely at rest under the silver beams of Ithil.
It was a deceptive rest, at least to the minds of two young children, currently sitting on their beds not very far apart from one another, and whispering intently with wide eyes.
"...and they said the orcs had taken the horses and were eating them before they got there!"
Two sets of night-silvered Eldarin eyes set in identical young faces widened even more, at once. "I wonder what happened to the men the orcs killed."
"They probably ate them too..." The whisper was hushed, horrified. "Orcs are always hungry..."
"Who said?" A moment of pure curiosity.
The first boy thought about that for a second, then blinked. "Somebody did... I remember. They even eat each other, and they really like eating people!"
"Ai..." Shivers went down the spines of both children. "What else did the hunters say?"
A one-shouldered shrug, common to their race. "Little else. They killed the orcs. There was a big battle, but they killed the orcs."
That satisfied the second boy for the moment; he turned and laid down on top of his bed, watching the shadows on the ceiling. After a few minutes, however, a small voice spoke up again. "Elln?"
"What?"
"Are you sure they killed all the orcs?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's only... what if some got away?"
"Oh..." There was silence for about two minutes more, then both boys sat upright again. "Hiri, what if orcs did escape?"
Wide eyes met one another in the dark. "What if they got past the guards?"
"Maybe they were coming here... to kill all of us!"
An audible swallow was the answer. "Orcs hate the Eldar."
"We hate orcs."
"Yes, but they really hate us!"
Both boys trembled for a few seconds, then the one referred to as Elln spoke up again, his voice a bare whisper that even elven ears had to strain to catch. "I wonder who they would come after first?"
"Maybe Ada," was the worried response.
"No... orcs are stupid. How would they know how important he was?"
"Maybe just anybody, then."
There was another long pause, then... "I know..."
"What?!" the answer was quick, almost a hint of desperation, the need to know.
"They would probably want to make sure we were all dead, that we would never come back to get them..." The speaker swallowed. "The orcs will want to kill the children first."
"Like us?!"
"Probably... Especially since we know what they are planning."
With a yelp, Hiri leaped from his bed to his brother's, which was farther away from the open window. Both boys pressed their sides close together as they watched the once-welcoming, suddenly-frightening window with darting eyes, searching for any possibly-threatening movement. "Elln..." he not quite whimpered, "I'm scared..."
Elln lifted his chin as if in a touch of pride, protectiveness, as he put his arm around his twin. "I'd protect you, Hiri. Laurë's been showing me how to use a knife."
"You're not afraid?" A disbeliving gaze was turned on him.
"If I was, I could not learn to be a warrior or a hero," the pride was audible now.
Hiri frowned. "Yes, you would be scared. You would have to be. These are orcs, and they want to eat us!"
"Heroes are not afraid," his brother insisted firmly.
Before the echo of his voice faded, all bravado disappeared as a scrabbling sounded under the window. Identical screams followed the two fleeing boys out the door and down the hall.
*
The cat outside the window froze at the loud sound, mind startled off its intent stalking of the bird on the neighboring balcony. After a moment, it decided discretion was the better part of feline valor and slunk into the shadows.
***
Elrond Peredhel, master of Imladris, primary and seemingly near-continuous diplomat of Middle-Earth, Ringbearer, and one of the three remaining elven lords east of the great sea, was enjoying a well-deserved night of sleep after a day of negotiations with a party from Gondor, before resuming said negotiations in the morning. At least, he was until a loud crash from the vicinity of his door woke him with an abrupt start. Instinct and millenia of life as a warrior snapped his hand toward the dagger tucked under the edge of his bed, a habit kept even here in the safety of his home, but despite the speed of his race he had barely begun to turn over before he was assaulted. His chest was quickly compressed by a flying weight while another landed partly on one leg. Attack-instinct was silenced instantly, however, by the parent-sense that told him the identity of his attackers even before voices joined bodies.
"Ada, Ada!" yelled one, as the other cried at the same time, "Help!"
Elrond blinked in startlement and lifted himself up on one elbow as his twin sons scrambled off him and under the covers between him and his wife, who responded to their curling against her by tucking her arms around both the little ones. "Help? What is wrong?" he asked, the part of him that was father alarmed even as the rest of his mind tried to comprehend what might cause harm to his children in the sanctity of Rivendell.
The answers came at once, muddled by one another, but one word uttered by both came through clearly. "Orc!"
"Orc?" Fully awake now, his alarm grew slightly. "Where? What orc?"
Elladan lifted his head from his mother's shoulder, eyes huge. "The patrol that found the orcs-"
"They lost some!" Elrohir interrupted.
"Orc got away-" Elladan continued so quickly the words were barely intelligible.
"It's outside!" the younger of the two by bare minutes wailed, twisting to bury himself in his father's side.
Elrond frowned, remembering back to the patrol which had come to give him a report that afternoon. The warriors had told him that none of the small party of three scouting mountain goblins had lasted long enough to scream, much less run away. But how had the twins heard of the incident at all? "The orcs were killed," he informed his frightened children. "There are no more orcs."
Elrohir lifted his face from Elrond's ribcage. "We heard him! Outside!"
Elrond sighed. He looked to Celebrían, who raised one delicate eyebrow, then reached inward toward his bonded-brother, his melyator, only to discover that Laurë was sound asleep. He shook his head slightly, and lifted the light weight of his son off of himself in order to slip out of his bed. He doubted highly that any orc would dare come alone into Imladris, or that that orc would get as far from the guarded border as the settlement itself, but for the peace of mind of the twins, he would go to their room and find out what they had actually heard.
The boys scrambled out of the bed after him, waiting in mid-room as he reached down to take the knife he had searched for before. He did not think that there was an orc in Imladris, no, but if there was something that had frightened his children he would deal with it. Such was the duty of a father, he thought with an inner touch of amusement toward his mate. Celebrían barely smiled outwardly, but her returned amusement he could feel, as well as her decision to remain comfortably in bed and let him handle this particular incident.
Where had Elladan and Elrohir come up with the idea that there were escaped orcs? he wondered as he made his way barefoot down the empty, silent hall with dagger in hand and the twins trailing close behind. And what made them think there was one outside their bedroom?
With a single sweeping glance within the twins' room, Elrond took in the scene. Both beds were rumpled, obviously lain in at some point. The curtains were pulled halfway back from the window, and moonlight shone through in silver falls. There was no sense of danger around, no touch of evil that his warrior's soul could gather. He walked to the window and looked out. All was calm out there as well. Peace was heavy upon the valley.
"Children," he turned and met two identical worried faces poking around the doorway, "there is no orc here. I sense no orc anywhere near Imladris. I do not know what has given you such nightmares, but you would do best to put them behind and sleep."
Elladan and Elrohir were slow in coming, but they did finally come fully into the room, still looking worried but at the same time somehow almost sheepish. Elrond could not help a very slight smile at the sight of his children.
"Come, little ones," his voice softened, and they responded by moving as one to him. He hugged both briefly, then led each to their beds. He lingered briefly beside Elrohir's, finger brushing back a lock of tousled dark from his younger son's eyes. "Do not fear. You are safe. Orcs are far away from here. Sleep now."
With that final reassurance, he turned and left the room, sighing slightly when no one could see it. He truly was tired; even Eldarin endurance could only last so long, especially when he had been awake for much of the last week. That thought bade with it musings on the stubbornness of men of Gondor, and Elrond quickly dismissed both from his mind. That reality would come soon enough come morning.
***
"Elln?" a small voice broke the stillness barely after their father had left.
"Yes?" the second, slightly sleepy voice answered.
"Did we really make-believe about the orc?"
A longer pause this time. "Ada says so."
It was not the answer the boy wanted, but he sighed, and shrugged slightly nonetheless. "I suppose. But what about the orc party? They were real."
"Yes..."
Silence fell as two young minds pondered that, then as the late hour began to have its effect on the children. A few quiet yawns were all that were spoken for some time, then- "Elln!"
The older twin sat bolt upright in his bed, his tension mirroring that suddenly in his brother. "What?"
"I saw something! Outside! A shadow..."
"Hiri, there are probably many people who could be a shadow. There's a whole road out there."
"But the shadow didn't look elf or human! It was big," Hiri emphasized for effect, "and all hunched over!"
A second passed, while Elln considered that. "It was?"
"Yes... Aiai!" Hiri suddenly shrieked, leaping out of his bed and toward his brother's, but not stopping there, scrambling over and to the door.
It took less than two seconds for Elln to look to see the shadow that had frightened his twin, then to flee from his own bed into the hall, heart pounding wildly. "Ada...!!"
*
The traveling human merchant, late for his arrival into Imladris but grateful for the half-nocturnal nature of elves that kept them up and about to let him in to safety, reshouldered his large pack of goods and trod onward to a place to sleep for the night, completely unaware of the effect his mere presence was having on two young minds.
***
For the second time in one night, Elrond found himself aware of his offsprings' presence a bare moment before he felt two small bodies hurtle onto the bed. He flung out one arm to instinctively protect Celebrían from the assault of one, then pushed the other off of him enough to half sit up and look at his sons with disapproval. "What is it now?"
"Orc... orc!" was all Elladan managed, panting for breath.
"Outside!" Elrohir shrieked helpfully.
Elrond sighed deeply, closing his eyes and praying to all the Powers he could think of for patience. "There was no orc. I searched, do you not remember?"
"But this time we saw him!" Elladan cried.
"Shh, shh," Celebrían soothed, reaching up, albeit sleepily, to run her hands gently over her children's heads. Both turned and curled close to her with the instinct of a child returning to their first and deepest guardian. "You are safe, my loves, there can be no orc here."
"We saw..." one voice, Elrond wasn't sure which, came muffled up from their mother's breast.
"I do not know what you may have seen." Elrond was trying rather determinedly to remain composed. He had not the same patience as his wife, he thought with a brief flash of rue -- very brief. "However, there are no orcs in Rivendell. It would best for both of you to go back to your beds and remain there. You will come to no harm this night, I assure you."
Two pairs of young eyes looked up at him, glowing in the night and visibly unconvinced. He tried not to sigh once again. He could see that this was going to be a long night.
"Go on," he tried a different tactic in dealing with his recalcitrant children, the tone of a commander and lord. "Go back to bed. There is no orc."
The two pairs of eyes blinked, set in disbelieving, upset countenances. Elrond attempted not to be swayed in his order by the silent pleading. It was impossible to remain completely unmoved, but he refused to show it. If the twins kept this up much longer, they would wake half the household. He was already feeling the stirring of Laurë from the next room, and silently soothed the tired but slightly alarmed question that accompanied his muindor's reach. He blinked his eyes back to focusing on the situation in front of him, and was met with the gaze of his mate, looking a bit worried, cuddling her children.
He raised one eyebrow in question. Celebrían furrowed hers slightly, mother-sense radiating from her.
"Should you not go to see what has frightened them?" she asked. "There might indeed be something. Not an orc, but something that can be dealt with."
Elrond fought yet another sigh. No, my dear, he sent, outwardly speaking, "It is time for the boys to learn to deal with harmless fears on their own. It is time for us to sleep, and for them to go back to their room. And to be quiet," he ordered in a stern tone to the boys, who were watching him with wide eyes. The matching nearly forlorn expressions nearly undid his heart, but he did not let it show. "Go to bed and let Imladris sleep. Ego," he repeated when neither moved.
Slowly, the twins moved to obey, crawling off their mother, away from their father, and off the foot of the bed to stand on the floor. Elrohir tried one more helpless silent plea with his eyes midway to the door. Elrond's raised eyebrow and stare nudged him on his way slowly out the door after his brother.
Celebrian sighed. Could you not have been kinder in your choice?
It is truth, he could only reply, lying back down and closing his eyes. They cannot keep running for help every time they tell one another tales.
Her quiet sigh was his only answer. After a minute more of her silent reproof, however, she turned over and rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "You are right," she whispered aloud.
Elrond smiled very slightly, wrapping her gently in his own inner warmth, and let himself rest, back into sleep.
***
The twins lay still side by side in Elln's bed, since it was the farthest from the window. Wide awake, they were staring at the ceiling and flinching at every sound, except for the moments when they turned to stare wide-eyed at the window whenever they heard something louder. Neither had spoken a word since they had crept unwillingly back to their room somewhere around twenty minutes ago, although to the boys it felt like hours, or years.
Finally Hiri could take the trembling silence no longer. "Elln?" a small, quiet voice piped up in the near-darkness.
"Ai..?" came the uncertain answer, as if the older twin didn't truly wish to know what the younger might have to report.
"Do you think the orc is gone? It's been really quiet..."
A pause. "Maybe gone. Maybe waiting somewhere..."
"For us to go to sleep," Hiri shivered. He curled a bit closer to his brother, yet not daring to take his eyes off the window. There was silence for a few more minutes, then - "Orcs don't really eat Eldar, do they?"
Elln took a moment to ponder that with all the seriousness of youth. "I don't think so."
"I heard the warriors talk about them changing us into them though," Hiri said quietly.
Elln swallowed. "I've heard that before too..."
Hiri moved closer again, pressing fully into his brother's side this time. "I don't want to be an orc, Elln..."
The older twin lifted his chin slightly, taking on a very slight air of self-importance as he wrapped an arm around his double's shoulders. "I'll protect you, Hiri." After a moment longer, the brave front faded slghtly. "At least, Ada and Laurë will protect us..."
"Yes..." the still-worried response came very quietly, a whisper no human ear could pick up, but clear to the sharper hearing of Eldarin heritage.
Both were silent for a few minutes more, lying absolutely still except for shallow breathing, watching the window with frightened eyes. The wind outside brought no sound besides that of the river below, and the moon cast no shadow other than that of trees waving in a slight breeze, and finally, after some time, the two small boys began to relax, eyelids beginning to droop as sleep stole in to wrap around tired minds.
However, when the sudden loud thump came from under the bed they were lying on, it took less than a second for the room to be completely empty.
***
"It's under the bed!!!"
With that hall-echoing scream, Elrond blinked awake in complete startlement as, for the third time in less than an hour, his children flew into his room and under the covers, shivering between himself and his mate. Their mother twisted around, instinct showing worry in her face as she looked at him. The slightly harried father sighed and lifted the blankets to look down at four identical, wide silver eyes. He didn't even need to ask. Their imaginary orc.
There was a short space of only harried panting, then Elrohir continued. "We heard him breathing!"
Elrond barely had time to quirk an eyebrow before the other twin shoved at his brother's arm. "No we didn't." Then he looked back at his father. "But we heard him move!"
The lord of Imladris closed his eyes briefly, attempting to hold onto his famed patience. He also was taking a moment to try to decide how to respond. The latter attempt was nudged out of his mind by a gentle inquiry encroaching on his consciousness, a silk-like breath of warmth across his thoughts that usually could make him smile in any situation. His closest friend and soul's companion was also now awake, and curious no less. The inward touch was followed closely by a quiet voice from the doorway.
"Elrond? What is wrong?"
Elrond half-turned to glance over as Laurefindë, also known outside the family as Glorfindel, slipped in and shut the door behind him with a brief deferential nod to Celebrían before returning his gaze to Elrond's. His clothes were rumpled with sleep, and the golden hair for which he was named was tied back in a way that was only just proper enough for an adult of the Eldar, but the sharp green eyes and sinuous strength with which the ancient-bodied yet young-hearted warrior moved told openly of his intelligence and skill, and the sword he held loosely in one hand showed his readiness to defend.
Elrond did not get the chance to answer, however. Elladan did that for him, dark rumpled head popping up from under the covers, closely followed by the rest of a small body flying off the bed and at his trusted friend. The boy's words came so fast that it was hard to distinguish them. "There's-an-orc-in-our-room-and-Ada-won't-listen!"
Settling the young one more comfortably against his hip with his free arm and casually dropping his sword point to a resting place in the woven rug he stood on, Laurë tilted his head in surprised curiosity at Elrond. Ai?
The father sighed. A long story, pen muin. Very long.
Laurë's lips quirked just slightly, the barest hint of a chuckle gracing his thoughts before he looked down at Elladan and Elrohir, who had also poked his head above the covers, with all seriousness. "An orc, pin tithen?"
Elrohir nodded gravely. "It was outside, and now it's under Elln's bed!"
"Now why would it be there?" Elrond found himself glad, and relieved, that his melyator, so ancient and learned, somehow still managed to have the heart to understand a child.
The twins also appeared glad to have an ear. "It escaped from the guards, and it wants to kill us because we know it's there," Elladan told Laurë.
"Ada doesn't believe us, but we know! Please come see," Elrohir begged, climbing on top of the bed now.
The two adult males' eyes met again, silent question answered by inward groan, a sound that the dignified leader of Imladris would let no other hear. It is only their imagination. They need to learn to control it. I do not wish to be chasing unreal orcs from their room every night.
But they are only ten, Laurë reminded him, eyes flicking to the children that looked the equivalent of a human five or six. Imagination is rather out of control at that age. You should know that by now.
Elrond sighed, a bit of the sound even audible. Then they should learn not to tell one another whatever stories brought this about before bed.
Ai, true, his friend agreed. But for now, they need to be quieted; it is difficult enough to sleep now without their fears keeping us awake. We must be ready to meet again with our guests come morning.
Elrond closed his eyes quietly, hiding another sigh. Yes, their guests. The reason why the three normally somewhat nocturnal adult Eldar were attempting to sleep at this hour in the first place. You are correct, he finally acquiesced. However, I will not allow this to become a habit.
Neither do I wish that. But for tonight, Laurë smiled at his companion, I will deal with them. You sleep.
Thankful warmth accompanied the returned smile, before Elrond turned his gaze to his children, who were still, if a bit impatiently, waiting for a response from their friend. "Ego, then! Go on! Let us sleep!"
The twins turned to look at Celebrían, who up until now had seemed quite content to try to pretend to sleep through the incident. Her eyes finally did flick to their faces, however, and she nodded slightly. "Go with Laurë."
"As long as he rids us of the orc," Elladan half-grumbled, looking a bit put out that his father wasn't coming, but wiggling his way to the floor and grabbing the blond warrior's hand, tugging. "Come on."
"Please?" Elrohir piped up, scrambling off the bed to grab for the elbow of Laurë's shirt, same arm, since the other hand was still occupied by a weapon.
The Firstborn tilted his head in a half-nod, gracious even toward these little ones, and let them lead him from the room with only a fleeting smile and inner reassurance toward their father. Elrond sat still for a moment, both glad that Laurë was around for such times and a bit worried for his friend's own sleep, but finally he laid down again, determined to go back to that much-desired state. And on that point, Celebrían's quiet murmur and inner sense seemed to agree with him as she curled into her mate's side in her own tired bid for rest.
***
Sometimes Laurë wondered how he got talked into these things, or rather how he talked himself into them. He should be asleep; as a matter of fact he had been asleep, up until frightened young screams had sent him running to the defense of the family he had adopted as his own. The tale of an orc in a bedroom had perhaps been the last thing he'd expected, though. When he thought about it, it didn't even make sense. It was highly unlikely that anything harmful could make its way this deep into Imladris; his run to defend had been born more of instinct than reason. Certainly an orc would not spend its time hiding in a child's chambers, if there were one, which his Eldarin sixth-sense knew without question there was not.
Nevertheless, he was here, now just outside the open door to the twins' room, which the pair shrunk back from. He glanced down, and Elrohir's small silver eyes met his pleadingly, trustingly. How could he say no? Sighing inwardly, a part of him wishing that he too were still in bed, Laurë nodded slightly and freed his arm from the boys' grasp, stepping firmly into the room and closing the door behind him, leaving Elladan and Elrohir in the hall.
He looked around, noting the open window, the quiet sounds outside of those fortuned people who did not have a duty which required living temporarily by the schedules of Men. Other than that, however, the room was quiet, even when he focused his naturally sharp hearing. Admittedly curious as to what had frightened the twins, he began to prowl the room, peering into the closet, behind a trunk, behind a drapery. Finally he found himself beside Elladan's bed, where the boys claimed to have heard the 'orc'. Dropping to one knee, he shifted his grip on his sword just in case, and lifted the edge of the rumpled blankets.
There was certainly no orc, although he'd been certain of that. As a matter of fact, he discovered after poking around in a large pile of clothes and other things with the tip of his blade, there was nothing alive in there at all. Puzzled, Laurë sat back on his heels, looking around. Then, what could have caused the sounds Elladan insisted that they'd heard? He'd thought he might at least find a small animal, like the squirrel the twins had once caged under his bed although for what reason he still wasn't certain. Finally he stood again, shrugging one shoulder slightly to himself, and turned, preparing to leave.
A clunk from behind sent him into a defensive spin, blade up. He scanned the area quickly, eyes darting finally to the bed. Carefully this time, he moved back toward the sound, alert but still confused. He had heard something... but he could not hear it now, had not seen it, could not even smell it. In one quick, fluid move, he flung up the blankets again, sword at the sharp ready.
And then he chuckled, quietly, to himself, letting his weapon fall. There was only one thing that had changed from when he had last peered into this dark treasure trove -- one book had fallen off a stack of them, all of which were teetering rather precariously. He looked closer, and saw another book near the one he knew had fallen. The twins' orc, no doubt; a fear caused by their own untidiness. Laurë shook his head a bit, reaching in to pick up the book and read the spine, before putting it back down. The second he tucked into his tunic; Elrond had been searching for these poems for some months. With a swat of the flat of his blade, the rest of the stack came toppling down, where they could not repeat the fall. Standing then, he looked about the rest of the room, satisfying himself that nothing more could bump, thump, or crash to scare the boys, then he moved back to the door.
Elladan and Elrohir had been hovering just outside; they jumped back as he swung the door open. Eyebrows arched, the golden-haired warrior let the pair look at him with wide, pleading eyes for a second before relenting, fighting the amused smile that hovered at the corners of his lips.
"Your orc, pin tithen, is gone."
"Did you really get it?" Elladan demanded to know, suspicion flickering around his eyes. This one would be a sharp debater some year himself, Laurë thought. Much like his father...
"Yes, I dealt with it," he answered truthfully, lifting his sword. "With my own blade."
That satisfied Elrohir. Eyes shining happily, he flung himself at the warrior, whose heart skipped briefly as the boy barely missed injuring himself, and hugged him. Then the younger twin took off across the room, peering under the bed curiously. Elladan eyed the adult for a moment more, then seemed to relax too, following his brother without a look back. Sighing, Laurë left the room as the boys both climbed up on the one bed, closing the door behind him.
Standing for a moment in the hall, he thought over what had just happened since he'd been so rudely awoken, and then shook his head slightly. Just why did he get involved in these things? he thought again, starting down the hall toward his own chambers and his beckoning pillow. With the history he'd seen and made, the wars he'd lived through, the glory he'd known... why was he chasing imaginary orcs? There were so many 'better' uses of his times and skills, people would say, so many other, more important places to make use of his sword. To all the logic of Men and Elves, it was senseless! Honestly, why did he do it?
The Firstborn was stopped in his physical and mental tracks by the quiet, questioning warmth that seeped into his soul from without, the touch of the one he knew he would die for if need be. Quietly, he found himself beginning to smile, turning and looking back down the hall with not only exasperation, but fondness. Yes, he did love those boys, as much as they had put him through so far, and likely would many times more before their adulthood. But, truthfully, there was one reason above all why he, Laurefindë Minnon, battle-captain of legend, slayer of a balrog and the hosts of Morgoth, did such things. It was for that warmth, that trust, that laughter that he shared with only one other. The bond of love that was closer than any other save that of mates.
For you, he informed Elrond with a silent chuckle as he closed his own door behind him, retreating to the welcome embrace of his own bed. Ai, mell, you know I do it for you.
------
Translations:
Ada: "Daddy"
Ego: "go!", "leave!"
Ai: a sound widely usable in question, exclamation, or agreement; analogous to "Ah", "Oh", "Indeed"
Pen muin: "dearest one"
Pin tithen: "little ones"
Minnon: "Firstborn"; in my stories used as a second-name for those who were among the very first Eldar and therefore have no father-or-mother-name.
Mell: "dear (one)"