An Adventure By Manwathiel
Characters: Aragorn, Arwen, Faramir, Éowyn, Legolas, Ellie, Huoriel, Eleniel, Miriel, and Melda
Summary: This story is about Faramir and Éowyn's daughter Huoriel when she is six years old. They are visiting Minas Tirith, and Huoriel meets the Princess Eleniel and her cousins Melda and Miriel. Together, the four of them have some interesting times.
A/N: Melda and Miriel are not really the princess's cousins, but they are the twin daughters of Ellethana and Legolas. Eleniel is the eldest daughter of Aragorn and Arwen.
Huoriel walked quietly down the streets of Minas Tirith. She and her family were visiting her father's friend, the King Elessar. She loved her parents a lot. Huoriel had lived her entire life in Emyn Arnen and disliked Minas Tirith very much. Her mother was the Lady Éowyn of Rohan who had moved to Ithilien when she married the Lord Faramir, Steward of Gondor. Huoriel had light brown hair and grayish-blue eyes. Éowyn had golden-blonde hair, and Faramir's was brown. Huoriel was wearing one of her favorite dresses, a white one that matched a blue one. They were comfortable and nice.
"Huoriel, dear," her mother called. "It is time to meet the King Elessar!"
"Coming, Mommy!" Huoriel called back. She really did not care about meeting the King, but she knew she would get into trouble if she did not come. And she would not want that to happen.
'Oh well,' she thought. 'The sooner they are done with this, the sooner we can go home!'
"Home," she muttered happily to herself. "I do miss it ever so much."
Huoriel watched as her mother took her father's arm, and then she followed them into the throne room. She saw the way her mother looked at her father. They were deeply in love. But they had not always been. The six-year-old girl had heard the story of how the White Lady of Rohan had fallen in love with the King Elessar, before he became king. She knew her mother had fought in the Great War of the Third Age and had been badly hurt. Faramir had also been hurt. They were both brought to the Houses of Healing, where they, while healing, met each other and fell in love. This helped the Shield Maiden of Rohan through her devastation over the fact that King Aragorn did not love her in return.
*****
Faramir and Éowyn came and knelt before the King, Éowyn motioning for their daughter to do the same.
"Welcome, Faramir," the King said. "It has been long." He motioned to a friend. Huoriel watched as a blond haired elf and a dwarf came forward.
"Faramir, Éowyn, you remember my friends Legolas and Gimli," King Elessar said.
"Of course," Huoriel's mother replied. "Is your wife around, Aragorn?" Huoriel was surprised that her mother called the King by his first name like that.
"I believe she is with her adopted sister Ellie. Legolas," Aragorn said, speaking in Elvish, "do you know if Arwen is with your wife?"
"I'm sure she probably is, mellon-nin. It would not surprise me if the two girls were together," the blond elf replied, speaking in the same language as the King. "You know them, Aragorn. They could talk for hours without stopping."
"Yes, I know," the King said gravely. "Would you take the Lady Éowyn and her daughter to them?" he asked, changing back to common.
'My name is Huoriel!' the six year old thought to herself.
"I think Melda, Miriel, and Eleniel would enjoy the girl's company," Aragorn said, changing once more and answering his friend's questioning look. Legolas sighed. He was not use to the brave Lady Éowyn anymore. She had won undying glory at the Battle of Pelennor Fields where she had killed the Witch King with the help of Meriadoc. Anyways, she had changed. Come to think of it, so had he. They all had changed. They all had children, Aragorn more than the rest.
He led them down a long hall then into a room with three little girls and their two mothers talking. "Ellie, I bring you company," he said in Sindarin. "King Elessar sent me."
"Does he need me?" a dark-haired elf asked, rocking a little girl. Legolas shook his head.
"The King is fine, Arwen. He just thought these two ladies needed something better to do than listen to he and Faramir talk."
"Oh good. You had me a little bit worried there, Legolas."
Huoriel watched as Legolas went over and kissed the other elven woman on her cheek.
"Legolas! What kind of example are you showing to the little ones?" she asked.
"I'm showing them how much I love my beautiful wife," he replied. "I should probably get back before Aragorn comes looking for me himself."
"Hi! I'm Miriel. And this is Melda. What's your name?" a young girl with pointed ears said as she ran up to Huoriel, also pointing to a girl who was identical to her. Both the girls had brown hair, not quiet as dark as their mother's, and blue eyes. Melda was wearing blue dress, and Miriel was wearing a green one just like it.
"Melda, Miriel, you know you are not supposed to run inside, girls," their mother said.
"Yes, Naneth," the two elven girl replied.
"My name is Huoriel," Huoriel said shyly.
"Hello. My name's Eleniel, and my Ada's the King!" the other girl said. Eleniel had brown hair, about the same shade as Aragorn, and she had grey eyes. This girl was wearing purple dress similar to the other girls' dresses.
"Eleniel, don't brag. You should know better than that!" the Queen said.
"But Ammë!" the girl complained. Although she was not a full elf, her mother had insisted that she call her parents by their Elvish names.
"You girls be nice to her now!" Ellethana said to the elven girls.
"Auntie Ellie!" the Princess said. Huoriel could tell from the beginning that the Princess was extremely spoiled and used to having her own way. Huoriel was spoiled a little bit, but not as much as Eleniel.
"Apologize now, Eleniel!" her mother said firmly. "I'm sorry about her behavior, Éowyn. She is usually much better behaved than this."
"It's alright, Arwen," Huoriel's mother replied.
"No, it's not. She knows better than that. Perhaps I should send her to her father for discipline. That always works."
The Princess shook her head. She really did not want to be sent to her father. "But, Ammë, isn't Ada busy right now?"
"He's never too busy to deal with you, Eleniel. You know that," her mother replied. Eleniel nodded.
"Let's play," Miriel said. Melda nodded. She and her sister were getting bored with all the talking and wanted some action.
"Girls, you are so much like your Adar. He is very impatient too," Ellethana said to her daughters. "He rarely sits still for more than an hour at a time," she added with a smile, turning to the other moms and watching the two elven girls run off to play. She noticed that Huoriel was lagging behind.
"What's wrong, dear?" Éowyn asked her daughter. "Don't be shy, Huoriel. The girls just want to play with you. Yes, as soon as your father is done we will go. But for now, I want you to go play with the other girls."
"Okay, Mommy," the human girl said. She went off, but it was obvious she did not want to.
*****
"Where are we going, Mommy?" the small girl asked. Éowyn had taken her hand and was leading her somewhere.
"The Houses of Healing, Huoriel, where your father and I first met," her mother answered.
"Can I go and play now?" Huoriel asked after being shown around the rooms. In her opinion, they were rather boring and plain. She could not see what her parents found so interesting about them.
"I can't believe it's been that long, Faramir," Éowyn said as their daughter ran off.
"That long from what?" he asked.
"Since we met in this place. Just being here brings back such memories," she replied.
"Like that time you refused to go off to war, because I was still here," her husband laughed. Éowyn nodded. She remembered it like it was yesterday.
"I didn't know what I wanted to do at that point. I was in love with you and wanted to stay, but I also wanted to go. But you were right when you said I would not be happy there, for I had been in love with the Lord Aragorn, even though he didn't love me back," she added. "But I'm glad they made me stay here."
"I'm glad you decided to stay here instead of going off to fight in the war. I was so afraid you would," Faramir replied, gathering his wife into his arms.
*****
The next morning, Huoriel and the three elven girls wanted to play. After speaking with their mothers, they started to leave.
"Let's go adventuring," Miriel said as they walked away from their mothers. Her mother Ellie over heard them.
"Do not go too far, girls," she said. "Know the way back so you do not get lost."
"And behave," Éowyn added.
"And remember what I told you, Eleniel!" the Queen called to her daughter.
"Okay!" they all called out.
"What did Auntie Arwen tell you, Eleniel?" Miriel asked as they walked. Eleniel's face turned bright red. "Come on! It can't be that bad. Can it?"
"She told me that if she heard I was being mean or anything, she would send me to Ada," the Princess replied quietly. Huoriel watched as Eleniel hung her head in shame. It had to be embarrassing for her to have her mother say something like that to her.
"It's okay, Eleniel," Huoriel said. She knew what it was like to have her mother threaten something like that. "I know how you feel."
"How can you?" Princess Eleniel exclaimed, bursting into tears.
"Eleniel," Miriel said softly, "your temper is coming back, mellon-nin. Stop crying." Eleniel took a deep breath.
"You won't tell Ammë, right?" she asked nervously.
"Of c…course not," Melda replied. "Wh…why would we?"
"I don't know," Eleniel said. Huoriel could tell that these two girls were about to get into some argument of some sort.
"Come on! Are we going to stand here arguing all day or go on our adventure?" Huoriel asked, changing the subject.
"Adventure!" the three other girls said. All four of them were very excited about this adventure they were going to go on, but none of them knew where they were going to go.
"Let's go!" Huoriel said.
*****
After about half an hour, Huoriel had no clue as to where they were.
"Do you know where we are?" she asked. Melda shook her head, and both looked at the Princess. Eleniel was the only one who lived in the city; Melda, Miriel and Huoriel all lived in the country.
"No idea," Eleniel said as she looked around. "Nothing looks familiar. I'm lost."
"Perhaps we should try getting back to some place one of us knows," Miriel suggested.
"If we don't know where we are," Huoriel said about to cry, "then what's the hope of getting back?"
"But Ada says there is always hope, Huoriel," Eleniel replied. "And Ada is never wrong."
"Our Ada has told me something like that too, Eleniel," Miriel added. "He keeps telling us a story about a ring and some hobbits who destroyed it."
"Ada and Ammë tell me stories about that too. I wonder why it is so important to them," the Princess said.
"I don't know, but my Mommy and Daddy tell me stories about it too," Huoriel said. "We can talk about that later, but let's find a way back first."
"A…alright. Maybe Ada and N…Naneth will tell us more stories about it, Eleniel," Melda replied. She, too, wanted to get back to her parents. "Estel," she muttered, reminding herself to have hope.
Huoriel was worried. How would they get back, if none of them knew the way? Should they call for help? Surely some nice person could help them. Melda was worried too. If they did not get back soon, what would happen to them?
"C…come on, let's go," Melda said, suddenly feeling braver than before. She had high hopes of finding their way back. She had no clue why, but she felt that they would get back soon. "Oh, N…Naneth, are you worried?" she whispered.
"What did you say?" Eleniel asked.
"N…Nothing, Your R…Royal Highness," Melda teased. She enjoyed teasing her cousin, even though she knew she should not. "S…sorry, Eleniel," she added when her cousin glared at her. "I…I was only thinking about s…something."
"Okay. But let's go. You said that, didn't you?"
"Y…yes," Melda said hesitantly. "L…let's go this way," she added, feeling brave once more. The other three girls followed her; her sister wondering how she was doing it, and pretty soon, they found themselves in front of the White Tree of Gondor, in full bloom.
"How did you do it, Melda?" Huoriel asked.
"H…how did I do what?" the other girl asked as if it was not a big deal.
"Find the way back, of course," Eleniel burst in.
"Oh, that," Melda replied, her voice and enthusiasm dying. Miriel looked at her twin knowingly. "I… uh… uh… Wouldn't you r…rather go and find our parents?" she asked.
"Maybe… maybe not," Eleniel replied. "Why won't you tell us?"
"I…I really do want to find m…my Naneth. I have some ques…questions to ask her," Melda replied. She did not know how she figured it out, other than the fact that her Ada always made her find landmarks in case she got lost. But at this point, she really did not want to tell the other girls about it. She would have to remember to thank her father for teaching her that.
The four girls walked up the stairs and into the throne room. Eleniel saw her father's face fill with relief, along with Melda and Miriel's father and Huoriel's father.
"Were they that worried about us?" the Princess muttered under her breath in Elvish. Even though Eleniel was not an elf, her mother had insisted that her family learn Sindarin, the common Elven tongue. Miriel and Melda nodded.
"I guess so," Miriel replied in Elvish, also muttering.
"I…I don't know why. W…we j…just went adventuring," her sister added. Huoriel had no clue what the three girls had said but looked at them then at their fathers. She stood silently beside Melda, just watching, and trying to figure out what was happening.
"Girls! There you are!" Legolas said, speaking in Sindarin. "Come over here immediately!"
"Yes, Ada," Miriel said, glaring at her cousin and her sister. She watched as her aunt came over to where her uncle was standing, followed by her mother and Huoriel's mother.
Melda, after seeing Huoriel's blank look, motioned for her to follow them.
"Girls, we were worried about you!" Arwen said. "Where were you?" The twins and Eleniel looked at each other. They knew what was coming, a lecture.
"We g…got lost," Melda whispered slowly.
"And nobody knew where we were," Miriel added.
"But Melda figured out how to get back," Eleniel explained. "But we don't know how she did it." Huoriel nodded, agreeing with everything the other girls said.
"Huoriel, are you alright?" Éowyn asked, noticing her daughter had not talked at all. Huoriel nodded. She was fine.
"We're s…sorry, Ada," Melda said, speaking for both she and her twin. Legolas sighed. He looked at his daughters who both had tears gathering in their clear blue eyes. It was hard for him to get mad at his girls when they looked like that. He looked over to Ellie.
"What should we do?" he asked her, talking in the Silvan dialect of Elvish. It was the dialect Legolas grew up with, and Ellie had grown up with it until she was about ten years old. Aragorn and Arwen knew a little bit of it, but Legolas and Ellethana both spoke it fluently. They were also teaching it to their daughters, who no doubt heard and understood what he had said.
Ellethana shook her head. She did not know what to do to the twins. "We will take care of this later, girls," she said in the same dialect as her husband. Melda and Miriel nodded. They understood their parents perfectly.
"May I speak with you, Eleniel?" the King said firmly. The Princess nodded and looked down at her shoes. Her father took her aside, motioning for Arwen to also come. Huoriel watched Eleniel's head droop slowly.
"Melda, I need to talk with you," Legolas said, sighing once more. Miriel looked at her father. "Your mother will talk with you, Miriel," the elf added.
Huoriel stared at both of her parents, who just seemed relieved that she was back. Neither one looked mad or upset, unlike the King and Legolas. They both looked very upset. Faramir and Éowyn came over to her and gave her a hug.
"Honey, are you okay?" Éowyn asked. Huoriel nodded, her eyes filling with tears.
"Huoriel," her father said, "I want you to go and rest now. I think you've had enough adventure for one day." Faramir's tone was firm but loving, and his daughter knew better than to argue when he talked like that.
"Yes, Daddy," she muttered and walked off. In another part of the room, Legolas was talking with his daughter.
"I'm sorry, Ada," she said. How did she expect to get anywhere like that?
"It's alright. How did you find the way back? Your sister said that you figured it out. How?" Legolas asked.
"I… um… I used landmarks, Ada. J…just like you taught us. I…I looked around as we were going, and, uh, yeah," Melda replied, her clear blue eyes filling with tears. "Ar…are you mad?"
"No, Melda. I'm not mad," Legolas said, sighing once more. It had always been hard for him to get mad at his girls. He glanced over to where his wife was talking with Miriel. Miriel was crying too. "I'm glad you remembered what you learned during your lessons, Melda. I'm glad you're back. Your mother and I were extremely worried about you."
"I…I know, Ada. And I'm s…sorry," Melda said. She looked over at her twin. Miriel and her mother were hugging. She wished her father would give a hug. It would make her feel a lot better.
Legolas opened his arms towards his daughter. She jumped into the waiting hug. Across the room, the blond elf heard his long-time friend talking with his daughter.
"Eleniel, you should know better than that. I am ashamed of you, and I am sure your mother is the same," Aragorn said. He sighed softly. He did get tired of lecturing his children, especially Eldarion. That got annoying. And now he had to lecture his oldest daughter.
"Yes, Ada. I am sorry, Ada," Eleniel replied. Aragorn looked down at his daughter. Her grey eyes were filled with tears, waiting to spill out. How could he continue?
"I want you to go to your room, Eleniel. We will talk about this in the morning," he said.
"Yes, Ada," she replied quietly, her grey eyes downcast. She slowly walked to her room, the tears spilling out from her cloudy grey eyes.
*****
"Eleniel, your father loves you. He just wants to protect you," Arwen explained once they were in Eleniel's room. "He wants to keep you out of harm's way, darling. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Ammë. But why does he lecture us? Does he like doing it?" she asked. Arwen sighed. Sometimes it was hard explaining things like this to young children. Aragorn had given her the job of explaining it to Eldarion, when his father lectured him too. Why was it always her job? Why could her husband never do these things?
"Eleniel, your father loves very much. And he doesn't like lecturing his children. But sometimes he has to. Like take your older brother, for example, Ada has to lecture him, otherwise Eldarion would continue being bad, wouldn't he?"
"Yeah," the Princess said slowly, "I guess so. But why does he do it?" she asked again.
"He doesn't like lecturing, Eleniel, but sometimes he has to. If he never talked to Eldarion, don't you think your older brother would meaner to you?" her mother asked.
"I guess. But why did he have to lecture me, Ammë?" she asked her mother. She was getting annoyed with this and just wanted a straight answer.
"Because you did something you were not suppose to do," Arwen explained.
"What did I do?"
"You left without permission, and if Melda hadn't been there, you probably would not have gotten back until much later," Arwen replied.
"But you and Auntie Ellie gave us permission, Ammë," the young girl answered. "Besides, he doesn't have to make me cry, especially in front of my friends," she added indignantly.
"Come now, Eleniel. Wipe your tears and cry no more," the Queen replied. "It's time to sleep now, darling. We can talk more about this in the morning, honey," she added as she pulled the covers up to the young princess's chin.
"But I'm not tired, Ammë!" Eleniel exclaimed as her mother kissed her good night.
"Yes you are. Now go to sleep, darling," Arwen whispered as she walked silently out of the room.
*****
Back in the throne room, Ellethana was talking with Legolas.
"What do you think we should do, Legolas?" she asked, speaking in Silvan. Legolas sighed. "You know we have to do something," she whispered.
"I know. I just don't know what to do, Ellie," he replied in the same language.
"I know. I do not know what we should do either," his wife said. "Perhaps we could ask Arwen what they are planning to do with Eleniel."
"That's a good idea. Let's go," he said.
*****
Aragorn paced the floor of his and Arwen's bedroom, talking and muttering to himself.
'He seems preoccupied,' Arwen thought to herself when she entered the room after talking to Eleniel.
"Arwen." The Queen turned around to find her sister.
"What is it, mellon-nin?" Arwen asked.
"We need your help, Arwen," Ellie said, looking at her husband. "What you and Aragorn are going to with the Princess?"
Arwen looked at Aragorn, who was still pacing and muttering to himself. What should she do? They had not yet decided what they were going to do. And she did not want to disturb him. What if he was working on his speech for tomorrow?
"I don't know yet, Ellie. We haven't talked about it," she said, her eyes still on her husband. "When I came in here after tucking Eleniel in, he was like that, and I did not want to disturb him."
Legolas put his hand on the King's shoulder. "What is the matter, mellon-nin?" the elf asked softly.
Aragorn shook himself. What was wrong with him? Perhaps he was nervous about his speech the next day. But why? He was never nervous about things like that. "I am fine, Legolas," he replied, just then realizing that his wife was there.
"Aragorn, dear, you should rest. You have had very busy day, and you have another one tomorrow. Please?" Arwen said. She looked at him carefully. His grey eyes were tired, and his shoulders were slumping.
"But what are we going to do to Eleniel?" he asked.
"We can figure that out in the morning when you are less tired. You wouldn't want to get sick, now would you?" she replied. He shook his head. "Excuse me for a moment while I go and make sure Estelwen is asleep."
"Legolas," Ellie whispered quietly in Silvan, "we will talk about it in the morning too. It is getting late," she added.
Legolas nodded. Ellie was right. The two elves bid the King and Queen good night before slipping quietly out of the room.
*****
The next morning, Aragorn woke up late. Arwen was feeding Estelwen when he finally got up.
"Ah, there you are, Estel," Arwen said as he came over to greet her.
"Arwen, you know I do not like being called that," he replied.
"I know," she said, her voice teasing. "Have you figured out exactly what you are going to say in your speech this afternoon? You haven't forgotten that it is today, right?" his wife asked. He shook his head.
"No, I did not forget. And I do know what I am going to say," he snapped. Estelwen started to cry. "I am sorry, Arwen. I do not know what's wrong with me right now."
"It's okay, Aragorn. I understand. You're just stressed. Maybe talking with Legolas will help you. Why don't you talk to him while you eat something, okay? I think that might help," she said.
"Alright. I guess it won't hurt to talk to him. We've been friends for so long; I'm not even sure how many years it's been. I've known him since I was about ten. So that would make it…" he paused as he thought. "That long already! And to think we've been friends all this time," he muttered.
"Just go talk to him, dear. I'm sure he can help," Arwen replied.
*****
Legolas looked up as he heard the door open. "Ah, Aragorn, mellon-nin," he said. "Arwen told me you might need someone to talk to."
"Maybe. I do not know. I am just a little stressed. I have the speech later this afternoon, and then there is everything with Eleniel and all that. And on top of that, Eldarion is going through one of those growing up stages where he is…" Aragorn stopped in mid-sentence. Legolas nodded.
"I understand. I also remember when you were like that," he said, grinning. "Estel," the elf added, grinning mischievously. The King glared. "Sorry."
Aragorn sighed. "That is okay, Legolas. I am tired. That is probably all."
"It's not just that you're tired, mellon-nin. You are also very stressed. Maybe you should just post-pone your speech until later. Would that help?" Legolas asked.
"Perhaps. But I do not know how I could do that," Aragorn replied.
"I'm sure I could arrange it, Aragorn." Both the Human and Elf turned around to find Arwen. "What if I said you are sick? Because it seems like you are. Sick with stress."
"Arwen," Aragorn whined, starting to complain. It was embarrassing for him to have Legolas witness their argument.
"Your wife is right, mellon-nin," Legolas added. "You need a break. Why don't you go back to bed for a while?"
Aragorn sighed. Legolas's suggestion did sound good. He would definitely enjoy doing that and forgetting everything he had to deal with. "I guess I will. That does sound nice," he said.
"I thought so," Arwen said. "I will go out today and entertain the crowd."
"Don't worry about him, Arwen. I'll make sure he gets some rest," Legolas replied. "Stubborn humans," he added, muttering under his breath.
"I heard that, Legolas," Aragorn replied, glaring at his friend.
"I know. I meant for you to," the Elf said mischievously.
That's the end. Please review it, and let me know if you think there should be more. Thanks.