Beta Reader: DragonflyAnomen curled up on the limb of his favorite oak tree and indulged himself in feeling miserable. How, he wondered, was he supposed to have known that Elrohir would be so touchy on the subject of that bow? He never would have picked it up if he had known that Elrohir treasured it so. And how could he have known that the bow would break when he drew the string? That sort of thing could not be predicted. You would think Elrohir would understand that. Instead, Elrohir had turned pale when he came into the room and saw Anomen holding the bow, its broken end dangling from the loose string. "You wretched Sinda!" he had screamed. "You don't belong here with decent Elves! Go back to your nasty, spider-infested forest!" And the older elfling had raised his hand as if he meant to slap the smaller one. Anomen, however, had sprung aside and fled into the woods nearby.
Now it was growing late, and Anomen knew he must return to the Hall. He had been dwelling in Rivendell long enough so that he no longer necessarily tried to run away at the first sign of trouble. True, he would scamper for the safety of a tree, but at nightfall he generally would come down and make his way home with slow steps. He was just preparing to do so when he caught a slight movement in the bushes. Glorfindel stepped into view.
"I was coming back momentarily," Anomen said hastily.
"I wanted to make sure of you," Glorfindel said brusquely. "Look at those clouds. I have no mind to go tracking you in the midst of a storm."
Anomen winced. He knew he had been responsible for giving Glorfindel many a bad night. 'I make everyone unhappy', he thought guiltily.
"Glorfindel," he said, "it has been a great bother tracking me when I run away. Why do you trouble yourself?"
"Haven't really thought about it," replied Glorfindel nonchalantly, for he did not take the question seriously. "Does seem a little silly, doesn't it."
'There now', Anomen thought sadly. 'If he had thought about it, he probably wouldn't have done it'.
Head down, shoulders sagging, the elfling unhappily followed Glorfindel back to the Hall. As they entered it, Erestor caught sight of them.
"Ah hah!" he crowed. "Been running off again, has he?"
"Not this time," Glorfindel answered. "The lad was in his favorite oak tree—hardly the place he would have run to if he was trying to evade capture."
"Hmph!" snorted Erestor. "Like as not it was an oversight on his part." With that the irascible tutor strode forcefully off. He didn't quite 'stomp', of course, but he came as near to it as any Elf could.
Glorfindel and Anomen made their way to the Dining Hall and took their places at Elrond's table. Anomen usually sat next to Elrohir, but he saw that today Elrohir had switched places with Elladan. Worse, neither Elrohir nor Elladan looked at Anomen as he approached the table. Anomen sighed. This was going to be a very long, very unpleasant meal.
Elrond was not oblivious to the tension in the room. He noticed that neither Elladan nor Elrohir said a word to Anomen during the entire meal; nor did Anomen address them. In fact, Anomen very nearly went without any food, for he would not ask Elladan and Elrohir to pass him a dish; nor did either of the twins offer. At last Elrond, with neither comment nor apology, reached past the twins and handed on a platter.
After a very, very long meal, during which Anomen ate very little even after he had been provided with food, Elrond at last arose. With a great sense of relief, Anomen trailed him from the room, taking care not to come too close to either of the twins. At the door, he hesitated, not knowing whither to direct his steps. He shared a room with Elladan and Elrohir, but he dreaded going to it now. Either the twins were going to act as if he didn't exist, or they were going to gang up and torment him. He couldn't decide which would be worse and mulled over places where he might sleep. It had begun raining during dinner, so he did not wish to return to the oak tree. The stable was a welcoming place, but the twins knew that he repaired there frequently, and they might come looking for him if they were set on punishing him for breaking Elrohir's bow. Anomen considered and rejected any number of possible hiding places. The Library? No. Erestor had the disconcerting habit of arising in the middle of the night in search of a volume. The Hall of Fire? It was called that because a fire was kept burning in it day and night, so Anomen likely would be discovered by a servant mending the flame. The Armory? Anomen shuddered. The Armory was filled with rank upon rank of bows, and Anomen did not want to see even one at the moment. At last Anomen hit upon the perfect hiding place: the Kitchen.
"Elladan and Elrohir would never think to look for me in the kitchen," Anomen exulted. And he was right. There was a state of constant warfare between Cook and elflings because of the latter's frequent raids upon the food stocks. It was therefore the last place that an elfling would be expected to hide. And it had an added advantage: Anomen was beginning to feel the effects of his fast. 'I shall have plenty to eat', he said to himself as he hurried toward his intended refuge, 'and no Elladan and Elrohir to spoil my appetite'.
When he came to the Kitchen, he listened carefully. He heard no sounds.
"Washing up done, and all clear," he said with satisfaction. He crept in at the door. All was dark, but he was untroubled by that fact. He knew his way around—yes, he knew his way around very well indeed! Unerringly, he headed toward the pie safe. It opened soundlessly, its hinges having been well-oiled on previous expeditions. Inside fruit pies sat upon shelves.
"One won't be missed," he told himself, "and even if it is, the Cook can never prove that I am the culprit."
He had hit the nail on the head, of course. It was rare that the Cook caught the elflings red-handed, as it were—that is, with jam upon their fingers. So that personage could only fulminate in frustration and hope that on at least some occasions the thieves suffered from belly aches in requital of their greediness.
Grinning in the darkness, Anomen raised a piece of pie to his lips, but before he could take a bite an invisible hand fell upon his shoulder. He yelped and dropped the pie. Fortunately, a second invisible hand caught it.
"I see," said a voice, "that the Cook tells the truth when he says that an elfling or two or three have been stealing from the kitchen."
"Lor-Lor-Lord Elrond," stammered Anomen.
"Oh, so it is 'Lord Elrond' tonight, and not 'Ada'. Pray tell why that may be so?"
"Aren't you, well, aren't you angry that I am in the kitchen filching food?"
"First, even if I were angry over such a trivial matter, I would still be your Ada. Second, do you not wonder why I am in the kitchen?"
"To look for me?"
"I had no idea that you were here."
The truth dawned on Anomen.
"You wanted something to eat yourself!"
"Indeed I do. I am afraid I had little appetite at dinner. I was preoccupied by a most important matter."
"You were?"
"Yes. I was very much concerned as to why all three of my sons seemed to be so unhappy, both with themselves and with one another. Do you suppose you might be able to enlighten me—over a slice of pie, of course?"
"It is all my fault, Ada."
"Wait. Let us first secure our pie. Then we will retreat to my chamber and you can tell me all about it."
In the end, they took not only an entire pie but also a great quantity of fruit, bread, and cheese, as well as plates, forks, knives, and flagons. Anomen was puzzled as to why they took so much food, as well as to why they carried off the dishes and utensils in multiples of three. He said nothing, however, and stoutly accompanied Elrond back to his chamber.
After they had satisfied their hunger, Elrond smiled encouragingly at Anomen.
"Now, ion-nîn, let us hear how you and your brothers came to have a falling out and see what can be done to mend matters."
"I broke Elrohir's bow, Ada. But not the one he uses everyday. Indeed, I have never seen him shoot this bow. For one thing, it is very tiny, not much more than a toy, really. It has been sitting in the corner of the room for ever so long. I only picked it up because it has some interesting designs carved upon it. I didn't mean to break it! But I drew the string, and, well, it did break. And when Elrohir came in and saw me holding it, he was furious. I think he would have hit me if he could have caught me."
"That is angry indeed," said Elrond gravely.
"But it was only a toy, Ada, and he never uses it. Why was he so upset?"
"That bow was a gift from his Naneth," Elrond said simply.
If Anomen had felt bad before, now he felt worse. Elrond saw the misery upon his face and put a hand upon his shoulder.
"You did not mean to break the bow, Anomen, and how could you have known that it was so special to Elrohir? After all, it sat in the corner, seemingly abandoned, and you thought that it was a toy he had outgrown."
"Even if I didn't mean to break it, I did. And now Elrohir is unhappy, and he will never forgive me. Maybe he is right—I should go back to Greenwood."
"There is no question of your going back to Greenwood," Elrond said firmly. "And I want you to listen very carefully to what you said. You said, 'Elrohir is unhappy'."
"But that's true," declared Anomen, puzzled. "Elrohir is unhappy, and I am the cause of it."
"Yes, Elrohir is unhappy. You did not say 'Elrohir is angry'."
"But he is that, too."
"True, but he is mainly unhappy, and he has no way to show it but by being angry at you. You don't see any Orcs hereabouts, do you?"
"No-oo."
"I assure you that, were any Orcs within reach, even though you are the one who broke the bow, it is the Orcs who would pay the penalty. Of course it grieves Elrohir that you have damaged something given to him by his Naneth, but he does not hate you, Anomen, and he will forgive you your trespass."
"Do you really think so?" Anomen asked hopefully.
"I do indeed. And now, if you have had enough to eat, off to bed with you."
Anomen hesitated. Elrohir might forgive him, but any reconciliation would surely not happen that very night. Anomen was no more anxious to return to his room than he had been earlier that evening.
"Ada," he begged, "can't I sleep here tonight?"
Elrond's face turned an unusual color. He rather looked as if he were blushing. Even the tips of his ears were pink.
"I am afraid not, Anomen. I am entertaining a, a guest—yes, a guest!—later this evening."
Now Anomen understood why they had taken the extra food and dishes, but he was puzzled as to why Elrond would be entertaining a guest at such a late hour. And why was the elf-lord blushing? These were interesting questions, but Anomen was forced to push the matter from his mind because he still had to solve the problem of where to sleep that night.
"I suppose I had better return to the kitchen," he said.
"No, I have a better idea," said Elrond, who had recovered his composure. "The Cook and his skivvies arrive at the kitchen at the first sign of dawn, so you would get little sleep if you hid there. As Mithrandir is not here, why don't you stay in the room set aside for his use?"
"You do not think he would mind?"
"Mind? Mithrandir? Nonsense! He is used to sleeping under hedgerows. Do you really think it would matter to him if an elfling slept in his bed one night?"
Now Anomen was grinning. No, Mithrandir wouldn't mind. He happily bade Elrond goodnight and received a kiss from him. Then he hurried off toward Gandalf's chamber. He pushed open the door and breathed in deeply. The air smelled of pipeweed. The maid had given up trying to scrub the odor out of the room, and Anomen was glad. He removed his boots and, mindful of where he was, carefully placed them in a corner. Even though Gandalf was not there, the elfling felt compelled to behave respectfully. With a sigh of satisfaction, he crawled under the quilt into the midst of the large bed. No fire had been lit in that chamber for several days, so the air was a bit damp. Anomen, however, pulled the quilt over his head and was soon cozy and drifting off into sleep. His dreams, though, were not as pleasant as he would have liked. It seemed to him that someone was creeping up on him. 'Elrohir and Elladan', Anomen thought drowsily. 'I had better get ready to fend them off'. But he seemed incapable of moving, and a great weight was on his chest. 'I am going to suffocate', he thought in a sudden panic, and he began to flail his arms and legs about.
"Whoa! whoa! WHOA!" cried a voice. The weight was lifted off his chest and the quilt pulled back. Anomen found himself staring up into the astonished face of Mithrandir.
"Well!" declared the wizard. "I thought the bed looked unaccustomedly lumpy, but it never occurred to me that it had been made up with an elfling in it! Are you alright, my lad?"
Anomen sat up groggily.
"I thought you were Elrohir and Elladan," he said in confusion.
"Elrohir and Elladan, eh?" said the wizard knowingly. "No doubt they have something to do with the fact that I return from the wild and find you occupying my bed. Isn't that so?"
"Yes, Mithrandir."
"Well, you must tell me all about it in the morning. For now, move over. I am very tired, and only a few hours remain until dawn. By the by, I must warn you that I snore—but you already know that, don't you?"
Anomen giggled.
"Everyone knows that, Mithrandir!"
"Am I that loud?"
"Yes!"
"Well, if you don't like it, you can go take your chances with Elladan and Elrohir!"
Anomen quickly assured him that he didn't mind in the least, and at long last both elfling and wizard fell into a long-delayed, and therefore very deep, sleep.