The Trees Remember
Chapter Ten
"London Burning"
"How is it that you seem so familiar to me, Elaneth?" Legolas asked.
He lowered his bow and turned to the elleth standing next to him. Elaneth released the bowstring. Once her arrow was successfully imbedded in the center of the target, she turned to Legolas.
"You are my uncle," she replied.
Legolas's eyes widened. "How has this topic not been addressed until now?"
Elaneth shrugged, as if the information was not important at all. "Most likely because you did not know your younger sister."
He was silent for a long moment. "Younger sister? Adar never mentioned her."
"We do not discuss her. Nor any of the others who rest now with Mandos."
Her tone was stern and final. Though Legolas wished to question her further, he refrained. He noticed how the corners of her mouth quivered. It was no secret that something terrible had befallen the Silvan Elves, but Elaneth would not say what it was. Thranduil had also avoided such areas of discussion.
"You are very good with a bow," Haldir said, joining Elaneth and Legolas.
He examined Elaneth's bow, and found it met his approval. It was smaller than a long bow, but Elaneth probably was not strong enough to use such a bow. The design resembled a bow of the Galadhrim, but lacked the subtle details the Elves of Lothlórien had invested in their work.
"How about a friendly competition?" the march warden questioned.
Elaneth smiled. "Of course, but you must know that you cannot beat us."
"And why is that?"
"Because we both honed our skills in the perilous forest of Eryn Lasgalen. Whilst you, march warden, frolicked happily beneath golden leaves, Legolas and I dodged fell spiders and enchanted streams."
Haldir snorted as he pulled an arrow from his quiver. "Eryn Lasgalen was cleansed of evil long before your birth. And I don't frolic."
Elaneth also retrieved an arrow from her quiver. "It grew dark more than once. Set the targets."
Meanwhile, Elladan and Elrohir stretched out on the grass, and their swords lay unsheathed beside them. Elladan massaged his wrist.
"You really must stop hitting my wrist every time we spar."
Elrohir laughed. "Then keep your hand out of the way."
The twins turned their attentions to the three Silvan Elves. Andre's backyard was not large enough for a full-range practice field, but the archers were creative. They hid targets in the trees and made up complex rules about distance and angle.
"Elaneth is quite good," Elrohir observed.
"She needs some work in hand-to-hand combat," Elladan added. "How many times has she landed herself in trouble already?"
"According to Haldir, men have restrained her twice."
Andre joined them a moment later. A long sword hung from his waist. He unsheathed it slowly, and held it so that the afternoon sun reflected off the cool metal in an arch of yellow light.
"It has been many years since anyone in my family has wielded this sword."
The brothers stood, in awe of the sword Andre held. It seemed that Andre's face changed as he gazed at the sword. He looked sterner, and pride filled his gray eyes. He looked every bit as kingly as Aragorn Elessar. There was no mistaking the Flame of the West.
"That is …? You are …?" Elrohir stuttered.
Andre lowered the sword. "Elaine didn't tell you? She should have. Walker is the rough English translation of Telcontar. If Gondor still existed, I would be King."
The sons of Elrond remained quiet for many minutes, and Andre correctly guessed why.
"Every child born since Eldarion has your sister to thank for life. Among the descendants of Elessar were great leaders of men; Caesars, Kings, Generals. History would read very differently without those men and women. Arwen's choice was not ill-made."
The twins nodded, but didn't speak for a while longer. After several minutes and a silent agreement, they picked up their swords to spar. Andre joined them, Andúril again unsheathed.
"Do you also have the winged crown of Gondor?" Elrohir asked, with a teasing smile.
"I do," Andre responded, seriously. "And I wear it when I feel insecure."
They laughed heartily for a moment, and then Andre motioned for them to sit. The archery contest had drawn his attention. Elaneth was excellent with a bow, but he had heard that Legolas was the best archer in Middle-earth.
"She should remain here," Elladan stated.
Andre shook his head. "She cannot. You will need her knowledge of languages and the modern world. I would take her place, but I would be recognized long before we reached Berlin."
"She cannot defend herself well enough," Elladan insisted.
"True," Andre conceded. "However, whether she remains here at my home or travels into the heart of Germany, she is a target. There is no sense in leaving her behind; she is no safer here. Her reluctance to kill does not mean she will slow your journey into Germany."
"I do not think it is reluctance that inhibits her self-defense," Elrohir answered, honestly.
"Do you not?" Andre seemed surprised. "Then you do not know Elaneth."
Elaneth laid her bow against the trunk of a tree and drank deeply from the glass Andre handed to her. Her skill at archery was no longer in question. Legolas was the victor, as every one had assumed he would be. Haldir, however, was very disgruntled to find himself soundly beaten by Elaneth. He muttered Sindarin curses under his breath as he retrieved his arrows.
How in Arda had she beaten him? She was a youngling! By her own account, she was no more than three thousand winters. Perhaps Greenwood had grown dark once again, and Elaneth truly had learned archery in such an environment. That still did not explain her supremacy.
"I could best her in swordplay," he mumbled.
"Of course you could, Master Elf. You're far stronger than I."
Haldir started at the sound of her voice and eyed her suspiciously. Once again, he failed to notice her presence. Three times she had surprised him. He was a march warden for Ilúvatar's sake! His sole duty was to detect another person's approach. There was something more to this elleth than she would admit.
"You should practice anyway," he answered.
Elaneth shook her head. "We will never get close enough to the Nazis to use hand-to-hand combat. We should fletch arrows."
"Elladan, Elrohir, and Legolas engaged them hand-to-hand aboard the ship. I will spar with you, if--"
"We will not need it," Elaneth snapped.
She immediately regretted it. Haldir watched her closely, his brow furrowed, and his mouth set in a thin, firm line.
"There are many more things I must do before we depart."
With those words, she excused herself from the conversation. She returned to Andre, and spoke to him in the English language. Haldir wondered what they said, and why they would not say it in Sindarin.
"She hides some secret from us."
Legolas nodded. "I think more than one, but I trust her judgment in withholding information."
Haldir looked skeptical. He began to speak in a disapproving voice, but Legolas cut him off.
"She is my kin. Is that not reason enough for me to trust her?"
The march warden's expression changed to reflect his surprise. He had known that Elaneth was partly Sindarin, and he had overheard one Elf at Eryn Lasgalen call her Princess, but he had made no further assumptions. She really was full of surprises.
Andre's wife prepared a wonderful dinner for the Elves. This time, she and Colin joined their conversation at the dinner table. Lilly spoke Sindarin in a way that led the Elves to believe she was uncomfortable with the foreign tongue. She had turned twenty-one before Andre had taught her the musical language, and learning foreign tongues did not come easily to Lilly.
"How will you get into Germany?" Colin questioned, wide-eyed.
The boy had been itching for an adventure ever since his father had told him the history of their family. Like every boy of his bloodline since Eldarion, Colin wanted to be like the Ranger Aragorn.
"I have friends in the Prime Minister's office," Elaneth explained. "They are creating passports for us that say we are Swiss. It will be easier to travel if the Germans believe we are neutral."
"To where are we traveling?" Elladan asked.
"Switzerland," Andre answered. "From there, you can cross into Germany."
The idea did not seem to sit well with Elaneth, but she deferred to Andre's judgment. After all, he was a leader of the British armed forces. Elaneth had lived most of her life in Europe, however. She knew the terrain well, and the Swiss mountains bordering Germany, though they were not the Alps, were not her idea of an easy entry.
Her first impulse had been to travel through France, but there was a much more imminent risk from the Nazis there. Andre had convinced her that flying from London to Zurich was the fastest and safest way to the German border. From there, Elaneth need only speak fluid, coherent German, and they could pass over the border in a rented automobile.
Elaneth seriously doubted the plan. It was far too simple. Fear crept into her voice and eyes every time she thought about speaking to a Nazi. Legolas gently reminded her that she was their only hope of completing their quest. If they did not reach Berlin, the fate of the Maiar would remain unknown.
Legolas stiffened suddenly. He laid his fork down on the plate, and turned towards the nearest window. The conversation trailed off, and they waited for Legolas to speak. He had the sharpest eyes and ears of the Elves, but he said nothing for a very long time.
"I hear something almost familiar, but I cannot place it," he said.
The other four Elves moved to the window, and the three humans at the table tried to stay quiet. Colin even stopped breathing. Whatever Legolas heard was too far away for the others to identify. The minutes ticked by slowly, but Legolas insisted the sound drew nearer. After tense moments, the sound reached the other Elves' ears.
Elaneth's eyes widened, and she spun around to face the humans.
"Turn out the lights!" she ordered.
The urgency in her voice brought Legolas back from his thoughts. The sun had just dipped entirely below the horizon. The Elves were confused, for it seemed logical to turn on the lights as the sun disappeared. The Walkers and Elaneth scrambled around the house, flicking off the electric lights. As they bustled around the house, the four ellyn remained by the window, looking curiously at the sky. They heard buzzing, like a swarm of angry bees. Only, the sound was too loud to belong to bees. Just as the last light flickered off, the shrill wail of air raid sirens alerted London residents of the imminent attack.
Colin was the first one out the door, despite his mother's protest. The others gathered on the patio, looking hard into the darkness. All through the city, lights disappeared until the impenetrable, eerie blackness of the night blanketed London. The airplanes were not visible in the sky, but they were clearly audible.
"Three squadrons," Andre whispered, sadly.
The vibrations in the air increased the closer the German squadrons flew. The loud engines of the bombers did nothing to mask their approach, but the Germans did not need stealth. They had bombs.
"Get inside!" Lilly pleaded.
To the Elves, this seemed an event of magnificent horror equal to that of Saruman's army at Helm's Deep. Danger was palpable in the air, but they did not know exactly what these airplanes planned to do. A new sound accompanied the vibration of the airplanes. It was somewhat akin to the shriek of a Nazgûl, yet longer and more constant. It was not communication or language; it was just a sound.
The Elves reeled in horror as the first bomb exploded. A blast of ear-piercing magnitude echoed through the night. A wave of orange flame lit the night sky as the bomb found its target. In quick succession, five more bombs exploded. Fires sprang up along the path of destruction, lighting the sky to guide the Germans.
The Elves and Walkers watched from a safe distance, saddened and horrified. Soon, the sounds of the sirens, aircraft, dropping bombs, and explosions were inseparable. The sounds were an amalgamation of destruction. Somewhere in the European interior, men lying in trenches saw and heard far worse.
"They are attacking civilians," Haldir stated, at a loss for understanding.
"They did it almost every night two years ago. Now, it's sporadic," Lilly said, wiping away her tears. She turned to Andre. "You don't think they're too close to my sister's house, do you?"
"This is modern warfare?" Elladan asked.
Andre nodded. Elaneth was not the only one who offered an Elvish prayer for the citizens of London. After what seemed like hours of relentless attack, the German fighter planes doubled back across the Channel. They would return again, but no one could say when.
"Come inside," Lilly ordered, guiding Colin through the door. "Go call your Uncle Charlie and Aunt Beatrice. May sure they're all right."
Elaneth crossed the lawn silently. She sat next to Haldir, and held out a glass of Lilly's lemonade to him. The air was chill at such a late hour, but the Elves did not feel it much. While the others had retired to their rooms for a night of fitful sleep, Haldir had sat facing the east since the bombing ended.
"The British are strong," Elaneth began. "The Germans bomb their cities to weaken their morale, but they do not waver. The Prime Minister said that they would defend their homeland, whatever the cost. And they are. The bombings have only strengthened their resolve to win this war."
"Do the British engage in this type of warfare?"
"Well, yes. They would be defeated in an instant if they did not."
Haldir turned to her, clearly unimpressed. "Then how are they nobler than Germany?"
"They were attacked, and they responded."
"This seems noble, yet I have not enough faith in men to accept your statement so easily. Tell me, has Germany just cause to go to war?"
Elaneth hesitated. To most citizens of the world, the answer was negative. Elaneth was a scholar, however, and politics were her field of expertise. She and Thranduil had known at the end of World War I that the peace would not last. The Treaty of Versailles was a disgrace.
"The simple answer is yes. They were grievously wronged twenty years ago. However, it is not the war the Allies resist. Germany does not seek retribution. They seek revenge. At the start of this war, Europe tried to appease Hitler. They made attempts to correct the wrongs done against Germany."
"What wrongs did the German people incur to warrant such a war?"
"It is the treaty of the last world war that led to this war. The Germans were denied the right to choose their own government, lost territory, made to pay extreme reparations for the war, and strict regulations nearly ruined their economy. The German people were blamed for World War I, but the guilt did not belong to them. It was Austria-Hungary who started the war, albeit at Germany's prompting. So great is Hitler's hatred for that treaty that he executed every man who signed the Armistice. He took them to the very spot where they signed the treaty and murdered them."
Haldir smiled ruefully at Elaneth. "I believe, my Lady, that you were correct when you said there is no clear-cut evil in this world."
Lilly dropped a sack on the kitchen table, and nodded to Elaneth.
"What is this?" Legolas asked.
"We travel to Zurich tomorrow," Elaneth responded. "Switzerland proclaimed neutrality, but it is not strictly enforced. Seventy-five percent of Swiss residents are German. The main industry of Switzerland is banking, and the Germans have plenty of money to invest. They declared neutrality only because of their precarious position. To the west is France, an ally of Britain in this war, but now Occupied Territory. To the north is Germany, to the east is Austria, and to the south is Italy. Needless to say, the Axis powers are much more influential to the Swiss. I have no doubts that S.S. spies will be in Zurich. Therefore, we travel incognito."
Elaneth set a number of items on the table. Among them were combs, scissors, and hair dye. She looked up at the Elves.
"We have work to do if we want to look Swiss. I will leave the twins to you, Lilly. You are much better with dye." She turned back to Haldir and Legolas. "Who wants short hair?"
Haldir snorted in disgust as Elaneth chopped off his warrior braids. For the first time since he was an elfling, his hair was above his shoulders. This hairstyle looked ridiculous to Haldir. She had trimmed his hair to the nape of his neck in the back, and fashioned long bangs in front. The hair hung in his eyes, but Elaneth became angry if he attempted to move the offending locks of hair. His hair was barely long enough to cover his ears, but Elaneth insisted that they must do this.
"This will be most inconvenient in battle," Haldir mumbled.
Legolas nodded his silent agreement. His hair was styled similarly, and he also was not impressed. He looked like an overgrown elfling.
"It is not natural for an Elf to have such short hair," he added.
"You have two options," the elleth proclaimed. "Have short hair for a little while or have a long, long chat with Mandos. You stand out far too much with long hair. It is the first trait the Nazis will be told to look for."
"What about you?" Haldir questioned. "How do you plan to change your appearance?"
Elaneth struggled for an answer. "I have no need for disguise. What is so conspicuous about a long-haired woman?"
Haldir glowered at her reflection in the mirror. She ignored him, however, and finished off the haircut.
The four ellyn were left alone in the family room with Colin and Mellon while the elleth and woman cooked dinner. Andre disappeared for a few hours, saying he was making final arrangements for the Elves to depart.
Colin seemed to think that their haircuts looked very nice. Elladan and Elrohir still looked similar, but it was no longer obvious at first glance that they were twins. Lilly had colored Elladan's hair light brown, but left Elrohir's hair dark. He suffered by having the shorter of the two haircuts.
Elrohir bent over the coffee table, drawing on the map Gandalf had given them. Lilly said they could take the whole atlas of Europe if they wanted, but Elrohir had declined. He corrected the borders, drew in mountain ranges, and labeled cities with painstaking care. It seemed imperative to keep the parchment, despite the extra work.
Andre returned an hour after dinner had finished, but he did not seem to mind. He laid a new passport in front of each Elf. There was no picture in the designated slot, but Andre had brought home a camera.
Elaneth shook her head as the man tried to position each Elf to have his photograph taken. They were far more curious about the box and its light bulb than the practicality of the machine. It took multiple shots for each Elf. No matter how much Andre warned about the flashbulb, every one of them closed their eyes at the flash of light.
"Well, my friends," Andre said. "You should rest this night. I do not think sleep will come easily to you after tomorrow."
The Elves turned in for the night with anxiety and apprehension. Though they had traveled far in this new world and encountered many trials, the worst was yet to come.
Author's Note:
Thank you (again) SpaceWeavil for sorting out my historical and geographical inaccuracies in this chapter. Without her, a majority of you would be laughing right now. Especially, if you're British.