While incest between the twins has been apparent in many chapters of this series, this chapter contains a very mildly graphic display of it. Some people have complained, so I am being compelled to add this specific warning. So... be warned. If you don't like it, just skip past.

PART TWENTY

"Elladan," Elrohir groaned from beneath his brother as he fell against his back, crushing his face into the pillow. "You are heavy."

"I love you," Elladan whispered in his ear as he rolled from atop him and lay beside him. "Oh, Elrohir, what a task that was to keep silent!"

"I know," Elrohir smiled, rolling over to lie back against Elladan's chest. "You did not succeed in trying to keep silent, anyway."

"You only did because you had the pillow to bite," Elladan teased, and then he grew serious. "You do not think Estel would have heard us, do you?"

They were staying at an Inn in Bree, sent by their father to scout for news. Estel had accompanied them, also at Elrond's bidding, who wished for the young man to be introduced into the ways of a ranger in preparation for his adulthood. He was in a room next to their own, desiring some privacy.

"I doubt it," Elrohir said. "He is probably fast asleep now, he was a little tipsy on that ale."

Elladan sighed, a recurring thought tugging at his mind again. "Do you ever think that we should tell him about us?"

Elrohir turned over and stared at him. "Tell him? Elladan, how on earth would we tell him!"

"I do not know," Elladan said. "But everyone else in the family knows, and Gilraen knows, it seems he is the only one who does not. We are lying to him every day, and I feel uncomfortable that we are keeping this secret from him. I am almost waiting for something to slip and for him to ask about it. Did you hear him this evening! Asking why we must so often share our bed. I stumbled over some excuse about it being an instinct from sleeping closely for safety and warmth in the wild, but the time will come when he will ask more questions. We cannot keep it from him for the rest of his days!"

"Elladan, we cannot just tell him," Elrohir said. "He is only seventeen, he is still too young to understand it and I would not drive a wedge between him and us now. He has only just given up on one set of questions, let's not give him any more! Despite anything else, Father has forbidden us to even hint of our relationship to him."

Elladan nodded in agreement. As much as he hated lying to his foster brother, Elrohir was right. Sometimes he got the feeling that Estel was very alone.

"Did you see him at the tavern tonight, amongst all the human folk? They looked at him like he was something strange, clad in Elf garb and speaking with our accent."

"He looked so uncomfortable," Elrohir concurred. "I did feel bad for him."

"It reminds me of something Glorfindel said a decade ago," Elladan thought aloud. "I wonder when Father will finally choose to tell him the truth?"

Estel had stopped asking questions about himself but it was obvious to anyone who spent a lot of time with him that his curiosity had not waned at all, he had just given up on asking futile questions. Still, Elrond showed no sign of revealing Estel's heritage to him, and Elladan wondered if Estel would be 100 before he knew who he was. It wasn't fair on him. But of course, Elrond knew best, and knew things that even the twins did not.

"I do not think it will be yet," Elrohir said. "Yet I do not think it will be long. Something evil is stirring in the world, Elladan. I can feel it." He looked up anxiously. "Do you feel it too?"

"Yes, I do," Elladan whispered, holding his twin tighter against himself. "I think Father knows more than he would let on." A shadow was forming over the world, anyone could sense that, but the finer details were only known by people such as their father and Mithrandir.

"I think so too, and I do wish he would not keep things from us," Elrohir agreed, shivering a little. "How can we protect Estel if we do not know what we are protecting him from? Did you know he has been having nightmares?"

"He has?" Elladan absently petted Elrohir's hair. He had noticed Estel had been a little disturbed lately but he had not thought on it much. Teenage boys were always disturbed by one thing or another, he figured. He wished now that he had paid more attention.

Elrohir nodded. "Remember how he used to have them as a child?" Then he whispered as if he were afraid someone might hear. "He dreamed of an eye looking for him, and I think he has been having the same dreams again. He slept very fitfully on the journey here. Three nights when you were asleep and I was on watch, I saw him sleep uneasily."

Elladan frowned. It sounded ill indeed, especially matched with his father's recent reticence. "Perhaps we should talk to him about it."

"I did. But he said he remembered nothing of his dreams." Elrohir chewed his lower lip absently, something he had always done when troubled.

Elladan stroked his hair. "You are worried about him, aren't you?"

"I am," he admitted. "I am worried about everything and I do not know why but I cannot help feeling that something awful is going to happen, and Elladan you know what happens when I get these feelings!"

Elladan pulled him down to lie against his shoulder. "I know, love," he kissed his head, "and I do wish you would talk to Father about it. Maybe he could help you develop your gift so it does not put you in such a state."

"If my suspicions are right, Father has more pressing issues on his mind right now."

"Well, let him worry about those," Elladan said through a yawn as he shifted into a more comfortable position, holding Elrohir close to his side. He was more worried than he was prepared to show, but he wanted to calm his twin. He would have a talk with Elrond when they returned to Imladris. This could not go on. He would not have Estel or Elrohir upset by it. "I don't think we need worry too much about Estel right at the moment. Let's just worry about sleep for now, I am exhausted."