Disclaimer: I don't own these characters and I make no money from this writing.
As I walk away from my boy, Ivorwen takes my arm.
"He is strong, Elrond. With help and support he will come through this trial stronger still, and free from these visions. If we leave him as he is, they will consume him. His life will be a waking dream and he will be prey to illness all his life."
Her bluntness takes me by surprise but it is better that I know now, and not when they meet this afternoon.
"Yet you know the cure for this?"
"We have sent for the one who knows. He will be able to turn this gift outwards, so that, in time, he will be able to heal others. It will take time and courage but he will come into an inheritance none of his line has even thought to aspire to since Isildur himself."
The world has dimmed around me. I hear Ivorwen's voice but my own thoughts, my own concerns turn me away from such news. Such a moment, to learn this. Such a burden for the boy to carry, yet it is a chance, too. A chance for the world. Hope, I named him. Hope now surges in me, that here is the King. Here at last is the one we have awaited through the years.
"Elrond?"
I hear her voice but for a moment, I cannot speak.
"Come. Let us sit, and take some wine, and talk of other matters. Come, old friend. I have given you too much to consider." And she walks me back to her house, as if I were the old man.
After a cup of wine I am recovered, which is just as well, for Estel appears at the doorway, his puppy at his heels. He seems quite sure already who is his master.
"I'm hungry, Papa! And my pup is hungry too. I can't think of a name for him. I think I shall have to wait until he is older and can tell me his own name. At the moment, all he does is trip me up." Which the puppy obligingly demonstrates. The puppy's lugubrious look, his thin tail and overlong legs remind me irresistibly of Estel.
"Take him back to his littermates, child," Ivorwen. "He has much to learn before he can home with you."
Estel looks puzzled for a moment. "Will he be staying here with you, Grandmother?" he asks deferentially.
"For a while. He is barely seven weeks old. He is not housebroken yet and he has much to learn from his mother and his brothers and sisters. But in three months or so, he shall be yours – he is yours now. Do you understand?"
It seems this is to be his first test – obedience to his grandmother's will. I am confident that he will make his own sort of sense of it. He does not disappoint me.
"Then he must stay here and learn. He is too little to be away from his family. I will wait until he is ready and then I shall train him most carefully. Will he be as big as your dogs, Grandmother?" He picks up the puppy, which is half-asleep. I hear a note of disappointment in his voice but he is clearly satisfied that the pup is too young to be entirely his yet.
Ivorwen smiles gently, clearly impressed. "He will, Estel. Bigger, perhaps. In three months, then, at the end of the summer, I shall send your dog to you. Now, take him to the next house, where his mother will be waiting for him."
The puppy has become limp with sleep and Estel carries him most carefully out of the house.
"He is a good child," she says. Then she sighs. "I do not know if what has been revealed in him will be a burden to him or a joy. He has great understanding, too. We shall have to guard very carefully against him accidentally finding out his true heritage too early. If he holds that knowledge in his mind it will be more difficult still to keep him hidden. Well, now – perhaps you would like a little more information about the treatment we are proposing? Then we must see about keeping him occupied and away from our conference. It is best to take him through each stage of the cure separately."
So we talk, and I suggest herbs that may help the process. Ivorwen nods to some, shakes her head to other proposals, until I have a list. I send immediately to Imladris for these and invite my sons to join us, for the more comfortable Estel feels, the more likelihood there is that we shall cure him.
Estel, Ivorwen and I eat a good midday meal together then it begins to rain, hard, the puddles ringed with echoes of the raindrops. Estel stares at it, stuck indoors and wanting, no doubt, to go and play with his puppy. He sniffs, and throws a stone into a large puddle that is forming just outside the door.
"I wanted to begin teaching him to sit," he says. "I know he's a bit little but I have saved some treats for him, and I could have given him one every time he sat down by accident. He'd soon learn, wouldn't he, Grandmother?"
"They are wise creatures, child. He will soon learn what he needs to learn. You must be very careful to get him to walk on the leash without pulling, for he will be very strong. But they do have one fault."
She has gone to stand next to him, and their words are almost lost in the rain.
"Oh?" Estel says, looking up.
"They are good guard dogs, and they will protect you against any foe. But they do sometimes forget themselves and try to lick their enemies to death."
"They don't! Do they?" Estel smiles uncertainly. He does not yet know his grandmother well enough to tell if she is joking.
"Keeper once went right up to an orc and leaned his head on the wicked creature's shoulder. I think it did the trick, though. I think the orc died of fright."
"Grandmother – are you sure?"
Ivorwen reaches out to her grandson, who happily goes to stand at her side.
"Perhaps I made part of that story up," she concedes. "But they are friendly. Spend time with your new puppy, Estel. Play with him and yet make sure you show him who is master. He will try to please you after a while, and he must be sure you will be kind to him so that he can trust you always. Then he will have a long and happy life with you."
Estel nods. Then he takes a step forward and peers outside.
"There are lots of people coming here," he says. "Are they coming for the meeting?"
"I thought we would meet here. It is so wet out and my old bones do not like the damp. Now, get your cloak and run and find Halbarad, child. You may return when I send for you."
Estel grabs his cloak, flings it round himself and then is gone into the rain. He knows the meaning of the word "meeting" and we had little trouble persuading him that he did not need to be there.
As meetings go, it is interesting enough, for many recall lore and experiences from the past, handed on down through the families in ancient journals or, more often, in oral records, passed from one generation to the next. I listen more than I speak, and I am impressed by the knowledge these people hold in themselves. There is not much outward show but they are secure in a great deal of knowledge.
The condition Estel is experiencing is discussed at length but with a great deal of care. There are some who know the old prophecy about the king-healer, who will be known by his power to heal people in direst need. But that idea is not dwelled on. Even here, in this secure place, spies in the form of birds and animals cannot be discounted. So no names are mentioned, and the words do not accurately reflect all that is being conveyed in looks and gestures.
At last, Ivorwen speaks out. "It is time to bring the boy before us," she says, resting her hands on her stick and leaning forward from her seat in her chair. "A few simple questions, then we will know whether to proceed with this business."
A messenger is sent and Estel returns. He is a good deal damper than I would like to see him but he seems warm and happy enough.
"Come here, child," Ivorwen says. "You must answer one of two questions for us."
"Yes, grandmother," he says, stepping up without fear, and I see Ivorwen's wisdom in making a good relationship with her grandson as quickly as she has done.
"You have been unwell recently. I would think you have found that much against your nature."
"I hate lying in bed," he says. "I keep having things wrong with me, and then Papa makes me go to bed."
"That is my point exactly, child. You should be up and about. And you have had some trouble with, shall we call them, waking dreams? You had one this morning, did you not?"
Estel hangs his head but his grandmother will have none of that.
"Look up. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You are among your own family here and we understand what has been happening to you."
"Then I want to understand it too. I think it could be a useful thing if only I could use it properly."
"Are you willing to take a risk – to endure some discomfort, even – to master this skill?"
Now Estel looks for me, and I return his gaze as neutrally as I can. This must be his own decision.
"Yes, Grandmother. I will do what you want me to do." And right there, in front of the group of unsmiling people, he bows to her. "I will do whatever you want."
Ivorwen stands and announces to the gathered people, "Go then. Make the preparations. The day after, Estel, you shall fast. That night, the one who will guide you will be here, and then will shall build the special place where you will be cured."
I watch the people and listen to the instructions which are being handed out, work being divided up. A small house. A large pile of stones and enough wood to last. Buckets of water. Herbs.
They will sweat my boy, sweat him until he is well again, until his spirit is clean and his body is ready to take back its strength. How long will it take? That is all I can consider for a moment, until Estel returns me to the present.
"Will Elladan and Elrohir come here in time?" he asks. "And are you going to be here too?"
"Yes. We will be here. I have already sent word. Don't worry, Estel – all will go well, you will see."
But I wonder if my words are to reassure him or to reassure me.