The sorrow of a little heart
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this story.
Author's Note: This story contains heavy angst, child abuse and probable major character death.
Chapter Two
Dawn came finally and the birds started chirping happily welcoming the new day. Their beautiful singing rose the young boy who slept near the open window from his light slumber. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and stared outside at the golden rays of the sun as they started to chase the darkness of the night away. The young edain smiled softly, his young innocent eyes were admiring the change happened to the scenery when the mighty sun appeared proudly on the sky.
Young Estel stood on his shaky legs and went to the bathroom to relieve himself and wash his face, hands and teeth as he was strictly taught. Then he chose a cleat outfit from his wardrobe and changed his sleeping attire with the tunic and fitting leggings, he tried as much as a five years old child could master to comb his unruly brown strands. He checked himself in the mirror and he smiled proudly to himself, he managed to get ready for the new day without help from the ever scowling elf-maiden who used to help him get dressed. He hated her so much because she was always calling him with bad names, she was also deliberately or not grabbing him so hard while she was helping him out on putting on his clothes besides she was combing his hair roughly as if she wanted to tear all his strands out of his scalp.
The young child checked himself once more on the mirror then he marched towards the dinning room, he wanted to be there early so he could receive his first meal this day before he had to go studying with Lord Erestor in the library. He was the first one to arrive and he sat on his allocated chair patiently waiting for the other family members to join him.
The dark-haired elf Lord sighed in exasperation, he did not manage to sleep well last night. His thoughts kept swirling inside his head without any break. He was arguing with himself whether he was so harsh on the young human child the previous day but every time he felt that he would become softened towards the boy, the image of Isildur's grinning face when he refused to toss the one ring on the fires of the mount of doom reminded him of how the human race had fallen and tarnished their honor then his heart would swell with rage and loathing that kill any sympathy he might feel towards the young human.
The elf Lord tried so hard to neglect the fact that this child of human race but every time that the boy did something wrong, he would immediately reminded of the fact that mortal blood runs freely through his little veins tainting him forever.
Slowly the elf Lord made his way to his wardrobe to get dressed for the day then he marched leisurely towards the dinning area and he spotted the form of the young child sitting quietly on his chair. Every few seconds, the boy would look towards the kitchen as if he was prompting them to come quicker. When the little boy noticed the presence of the elf Lord, he jumped to his feet and bowed respectfully to the mighty elf. Elrond scrutinized the young figure carefully and noticed the tousled hair and the not too perfect way on his clothes, a deep frown appeared on his forehead then with clear commanding voice he called,
"Ellie...Ellie..." the sound of hurrying footsteps was heard and in no time a young elf-maid appeared in front of the lord, she bowed lowly towards her lord and he sternly questioned her,
"Could you explain why the boy was attending the breakfast with this sorry state of clothing?" the sharp blue eyes travelled to the form of the young boy and she sighed resignedly, she could clearly see the wrinkled tunic and leggings and the inexperienced way of doing the hair. She apologized sincerely and explained to the lord what happened,
"I went to Estel's room to help him get dressed as usual but I did not find him there and I was searching for him when your majesty called me." the hard grey eyes of the ancient lord left the quivering form of the young maid and fixed on the shaking form of the young child who was staring fearfully at the elf Lord waiting to be reprimanded harshly and be sent to his room once more.
"Do not ever again appear at my table dressed as a savage. You have to look immaculate as every member of the family appears. Am I understood?" the young boy nodded his head vigorously and murmured a soft "yes, my Lord". When the old elf felt satisfied with his response, he ordered the young maid to took the edain to his room and help him get dressed once more. The she-elf put her hand on the small hands of the young one and led him to his room.
Inside the room, she pushed him roughly and he landed hard on the floor, he wimpered pitifully as she manhandled him roughly. In few seconds, he was standing naked in the cold weather as the fire of the hearth was dead hours ago. She started to put new clothes on him while insulting him all the way until she finished. She sat on the young boy's bed and picked the comb from a drawer and started violently combing his tangled hair not caring at all to the pain she was inflicting on the young child. Few tear drops escaped the tightly shut blue-grey eyes as he was trying hard not to scream in agony. Few minutes later, his long brown hair was tightly tied into an elven style braids. After the long torture, he was finally permitted to join the breakfast.
When he arrived, he noticed that everyone was there and they started eating while chatting happily together. He sat quietly on his chair and started eating his breakfast, he only managed to swallow down few bites and he lost his appetite. He should be hungry because he was prevented from having his lunch and dinner the previous day but for some certain reason, he could not stomach more than few bites. The breakfast ended and all the elves went to start their duties. Estel also went to his room to bring his books, quill and ink so he could start his lessons with lord Erestor.
The young child knocked softly on the library's door where he was receiving his lessons and he was received permission to enter. He pushed the door open and greeted his tutor respectfully and he was ushered to sit on his usual place.
Erestor, the dark-haired stern tight-lipped advisor of lord of Imladris was one of the few elves that appreciated the presence of the young human. He liked the young boy because of his innocence, intelligence and his strong-will. He admired the sharp-witted mind of the young boy, he could not believe that a child so small could read fluently the complicated elven books without aid. He also excelled in mathematics, history, art and many other things. He was really proud of the young mortal although he did not tell anyone but he was really enjoying spending time with the boy.
Unfortunately, this day, the boy was not on his best form. He was distracted, and he kept rubbing in his eyes every few minutes. Upon closer examination, the elf noticed the unfocused gaze of the young boy and the strange paleness of his face so he automatically stretched his hand to touch the boy's forehead and he was startled when he found the boy was burning with severe fever. He told the young boy to stop his studies and ordered him firmly to go to his room and lay down on his bed. The young human obeyed his teacher without fussing and the dark-haired advisor went quickly to fetch his Lord to check the ailing child.
The shrewd advisor found his lord in discussion with Lord Glorfidel, the twins and some military captains about some plans to strengthen their defenses on the northern and southern borders. He hated listening to their absurd plans sometimes but he was wise enough not to comment. He approached his lord and cleared his throat loudly catching the attention of all the attendants. He paid no attention to anyone other than his lord and he addressed him urgently,
"My Lord, please, come with me and check on young Estel, he has a severe fever and I sent him to his room." a dark look appeared on the old healer's face before he replied in pure disdain,
"Go find any healer for him, why should you bother me with something trivial like that?" the dark-haired advisor stood dumbfounded, he was shocked that Elrond, his best friend would dismiss him and dismiss such important matter carelessly but soon anger replaced shock and he found himself glaring hatefully at his lord and he challenged bravely,
"You will regret your behaviors one day, Elrond but be ready because the consequences would not be that good." then the angry elf marched away to find another healer to ease the suffering of the child.
To be continued...
Author's Note: I am waiting your kind comments and opnions.