Trigger warning. Discussion of child abuse without detail.
"My lady." Haldir gasps softly and bows his head. She was the last person he expected to find in Dale. His heart began to heat harder in his chest. "Why are you here?"
"I have seen some unusual things when I peer into my mirror Haldir. Now tell me what as you looking so low." Her voice was soothing and gentle.
"Let us go somewhere else to speak my lady." He offered her his arm and she took it. Her slender arm sliding around his. He lead her off towards the garden. While it was still in ruin it was a more secluded place to talk.
They sat upon a bench among unkempt shrubbery and the fresh blossoms of spring flowers that sprang up like wild flowers. " I had little use for humans before coming here. Now I find myself caring for them deeply and often what I find is confusing and troubling. Tonight I tracked down stray children. Orphans that have been just trying to survive in the ruins. They preferring that to being helped. I just do not understand it."
She listened to him and smiled gently. "Haldir, the race of men have this inexplicable need for total freedom on their own terms. Where we elves, even the silvan elves have society and traditions rooted in 1000's of years of history that most of us have witnessed first hand. Humans are fragile and have such a short time to do everything they wish to. To us they often seem incorrigible and bound for self destruction. That is because of their frailty. However, they are no less important and no less deserving of love and kindness then we."
He nodded and inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. He trying to find a way to tell her about Hilda. "Now tell me about this fireth you have become enamored with." She said and he sat straight up and looked to her with wide eyes. "who told you?"
She chuckled softly. "No one Haldir. I saw it."
He looked down as he began to speak. "When I first saw her I was drawn to her in a way I can not explain. It was like I could not stay away from her. My fea just kept reaching out for her. Everything is so different my lady. I see elves, dwarves and human mingling together. Fighting together. Celebrating together and something inside me keeps telling me this is right." His voice cracked a bit as he finished speaking the emotion rising in his throat.
Galadriel smiles gently and lays her hand on his. "There is a sense of renewal in the world right now Haldir. Perhaps the mingling of the races is the natural course of things. I no longer feel the need to sail." Haldir found himself brazenly looking into her eyes. She smiled gently to him and squeezed his hand. "I can not pretend that I understand the Valar, not even half the time." She laughed softly. "Just know Haldir that as far back as I can remember, there had never been a child born of an ellon and a fireth. It has always been the other way around. "
She knew about the child. He felt himself tensing up. Not because she knew but because of what she was saying. A look of understanding then intense worry passed over his features and once he understood what she was saying she would silence him before he could speak.
"That is why I am here. She needs to be tended by both an elf and a human healer. Such a miraculous gift needs to be seen into fruition Haldir. I know the hour is late but We need to see her now." With that Galadirel rose elegantly to her feet once more and Haldir rose feeling like his breath had been stolen.
"We My lady, who is we?"
Bertha had returned to Dale to help with the many daily tasks that needed to be done. No she could not build a house but she could feed those that did. Bertha was short by human standards. Yet she was tall by dwarven standards and the elves where all like giants to her. Hilda watched her herd all of these children like an expert. She had them scrubbed up well enough for them to have a meal in no time.
Hilda sat down with pebble on her lap. She was spooning small bites of the porridge into the baby's mouth. Which most of it ended up on the child's face. The two women kept their words to cheerful happy ones and in a tone that would make these children feel safe and welcome. Though in their minds they were angry and deeply saddened.
For the most part the children were docile and quiet. Which was not normal but with everything they had been through, who could blame them. It was Burt that bore the look of anger. Though he was keeping himself quiet for the sake of the others.
"I am looking for Hilda." The voice was masculine but had this soothing quality to it. Hilda looked over towards the door to see a quite elegant looking elf. His hair like a river of ink shimming in a stream down over one shoulder. Under the lamp light there even seemed to be a blue hue to it. His eyes like well polished silver. Which were now boring into her making her gasp softly.
"I.. I" Hilda just for the moment a bit lost for words and just sat there with her arms wrapped around Pebble.
"Oi Lad that is Hilda there." Bertha eyed this stranger with suspicion then shifted her gaze to Hilda. The children all stopped eating as well and looked.
Hilda winced and exhaled a breath she had not even known she was holding. She would need to educate Bertha on elf ages later. She then began to rise and he stopped her. "Please Hilda, there is no need, please continue to feed the wee one." He said with a smile and looked to the children. "Isn't it a little rude for you to be given such a nice meal then stop eating it to stare?" He gentle rebuked them and they all lowered their gazes and went back to eating.
He pulled one of the chairs closer and sat down near Hilda and Pebble and he smiled at the baby who with a porridge covered face as looking at him with a wide smile and cooed at him. Without taking his eyes off the baby he spoke to her. "I am Ro-laurë, I arrived with Lady Galadriel this evening and I was told there were several children that needed to be checked on. I am guessing this is one of them here." He was motioning to Pebble.
"Excuse me." The woman that walked in suddenly said. "Laurë, I have been looking everywhere for you. Why do you always do that? Just disappear in the middle of a conversation?" She seemed rather frustrated as she gathered her thick brown hair up and began to tie it back with a red ribbon. Before he could even answer she was introducing herself to everyone. "Hi there everyone. I am Harvelle, it is really nice to meet you all and I am looking forward to getting to know each of your names."
She glanced to the elf then went right into getting to know the children. Ro-laurë watched the tornado he called his apprentice do what she did best. "Harvelle is my apprentice. She is an expert on human medicine and looks to become an expert on elvish medicine. She is quite ambitious as you can see. I apologize for her behavior."
"oh hush Laurë." She glanced over her shoulder at him briefly.
Hilda had to admit this woman had a way of putting the children at total ease while the elf exuded this aura of calm that made her just want to sit there and relax in his presence.
"We will need to given them an exam and get started on preparing their treatments." He spoke so softly that Hilda was surprised she could hear him so clearly and Harvelle kept the children so distracted that they paid no attention to the now boring elf.
Hilda nodded gently. "Some of them may not be too comfortable with being looked at too closely." She now spoke in a hushed tone.
"Do not worry. We have ways of making this not be traumatic at all for them." He smiled at the baby on her lap and he took a cloth from the table and began to clean her face. "I have not treated many human children. It is usually the horrors of war that I see. It is nice to have such adorable patients for a change."
He finished up and looked to Hilda. "You and I will have a different conversation later." His hand pat her shoulder reassuringly as he rose and approached Harvelle. He spoke softly with her and then she made the introductions.
Haldir arrived a short time later and lingered in the door way. A frown on his lips as he looked on the healer his lady had brought along. Then his eyes drifted down to see Hilda gently rocking Pebble and the baby slept against her breast. He could not help but smile seeing this and for the time being his thoughts about Ro-laurë were forgotten. He did not move, not until Hilda noticed him and gave him one of the prettiest smiles. He finally stepped closer and lowered down to sit beside her and the baby.
"Haldir, you didn't even say hello." He blinked and looked to Harvelle who was standing near and smiling down on him. "Apologies Harvelle." He said softly and bit back biting words. Though none of them were for her. She only smiled and spoke to Hilda.
"Hilda, is there a space we could use to give the children a check up?" Hilda nods and gets to her feet with the baby in her arms. She walked out of the kitchen with Harvelle and Bertha was getting the kids to finish up their meals.
Ro-laurë slowly walked over to Haldir and sat down in the seat Hilda had just been occupying and crossed his long elegant legs. His hands folded together and lay in his lap. "I can sense you are not pleased to see me Haldir." He smiled then. A wide toothy smile. "What pleases me has little to do with much at all Ro-laurë. Now if you will excuse me." Haldir rose up then and began to leave when Ro-laurë spoke up again. "I will need to see you and Hilda in the morning. I am sure you know why."
Haldir stopped mid step and looked to the smiling face of this very old elf and decided to say nothing and curtly nodded instead before stepping out into the hall.
Hilda was asked to attend the examination of the children. She brought Haldir with her. Bertha entertained the children down the hall as the first to be looked over was Pebble. Harvelle lead the exam with Ro-laurë assisting. The naked baby giggled and smiled at the old elf who seemed to have a knack with babies.
Harvelle looked to Hilda and sighed. "This child should be more developed for her age. Are you sure this child is a whole year old?" Hilda looked down for a moment. " Truth is I am not sure. I don't think the other children are either." Harvelle stepped closer to Hilda and pressed her fingers under the curve of her chin and tilted her head up. "You couldn't help the circumstances before but you can now. Do not feel guilt Hilda." With that she turned about and found the baby already dressed and being fawned over by Ro-laurë.
"All this child needs it love and food. She has a lot of catching up to do and let us pray that she does not have any ill effects from her malnutrition." She lifted the rather happy baby into her arms and then passed her to Hilda. "Bring in the next."
Hilda shuffled the baby out of the room and came back with Toby. His dirty blonde hair smoothed to the side out of his eyes. Hilda saw hair cuts being done in the near future. Toby who had given them the evil eye for hours earlier now looked wide eyed and frightened at the healers. "This is Toby, he is 11 years old." Hilda gently held his shoulders and he pushed back against her.
"it's going to be just fine Toby." Hilda leaned down and spoke gently to him. "This is Harvelle and this is Ro-laurë." She introduced him to the healers. "Is this your first time to see a healer?" Toby nodded and swallowed hard.
Ro-laurë's eyes met Toby's when he finally looked up and the elf held the child's gaze and soon held him in sway. "Hello Toby, There is no reason to be afraid. Harvelle and I only want to make sure you are healthy so you can grow up to be strong." Toby nodded and Hilda blinked and looked between the elf and the child.
Haldir set his jaw and looked out the window into the night streets of the ruined city. He understood why Ro-laurë was doing this but watching it always made him feel uneasy. To him this was an unnatural gift.
Toby walked towards Ro-laurë with no fear and entranced. "We do this only when the children are traumatized. He will only remember this as being pleasant." Harvelle explained softly to Hilda then turned around to begin the examination of Toby.
Toby was of course malnourished and small for his age. The moment he disrobed the evidence of the kind of life Toby had lead was riddled over his youthful flesh. Last marks on his back long healed. Other scars over his chest and thighs. "losta-ar-ôl ar-naeg losta-mi îdh" Haldir heard the words whispered to Toby and the child immediately went limp in Harvelle's arms.
Haldir reached out and grabbed Hilda's hand and pulled her back next to him. She was tense and the uneasy feeling she had was felt by him as well. Toby was lain down on a table and they began to look him over throughly. The two healers whispered to each other in elvish and she felt Haldir's hand squeeze hers very tightly.
Ro-laurë began to dress the boy and Harvelle approached Hilda with a grave look in her eyes. "This child was," she paused then and shook her head. "abused in more ways than one." Hilda's hand pressed to her lips and she turned to Haldir and began to cry softly. Haldir looked then to Harvelle. "Write it all down. The state of each one and we will take it to Brand." She nodded and went back to her duty.
It took Hilda a few moments to recover and she did not wish the others to see her like this so she took a few moments in the adjacent room to recover. Toby was carried from the room by Harvelle. Leaving Haldir alone with Ro-laurë. "I do not hate men Haldir, I pity them. Could you imagine such things happening in Lorien?" Haldir glared at Ro-laurë. "You should think hard on your choice of mates." He said lowly and before Haldir could respond Harvelle was bringing Gwen into the room.
"Hi I am Gwen and I am 6 years old." She said brightly to Ro-laurë how smiled on the child with big blue eyes and dark curly brown hair. Ro-laurë crouched down in front of Gwen and smiled at you. "Hello again Gwen do you remember my name?" He asked . "Mmm you are Roland." She said unsure. "That is close enough wee one. " He chuckled and smoothed a curl behind her small ear. "you are very pretty." she tells the old elf who looks genuinely surprised by her observation. "Thank you wee one but the prettiest one in this room is you." This made the little girl giggle in delight and she threw her arms around The old elf's neck and hugged him. He was surprised but recovered quickly and hugged the small girl back.
"Yes I do need to think on my choices better." Haldir said with a little snark in his tone and a grin on his lips. Ro-laurë rose and took Gwens hand into his and gave Haldir a little nod. Hilda returned just as Gwen was being looked over. She only needed to be held enthralled by Ro-laurë and no sleep spell was needed. Gwen had not known the horrors Toby had. Though she was still malnourished. She was dressed and awake with a smile but would not leave Ro-laurë's side without the promise that he would tuck her in later.
Conal was next. He looked wide eyed and terrified. It was Harvelle that figured it out quickly. Conal was deaf. Hilda and Haldir bother gasped when she made the announcement. That explained why the boy was so quiet. Harvelle lowered down eye level with the boy and began to move her hands. He perked right up and moved his hands in response. Without looking up Harvelle spoke as her hands moved. "Conal is very educated for an 8 year old. As you can see he can speak you just have to know how to listen. This is hand language. Not many know it but Conal's family learned it and so did Conal. He can read and write too he says."
Conal was now totally relaxed. Ro-laurë knew the hand language was well and most of the conversation was in silence with Hilda and Haldir left watching. Conal was very willing to allow them to examine him and only used Ro-laurë gift when the examination was a bit more intimate. Conal was in the best condition of them all so far. He had been well taken care of and was only beginning to show the first signs of starvation.
Claressa was next. Hilda saw this girl as the one who was trying hard to be a mother for all of the younger ones. A role one so young should not have at such a young age. "Hello again Claressa." Harvelle said softly. "Haldir, Ro-laurë would you two mind stepping out for a bit?" Harvelle looked to them both. Both elves nodded and walked from the room leaving Claressa alone with the women.
Haldir leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Ro-laurë did the same across from him. "I understand why I was asked to leave but you? The great healer Ro-laurë leaves as well?" Haldir spoke lowly. "It is to make the girl feel more comfortable, she is an older child. Considering what we have learned tonight so far the possibilities are not good." Ro-laurë answered softly.
Haldir continued to look down the hall for several moments then shifted his gaze to Ro-laurë. "What you said earlier was uncalled for." He said in a low voice. Ro-laurë gave Haldir a half smile. "I stand by what I said March Warden. The Eldain are the most cruel and vile race next to the orc. Especially to their own." Haldir was about to lay into the healer but was cut off as he continued to speak. "That being said I have never not helped one that I could. I have never left a human to die in the muck on the battlefield if I could help it and I have even cared deeply for a few of them."
Now the door opened and the healer went silent as Hilda stepped into the hall. . "Lord Ro-laurë, Harvelle needs you." The healer nodded to Haldir then smiled to Hilda as he entered the room and closed the door.
Once they were alone in the hall Hilda practically fell into Haldir's arms. He held her close and felt her shake gently then he realized she was crying. He quickly lead her into an unused room and cupped her cheeks, making her look up at him. "What is it?"
"Claressa is pregnant." She said softly. This revelation made Haldir stiffen. "She refuses to say who but I feel like it's obvious."
Haldir growled. "Burt." With that he turned and began to leave and Hilda grabbed his wrist and held tight. "Haldir you need to calm down before you go confront him. He is just a child too." Haldir's body was tense and he was ready to spring at a moments notice, but Hilda drew him closer and held him. "You need to consider that these are two children who were in a terrible situation. Do you elves not seek comfort in the arms of each other?"
"Not as children." He whispered to her. She sighed and looked up to him. "Perhaps not but your children are not often in the middle of a war that is being fought on their doorstep." Haldir exhaled a deeply held breath and he felt some of the tension leaving him. "Remember Haldir we humans do not live as long as elves." She said and he finally lay his head down on her shoulder.