Babysitting

It was hard to avoid situations where it became more clear that Rûsa did not act like a normal Elfling. The Elves living here in Formenos was used to his behavior, as it was not uncommon with reborn Elves there, but those from outside the Fëanorian city tended to be a little more skeptical.

Like today, when there was a group of ambassadors from Tirion visiting.

"That boy is not normal…"

Maedhros felt angry and insulted over the badly hidden whispers, it was not her son's fault that he was as he was. Besides, Rûsa had just gotten stuck by one of the rare times a illness could strike a reborn Elf, for those reborn as Elflings tended to sometimes have a less strong immune system. This time he had a sore throat and tried to speak as little as he could.

"Ehm. Are we here for a trade agreement between Tirion and Formenos or proving ourselves to be bad guests?" a feminine voice snapped at the other Elves. It was Finduilas, who had arrived there together with her husband Gwindor. The daughter of Orodreth had never been a passive wallflower, and she had not changed that part of her personality even after rebirth.

"Thank you for helping them remember their duties, my fellow princess," Maedhros addressed Finduilas at once.

Once the other ambassadors had left, with not a so little hurt egos over that they had not managed to do whatever they had planned, the younger couple's attention fell on the youngest grandson to the Noldorin Crown prince.

"Pardon me, princess Maedhros, but is Rûsa a little more inactive than when we last saw you in Tirion?" Gwindor wondered carefully.

"As fellow reborn Elves, you should know that the new bodies can act strange at times," was all Maedhros could say.

"Oh. His throat? I may have something for a soothing soup then…"

She began digging in a smaller bag among her packing. Although Finduilas had rarely tended to human allies and their illnesses, she had learned a few things from her parents about things that could help with a raw throat.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

The next day, Rûsa was at the central fountain. While it could not be called babysitting exactly, Finduilas and Gwindor had also came there.

"I am glad that the soup seems to help a bit," Finduilas smiled as the Elfling accepted another bowl of the herbal soup that she had been boiling inside a small cauldron which could be carried from the handle. Gwindor and Rûsa had bonded over a noughts and crosses, playing around with some pieces of coal to draw on the marble stones around the fountain.

Of course the pleasant mood had to be broken by unwelcome people:

"A child with no known father should not be part of the royal succession. Not when born to a mother with tainted hands."

Finduilas silently handed the cauldron to Gwindor, who did not seem that much surprised by what she intended.

"Keep giving Rûsa the soup for me, will you, honey?"

Gwindor was indeed not surprised when Finduilas started a open fist-fight in the square, the other ambassadors getting a reminder that Maedhros was not the only Noldorin princess who had been training in weapons although Finduilas had mostly been leading the defense of Nargothrond for her father and uncle since she was a only child and there was no back-up heir after her.

"Shame that my sweet warrior flower never got a chance to show her skills in the battlefield," was all Gwindor commented at the sight of the fight as Rûsa loudly slurped of the soup.

When Maedhros showed up to see what all the noise was about, she simply smiled and thanked Finduilas for being a good babysitter and defending her son from unpleasant talk.