A/N: Alrighty, just answering a few questions and/or clearing up a few things, before we get started -
To Nev - Haven't read any Fielding, though I will now! Hah - Oh, didn't know I had any particular style, hmph. Interesting.
To Leggy's Sweetie - lol Very good!
To Minka - I love your reviews! The longer the better, so don't worry =P And, Yes! Of course I'll join the O.B. cult, where do I sign? (P.S. 'Ail' has been corrected, thanks!)
And To The Anonymous Little Genius Who Reviewed Only To Say Strobe Lights Didn't Exist in Middle Earth - Well, dearie, neither did Raumiwen, midnight masquerades, and marriages between two males, I'm sure - that's why this is an AU fic, ehem.
Disclaimers: I don't own squat! Not the characters and certainly nothing you would want if you chose to sue me! =P
Warnings: If you don't review, I won't continue writing? ;) All right, seriously - a bit of slash references, I suppose... and know that this is an AU!!! So...... um... blah.
And now on with the story...
**************************************************************************
The journey from Mirkwood back to Rivendell had been an exceedingly silent one for Estel and the twins. Not one word was spoken before they reached their own borders, at which time Elrohir finally ceased the ringing in their ears by firmly demanding that Estel explain his actions and words of earlier. Estel obliged without hesitation and began unfolding the little tale as swiftly as he could, for he did not want to prolong the deathly glances his brothers were shooting him.
There was no interruption to Estel's story while he was telling it, but when he had finished there was a small explosion of opposition from half his audience.
"You cannot court the Prince of Mirkwood!", Elrohir almost shouted,"His father would never allow it! Our father would never allow it! - "
"It's not as though I chose to fall in love with him!", Estel yelled back,"I cannot control my heart! The blasted thing has a mind of it's own, it would seem."
"Your heart has a brain now. Oh, that's wonderful. Then, perhaps it has a head too - that I could smack some sense into.", Elrohir sneered.
"Since when does love ever make sense?", was the reply from love-struck Romeo.
"Since when did love ever spring from hate?", Elrohir shot back.
"Stop this." Elladan intervened, bring his horse between the two bickering brothers. "There's no use in argueing over something that quite obviously cannot be changed. Stop - stop that!" Elrohir and Estel had begun making faces and gesturing obscenely to each other from behind Elladan's back. "Quit it! By the Valor, you two are brothers. Same blood, same father", but they didn't stop,"... same lack of maturity. All right! Enough!"
Sighing and rolling their eyes, Elrohir and Estel simultaneously stopped.
"Apologize.", Elladan commanded, grabbing both their horses by the hair and pulling them all to a halt.
"Sorry," mumbled Elrohir, and Estel did the same.
"Good. All right, then.", Elladan released their horses and they continued on,"We have to focus on the important things right now. I hate to sound horribly cliche, but you cannot change the past. So it is the future we must work at."
"Yes, of course", Estel agreed weakly.
"So, Estel, what do you intend to do now?"
"Haven't the slightest idea."
"Brilliant", muttered Elrohir.
"Well... I think we should tell father," Elladan said.
Estel scoffed ,"Certainly not. He would murder me! And that might put a damper on the wedding plans."
"I'd say so", Elrohir laughed.
"I'm not so sure", Elladan said.
"That the groom's death would ruin the wedding? Brother, have you never attended a marriage ceremony?", Elrohir again.
"Father would be angered at what we've done, I'm sure", Elldan continued, ignoring his twin,"But wouldn't a marriage between the kingdoms of Mirkwood and Rivendell -"
"Yes!", Elrohir chimed, catching on to his twins thoughts before Estel, as was the usual way."It would serve to strengthen and bring more stability to the flimsy alliance we've got now! There would be peace, whether Mirkwood's old monkey in a crown desires it or not!
"Right!", Elladan said smiling."Surely, Father would see this and be supportive of the peace that would result from such an event."
"Hm...I hadn't thought of that", Estel said, considering the idea.
Elrohir nodded and added,"And then, of course, you realize that both kingdoms will find out anyway. Wouldn't it be best to start out with our own more understanding father instead of that -"
"-That old monkey in a crown.", Estel finished, smiling,"Right. Well enough. Father shall know then."
~
Quite a while and several brotherly arguements later...
~
Sunlight shone from directly overhead onto the three young elves as they rode into Rivendell unnoticed - thankfully - and headed straight to their stables.
Under normal circumstances, the horses of the young elves would have been swiftly and with no further thought turned over to the care of the stable master and his assistants... However, this morning the sons of Elrond were more than happy to attend to their own neighing-modes-of-transporation alone. After politely turning away the horse-keepers, they pain-stakingly made sure their loyal steeds were well-fed, brushed (both hair and teeth, you realize), and shut away to rest for the remainder of the day.
Understand, that the despite their private assurances that the marriage they would speak to their father about might be better for the two elven kingdoms and that the situation would probably do more good than the initial thought revealed, there was still the matter of sneaking off and breaking rules and such to contend with from the ever law-abiding Lord of Rivendell; so - each one of the three young elves dreaded the inevitable meeting with their father.
But finally, after all forms of procrastination had been employed, there was only one thing left to do. Squaring his shoulders, throwing out his chest and gripping his will by its scrawny neck, Estel barked a gruff "Let's go" to his twin brothers, who nodded glumly, and they all soldiered off to find their father.
"He'll go for Estel first," Elrohir was saying to Elladan as they bravely marched up the to the library in their home, where they were told their father would be. Estel, unaware of their conversation, was just in front of them."So when he does, you slip out the door and I'll stand near the window- "
"-He's our father! Elrohir, we'll be fine", Elladan said as they reached the door of the library. Under his breath he mummbled,"I think."
"What!", his suddenly panic-stricken twin whispered sharply. The entered the library first, Estel, for some reason, was behind them now.
"Nothing. Hello, Father!" Elladan beamed broadly at the Lord Elrond, who was seated behind a great wooden desk; his face looking very grim above a disheveled pile of maps and various other parchments. Elrohir and Estel both gave a similiar greeting as the Lord smiled a bit weakly and rose from his seat.
"My sons!", he said, moving out and embracing the young ones lightly,"You look a little wild - out riding all morning?"
The three elves gathered around him glanced uneasily at each other.
"Well, ah, mostly...", Elladan answered. They each took their seats, as their father moved back behind his desk again.
The usual family small talk ensued, and the weather was briefly mentioned before throats were nervously cleared and Elrond caught onto the fact that his sons were meeting him for a specific reason. He waited for them to explain and sat silently, uninterrupting when the story finally spilled forth from his brood in intervals - Estel attempted to be the sole narrator of the recent happenings, but his explaination was periodically interjected upon from the twins who tried to fit in more innocent and less incriminating words or phrases of description.
When it was finally over, however, a most painful silence followed in which Elrohir tried to subtly gesture to his twin to make a mad dash for the door on the count of three and Estel smothered the instinct to beat them both to it and leap out the window.
Before any escapes could be ventured, however, Elrond grinned - a sight that rather alarmed the younger elves.
"This is a jest!", he announced capitally. He laughed, though it sounded slightly forced.
Estel looked at his brothers and then at the ground,"Not a jest, I'm afraid. This matter concerns no humor."
The Lord of Rivendell's lingering laughter died away, leaving a very weary frown on his weathererd face. He looked at each of his sons, down at his desk and then looked back up again.
"No." He said simply, shaking his head."No."
"Father," Estel began,"I realize the consequen-"
"No consequences." Elrond said strangely, and smiling a smile that could have passed for a grimace."No mischief, no crime, no folly - so... no consequences. You were never here, it never happened! This is merely the psychotic delusion of an elf burried too far beneath his work and stress. You may all go away now, my illusion-sons, I'll see all your real selves at dinner tonight." And with a startling amount of enthusiasm, he returned to the piles of parchments.
The twins gave each other worried looks.
Estel closed his eyes, sighed and tried again. "Look, I need your help here, Father. If not your help, then your support. I don't know how to go about this... And I know that I will be punished for my violations of Mirkwoods borders and requ-"
"More than just Mirkwoods borders and requests have been violated here," Elrond said dangerously quietly. It seemed he'd passed the stage of denial, and rather quickly, too, I might add. His tone became louder."The alliance, my boy. The alliance! The fragile, delicate, half-alliance we have with Mirkwood has been breached and shaken and I can only pray to Elbereth that the King of Mirkwood has not felt the tremors through your little Prince!"
"I don't think he would sa-"
"Of course he would!," Lord Elrond voiced almost frantically,"If only because he is too innocent to know any better, King Thranduil will know from his son of your presence and your... what you you were... O Dear Manwe..."
Elrond shut his eyes and began massaging his temples with two fingers, his expression pained. There was a moment of silence before Elladan said tenatively:
"Father... but do you not see the better part of this? A marriage uniting Mirkwood and Rivendell would very well strengthen the alliance-"
"King Thranduil would no more hang his under-leggings in the banquet halls of Loth-Lorien than give one of his sons, especially the one you speak of, to any of Rivendell." Elrond interrupted.
Estel furrowed his brows, curious,"Why? Why especially Legolas?"
His father sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Have you not noticed that the Third Prince of Mirkwood is never present at the inter-elven meetings? Never in attendance when everyone else, his brothers, parents, and even cousins are accounted for?"
"Of course", Elrohir said, suddenly interested and joining the living."Everyone wonders of the mysterious Prince, and why he is never seen outside of Mirkwood."
"Well, the reason for it is deliberate." Elrond explained."King Thranduil intentionally keeps his third son obscured from the public, though he does so without making the reason official."
"But what is this reason?"
"It would seem to me that...", Elrond paused and smiled again,"Well, rumors of Prince Legolas's beauty run amuck, I know, from those who've spotted the poor thing... so it would seem to me that King Thranduil is guarding his son ... from everyone - including royalty. He must favor this particular son of his to hide so muc-," he shook his head suddenly,"But this is all beside the point. How could the three of you be so brainless as to do all of this?"
His sons retreated, their glances fleeting again.
"In less than half a day you sneak and lie your way out of Rivendell against my wishes!You deceive the nobility of Mirkwood of your identities!You trespass upon the grounds of a kingdom we may very well be at war with soon", At this, Elladan quickly up at his father, who continued without pause,"You knife the ropes of the frail allied-bridge we have with the aforementioned kingdom and then you give away your would-be obscured presences to the son of the very mongel you should have steered clear of at all costs!"
Estel's gaze was locked on the floor; which happened to be a very popular bit of scenery at the moment because the twins seemed intent on it's inspection as well. All three were silent.
"Well?", The Lord of Rivendell demanded,"have I got it all or did you rob, murder and plunder on your way home as well?"
"Ah, Father..."
"Dear Manwe, I was only joking. Don't tell m-"
"No, of course not." Elladan said, flashing a smile. He continued."Did you just say... I mean, did I hear correctly the word... 'war'? And with Mirkwood? What do you mean by this?"
Lord Elrond leaned forward on his desk, placing his elbows on the surface and folding his hands together under his chin. He gazed at his sons for a while, as though sizing them up and they squirmed beneath his intense stare. Abruptly, he broke it off and sighed.
"This was supposed to be kept from the public for the time being," Elrond said,"Until we could gather enough evidence to support our claims, but I suppose... since you are my sons and are to be in positions of great power, very soon, you might be better served with this knowledge now."
His children shifted in their seats. Elrohir asked,"What is it, Father?"
Elrond took a breath and began,"Over the past few days, we've been receiving reports from our... contacts... in Mirkwood that the King is planning to gain the use of a substantial peice of land that would give his kingdom greater resources than Rivendell could compete with, as well as an advantage in battle, should he choose to war against us. This was only slightly alarming at the time, but then... Ah, well... and then two days ago, another message came through from Mirkwood telling us that King Thranduil was nearing the end of negotiations for the permission of Mirkwoods employement of the aforementioned property."
The Lord Elrond paused a moment to let this sink in, before he continued, dropping the bomb that would explode and leave his sons aghast.
"My sons, yesterday, late in the afternoon, one last message was received; it's report confirming our ... so-called 'wild suspicions'.", he told them,"The report says that the King of Mirkwood does, indeed, plan to war with Rivendell at the acquisition of that land."
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Now, wasn't that the biggest load of crap you've ever read? (Don't answer that. I'm just way too sensitive!)
The first draft was sooo much better... stupid computer formating shenanigans.
Anyhoo! A bit of a poll thing here:
~~~ How Many Of You Would Mind If I Slaughtered Our Two Lovebirds In The End??~~~~
**************************************************************************
p.s. yes, i realize it would have taken estel and the twins much longer to get from mirkwood to rivendell, but... just humor me, okay? :)
To Nev - Haven't read any Fielding, though I will now! Hah - Oh, didn't know I had any particular style, hmph. Interesting.
To Leggy's Sweetie - lol Very good!
To Minka - I love your reviews! The longer the better, so don't worry =P And, Yes! Of course I'll join the O.B. cult, where do I sign? (P.S. 'Ail' has been corrected, thanks!)
And To The Anonymous Little Genius Who Reviewed Only To Say Strobe Lights Didn't Exist in Middle Earth - Well, dearie, neither did Raumiwen, midnight masquerades, and marriages between two males, I'm sure - that's why this is an AU fic, ehem.
Disclaimers: I don't own squat! Not the characters and certainly nothing you would want if you chose to sue me! =P
Warnings: If you don't review, I won't continue writing? ;) All right, seriously - a bit of slash references, I suppose... and know that this is an AU!!! So...... um... blah.
And now on with the story...
**************************************************************************
The journey from Mirkwood back to Rivendell had been an exceedingly silent one for Estel and the twins. Not one word was spoken before they reached their own borders, at which time Elrohir finally ceased the ringing in their ears by firmly demanding that Estel explain his actions and words of earlier. Estel obliged without hesitation and began unfolding the little tale as swiftly as he could, for he did not want to prolong the deathly glances his brothers were shooting him.
There was no interruption to Estel's story while he was telling it, but when he had finished there was a small explosion of opposition from half his audience.
"You cannot court the Prince of Mirkwood!", Elrohir almost shouted,"His father would never allow it! Our father would never allow it! - "
"It's not as though I chose to fall in love with him!", Estel yelled back,"I cannot control my heart! The blasted thing has a mind of it's own, it would seem."
"Your heart has a brain now. Oh, that's wonderful. Then, perhaps it has a head too - that I could smack some sense into.", Elrohir sneered.
"Since when does love ever make sense?", was the reply from love-struck Romeo.
"Since when did love ever spring from hate?", Elrohir shot back.
"Stop this." Elladan intervened, bring his horse between the two bickering brothers. "There's no use in argueing over something that quite obviously cannot be changed. Stop - stop that!" Elrohir and Estel had begun making faces and gesturing obscenely to each other from behind Elladan's back. "Quit it! By the Valor, you two are brothers. Same blood, same father", but they didn't stop,"... same lack of maturity. All right! Enough!"
Sighing and rolling their eyes, Elrohir and Estel simultaneously stopped.
"Apologize.", Elladan commanded, grabbing both their horses by the hair and pulling them all to a halt.
"Sorry," mumbled Elrohir, and Estel did the same.
"Good. All right, then.", Elladan released their horses and they continued on,"We have to focus on the important things right now. I hate to sound horribly cliche, but you cannot change the past. So it is the future we must work at."
"Yes, of course", Estel agreed weakly.
"So, Estel, what do you intend to do now?"
"Haven't the slightest idea."
"Brilliant", muttered Elrohir.
"Well... I think we should tell father," Elladan said.
Estel scoffed ,"Certainly not. He would murder me! And that might put a damper on the wedding plans."
"I'd say so", Elrohir laughed.
"I'm not so sure", Elladan said.
"That the groom's death would ruin the wedding? Brother, have you never attended a marriage ceremony?", Elrohir again.
"Father would be angered at what we've done, I'm sure", Elldan continued, ignoring his twin,"But wouldn't a marriage between the kingdoms of Mirkwood and Rivendell -"
"Yes!", Elrohir chimed, catching on to his twins thoughts before Estel, as was the usual way."It would serve to strengthen and bring more stability to the flimsy alliance we've got now! There would be peace, whether Mirkwood's old monkey in a crown desires it or not!
"Right!", Elladan said smiling."Surely, Father would see this and be supportive of the peace that would result from such an event."
"Hm...I hadn't thought of that", Estel said, considering the idea.
Elrohir nodded and added,"And then, of course, you realize that both kingdoms will find out anyway. Wouldn't it be best to start out with our own more understanding father instead of that -"
"-That old monkey in a crown.", Estel finished, smiling,"Right. Well enough. Father shall know then."
~
Quite a while and several brotherly arguements later...
~
Sunlight shone from directly overhead onto the three young elves as they rode into Rivendell unnoticed - thankfully - and headed straight to their stables.
Under normal circumstances, the horses of the young elves would have been swiftly and with no further thought turned over to the care of the stable master and his assistants... However, this morning the sons of Elrond were more than happy to attend to their own neighing-modes-of-transporation alone. After politely turning away the horse-keepers, they pain-stakingly made sure their loyal steeds were well-fed, brushed (both hair and teeth, you realize), and shut away to rest for the remainder of the day.
Understand, that the despite their private assurances that the marriage they would speak to their father about might be better for the two elven kingdoms and that the situation would probably do more good than the initial thought revealed, there was still the matter of sneaking off and breaking rules and such to contend with from the ever law-abiding Lord of Rivendell; so - each one of the three young elves dreaded the inevitable meeting with their father.
But finally, after all forms of procrastination had been employed, there was only one thing left to do. Squaring his shoulders, throwing out his chest and gripping his will by its scrawny neck, Estel barked a gruff "Let's go" to his twin brothers, who nodded glumly, and they all soldiered off to find their father.
"He'll go for Estel first," Elrohir was saying to Elladan as they bravely marched up the to the library in their home, where they were told their father would be. Estel, unaware of their conversation, was just in front of them."So when he does, you slip out the door and I'll stand near the window- "
"-He's our father! Elrohir, we'll be fine", Elladan said as they reached the door of the library. Under his breath he mummbled,"I think."
"What!", his suddenly panic-stricken twin whispered sharply. The entered the library first, Estel, for some reason, was behind them now.
"Nothing. Hello, Father!" Elladan beamed broadly at the Lord Elrond, who was seated behind a great wooden desk; his face looking very grim above a disheveled pile of maps and various other parchments. Elrohir and Estel both gave a similiar greeting as the Lord smiled a bit weakly and rose from his seat.
"My sons!", he said, moving out and embracing the young ones lightly,"You look a little wild - out riding all morning?"
The three elves gathered around him glanced uneasily at each other.
"Well, ah, mostly...", Elladan answered. They each took their seats, as their father moved back behind his desk again.
The usual family small talk ensued, and the weather was briefly mentioned before throats were nervously cleared and Elrond caught onto the fact that his sons were meeting him for a specific reason. He waited for them to explain and sat silently, uninterrupting when the story finally spilled forth from his brood in intervals - Estel attempted to be the sole narrator of the recent happenings, but his explaination was periodically interjected upon from the twins who tried to fit in more innocent and less incriminating words or phrases of description.
When it was finally over, however, a most painful silence followed in which Elrohir tried to subtly gesture to his twin to make a mad dash for the door on the count of three and Estel smothered the instinct to beat them both to it and leap out the window.
Before any escapes could be ventured, however, Elrond grinned - a sight that rather alarmed the younger elves.
"This is a jest!", he announced capitally. He laughed, though it sounded slightly forced.
Estel looked at his brothers and then at the ground,"Not a jest, I'm afraid. This matter concerns no humor."
The Lord of Rivendell's lingering laughter died away, leaving a very weary frown on his weathererd face. He looked at each of his sons, down at his desk and then looked back up again.
"No." He said simply, shaking his head."No."
"Father," Estel began,"I realize the consequen-"
"No consequences." Elrond said strangely, and smiling a smile that could have passed for a grimace."No mischief, no crime, no folly - so... no consequences. You were never here, it never happened! This is merely the psychotic delusion of an elf burried too far beneath his work and stress. You may all go away now, my illusion-sons, I'll see all your real selves at dinner tonight." And with a startling amount of enthusiasm, he returned to the piles of parchments.
The twins gave each other worried looks.
Estel closed his eyes, sighed and tried again. "Look, I need your help here, Father. If not your help, then your support. I don't know how to go about this... And I know that I will be punished for my violations of Mirkwoods borders and requ-"
"More than just Mirkwoods borders and requests have been violated here," Elrond said dangerously quietly. It seemed he'd passed the stage of denial, and rather quickly, too, I might add. His tone became louder."The alliance, my boy. The alliance! The fragile, delicate, half-alliance we have with Mirkwood has been breached and shaken and I can only pray to Elbereth that the King of Mirkwood has not felt the tremors through your little Prince!"
"I don't think he would sa-"
"Of course he would!," Lord Elrond voiced almost frantically,"If only because he is too innocent to know any better, King Thranduil will know from his son of your presence and your... what you you were... O Dear Manwe..."
Elrond shut his eyes and began massaging his temples with two fingers, his expression pained. There was a moment of silence before Elladan said tenatively:
"Father... but do you not see the better part of this? A marriage uniting Mirkwood and Rivendell would very well strengthen the alliance-"
"King Thranduil would no more hang his under-leggings in the banquet halls of Loth-Lorien than give one of his sons, especially the one you speak of, to any of Rivendell." Elrond interrupted.
Estel furrowed his brows, curious,"Why? Why especially Legolas?"
His father sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Have you not noticed that the Third Prince of Mirkwood is never present at the inter-elven meetings? Never in attendance when everyone else, his brothers, parents, and even cousins are accounted for?"
"Of course", Elrohir said, suddenly interested and joining the living."Everyone wonders of the mysterious Prince, and why he is never seen outside of Mirkwood."
"Well, the reason for it is deliberate." Elrond explained."King Thranduil intentionally keeps his third son obscured from the public, though he does so without making the reason official."
"But what is this reason?"
"It would seem to me that...", Elrond paused and smiled again,"Well, rumors of Prince Legolas's beauty run amuck, I know, from those who've spotted the poor thing... so it would seem to me that King Thranduil is guarding his son ... from everyone - including royalty. He must favor this particular son of his to hide so muc-," he shook his head suddenly,"But this is all beside the point. How could the three of you be so brainless as to do all of this?"
His sons retreated, their glances fleeting again.
"In less than half a day you sneak and lie your way out of Rivendell against my wishes!You deceive the nobility of Mirkwood of your identities!You trespass upon the grounds of a kingdom we may very well be at war with soon", At this, Elladan quickly up at his father, who continued without pause,"You knife the ropes of the frail allied-bridge we have with the aforementioned kingdom and then you give away your would-be obscured presences to the son of the very mongel you should have steered clear of at all costs!"
Estel's gaze was locked on the floor; which happened to be a very popular bit of scenery at the moment because the twins seemed intent on it's inspection as well. All three were silent.
"Well?", The Lord of Rivendell demanded,"have I got it all or did you rob, murder and plunder on your way home as well?"
"Ah, Father..."
"Dear Manwe, I was only joking. Don't tell m-"
"No, of course not." Elladan said, flashing a smile. He continued."Did you just say... I mean, did I hear correctly the word... 'war'? And with Mirkwood? What do you mean by this?"
Lord Elrond leaned forward on his desk, placing his elbows on the surface and folding his hands together under his chin. He gazed at his sons for a while, as though sizing them up and they squirmed beneath his intense stare. Abruptly, he broke it off and sighed.
"This was supposed to be kept from the public for the time being," Elrond said,"Until we could gather enough evidence to support our claims, but I suppose... since you are my sons and are to be in positions of great power, very soon, you might be better served with this knowledge now."
His children shifted in their seats. Elrohir asked,"What is it, Father?"
Elrond took a breath and began,"Over the past few days, we've been receiving reports from our... contacts... in Mirkwood that the King is planning to gain the use of a substantial peice of land that would give his kingdom greater resources than Rivendell could compete with, as well as an advantage in battle, should he choose to war against us. This was only slightly alarming at the time, but then... Ah, well... and then two days ago, another message came through from Mirkwood telling us that King Thranduil was nearing the end of negotiations for the permission of Mirkwoods employement of the aforementioned property."
The Lord Elrond paused a moment to let this sink in, before he continued, dropping the bomb that would explode and leave his sons aghast.
"My sons, yesterday, late in the afternoon, one last message was received; it's report confirming our ... so-called 'wild suspicions'.", he told them,"The report says that the King of Mirkwood does, indeed, plan to war with Rivendell at the acquisition of that land."
**************************************************************************
Now, wasn't that the biggest load of crap you've ever read? (Don't answer that. I'm just way too sensitive!)
The first draft was sooo much better... stupid computer formating shenanigans.
Anyhoo! A bit of a poll thing here:
~~~ How Many Of You Would Mind If I Slaughtered Our Two Lovebirds In The End??~~~~
**************************************************************************
p.s. yes, i realize it would have taken estel and the twins much longer to get from mirkwood to rivendell, but... just humor me, okay? :)