THE JOYS OF A BEARD

by Soledad

Disclaimer: Not mine, all Tolkien's, except the Mary Sue and the weird plot. Sue me, and you'll be given the Sue – pardon the really bad pun.

Rating: PG, for heavy political troubles and some searing passion.

Summary: The Fellowship is being chosen, and we learn a little about Trotter's ancestry.

Author's note: You thought you know who that mysterious Ranger is? Nah, you know nothing! Seriously, these ideas were developed (and later rejected) by the Great Maker himself. I'm not making them up!

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''If the Elves knew the joys of a beard, no dwarf would be safe.'' – Legolas, in ''A Diamond Between Wood and Stone'', the most poetic Legolas/Gimli story I've ever read. Written by Pythoness, may the Valar bless her.

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CHAPTER 5: A KING, LONG FORGOTTEN

A week after the betrothal ceremony Elrond summoned them to the place the Council had been held, for they still needed to discuss many things ere the companions of the Ring would have chosen. First Glóin was asked to tell some more details about the things the messengers of the Dark Lord were asking from the Dwarves, and Bilbo's old friend answered his questions in gracious lengths, making everyone fidget on their seats, including his own son, who was eager to leave and spend the rest of the day in the much more pleasurable company of his Elven lover.

''You have done well to come'', said Elrond when Glóin finally ran out of details. ''You will see that your trouble is only part of the troubles of others; and your hope will rise and fall with the fortunes of the Ring. Let us now hear the words of Prince Legolas of Mirkwood, for they are yet known to few.''

Legolas shot the Master of the House an uncomfortable look. ''I do not come'', he said, ''to add to all the accounts of gathering war and unrest, though Mirkwood is not spared, and the dark things that fled from it for a while are returning in such numbers that my people are hard put to it. But I am sent to bear tidings: they are not good, I fear; but how ill, others must judge. Smeagol that now is called Gollum has escaped.''

''What!'' cried Trotter in surprise. ''I judge that to be ill news, and you may mark my words: we shall regret this. How came the Wood-Elves to fail in their trust?''

''Not through lack of vigilance'', said Legolas, and his deep emerald eyes got a cold glint all of a sudden, ''but perhaps through overmuch kindness, and certainly through aid from elsewhither. He was guarded day and night; but hoping for his cure we had not the heart to keep him ever in dungeons beneath the ground.''

''You were less tender to me'', said Glóin with a flash of his eye, as ancient memories of his prison in the halls of the Elven-king were aroused.

''Now, now!'' said Gandalf. ''Do not interrupt!''

''That was a regrettable misunderstanding'', the Princess Andquesserien(1) whispered, and her shining eyes hung upon the broad face of the old Dwarf in an almost begging manner. Glóin mellowed at once, for who could have withstood those beautiful and innocent, pleading eyes, and bowed towards her gallantly.

Legolas swallowed uncomfortably and stole a look at his lover. Gimli gave him a barely visible shrug and a slight, encouraging nod, so the Prince went on and told the whole story of Gollum's escape, supported by small, lovely, commiserate sounds from his sister. 'Twas a rather lengthy tale, but Gimli minded not – though he was not truly interested in the tiding themselves, it gave him great pleasure to admire the perfect mouth of his lover and to wallow in pleasant daydreams about what he could do to that mouth, were they not in Elrond's council place, surrounded by people.

''We failed to recapture him'', Legolas admitted ashamedly, reaching the end of his tale. ''We came on his trail and that of some Orcs, and it seemed to plunge deep into Mirkwood going sooth or west; but ere long it escaped even our skill, nor dare we continue to hunt, for we were drawing near the Mountains of Mirkwood in the midst of the forest, and they are become evil, and we do not go that way.''

''Well, well!'' said Gandalf. ''He has got away, and we have no time or chance now to go after him again. Evidently the Enemy wants him. What for, we may discover in good time, or in bad time. I still had some hopes of curing him; but evidently he did not wish to be cured.''

''But now our tale goes far away and long ago'', said Elrond. ''In the days that followed the Elder Days after the Fall of Númenor the men of Westernesse came to the shores of the Great Lands, as is recorded still in history and in lore. Of their Kings Elendil was the chief, and his ships sailed up the great river which flows out of Wilderland and finds the Western Sea in the Bay of Ramathor(2). In the land about its lower course they established a realm; and his chief city was Osgiliath the Fort of Stars, through which the river flowed. But other strong places were set upon hills upon either side: Minas Ithil the Tower of the Rising Moon in the East, and Minas Anor the Tower of the Setting Sun in the West.''

Elrond paused and looked at Boromir, who was only listening with half an ear, for his burning eyes, once again, were upon the delicate face of the Elven princess, who looked strangely unhappy ever since her betrothal ceremony to Erestor. Were that you had been promised to me, the Man thought, I would chase away the sorrow from your fair brow, O noble Princess. But in the depths of his troubled heart he knew all too well that such exquisite creature would never look at a rough warrior like himself.

Elrond coughed pointedly to gain Boromir's attention, then he continued. ''And these cities were governed by the sons of Elendir: Ilmandur(3) and Anárion. But the sons of Elendil did not return from the war with Sauron, and only in Minas Anor was the lordship of the West maintained. There ruled the son of Anárion and his sons after him.''

''But as the world worsened and decayed Osgiliath fell into ruin, and the servants of Sauron took Minas Ithil, and it became a place of dread, and was called Minas Morgol, the Tower of Necromancy'', the Princess added sadly(4). ''And now as we have heard of the Prince of Ond(5), that once fair and great realm is being under siege of the wild men from the East… and yet, I am certain that there still has to be some hope having been sent to his people.''

Hearing this, Boromir could only look in awe, for he had not yet spoken of the true reason of his coming, and yet it seemed as if the Princess had read his mind like an open book. And so he told about the strange dream that had sent him on this quest, the dream and that peculiar riddle that no-one was able to solve, not even his father, the King of Ond, despite his great knowledge in ancient lore.

''But of these words none of us could understand anything, until we learnt after seeking far and wide that Imlad-rist was the name of a far northern dale, called by men in the North Rivendell, where Elrond the Half-Elven dwelt'', he ended his tale with a helpless shrug.

Yet the Princess Andquesserien smiled at her with a kindness that could have cleared up a cloudy day, and Boromir felt the burden of his heart being lifted for a while. ''But the rest shall now be made clear to you'', she said encouragingly.

Hearing her words(6). Trotter stood up. He drew forth his sword, and cast it upon a table before Boromir: in two pieces. ''Here is the Sword that was Broken, and I am the bearer.'

''But who are you and what have you or it to do with Minas Tirith?'' asked Boromir.

''He is Ingold son of Ingrim, descended in the right line from Ilmandur of Minas Ithil, son of Elendil'', the Princess said. ''He is tarkil, and one of the few now left of that people(7).''

''And the Men of Minas Tirith drove out my fathers'', said Ingold grimly. ''Is that not remembered, Boromir? The men of that town have never ceased to wage war on Sauron, but they have listened not seldom to counsels that came from him. In the days of Valandur they murmured against the Men of the West, and rose against them, and when they came back from battle with Sauron they refused them entry into the city. Then Valandur broke his sword before the city gates and went away north; and for long the heirs of Elendil dwelt at Osforod the Northburg in slowly waning glory and darkening days. But all the Northland has now long been waste; and all that are left of Elendil's folk few(8).''

Boromir could not answer at once, for 'twas true that the Men of Ond told a different story about the exile of Ilmandur's heirs, but as a royal Prince, he knew more than most people. Yet though he did descend from the younger line, Anárion's heir he felt himself not lesser a Man than Ingold was, and it angered him greatly that a mere Ranger, no matter whose blood was in his veins, dared to speak in such manner to him.

''What do the men of Minas Tirith want with me?'', Ingold asked in a low, menacing voice, for he had noticed the lustful looks the Prince of Ond gave the lovely Lady Andquesserien, and as someone who had often dwelt under Elrond's roof, he felt his duty to protect her from any harm. ''To return to aid them in the war and then reject me at the gates again?''

''They did not bid me to make any request'', said Boromir, glaring at him with open disgust, ''and asked only for the meaning of the words. Yet we are sorely pressed, and if Minas Tirith falls, and the land of Ond, a great region will fall under the Shadow.''

''Boromir is right, Ingold'', the Princess intervened gently. ''Regardless of the way his fathers have handled yours, you cannot leave the land of your ancestors fall under the Shadow. You have to go to Minas Tirith and help the King of Ond to protect his land.''

She looked deeply into his eyes, as if they were exchanging thoughts instead of mere looks, and truly, it seemed as if she had bespoken him mind-to-mind, for Trotter at once seemed to calm down, and he bowed slightly towards her in the fashion a knight would bow to the wishes of his lady.

''I will go'', he said(9). ''For the half-high(10) have indeed set forth, and the spoken days are near.''

At that, Boromir looked at Frodo and nodded with sudden understanding.

TBC

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End notes:

(1) Her name is ''Slutty She-Elf'', this time. And her line, of course, belonged originally to Gandalf.

(2) Belfalas in LOTR.

(3) Later: Isildur.

(4) Sure she would – I mean, jump into Elrond's words and steal his lines. Minas Morgol is, of course, Minas Morgul.

(5) No mistake. At one point, Boromir was considered to be the son of the King of Ond.

(6) Ummm… these were Trotter's words, actually. Oh, never mind. They could have been hers, after all.

(7) Ingold son of Ingrim was one of the many names Aragorn has worn during the early phases of the script (among others like Elfhelm, Elfstone and many more). Tarkil  was the early expression for Dúnadan – Tolkien variedly used it for both Aragorn and Boromir or for Aragorn only. Oh, and these lines originally were spoken by Elrond, of course.

(8) This early take on Aragorn's ancestry has the existence of Arnor as an equally strong North-kingdom out of consideration. Osforod is, of course, Fornost.

(9) Of course he did! After all, the Sue has spoken!

(10) The half-high are the halflings, of course. Called so by Tolkien in early drafts.