This is the second half of "The Eagle". It is best to read the previous
chapter first. If you add up the length of these two sections you can see
why I had to divide it! This half begins with Elrond and Elrohir practising
archery.
"Come Elrohir, it is time to go back!"
Elrohir skipped towards him, holding the arrows he had just plucked from the target. He put nine of them back in their quiver, but kept one out. Elrond raised his eyebrows.
"This is my special arrow Ada," Elrohir stroked it proudly, "When I hit the middle it was this arrow, and when I came closest in my training group it was this arrow!"
Elrond laughed, ruffling his son's hair. He took the weapons from Elrohir, being careful to keep the special arrow separate.
"Elrohir, could you do me a favour?"
"Yes Ada?" Elrohir looked up importantly. Favours usually involved breaking the news that his Ada was taking time off to be with his Ammë to an irritable Erestor.
"Could you run and find Glorfindel and tell him to come and meet me this evening?"
"Yes Ada!" Elrohir sprinted off obediently. Glorfindel was not unknown to give sweets to small elves that ran errands.
"He's a good little archer," one of the other fathers said, nodding in his direction, "He's got a good eye".
"I know." Elrond said, hoping he didn't sound too proud or smug.
~*~
Elrohir rapped gently on the carved wooden door to Glorfindel's study. He had barely stepped back when the door opened and Glorfindel and Erestor swept out. Glorfindel looked down at the child.
"I will be back in a minute Elrohir, go in and wait."
Elrohir tiptoed in, a little overawed by the peacefulness of the room. It was smaller than his father's study, and contained a large desk and several bookcases. It also contained a large leather padded chair.
Elrohir licked his lips, looking around to see if anyone was watching. There was not. He tiptoed to the chair and scrambled onto it, almost immediately lost in its depths. This was a chair for a leader. Elrohir sat back, looking out of the window above the desk, feeling powerful.
"Elrohir," Glorfindel was back in the room, seeing the small feet dangling from his chair before Elrohir could scramble out, "Did your father send you?"
Elrohir dropped to the ground blushing. Glorfindel smiled.
"The chair is comfortable is it not? When I sit in it I feel like a king."
Elrohir gaped at Glorfindel, wondering how he had read his thoughts. Glorfindel laughed, turning his back on the child as he reached for a book.
"Oh! Ada said that I was to say that you were to come and meet him this evening," Elrohir suddenly remembered his message. In the pause whilst Glorfindel made sense of this something else caught his eye, "What is that?"
Elrohir was pointing to a green glass paperweight on Glorfindel's desk. It was in the shape of a swooping eagle, and catching the sunlight it appeared to have some internal glow.
"It is a paperweight. A friend gave it to me long ago." Glorfindel looked up from his books and carefully handed the paperweight to Elrohir.
"Before I was born?" Elrohir asked, turning the heavy object over in his hands, admiring every angle.
Glorfindel suddenly smiled broadly as if laughing at some joke that Elrohir didn't understand.
"Oh yes, before you were born," he agreed as he moved to fetch another book, "Elrohir can you come and hold this for me?"
As Elrohir hurried across the room to Glorfindel's aid he stumbled slightly. The eagle flew out of his cupped hands and hit the floor, smashing into millions of tiny pieces. Glorfindel looked at the devastation and the shocked child standing among the broken fragments and closed his eyes in dismay.
"Oh Elrohir," Glorfindel said at last, his voice rather wooden, trying to hide his pain.
Elrohir looked up at his tutor still rather shocked at what had happened. He swallowed twice in an attempt to control himself before bursting into a storm of tears.
"Oh Glorfindel I did not mean to!" Elrohir wailed, tears rolling off his face and falling to the ground. He sounded - and was - completely heartbroken.
Glorfindel stepped carefully through the broken glass and picked up Elrohir. He carried him to the chair and sat down, holding the child to his chest. Devastated though he was, Elrohir's pain was intense and he needed reassurance now.
"It was an accident Elrohir; do not worry," Glorfindel rocked the child gently, trying to calm him.
"But it is broken," Elrohir dissolved into a fresh stream of tears.
"It was only an ornament, it does not matter." Glorfindel felt justified in the little white lie. Elrohir however did not fall for it. He slipped out of Glorfindel's grasp and ran to the door.
"I am sorry. I am sorry Glorfindel," Elrohir repeated needlessly.
Glorfindel set to clearing up the broken glass. He wished that he, like Elrohir, were still young enough to dissolve into tears over the loss. However, precious though the trinket had been, he would have gladly given it to spare Elrohir the guilt and pain.
~*~
It was late evening in Imladris by now. Flickering torches lit the terraces and courtyards and little groups of elves gathered on the balconies to talk before proceeding to dinner. Celebrian sat on her bed, watching the moths fluttering around the bright window, as her husband dressed for dinner.
Eventually the splashing in the bathroom stopped and her husband emerged, now dressed in a long blue and silver gown. Fetching a brush off the table, he sat down on the bed beside his wife to tidy his hair.
"Let me, Peredhil" Celebrian brushed her fingers over his, taking the brush and smoothing the damp hair away from his eyes. She worked in silence for a while, but then a playful smile lit up her face.
"Do you know what I am thinking?" her voice was teasing, laughing at her joke.
"I do not," Elrond replied. He had a fair idea, but when Celebrian's voice took that tone you could never really be sure.
"Guess," she challenged, her fingers working deftly on his braids.
"I will not," he tried to turn to see her expression but she did not allow him to.
"You have extraordinarily tangled hair!" Finished, she climbed off the bed, smoothing her skirt. Sometimes, Elrond thought as he watched her look in the mirror, she looked as vulnerable as a child.
"You look beautiful," Elrond stood and took her arm, leading her to the door.
Celebrian's face lit up with pleasure. She slipped a hand into his, weaving her fingers in-between his larger ones.
"Did you know that I love you?"
The laughing tone had returned. She needed no answer. She already knew.
~*~
Elrohir was sitting in a pile of hay in the stables, a chunk of maple selected from the woodpile in his lap, and a borrowed craft knife in his hand. Hidden in an unused stall he had been undisturbed by the guards and stable workers tending to the horses. It had been hard at first, and he had cut one of his fingers when the knife had slipped as he had fashioned an eye. The blood was dry now, and in that time the wood had developed shape and form.
He turned the wood over in his hands, checking that he had perfected the details of feathers in the wings. He had. Holding the carving gently in one hand he smoothed it down with sandpaper. When this was finished he wrapped it carefully in a scrap of cloth and stood up blinking as if he had awoken from a dream.
The stables were quiet now and the air outside was cool and quiet apart from the chirruping of insects in the shrubbery. He had never been out this late. There were elves moving along the balcony, hurrying to dinner.
Clutching his precious bundle to him he ran as fast as he could through the shadows to the main courtyard and up into the east wing where many of the important elves and guests had their chambers.
"Which chamber is Glorfindel's?" Elrohir asked a guard, hoping that he would be fooled into thinking that he was on a message from his father and wouldn't ask awkward questions. The ploy worked and Elrohir was led through the passageways to a door. The guard rapped sharply and strode off.
Elrohir suddenly wished that he were far from here or at least that Glorfindel was not in.
"Come"
Elrohir tentatively opened the door and tiptoed in. The room was empty, but judging by the movement of the shadows Glorfindel was in the bathroom. The child tiptoed over to the bed, placing the package on the coverlet before tiptoeing out as fast as he could and streaking back to the room he shared with Elladan just before his parents came in to bid them good night.
"That was lucky," Elladan whispered through the dark as a fully dressed Elrohir hopped out from under the covers and began pulling off his tunic, "Where were you?"
"Nowhere!" Elrohir cringed as the water he splashed on his face had long turned cold.
"Everyone's somewhere," Elladan hissed back, then as cold water was flicked towards him, "Orc Breath!"
Meanwhile Glorfindel had emerged, surprised to find no messenger waiting for him. Unwrapping the parcel was the second time that day he had felt like crying.
~*~
It was well past midnight when Elladan woke up. He could hear his parents bidding each other goodnight across the corridor and the peaceful sound of Elrohir's deep breathing. He lay in the dark, waiting until he was sure that his parents were asleep, before he slipped out of bed and ran down the corridor onto the terrace. For while lying in the dark he had come up with the perfect solution to all his problems.
He crept around to where the lower balcony bordered the windows of the bedrooms in the east wing. He tiptoed along pressing his face against each in turn until he found what he was looking for. Elladan gently prised open the window and slipped inside.
Glorfindel had not been having pleasant dreams. It was even more unpleasant to wake to find something small kneeling on your bed, staring into your face.
"Arggghhhh!" Glorfindel shot across the bed in a flurry of bedclothes, reaching franticly for his sword.
"It is only me Glorfindel," a little voice came out of the dark. It was Elladan's voice and he sounded bemused.
Glorfindel released his sword and lit the candle by his bed. It was indeed Elladan, dressed only in his nightshirt and shivering with cold.
"What is it Elladan, is your father hurt?" Glorfindel reached for his gown anxiously.
Elladan shook his head.
"Oh no! I just wondered if you would teach me archery."
Glorfindel looked at the child in amazement as he climbed back into bed. It was beyond him that anyone would wake another in such a manner. It was even more shocking that anybody could expect a favour after such behaviour.
"Oh please Glorfindel! I'll be ever so good," Elladan said earnestly with a violent shiver.
"Will your father not teach you?" Glorfindel wrapped a spare blanket round the boy and took the small hands in his own, "Why Elladan, you're freezing!"
Elladan nodded with chattering teeth and snuggled up close to Glorfindel for warmth. Not only a favour but a cuddle too, Glorfindel thought wryly.
"Well he will. . .," Elladan paused, "Its just I'd rather you taught me!"
Glorfindel looked steadily into the grey eyes. He did not like to be lied to. Elladan buried his face in the blankets.
"Elrohir's better than me! I can't do anything right. I can't even shoot in a straight line!" Elladan spoke as quietly and quickly as possible.
"So," Glorfindel waited until Elladan looked at him, "You want me to teach you because you can't bear to be second best?"
Elladan squirmed awkwardly. Glorfindel sighed, he really needed to talk to Elrond first but he sensed that he would not sleep again that night before giving an answer.
"Very well Elladan, I will teach you," the bed rocked violently as Elladan bounced happily, "But I have conditions."
"I'll do anything!" Elladan gave Glorfindel a huge hug.
"Indeed?" Glorfindel relented, returning the embrace, "I need someone to clean my bow and arrow and polish my sword after I train."
"I will do it!" Elladan declared loudly. Glorfindel clapped a hand over his mouth and placed a finger to the child's lips.
"Sorry" Elladan responded in a whisper.
"Good," Glorfindel sighed, "And Elladan, if I am to train you I will train you until you are skilled enough to no longer require my services. Do you understand?"
Elladan frowned. He had fully intended prancing back to show off to his father the moment he had got better than Elrohir. Glorfindel had guessed this. He also knew that as one of the chief instructors for the Imladris Guard many hundred years would pass before Elladan would have such an opportunity.
"Yes please!" Elladan hoped Glorfindel couldn't read his thoughts. They sounded so horrible when he considered them properly.
"Very well, I will see you on Thursday evening." Glorfindel lifted the boy onto the floor and pulled the covers over his head to dissuade further comment.
Elladan padded over to the window and opened it. Groaning Glorfindel got out of bed and picked the child up, wrapping them both in his warm gown. As he walked through the deserted and silent halls the small burden he carried slumped against his chest, breathing in a regular deep pattern. Glorfindel smiled in spite of himself as he watched the long dark lashes flutter as the boy wriggled into a more comfortable position and returned to sleep. By the time their deal had ended Elladan would be as tall as his father and would have seen evils that he could not even imagine. For now though the boys could be protected from the cruelty of the outside world, and short though the time would be, with that they must be content.
"Come Elrohir, it is time to go back!"
Elrohir skipped towards him, holding the arrows he had just plucked from the target. He put nine of them back in their quiver, but kept one out. Elrond raised his eyebrows.
"This is my special arrow Ada," Elrohir stroked it proudly, "When I hit the middle it was this arrow, and when I came closest in my training group it was this arrow!"
Elrond laughed, ruffling his son's hair. He took the weapons from Elrohir, being careful to keep the special arrow separate.
"Elrohir, could you do me a favour?"
"Yes Ada?" Elrohir looked up importantly. Favours usually involved breaking the news that his Ada was taking time off to be with his Ammë to an irritable Erestor.
"Could you run and find Glorfindel and tell him to come and meet me this evening?"
"Yes Ada!" Elrohir sprinted off obediently. Glorfindel was not unknown to give sweets to small elves that ran errands.
"He's a good little archer," one of the other fathers said, nodding in his direction, "He's got a good eye".
"I know." Elrond said, hoping he didn't sound too proud or smug.
~*~
Elrohir rapped gently on the carved wooden door to Glorfindel's study. He had barely stepped back when the door opened and Glorfindel and Erestor swept out. Glorfindel looked down at the child.
"I will be back in a minute Elrohir, go in and wait."
Elrohir tiptoed in, a little overawed by the peacefulness of the room. It was smaller than his father's study, and contained a large desk and several bookcases. It also contained a large leather padded chair.
Elrohir licked his lips, looking around to see if anyone was watching. There was not. He tiptoed to the chair and scrambled onto it, almost immediately lost in its depths. This was a chair for a leader. Elrohir sat back, looking out of the window above the desk, feeling powerful.
"Elrohir," Glorfindel was back in the room, seeing the small feet dangling from his chair before Elrohir could scramble out, "Did your father send you?"
Elrohir dropped to the ground blushing. Glorfindel smiled.
"The chair is comfortable is it not? When I sit in it I feel like a king."
Elrohir gaped at Glorfindel, wondering how he had read his thoughts. Glorfindel laughed, turning his back on the child as he reached for a book.
"Oh! Ada said that I was to say that you were to come and meet him this evening," Elrohir suddenly remembered his message. In the pause whilst Glorfindel made sense of this something else caught his eye, "What is that?"
Elrohir was pointing to a green glass paperweight on Glorfindel's desk. It was in the shape of a swooping eagle, and catching the sunlight it appeared to have some internal glow.
"It is a paperweight. A friend gave it to me long ago." Glorfindel looked up from his books and carefully handed the paperweight to Elrohir.
"Before I was born?" Elrohir asked, turning the heavy object over in his hands, admiring every angle.
Glorfindel suddenly smiled broadly as if laughing at some joke that Elrohir didn't understand.
"Oh yes, before you were born," he agreed as he moved to fetch another book, "Elrohir can you come and hold this for me?"
As Elrohir hurried across the room to Glorfindel's aid he stumbled slightly. The eagle flew out of his cupped hands and hit the floor, smashing into millions of tiny pieces. Glorfindel looked at the devastation and the shocked child standing among the broken fragments and closed his eyes in dismay.
"Oh Elrohir," Glorfindel said at last, his voice rather wooden, trying to hide his pain.
Elrohir looked up at his tutor still rather shocked at what had happened. He swallowed twice in an attempt to control himself before bursting into a storm of tears.
"Oh Glorfindel I did not mean to!" Elrohir wailed, tears rolling off his face and falling to the ground. He sounded - and was - completely heartbroken.
Glorfindel stepped carefully through the broken glass and picked up Elrohir. He carried him to the chair and sat down, holding the child to his chest. Devastated though he was, Elrohir's pain was intense and he needed reassurance now.
"It was an accident Elrohir; do not worry," Glorfindel rocked the child gently, trying to calm him.
"But it is broken," Elrohir dissolved into a fresh stream of tears.
"It was only an ornament, it does not matter." Glorfindel felt justified in the little white lie. Elrohir however did not fall for it. He slipped out of Glorfindel's grasp and ran to the door.
"I am sorry. I am sorry Glorfindel," Elrohir repeated needlessly.
Glorfindel set to clearing up the broken glass. He wished that he, like Elrohir, were still young enough to dissolve into tears over the loss. However, precious though the trinket had been, he would have gladly given it to spare Elrohir the guilt and pain.
~*~
It was late evening in Imladris by now. Flickering torches lit the terraces and courtyards and little groups of elves gathered on the balconies to talk before proceeding to dinner. Celebrian sat on her bed, watching the moths fluttering around the bright window, as her husband dressed for dinner.
Eventually the splashing in the bathroom stopped and her husband emerged, now dressed in a long blue and silver gown. Fetching a brush off the table, he sat down on the bed beside his wife to tidy his hair.
"Let me, Peredhil" Celebrian brushed her fingers over his, taking the brush and smoothing the damp hair away from his eyes. She worked in silence for a while, but then a playful smile lit up her face.
"Do you know what I am thinking?" her voice was teasing, laughing at her joke.
"I do not," Elrond replied. He had a fair idea, but when Celebrian's voice took that tone you could never really be sure.
"Guess," she challenged, her fingers working deftly on his braids.
"I will not," he tried to turn to see her expression but she did not allow him to.
"You have extraordinarily tangled hair!" Finished, she climbed off the bed, smoothing her skirt. Sometimes, Elrond thought as he watched her look in the mirror, she looked as vulnerable as a child.
"You look beautiful," Elrond stood and took her arm, leading her to the door.
Celebrian's face lit up with pleasure. She slipped a hand into his, weaving her fingers in-between his larger ones.
"Did you know that I love you?"
The laughing tone had returned. She needed no answer. She already knew.
~*~
Elrohir was sitting in a pile of hay in the stables, a chunk of maple selected from the woodpile in his lap, and a borrowed craft knife in his hand. Hidden in an unused stall he had been undisturbed by the guards and stable workers tending to the horses. It had been hard at first, and he had cut one of his fingers when the knife had slipped as he had fashioned an eye. The blood was dry now, and in that time the wood had developed shape and form.
He turned the wood over in his hands, checking that he had perfected the details of feathers in the wings. He had. Holding the carving gently in one hand he smoothed it down with sandpaper. When this was finished he wrapped it carefully in a scrap of cloth and stood up blinking as if he had awoken from a dream.
The stables were quiet now and the air outside was cool and quiet apart from the chirruping of insects in the shrubbery. He had never been out this late. There were elves moving along the balcony, hurrying to dinner.
Clutching his precious bundle to him he ran as fast as he could through the shadows to the main courtyard and up into the east wing where many of the important elves and guests had their chambers.
"Which chamber is Glorfindel's?" Elrohir asked a guard, hoping that he would be fooled into thinking that he was on a message from his father and wouldn't ask awkward questions. The ploy worked and Elrohir was led through the passageways to a door. The guard rapped sharply and strode off.
Elrohir suddenly wished that he were far from here or at least that Glorfindel was not in.
"Come"
Elrohir tentatively opened the door and tiptoed in. The room was empty, but judging by the movement of the shadows Glorfindel was in the bathroom. The child tiptoed over to the bed, placing the package on the coverlet before tiptoeing out as fast as he could and streaking back to the room he shared with Elladan just before his parents came in to bid them good night.
"That was lucky," Elladan whispered through the dark as a fully dressed Elrohir hopped out from under the covers and began pulling off his tunic, "Where were you?"
"Nowhere!" Elrohir cringed as the water he splashed on his face had long turned cold.
"Everyone's somewhere," Elladan hissed back, then as cold water was flicked towards him, "Orc Breath!"
Meanwhile Glorfindel had emerged, surprised to find no messenger waiting for him. Unwrapping the parcel was the second time that day he had felt like crying.
~*~
It was well past midnight when Elladan woke up. He could hear his parents bidding each other goodnight across the corridor and the peaceful sound of Elrohir's deep breathing. He lay in the dark, waiting until he was sure that his parents were asleep, before he slipped out of bed and ran down the corridor onto the terrace. For while lying in the dark he had come up with the perfect solution to all his problems.
He crept around to where the lower balcony bordered the windows of the bedrooms in the east wing. He tiptoed along pressing his face against each in turn until he found what he was looking for. Elladan gently prised open the window and slipped inside.
Glorfindel had not been having pleasant dreams. It was even more unpleasant to wake to find something small kneeling on your bed, staring into your face.
"Arggghhhh!" Glorfindel shot across the bed in a flurry of bedclothes, reaching franticly for his sword.
"It is only me Glorfindel," a little voice came out of the dark. It was Elladan's voice and he sounded bemused.
Glorfindel released his sword and lit the candle by his bed. It was indeed Elladan, dressed only in his nightshirt and shivering with cold.
"What is it Elladan, is your father hurt?" Glorfindel reached for his gown anxiously.
Elladan shook his head.
"Oh no! I just wondered if you would teach me archery."
Glorfindel looked at the child in amazement as he climbed back into bed. It was beyond him that anyone would wake another in such a manner. It was even more shocking that anybody could expect a favour after such behaviour.
"Oh please Glorfindel! I'll be ever so good," Elladan said earnestly with a violent shiver.
"Will your father not teach you?" Glorfindel wrapped a spare blanket round the boy and took the small hands in his own, "Why Elladan, you're freezing!"
Elladan nodded with chattering teeth and snuggled up close to Glorfindel for warmth. Not only a favour but a cuddle too, Glorfindel thought wryly.
"Well he will. . .," Elladan paused, "Its just I'd rather you taught me!"
Glorfindel looked steadily into the grey eyes. He did not like to be lied to. Elladan buried his face in the blankets.
"Elrohir's better than me! I can't do anything right. I can't even shoot in a straight line!" Elladan spoke as quietly and quickly as possible.
"So," Glorfindel waited until Elladan looked at him, "You want me to teach you because you can't bear to be second best?"
Elladan squirmed awkwardly. Glorfindel sighed, he really needed to talk to Elrond first but he sensed that he would not sleep again that night before giving an answer.
"Very well Elladan, I will teach you," the bed rocked violently as Elladan bounced happily, "But I have conditions."
"I'll do anything!" Elladan gave Glorfindel a huge hug.
"Indeed?" Glorfindel relented, returning the embrace, "I need someone to clean my bow and arrow and polish my sword after I train."
"I will do it!" Elladan declared loudly. Glorfindel clapped a hand over his mouth and placed a finger to the child's lips.
"Sorry" Elladan responded in a whisper.
"Good," Glorfindel sighed, "And Elladan, if I am to train you I will train you until you are skilled enough to no longer require my services. Do you understand?"
Elladan frowned. He had fully intended prancing back to show off to his father the moment he had got better than Elrohir. Glorfindel had guessed this. He also knew that as one of the chief instructors for the Imladris Guard many hundred years would pass before Elladan would have such an opportunity.
"Yes please!" Elladan hoped Glorfindel couldn't read his thoughts. They sounded so horrible when he considered them properly.
"Very well, I will see you on Thursday evening." Glorfindel lifted the boy onto the floor and pulled the covers over his head to dissuade further comment.
Elladan padded over to the window and opened it. Groaning Glorfindel got out of bed and picked the child up, wrapping them both in his warm gown. As he walked through the deserted and silent halls the small burden he carried slumped against his chest, breathing in a regular deep pattern. Glorfindel smiled in spite of himself as he watched the long dark lashes flutter as the boy wriggled into a more comfortable position and returned to sleep. By the time their deal had ended Elladan would be as tall as his father and would have seen evils that he could not even imagine. For now though the boys could be protected from the cruelty of the outside world, and short though the time would be, with that they must be content.
