Ambush – Hot baths and warm milk
Before she could reply they crested a hill and the words died on her tongue. Clinging to the rocky walls in the valley below was a house, all curving archways and soaring spires, like ivy leaves grown up around the breast of an ancient tree.
'Its beautiful…I never realised that anything could be so beautiful…'
Estel smiled- he'd forgotten how the house could affect people. It was just home to him.
They crossed a bridge and entered the courtyard where people surrounded them. The litter was handed over to new carriers and taken into the house.
Estel looked around and finally saw who he was looking for.
'Firréwen, this is Eoela and her family, they're going to be staying with us for a bit. Can you look after her? I need to go to Elrond and the twins.'
The tall Elf women smiled. 'Welcome, Eoela, you look worn out. Come, I'll show you to some chambers. Are these two young warriors your children?'
Joel and Eyomn grinned in delight at being called warriors.
As she led them through the corridors and up a flight of stairs, Eoela quizzed her about the building and its inhabitants.
'Estel says that the elf I found is his father.'
Firréwen nodded. 'Yes Estel was bought here by his mother when Arathorn, his father, was killed. Lord Elrond was a great friend of Arathorn so he adopted Estel and raised him as his son.'
'So that means that the elf I found is Lord Elrond?'
'Yes, didn't you realise?'
'No, I didn't. And I think I might have made a bit of a fool of myself.'
'These will be your rooms while you stay here. The children's are next door, through the bathing room.'
Firréwen open the door and led them into a suite of rooms.
'If you'd like to settle in, I'll be back shortly. There's plenty of towels and hot water in the bathing room so help yourselves.'
The children were actually keen to have a hot bath. Eyomn begging for her hair to be washed with soap. They were soon sitting wrapped in huge soft towel in front of a roaring fire, pink and clean as they had not been for an Age. There was a gentle knock at the door; it was Firréwen, her arms laden with clothing.
'I've bought you some bits to wear until we've had a chance to get some made for you. There also some night clothes and undergarments. I hope they'll fit. Someone is also bringing some warm milk with honey for the children for before bed. You're welcome to eat here in your room. Or you could come and eat in the hall with the adults.'
Eoela was overwhelmed by everything, especially the kindness of the elf folk she had met. She couldn't help but start crying again. Firréwen immediately dumped the clothing onto one of the beds and gathered her into her arms.
'Come, there now Eoela, there is no need for sorrow here in Imladris, you are safe here. Look, you're scaring your children with this needless weeping.'
'I'm so sorry…everyone is being so nice to us…we're nobodies, and we've no way of paying back all this kindness...'
'Nonsense child, everyone knows that you found Lord Elrond. What better payment could you make? Everyone was so worried about him. Come now, dry your tears and go and have a good soak. There's some lavender oil in the blue bottle on the shelf. I'll see to the children.' She pushed Eoela towards the bathroom and returned to the clothes piled on the bed.
'Now you two younglings, lets find you some nightclothes and then into bed with you both. You've had a very busy day, what with capturing Estel and everything.'
She was greeted with a chorus of I'm not tired from both children.
'It's been many years since I last had children, but I seem to remember that they always say that. Joel, here is a nightshirt for you. Eyomn…here, this lovely nightgown will fit you perfectly. Quickly now, then I'll plait your hair and tell you a tale for bed.
And she was true to her word, Eyomn's hair was soon brushed into a shining wave hanging down her back and with swift and practised fingers, Firréwen plaited it up in a manner similar to hers.
'There. You look every inch an elven maiden.'
'What about mine? Can you do mine as well?' asked Joel as he snuggled up to the tall elf lady.
'You want your hair plaited in elven manner?'
'Yes please! If it's allowed.'
'Of course it's allowed! I just wished we could get Estel to do something with his hair. It just hangs there.' She smiled as she entwined his hair in the manner normally worn by the archers of her people. The warm milk had arrived and the children were soon shushed to bed.
'You promised to tell us a story,' demanded Joel.
'I hadn't forgotten,' replied Firréwen and she began to sing.
Gil-galad was an Elven king.
Of him, the harpers sadly sing:
the last whose realm was fair and free
between the mountains and the sea.
His sword was long, his lance was keen,
his shining helm afar was seen;
the countless stars of heaven's field
were mirrored in his silver shield.
But long ago he rode away,
and where he dwellth none can say;
for into darkness fell his star
in Mordor where the shadows are.[*]
Eoela, laying up to her neck in deliciously hot water, could hear the words. Firréwen's voice was so beautiful. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had cause to sing. As the voice drifted into silence there was a gentle tap at the door.
'How are you feeling now, child?' asked Firréwen. She was holding up the most wonderful dress Eoela had even seen in her life as if for inspection. 'What do you think? I choose it for you. We're about the same size so it should fit. I thought that the colour would make the best of your eyes and hair.'
Seeing Eoela's eyes beginning to brim with tears again, she stepped forward with an encouraging smile.
'Now, no more tears tonight. 'l'll help you dress and do your hair. You have had a hard time have you not? Let yourself relax, it will do you good to spend sometime with folks nearer your own age for a while.'
Eoela smiled, 'My own age? I don't think so! How old are you Firréwen? You don't look over twenty five, but you talk with the wisdom of ages.'
Now it was Firréwen's turn to grin in pleasure.
'Why thank you Eoela, I will be four thousand years old at my next begetting day.'
Eoela's mouth dropped open in shock.
'That's not funny! No one lives that long, not even the elf folk.'
'Oh but we do, I'm what you could call barely into my prime. I have children, Fanán, he's the youngest, he'll be three hundred next month. We elf folk do not age, or suffer illness as you Edain[†] do. We can only die as a result of accident or injury.'
'So you're immortal? You live forever?'
'Yes, here in Middle Earth, or when the burdens of life become too heavy in the Havens over the sea.'
'People of my own age indeed! I'm like a baby to you all. I'm only forty years old.' She tried to sound brisk, without much success. 'I'll eat up here. I must see to the children.'
'Don't be silly, you will eat with us in the hall. The company will do you good. It's not often we have a youngster to remind us of our great age.' Firréwen sighed in exasperation. 'The children are asleep. How long have you been alone with just them for company? Come now.'
She held up the dress. Eoela did so want to try it on. It was richer-looking than anything she had ever owned.
Soon the two women were talking as old acquaintances, and as Firréwen brushed and dressed Eoela's hair a tentative friendship began to develop.
'There,' said Firréwen stepping back. 'I've done your hair as a married woman.' Then with a sly grin, 'We don't want anyone chasing you just yet, do we? Come look in the mirror and see what you think.'
Tentively Eoela stepped in front of the mirror and gasped in surprise. The person staring out surely wasn't her. The crimson dress hung to the floor, hugging her body in all the right places and her hair was brushed to a burnished sheen, plaited into an elaborate array of braids.
'Is that really me?' she asked in astonishment. 'I look so different! You've made me look beautiful!'
'That's because you are, silly. Your beauty shines out from within you. Come now, we'll be late for dinner.'
With one last check to ensure that Joel and Eyomn were in fact fast asleep, the two women slipped from the room and started to make their way to the hall.
[*] Not mine, belongs to JRR.
[†] humans – literally second born.
