Ambush – A Hot bath

Pushing the elf lord back down onto the pillows, she swiftly removed the bandages. 'I'm going to try taking out the stitches. It looks well healed. Do you want something for the pain?'

Elrond was also viewing the wound from his point of view. With typical professional detachment he agreed with her- yes, it did look nicely healed. Besides, he really wanted a bath.

'No, I'll be fine, there a small hooked knife in that top drawer, I normally use it to take out stitches.'

The knife was where he said it was, and she rapidly washed it with a solution of marigold before bending over the sutured wound. She cut the knot at one end of the cut, then grabbing hold of the loop of yarn pulled it through the skin quickly without any jerking. The stitch holes bled a tiny amount but that was soon wiped away with a cloth dipped in chamomile solution, and the scar held beautifully.

'That's amazing,' Elrond said, he had been expecting a tedious and somewhat painful process as each stitch was cut and pulled free. 'You must show me how to do that.'

Eoela blushed, 'The wise woman in our village showed it to me. She said it stopped the menfolk yelping so much if you took them all out at once.'

At that moment the door to the room was pushed open and Arwen entered.

'Ah, the sleeping beauties awake! I can see you've been busy already Eoela, but is there anything I can do to help? What about some breakfast?'

'Not until I've bathed!' Elrond insisted firmly, flinging back the bedcovers and attempting to stand. However, the room seemed to be spinning and he sunk back down with a noise of pure exasperation. 'I think I might need a little help,' he admitted.

Arwen laughed and rolled her eyes. 'He finally says he needs help! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears.' She left the room and could be heard calling for Glorfindel XE "Glorfindel"  as she moved along the passageway.

'She'll be the death of me,' moaned Elrond. 'All I need is a hand to the bathing room…'

'And who will watch you while you bath?'

'I beg your pardon? I do not need watching while I bathe.'

'What happens if you come over giddy again? What's to stop you slipping under the water? That would make a good tale wouldn't it? Oh yes, the great Lord Elrond, isn't he the one who drowned himself in the ba-'

'All right, all right, I've got enough people nagging me without you joining in as well.' Then, realising he was sitting there naked he pulled the sheet across his lap. Eoela couldn't help but smile. He might be several thousand years old but he was acting more like Joel now.

'I'll tell you what. I'll go into the bathing room and fill the bath, then help you in, and I'll want outside all the time I can hear you moving about but if it goes quiet I'll come and rescue you. Does that sound fair?'

A look of relief passed over the elf's face and he nodded in emphatic concord. Eoela was about to leave the room when Estel entered via the door to the bathing room.

'Quel amrun, Ada[1]. I've run you a bath. Are you all right? You use my arm-' obviously he had overheard their conversation and decided to subtly help this way.

'Thank you, dennîn[2]. Yes, I will use your arm. I'm still a bit weak on my legs.'

Estel gently drew his father upright, quickly fashioning a toga from the bed sheet and holding his arm to help him walk into the next room. Eoela heard the sound of Elrond climbing down the steps into the deep bathing pool followed by a deep and meaningful a sigh of satisfaction as he sank into the water. She then heard Estel start to loudly complain that the water was too hot. It was evident that the inhabitants of Imladris often shared bathing time because the pools were just too big for one person, but hearing the pair bicker in the bath was a new experience nonetheless. She turned back to the room and decided to do something about its dishevelled state. Searching through the cupboards, she found clean linen and soon had the bed freshly made, along with a loose-fitting nightshirt which she laid out over the pillows. She could hear the two men still talking in the bath, and took the opportunity to quickly return to her room and dress. She ran a brush through her hair and washed her face before returning to the infirmary. There she found that Estel had aided his father back from the bath and was rubbing his hair to dry it.

'Can you do this yourself, or do you want to leave it loose?' Estel asked his father, referring to the arrangement of his hair.

'I'll leave it a while until it's dry. Thank you for your help, Estel.' Then Elrond spotted Eoela and held out his hands as if presenting a great triumph. 'Well here I am- clean, fresh, rosy and as yet still undrowned. Are you impressed?'

'If you'd have seen the colour of the water though!' Estel exclaimed. 'And most of it wasn't mine-'

'-for a change-' Elrond interjected, raising his eyebrows.

'-and I've never seen someone with so much muck in their hair,' he finished pointedly as if his foster father hadn't spoken.

'And that's from the one who regularly tries to bring the entire forest inside in his hair and clothing, along with enough mud to build an entire city of huts-' Elrond made a playful swipe at Estel, connecting the back of his head. The young man rubbed the point of impact with a mock-pained expression as Elladan entered the room, closely followed by Elrohir.

'Hello Estel. Eoela, we were instructed to come and help you bath Ada, but I see that you've managed with just Estel.' Elladan nudged his twin with a small grin. 'Looks like the ranger has his uses after all, eh Elrohir?'



[1] Good morning, dad

[2] my boy