Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: Hey there people! Thank you so much for you reviews! I am totally blown away by them. Thank you so much! A couple of questions came up regarding Gorothdil. Let me assure you right now that we have not seen the last of him, although it will not be in this fic. Sorry about the slow updates but between work and the play, I'm kept rather busy. As promised though, here is Chapter 24. Enjoy!
It was three days after the attack on Estel and things were slowly starting to returning to normal. Elrond had sent a letter to Thranduil telling him of the happenings within Imladris and to be on the lookout for Gorothdil. Mithrandir had regained consciousness and had left Imladris to hunt for the traitor. The warriors that had been sent out in search of Gorothdil had found neither hide nor hair of him, much to everyone's dismay.
When the warriors had reported their findings, Glorfindel, Erestor, and Haldir all went in search themselves but they too found no trace of the traitorous elf. Baring no results from any of his elite warriors, Mithrandir, and the trackers, Elrond called off the search for Gorothdil with a heavy heart.
In the aftermath of the attack Estel was slowly healing from the stab wound and had been released from the healing wing but was constantly under the watchful eyes of his family along with practically the whole of Imladris. Galadriel had been proven right in that Estel did not develop trust issues, but the poor boy did have nightmares of the attack.
Every night since he had first regained consciousness, he had had terrifying nightmares that woke up the entire household with his screams.
No one blamed Estel for the nightmares and the late nights, on the contrary. They blamed the traitorous Gorothdil for ever trying to hurt such a precious child.
While Estel's nightmares were expected, it was still upsetting to his family. For three nights they had sat up with Estel and soothed him from the images of Gorothdil standing over him with a sword in hand.
With the search for Gorothdil called off and Elrond and his family comforting Estel, the elves of Imladris went about their daily business, while looking forward to the winter solstice. Valar knew that they needed something to celebrate after such disturbing events.
Hunting parties would be going out soon to fell enough food for the Winter Solstice feast and the cooks were having a field day preparing treats ahead of time, sneaking a cookie now and then to one of the younglings. The holidays were just around the corner and nearly everyone was celebrating, nearly.
Elrond was in his study, concentrating hard on the gift that he was making for Estel. He had actually planned to give Estel the gift a little later in life, but in light of the attack, Elrond decided that it would be the best if he was to be given it now.
Elrond examined his work critically and decided that it was perfect. Smiling slightly, he carefully put the gift away in a drawer that his children knew not to touch or suffer the consequences. Even Estel, young as he was, knew not to touch that drawer.
Elrond sighed as he thought of his youngest. He was very worried for his little one. Estel had had nightmares for the past three nights in a row, and although that was expected, it was still somewhat worrisome.
What was truly worrying Elrond was the fact that Estel was not his usual bubbly self. Even when injured or sick Estel would talk up a storm and try to do things he knew that shouldn't when ill or hurt.
Now, three days after the attack, Estel had been released from the hospital wing and had yet to ask if he could go outside and play with the twins or observe the archers practicing with their bows.
When Elrond had told Galadriel his fears, she had just smiled patiently and said that Estel only needed time.
While it was very true that Estel needed time to deal with what had happened to him, Elrond, the twins, and Arwen could not wait for the day when Estel came out of shell.
Elrond was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard the pitter patter of little feet on the cool marble floor.
Smiling, Elrond waited for Estel to peek his head into the office.
Seconds later he was not disappointed as Estel hesitantly poked his head in.
"Ada, can I come in?" Estel asked softly.
"Of course ion nin! Come, sit next to me here," Elrond said moving over to one of the couches so that the both of them could sit side by side.
Estel headed over for the couch but instead of sitting next to Elrond crawled into his lap and buried his face in his father's chest while crying.
Alarmed now, Elrond held Estel tightly as he continued to cry. "Estel, ion nin, what is wrong?" he asked concerned.
While Estel had cried after the attack and during and after the nightmares, this was the first time that Elrond had seen Estel cry in the middle of the day.
"Ada, am I bad?" Estel asked suddenly, looking up at his father tearfully.
"What? Of course you're not ion nin. I admit, sometimes you do get into mischief but then look at your brothers, they get into more mischief than anyone else I know. Why would you think that you're bad Estel?" Elrond asked gently, knowing that if Estel spoke it might reveal why Estel had been so withdrawn the past few days.
"When, when he attacked me, he said, he said....," Estel started to say but broke off sobbing.
"Shhh, everything will be all right Estel. What did he say tithen pen," Elrond said, trying desperately to stay calm for Estel as he felt his fury against Gorothdil rising to new levels.
"He said that, that, he wanted me to die a slow death! Ada, why did he want me to kill me? I couldn't fight him off either like the twins could have, I was so scared," Estel said while crying once more.
Elrond sat aghast at Estel's question and statement. How in Eru's name was a four year old supposed to fight of a fully trained warrior? Why did Estel think he should have been able to fight him off in the first place?
He was also shocked by what Estel had said about Gorothdil. He had known that Gorothdil had wanted to kill Estel. Haldir had told him what he had heard Gorothdil say. He had not expected Estel to remember those words, as by that time, Estel had already been stabbed and had most likely been in tremendous pain.
Elrond looked at Estel and hugged him tightly as he though of what to say which would not reveal too much.
"Estel, I do not know exactly why Gorothdil wanted to hurt you. I believe it may have something to do with the fact that you are such a special little boy and have a very bright future," Elrond said, not daring to say the real reasons behind the attack.
Estel seemed to be satisfied by that however and held onto Elrond tightly.
"Have you been quiet these past few days because you are ashamed seldo?" Elrond asked softly, not wanting to upset his little one.
Estel nodded and buried his head in Elrond's chest once more.
"Oh Estel, as I am sure your brothers have told you many times, you were very very brave! By the Valar Estel, I would certainly not expect you to be able to fight off a fully trained warrior at your age. I know I certainly couldn't have when I was around your age," he said soothingly.
Estel lifted his head up in interest. "You couldn't have?" he asked curiously, while wiping the tears away from his eyes.
"I certainly could not have, and your brothers couldn't have either. You are very young Estel, do not forget that," Elrond said gently.
"I'm not THAT young!" Estel exclaimed with a most familiar pout. A pout that Elrond was all to glad to see again.
"Of course not tithen pen," Elrond said, barely hiding a grin. In the eye's of the Elves, Estel would always be young, even when he reached the age of 100.
"Ada, can I go outside and play with the twins now?" Estel asked, his outgoing nature returning, having been reassured that even his father and brother's couldn't have fought Gorothdil off when they were as young as he was.
Elrond tried very hard to frown and look stern, but he could not help but to smile at the question.
"No you most certainly may not! That wound is very deep Estel and will take at least two weeks to heal, if not more. For the remainder of that period you must remain indoors. I'm certain that someone will be able to play with you indoors," he said smiling.
Estel pouted but gave in, knowing that his father would not change his mind.
"Oh all right, can I go see the twins?" he asked pleadingly.
"Of course you may tithen pen. Just make sure that you're on time for dinner!" Elrond called after Estel as Estel was already walking out the door, having heard the first part of what Elrond had said.
Shaking his head, Elrond sat back down at his desk and truly smiled. His little boy was well on his way to being well again. The physical scars would fade, as would the mental ones, though it would take time, just like Galadriel had said.
Now that he could stop worrying over his young one's emotional state for the time being, he could devote his attention to some other very important things. Namely, Estel's Solstice gift.
Translations:
Ada: Dad/Daddy
Ion nin: My son
Tithen pen: Little one
Seldo: Child