Chapter 23
Elrohir was woken by a sharp urgent banging on his window, but the more he ignored it the worse it was. Eventually he gave in.
"Estel...what the...?" he asked sleepily as the Human climbed through his window.
"Nandé's out." He said. "She came in not long ago and woke me up...you know how she gets."
Elrohir laughed knowing how Estel hated Nandé fussing over him, probably Elladan's doing, "oh come now little brother, you know she loves fussing over you, and you love it really too." He jut received a glare; "you better get back before she starts missing you." he laughed and was pushed back on the bed by Estel who climbed out of the window back to his own room.
The younger twin was not overly surprised, or joyed to see the elder's room empty, he should have known that Elladan would not stay put...he always had to be doing something. Decidedly he made his way to the study, where he knew his brother was most likely to be.
"Elladan," he growled, causing the elder Elf to jump slightly, "what happened to resting up? I thought you were going to take it easy..."
"Elrohir," he cut the younger off, "there is so much work I have to do, I cannot leave it; it has to be dealt with." He levelled him with a stern glare.
"Don't look at me like that," he snapped, that look had always scared him coming from his father, but seeing on his twin's face was just plain creepy, "you know it creeps me out." He shrugged.
"Well, that doesn't matter. There are numerous reports about Orcs attacking settlements within a league of these boundaries. The Orcs are getting bolder; Erestor told me there had been two attempts to attack Imladris. We need to strengthen the boundaries; we know only too well what Orcs can do to even the smallest camp."
"Well what can we do about it?"
"I don't know, scouts say the attacked places were completely obliterated, nothing was left alive, homes had been burned to the ground, women and children...it's awful..."
"And..." Elrohir prompted.
"And the surviving places are asking for extra help..."
"But..."
"But how do I tell them that we have not the resources to help them in the way they want." He shook his head in despair, "I can't do this Elrohir...I knew it wouldn't be easy but..." he trailed off.
"Elladan listen to me," Elrohir perched on the side of his desk, "You can do this, I believe you can. I know you can. It will be hard yes, but I am here for you brother, I've always been here for you and I always will be. No matter what happens, I will always help you where I can."
"I know but..."
"How many times must I tell you not to doubt yourself, trust my word Elladan, please, know I have every confidence in you, and father must have as well, otherwise I doubt he would have given it to you."
"I do trust you Ro, thank you for having so much belief in me."
"Hey, what are twins for?" he smiled softly pulling his brother into a loving embrace, "I do love you Elladan."
"I know Ro, I love you too."
"Now let's see what we can do about this Orc situation." Elrohir pulled up a chair by his twin as they started to lok through the documents again.