THE FORGOTTEN
Echad Farad
Hunting Camp
Author's note: The chapter in which – Lothril gets her first taste of a hunting party and Lady Gormes picks a horrible camping spot.
The first day of the hunt arrived and Lothril was escorted by both Thranduil and Legolas outside to where everyone was assembling. It looked almost like a circus had come to town. Horses were everywhere, either waiting patiently near the fence or dutifully following their owners around as if being led by the reigns, most of them looking eager to go and doing things like whinnying impatiently or nudging their riders as if they were asking them to mount and leave already. Servants were also everywhere seeing to last minute details and buzzing around wagons and court members. Large and well trained hunting dogs were also about either following their masters or sitting or lying patiently out of the way, noses twitching. Lothril was certain she didn't know any elven dog breeds, but it was pretty obvious there were two different kinds here – floppy eared hounds that reminded her pointers and beagles and more powerfully built dogs with strong looking jaws and muscles that rippled every time they move that reminded her of pit bulls and mastiffs.
They approached and as people noticed them they gave a slight bow, but it seemed court etiquette didn't extend to hunting. As they got into the thick of things Lothril also realized that a certain portion of the crowd were merely well-wishers as there were a number of wives and daughters present, almost none of whom looked dressed to go for a casual ride, let alone boar and deer hunting. There were a few ladies who did looked dressed for hunting though. Lothril counted five. She looked around and tried to guess how many hunters there actually were and concluded there were about twenty, though with so many coming and going, it was a little hard to tell. And it seemed not everyone was necessarily hunting both. Some seemed like they were just going along for the boar hunt but had no intention of actually hunting them, and amongst them were the other ellith, and others who were going just for the boar hunt but had no intention of taking any deer.
As they made their way through the crowd, Lothril stopped to greet the other ellith hunters, four of which were also members of Gardeners Afield and told her they loved basically any activity that was outdoors and that they found that they loved these hunts.
"There is such excitement each day and the stories and songs around the fire each night are great fun!" said one named Belneth. She had dark red hair that almost looked brown until the light caught it and grey eyes. She was taller than Lothril and was the daughter of one of the lords.
"Indeed, I think you shall love it Lothril. If you are a warrior like they say you are, this will suit you well. Especially the boar hunt," said Mindonith. She was a tall dark haired and blue eyed wife of one of the lords.
"And that is why I am only hunting deer," said a third elleth named Sílrien. She was honey blond with green eyes. "The boars are too vicious for my taste. I will hunt deer or fox or other game, but boar and bear frighten me. No thank you. But if you are so bold to do it, Lady Lothril, I bow to you." She gave a polite but teasing bow and Lothril smiled.
"I thank you. Truthfully, I am a bit nervous about the boar hunt, but I have been assured I can ride out with them but can stay back and observe when they corner one," Lothril said.
Mindonith glanced over Lothril's shoulder and rolled her eyes. "Why is she here?"
"Who?" Lothril asked quietly.
"Lady Grondess," Mindonith spat.
The other four ladies all pursed their lips or rolled their eyes in silent disgust. It took Lothril a second to figure it out, but when she did, well, "club woman" did seem like an accurate description and she had to stifle a chuckle.
"Oh… Aunt Gormes… what brings you here?" asked a male voice. Lothril casually turned to see one of Legolas' friends that she met during the enderi celebrations.
"I am here to accompany you all, Farion," Gormes said with a smile that all but dripped with ulterior motives. "As the hunt is happening in your uncle's lands and he is busy, I decided it was my duty as hostess to come and accompany the king."
"I see," Farion said, looking completely unconvinced. "You may wish to speak with the King then, for as I understand our plans, we are not going near your halls."
"Ah, well I may change his mind for I also wish to extend an invitation to him. After all, that is my privilege and duty as a proper lady of the realm," Gormes said, heavy emphasis on the word 'proper' and making sure she was loud enough for the huntresses to hear.
"One of these days I am going to forget how much of a lady I am and give her a fat lip," Mindonith muttered.
"Mindonith," warned a blonde haired blue eyed elleth.
"We have naught to fear, Northriel. You have been gone too long and not caught up on news – Lothril here is the one who broke Acharon's arm and threw him in the dungeons," Mindonith replied with a grin.
"Only because he lost his temper and flew upon me and tried to strike me," Lothril quickly clarified.
"True enough, but he deserved it anyway," Mindonith replied. "But then you stood up to the king and fought to spare him and in my book that makes you strong and fearless. I would rather face a wild boar with naught but a pen knife than challenge the king's judgement."
"Do not misunderstand her," Northriel quickly said, "It is not that we do not love our king, but rather he is quite strong and intimidating and rarely changes his will."
"Indeed," Belneth added. "My mother was close friends with the queen and even she at times was intimidated by him, though she said he was never anything but courteous and kind to her. However, when he is wrathful he is most frightening and could scare nearly anyone."
"My husband and I are still in awe that you were able to petition him so. Teithon was in the throne room acting as court witness when you came in with Acharon and he marveled at your nerves of iron. He said you showed no fear and were calm and poised all throughout," said Ethirwen who had brown hair that was lighter than Lothril's and grey eyes and stood just an inch or so shorter.
Their attention was pulled away from their conversation however as Prince Legolas approached with a smile on his face. The five ladies nodded politely and put a hand to their hearts as was apparently proper for a more casual setting, and Legolas nodded as he came beside Lothril and put his hand on the small of her back.
"I see you have found our huntresses," he said to Lothril with a very pleased smile. "Where is Emlinil?" he asked the other ladies. "She usually joins us on these hunts."
"She is not joining us this time, my lord," said Mindonith politely. "Her prized mare is ready to foal any day now and she said she fears she is with twins, so she must stay and see her through it."
"Twins? Oh that is serious. Do you know if she has asked help of Brenion?" Legolas asked, looking quite concerned.
"I know not one way or the other," Mindonith replied.
"Hmm. You are her good friend, Mindonith, do you think she would mind if I sent her his help?" Legolas asked.
"I think she would be grateful, my lord. I know she and Brenion are friendly and she has sought his counsel in the past," she answered.
"Then I shall go mention this matter to him. Excuse me, ladies," Legolas said gave a swift kiss to Lothril's temple then hurried off in the direction of Brenion.
"I must congratulate you again," Ethirwen said to Lothril "You have certainly managed to catch one of the best ellyn in the realm. He has always been kind and considerate. I had hoped once I might have a daughter and that he would fall for her so I could have such a good ellon for a son by marriage, but alas, I had all sons!"
Lothril grinned, "I have heard rumors there are string of broken hearted ellith and their mothers."
"And I was amongst them once, I do not mind saying," said Belneth. "But then I met my husband and I would not trade him."
"He is a good ellon," Northriel said with a smile.
"I should hope you would say that given Orthellion is your brother," Mindonith teased.
Northriel laughed, but their conversation came to another halt as they saw King Thranduil approaching only to be intercepted by Lady Gormes.
"What on earth is she doing?" Northriel said, wide eyed and aghast. "He clearly was not coming towards her!"
They all watched and Lothril saw Thranduil's face harden into something utterly neutral as he saw who was approaching him.
"Your majesty," Lady Gormes said with a deep curtsy as he approached.
He stopped and Lothril thought he looked like he'd rather eat his boots than talk to her, but he stopped nonetheless and politely acknowledged her.
"Your majesty, I have come to escort you and your party to our lands as a gesture of hospitality and gratitude for your help in ridding us of the wild boar that have been plaguing us," Gormes said, sounding sincere and congenial enough. "And I also wish to extend an invitation to you and your kin to join us at our home for dinner one night so we may show you hospitality."
Thranduil gave her a polite smile and said, "I thank you for the invitation but I am afraid I must decline. We shall be hunting on the outskirts of your land and I am afraid it would be rude of me to leave my guests for so long. Perhaps some other time."
"Of course, your majesty," she replied graciously with another bow. "Our invitation stands for whenever you find it convenient."
"I thank you, Lady Gormes. Do send my greetings to your husband Lord Himben," Thranduil said and carried on towards his intended target which was Lothril. He approached her and the ellith she was talking to and greeted them all with a polite and genuine smile, which they all returned with a bow. "Dear Lothril, I have come to tell you we shall be riding out soon and to ask you where my son has wandered off to."
"Thank you, Thranduil," she said, grateful he had told her at breakfast she could just call him that all week even in front of people. "And Legolas has gone to find Brenion."
"Brenion? For what purpose?" Thranduil asked.
"Umm, Mindonith, whose horse was it again?" Lothril asked, feeling bad she couldn't remember who it was. She was horrible with names and she really had only seen these ladies once before.
"It is Emlinil's horse, my lord. Her mare is going to foal any day now and Lady Emlinil fears she is carrying twins. When the prince asked where she was I told him such and he has gone to find Brenion and see about possibly sending Lady Emlinil his aid," Mindonith answered.
Thranduil nodded. "I thought Lady Emlinil was missing from the party, and that is certainly a good cause for it. Then as soon as the prince has spoken to Brenion we shall depart. Lothril, if you wish to have your friends ride up in the front with us, they are welcome to join us. That is, if they so wish. Ladies," he said and gave a polite nod and turned and left.
"Any of you wish to ride with us?" Lothril asked a little awkwardly. It was a nice gesture on Thranduil's part, but it felt sort of… she never did know what to do in situations like this. What if they really didn't want to?
"Do not take this the wrong way, milady, but I would ride with you even if I did not like you just to make Lady Gormes green with envy," Mindonith said. "As it is though, I think I like you quite a bit and I think we shall be good friends, so I shall happily join you. Let me go tell my husband so he is not looking for me later in the wrong places."
Lothril had to grin. This was really only her second time talking to Mindonith, but she was really starting to like the outspoken lady. "And I am glad to have your company. Look for me at the front."
Mindoneth gave a reflexive and polite nod and hurried off to find her husband.
"I would join you also, and for the same reasons, but my husband and I like to ride together. By your leave though, I will find you tonight when we make camp," Ethirwen said. "Then we may laugh and sing together and enjoy ourselves as friends do together and leave Gormes to her proper lady misery."
"Well I shall join you simply for the pleasure of your company," Northriel said, teasing her friends. "My husband retired from his lordship some years ago and we are still quite friendly with the king, so Gormes already hates me."
"My father and I always ride together on the last hunt of the year, so I shall keep with our tradition," Belneth said. "But I will try to find you tonight also."
"I would join you," Sílrien began, "but I am the guest of Belneth and Lord Galdir."
"No, friend – join Lady Lothril and the king. I will explain things to father. He dislikes Lady Gormes as much as we do and will delight to see her sour expression. Ride with her with a good will," Belneth said with a smile.
"Then I shall," Sílrien said with a grin.
They all headed to their horses and shortly after a horn blew and everyone who had not already, began mounting their horses. The dogs all became alert and some went right to their masters and others were commanded to load up into different wagons or carts. Lothril mounted the horse Galion and was told he wasn't exactly a hunting horse, but Legolas assured her he had ridden him hunting before and he did quite well.
Legolas happily welcomed Mindoneth, Northriel, and Sílrien as their riding companions and as soon as everyone was assembled and ordered properly they set off.
Lothril promptly put Lady Gormes out of her mind during the ride. She was enjoying the company of her new friends who spent a good deal of the ride telling her about past late season hunting trips and some of the more amazing or funny things that happened. As Thranduil and Legolas usually went on these trips, they were able to join in as well and it wound up being a very merry ride. Indeed, the merriest company she had ever ridden with. As evening drew nigh they stopped for the night. They were well over halfway to where they were heading, but with it being very early November and night coming quickly, they stopped not very many hours past noon. Camp was set up very swiftly and as tents went up, fires were lit and lanterns hung and lit. The atmosphere was very nearly party like and the members of Gardeners Afield quickly found her and introduced or reintroduced her to their husbands or fathers, as the case may be.
Whilst Thranduil and Legolas were otherwise preoccupied talking with others and seeing things arranged properly, Lothril and her friends and their respective male relations were standing around talking towards the other end of camp and not paying any attention to what was going on around them until the condescending tones of Lady Gormes the Grondess, graced Lothril's ears and invaded her conscious thought.
"… No, hurry up and set up my tent here, near the king's tent," Lady Gormes ordered her servants. "Wait, where is Lady Lothril's tent going up? I do not want to be near her. Put me on the other side."
"Milady, nothing is up yet, we have no idea where the king shall pitch his tent," one of her servants pointed out.
"Then look around and see where his servants are busiest and take a guess!" she snapped. "They are all busy clearing the ground right over there, ergo, that is where they shall pitch the king's tent. Obviously the king gets to choose where he puts his tent first!"
Lothril grinned ever so slightly. She wanted to be near the king? Prepare for disappointment, lady! Lothril reached for Thranduil's mind, which surprised him a little because they were at some distance, but he could feel her strong and clear like she standing in front of him. Either way, he opened his mind to her and she explained what she overheard.
"Thank you, my dear," Thranduil replied, his thoughts feeling grateful, mischievous, and relieved.
Lothril turned her attention back to her friends and their conversations about boar hunting and the probable plans for the morning, how much further they had to go, and how soon they'll be able to begin hunting. Teithon, Ethirwen's husband was in the middle of regaling them with a story of a fox hunt he went on in his youth when the voice of Lady Gormes intruded upon her ears again.
"Well you know, Thuringwen, I would never go hunting myself, but I did feel it necessary to at least accompany the camp so far as our paths lie together. I was hoping the king would visit us, but alas, there is no time this trip," Gormes said to her friend. "Regardless, I am a proper lady and I will perform my duty."
"Indeed you are, friend. Sometimes I think you are one of the few truly proper ladies in the court," Thuringwen said.
"I know," Gormes sighed. "It is one of the burdens I bear, but I suffer without complaint. Perhaps one day they shall realize how rustic they are and follow my example."
Conversation in Lothril's circle faltered.
"Did she truly just say that?" Sílrien whispered in disbelief.
"I certainly heard it," Lothril said tersely, feeling steamed on behalf of her new friends.
"The next feast we are dancing near her and you are spinning me out so I can smack her in the face on accident," Mindoneth said to her husband.
"I certainly shall," her husband replied, utterly disgusted.
"I brought my dogs with me," Iorthonor the husband of Northriel said, "I could always tell them to visit her tent. As I am retired, the worst thing the king can do is yell at me and ban me from a future hunt. It would be worth it."
"Hold friends and wait a little," Lothril said. "I am already thwarting her plans and there is a little more I can do besides."
"Oh?" Mindoneth asked, looking terribly intrigued.
"She thinks she is setting up her tent near the king because that is where the king's servants are working, but that is not the king's tent going up," Lothril said, nodding in the direction of the tent that was up and the doors being rolled back so things could start being brought in. "By my arts I warned the king of her schemes while we talked and our tents are going up yonder," she added, pointing towards the opposite end of camp. "And now that milady's tent is mostly up, and everyone else's tent close beside, she could not move herself hither if she wished it."
"Are you certain? That looks like a royal tent," Ethirwen said.
Lothril nodded.
As the doors of the tent were opened up a little wider, everyone could see the boxes being brought in weren't clothes and a camp bed and such, but rather posts and fencing. As they watched a wagon full of hay was brought up beside the tent and a groom came over and commanded the royal horses go into the makeshift stable. Everyone started to laugh and turned to watch Lady Gormes who was told by one of her friends to turn around. The look of abject horror that took her face was priceless. She turned absolutely red and looked fuming mad. She immediately yelled for her servants and told them she wanted to move her tent immediately, but they told her they could not.
"WHY NOT?!" she demanded loudly.
"Look around! Yours was the second tent to begin to go up and now everywhere else in the camp is claimed. Unless you wish to pitch it outside the camp, I am afraid you are stuck here," one of her servants attending her replied, and sounding none too apologetic. Lothril had a feeling this wasn't one of her regular household servants but maybe one she hired from the palace just for this trip or something. Either way, it was obvious he wasn't going to put up with her lip for much. Briefly, Lothril wondered if he was paid in advanced…
Everyone in Lothril's circle laughed even harder and Gormes, now hearing their laughter, looked like she was going to choke on her own anger and stormed off into her tent, her friends dutifully following after trying to comfort her.
"Ah! At last! She shall not come out all night, I wager," Mindoneth said with a laugh and a grin. "We may have a merry evening after all!"
"Three cheers for the lady who saw it done!" Belneth said.
"No! No! Not yet!" Lothril said urgently and quietly. "I do not want her wise to me yet. The longer she sees me as naught more than some lowly elleth who stole the prince's heart, the better. I think she thinks me dumb and naïve, and I will let her think that as long as I can."
"Aah," said Lord Galdir, Belneth's father, "I think I see some of your scheme. I think I speak for our friends when I say, we shall breathe no word of your deeds. We will let her think foolishness for now."
"Thank you friends," Lothril said.
As they hadn't stopped for a noon meal, dinner came a trifle early and afterwards there was a long while of song and stories as knives, spears, and various weapons were sharpened and inspected in the fading daylight and growing firelight. After a few hours, elves started heading to bed as they did intend to have an early morning, and small groups started forming around the various campfires. After a little while, Lothril found herself with just Legolas and Thranduil for company.
"I like where you put the horse tent Thranduil," Lothril said casually.
"It seemed like the best place for it," he replied with a smirk.
"And it has kept her confined all evening in protest," Legolas added.
"Pity," Lothril said flatly.
Thranduil and Legolas both laughed.
Silence fell for a moment and Lothril sniffed the air and held out a hand like she was feeling for rain. "I think it is going to rain tomorrow. The air feels heavy."
The other two began to pay attention to the air and looked up through the thick tangle of partially naked branches. "I think you are right," Thranduil said. "And a heavy rain at that. I think our hunt may have to wait a day."
"I will give orders accordingly," Legolas said as he started to stand.
"You will do no such thing. You sit down and enjoy Lothril and I will go give orders," Thranduil said as he stood up.
Legolas sat back down beside Lothril and Thranduil left to go give orders.
"Out of curiosity, what sort of orders does one give for rain?" Lothril asked Legolas.
He reached over and held her hand. "Most if not everyone else will have brought extra tarpaulins to hang to keep their tents from soaking through. Our tents have awnings that will be set up, wagons closed up tighter and brought closer to where they will be needed in the morning, if not inside or partially inside and things like that. We also have extra tarpaulins we bring to create a common area of sorts that most of us will be able to sit under so we are not confined to our tents all day," Legolas answered.
"That is a little bit of a shame, really. I wouldn't mind being confined to your tent all day," Lothril said casually.
"My tent? And how would you plan on sneaking into my tent?" Legolas teased.
"We are so close, I could sneak under the walls between them without a problem," Lothril answered.
"Ah, but you are forgetting one thing, my dearest," Legolas replied, "we brought the tents with the sewn on floor. They keep things a little drier and warmer this time of year."
"Well that's dumb," she replied with a frown, which he laughed at.
"I am sorry you feel that way. Have you been in your tent yet?" he asked.
"No, I have not. I have been talking to the Gardeners Afield and their auxiliary male members," she replied.
He laughed and said, "You could simply call them your friends. They are all worthy elves and I do not think you could have fallen in with more congenial members of the court."
"Are any of them your friends?" she asked.
"Not particular ones, but I am friendly with nearly all of them. They have been hunting with us on these parties for many long years and I have gotten to know them through these, particularly the huntresses. I think Ada is more friends with those particular lords than I am, but he works with them more than I do. I certainly like them all, if that is what you are curious about," he answered.
"I was. So if I am doing things with them you will not be wishing I wasn't?"
"Not at all. In fact, I will encourage it," he said and brought her hand up and kissed her fingers.
Silence fell for a little while between them before Lothril asked, "If we are stuck in place tomorrow, what shall we do?"
"Not very much. If the rain proves to be heavy at all, there will be little to be done besides talk, sing, and eat. We will not be able to risk open fires so any warmth will be found around stoves," he answered.
"Stoves?" she repeated.
"Follow me," he said standing and pulled her into her tent. There was her unboxed bed in a box and the folding camp table and chairs and not far from the bed a metal stove with a chimney pipe that went up through a hole in the tent roof. It was lit and throwing off a good deal of heat as it sat on some stones that reminded her of patio blocks.
"That is surprisingly warm," she said.
He nodded. "They are. Just because we are on a hunting trip does not mean we need to be uncomfortable."
"Is this like a normal thing or a royal thing?" she asked.
"Normal, or at least for these trips this time of year. I expect everyone brought one," he answered.
She looked around again and realized the floor was canvas and strewn with a few rugs to give some extra insulation between her feet and the ground. If she wanted, she could easily walk from the door to her bed without stepping foot on canvas. Even her trunk, which was open and unfolded and looking like a miniature wardrobe was sitting on a rug and a changing screen was folded up beside it.
"So tomorrow, if we are more or less rained in, how many eyebrows will be raised if someone sees, say, you wandering into my tent?" she asked.
Legolas saw the funny little look on her face and raised a brow and answered, "Not much. Everyone is likely to be visiting in someone else's tent just to avoid getting wet and cold. Why do you ask?"
"No real particular reason," she said.
He didn't believe her.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The rain started in the middle of the night and remained steady through the morning. When Lothril opened the flap to her tent she saw the rain falling in a steady shower past the end of her awning and saw that as long as you were quick, you could fairly well leap frog your way around the camp to anywhere you wanted to go without getting soaked. As she looked out she saw a servant coming towards her holding a large tray and darting from one tarp to another.
"Milady," the servant said with a quick bow before ducking into the tent. She followed and the servant said, "I have brought you breakfast, milady. Everyone is eating in their tents today."
"Ah, I see. Thank you for telling me," she answered. "Do you know if the prince has been served his breakfast yet?"
"As a matter of fact, I do know and he has not. Last night he told me to serve you first this morning," the servant answered as he laid out everything for her on her table.
"Oh good! Bring his breakfast in here, please, and do not bother telling him. He will be here when you return," Lothril said.
"As you wish, milady," the servant said as he finished up, gave a bow, and left.
She sat down at her table and used ósanwe to tell him his breakfast was going to be served in her tent today.
"That is unfortunate, for I am not dressed yet," Legolas replied to her invitation.
"I do not mind eating with you shirtless," Lothril answered flirtatiously.
"Ha! I will remember that! However, that is not how I slept. It is too cold for that. Is my food there already?" he asked.
"No, but it will be soon," she answered.
"I will be there in a minute."
Legolas arrived but a moment before the servant did, which worked out well because it meant his breakfast was still piping hot, which is exactly what one wants on a cold rainy day.
"You know, it is a lot quieter in this rain than I expected it to be," Lothril said as he sat down.
"That is because of the tarpaulins we hung last night. We put one over each of our tents and it dulls the sound if the rain is not hitting your tent directly. Did you not do that when you camped with your family?" he asked as he rotated his plate so the bacon was in the upper right corner.
"Usually if we had a second tarp over it, it was draped over it and tied down, not suspended above," she answered as she watched his typical breakfast ritual. "And whatever synthetic material it was made of was loud as can be."
He nodded. "That would certainly make it louder, not quieter. He reached for the apple butter and began spreading it on his bread and then placed it precisely on the edge of his plate beneath his eggs and bacon.
"So what is on the agenda today?" she asked as she took her dry toast and began dipping it in her runny egg yolks.
"Ada is meeting with one or two others to plot out where we shall look for the wild boar tomorrow, but other than that, there is nothing to do but stay as dry as possible." He stared down at his plate. Something was off. Ah, salt for his tomatoes. "Do you have the salt, melethril?"
She handed the salt to him. "What do you usually do on days like this during these trips?" she asked.
"Stay in my tent and read or draw or visit with any friends that may be along and try to ignore every sound that is not rain," he answered as he started in on his eggs.
He reached that last part and her brows knit together. "Do I want to know?"
"You will find out anyway. In case you did not notice, there are a few married couples and two betrothed ones, counting ourselves, on this trip. Usually when there is a rainy day and we cannot do anything the couples keep themselves entertained. They usually try to be quiet and discreet, but these are tents and sometimes they get a little carried away," he answered.
"Oh," she said and took another sip of tea. "Wait, who is the other betrothed couple?"
"Farion and Sílrien."
"I thought she said she was a guest of Belneth," Lothril said.
"I am sure she is. She and Belneth are likely sharing a tent and Galdir would have one to himself, unless they brought their large one with the partition. I would not know. I did not pay attention last night. Regardless, Sílrien is usually the guest of Belneth as they are very close friends, and Belneth and her father Galdir are also both good friends with Farion, so the odds of Sílrien not spending the day with Farion are very low. The only question is does she go over to his tent or does he spend the day with Belneth and Galdir and the four of them playing games?" Legolas said before taking a bite of his bread.
"My word, it is like a soap opera," Lothril joked.
"You know, I watched one while you were at school one day. Your mother told me the one I was watching had been on for decades. I see why you say that, but really I think it closer to Jane Austen. Something between 'Emma' and 'Sense and Sensibility'," Legolas commented. "Ada, Nane, and I used to talk after feasts and dances and such about who danced with who and who disappeared for how long and who looked like they were having a row with whom… it was rather fun. Idle gossip to be sure, but fun. Especially trying to guess the seriousness of attachments between elflings," he said with a grin.
"Maybe we should sit out under the awning and see who decides to go play games with whom and if any of the married couples are having a tiff and spend the day in different tents," Lothril suggested, and very much not meaning it.
"After your comments and questions last night I would have supposed you were looking to be the object of speculations, not the one speculating," Legolas teased.
"Looking to be? No. But clearly I ought to expect to be. Though when I poked my head out earlier the only ones I saw about were servants, so I imagine I would only be servant gossip."
"Where do you think we get half of our information?" Legolas asked with a grin. "We ask our servants what they saw and they tell us. You are just lucky one of my personal servants brought us breakfast this morning and not one of the others. He will be discreet. The others not so much."
"Eh, let them talk," she said dismissively as she began working on her bacon.
He nearly dropped his fork and stared at her wide eyed. "Let them talk? This from the elleth who but a couple weeks ago was worried about the servants hearing us in the pool?"
She got that funny little look on her face that screamed she wanted to say something but she wasn't sure she should.
"I know that face. Say what you are trying not to," he goaded.
She huffed a little. "Oh fine, I am sure you were going to figure it out anyway. When it comes to this stuff I think I have two modes – intensely private and borderline exhibitionist. I haven't figured out why or what triggers which, but there it is. And today, I do not care."
Legolas hummed thoughtfully. Well, he just found a new puzzle to solve about her and he suspected he was going to have a very interesting time trying to figure it out. "If you do not care, then I do not care, but I suggest securing your entrance shut if you do not want servants just coming in unannounced."
"Well we can let them clear the breakfast dishes first."
He grinned. "If you ever put pleasure over practicality, I will know I have achieved something major as your melethron."
She made that funny little face that he was learning meant, 'I am very excited at the prospect of that happening, but I also have no idea how to respond nor do I care to admit it.' He always felt a bit proud when he elicited it.
They finished breakfast, the servants came and cleared away everything, and as soon as they were gone he raised an eyebrow and leaned forward on his elbows and said in a low voice, "So, what did you have in mind?"
She burst into laughter. "I cannot take you seriously at all when you are like that!"
He chuckled. "Very well, very well. Then if I may make a suggestion – I have brought along one of my favorite books of poetry and I have been waiting for a chance to read it with you."
"Alright, go get it," she said.
He pulled it out of seemingly nowhere and set it down on the table.
She picked it up and read the title page. "Songs Under Holy Starlight. Are these songs about Elbereth?"
"The title is slightly misleading," he said as he took the book back and went over to her bed and kicked off his shoes and made himself comfortable.
She threw an extra log in her little stove and then joined him. He put an arm around her and opened the book to the first page. She began silently reading through it. "Slightly misleading?"
"Well it is Songs Under Holy Starlight, not Songs About Holy Starlight. Though, I do have a collection of songs to Elbereth and a collection of songs to the Valar if you ever wish to read them," Legolas said.
"I do, but I think I am now very curious to see where this collection is going if it starts like this," she said.
"I do not care if we read aloud or silently, but there are a few I do want to read to you," he said.
She closed her eyes and leaned into his shoulder. "Read to me for a while."
He smiled and began to read.
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A/N: Cloaked Horse Whisperer - I do have answers for those questions, but I am hoping once I'm done with this to create a follow up fic focusing on the Twins and Glorfindel's time in Michigan and the aftermath of Legolas and Lothril leaving and go until the twins and Glorfindel head home. So there are answers, but I don't want to give them yet. Sorry!