Chapter 149: Haldir in the corner
"Cield, we are there." Firelien said softly, pulling Cield off the horse.
"Head hurts." Cield whined.
"I know it does dear, you'll be in the hands of Tonus soon. Now vomit here, whilst we are outside, then you shall make less of a mess inside.
Firelien looked away and tried to ignore the sound of Cield vomiting, it making her sick.
"Are you done?" Firelien asked. Cield nodded, walking up to the palace very dazed and pained.
"Tonus!" Firelien yelled. Tonus jumped off his father's throne and came running.
"Yes?" Tonus asked.
"He has a concussion!" Firelien whispered, pointing to Cield who had one hand on his head and one on his abdomen.
"Ai!" Tonus held onto Cield and brought him to his bedroom, Firelien following.
"What's your name?" Tonus asked Cield.
"C-Cield…"
"Where do you live?"
"M-Mirkwood… I-in the p-palace…"
"How old are you?"
"J-just o-one elvish y-year into… a-adulthood…" Cield stuttered.
"Well, at least he remembers that stuff." Tonus smiled in relief.
"Who am I, Cield?" Firelien asked.
"Y-you a-are who I… l-love… You are the m-mother of m-my… unborn… child... Firelien." Cield said.
"And I am who?" Tonus asked.
"Tonus... B-brother."
"Good job Cield… Here, have a reward." Tonus picked up a mug of tea and added a few drops of medicine into it.
"Drink slowly." Tonus warned, helping his quivering brother drink the tea.
"I l-love this tea b-but it tastes d-different."
"I added a bit of medicine, it would make the pain go away."
"H-how long will it take before it stops hurting Tonus?" Cield asked.
"Soon Cield, soon." Tonus rubbed his brother's head gently and then began brushing his brother's hair off his brow to reveal the lump and cut on his head.
"I should get some herbs to clean that, it could get infected. How did he hurt himself Firelien?"
"I had followed him and he did not want me coming with him but I bothered him enough to get him to stop and let me ride with him. His horse was slow and I asked him why, he said he did not want to go fast with me on. Then I said I would not be scared so he made his horse suddenly go as fast as it could, and it startled me. I got angry with him and yelled at him and bothered him. He got distracted by my complaints of how mean he had been to do such a cruel trick that he did not look where he was going, and he hit his head against a low, thick tree branch." Firelien felt that it was her fault for Cield's concussion. Tonus picked up some herbs.
"Tis not your fault Firelien, Cield is absent-minded like that often, it's actually good that you had been with him as chances are without you there he still would have hit his head against that tree branch, got a concussion but would be lost and may never have returned here." Tonus said, rubbing some herbs on his brother's cut, making Cield whimper and whine.
"It stings!"
"Well maybe you should have thought about that before you hit your head on the tree branch."
Cield grumbled quietly.
"Firelien, I love you a-and I'm sorry f-for what I did." Cield whispered, reaching up to hold Firelien's hand, but had trouble locating it with a concussion and his brother's hand on his brow and his arm across his face.
"I'm here… I love you too Cield, I love you so much." Firelien held his hand and squeezed it.
"Ton… Ton…"
"Tonus." Tonus whispered.
"T-Tonus… Where is A-ada?"
"He went to find Legolas, I am in charge of Mirkwood."
"Leave Tonus! Take care of Mirkwood, forget about my conditions, if you are ruling you cannot be bothered with me!"
"No. No Cield… never, never in my life. I will not leave your side until you are better. You are my brother, you are closest to my age, you where the first sibling I had. You are important to me and I love you, my brother! I wont leave you, I will not fail you." Tonus said, putting ice against Cield's brow.
"Do you really love me Tonus?"
Firelien decided to leave and give the brothers time together, alone.
"Cield… You are my brother, how many times must I repeat that? I look like ada, Illiendal takes after ada and from what Legolas shows now when he is older he will look much like ada, but you, you where different. You looked like Naneth, and it made you special. When nana died I thought of you, you had nana's hair, her lips-
"Are you implying that I look like a woman?" Cield snapped, but was smiling.
"No… I'm just saying… When nana was giving birth to you I waited outside the room. Nana was having trouble, I could here her and ada. Ada had thought neither you or nanawould make it, he had been crying. But ada came out of the room to get me, and I saw nana holding you when I walked in. I was shocked, you where so small. Ada said to not get used to having you around as my brother, ada said you might not survive because of your size. But I loved you from the moment I saw your little baldhead."
"I was bald?"
"Your hair grew in a few months later. Cield, you were beautiful even if you had no hair. I wanted to be a good brother for you, you needed a lot of help because of your size,but I could not because… Cield… Cield I had a son! I had a son, and he was born just after Illiendal, when you were an elfling!" Tonus covered his mouth when he realised what he had just blurt out.
"You WHAT?" Cield shot up, eyes wide and shaking in confusion.
"No! I said nothing I…" Tonus looked at Cield's wide eyes in horror.
"I am sorry Cield. I did not mean to divulge that secret. Cield, I don't want anyone to know, I cannot trust anyone with this secret. As much as I love you Cield, I cannot let you know this. Oh please forgive me when you wake up, I hope this does not hurt you as badly as it will hurt me to do this." Tonus looked at his brother sadly.
"What are you going to d-
Tonus put a hand on his brother's brow and forced his brother's head to bang harshly onto the wall, knocking Cield unconscious instantly.
"I could not let you remember that Cield. I am so sorry." Tonus said, wiping away some tears from his face as Firelien entered, with some more tea for Cield.
"Oh, did he fall asleep?"
"Yes." Tonus shut his eyes sadly, knowing how horrible what he did was.
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh Legolas. Oh me. Why did I do this? I wont find him. I have failed my wife and my children. I should go back…" Thranduil muttered to himself. Thranduil was high in a tree, just hanging it the tree by his fingers. Thranduil gasped when he felt a bird pecking his fingers, and then he fell.
"Damn. Damn. Damn. Legolas!" Thranduil sobbed. He could not feel his legs.
"Do I still HAVE legs?" Thranduil looked down. They were still there, luckily. But they seemed broken.
"Ai Legolas, you are lost and now I am too. Perhaps you will find me. Or we will both die out here." Thranduil said to himself, dragging himself behind a bush to hide.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Haldir lay on the floor of the room that was his when he was a child, looking up at the ceiling in silence.
'Why did nana send me to my room?' Haldir thought. 'Oh yea, I drank too much ale.'
"Haldir." Arhael entered his son's former room, taking a seat on Haldir's former bed.
"Yes adar?"
"Come here."
"Yes ada?" Haldir asked. Arhael pulled Haldir's face closer to his.
"Let me smell your breath." Arhael ordered. Haldir sighed and breathed in his father's face.
"Ale. I can smell it. Haldir, there was a little elfling in the room and you fill your stomach with dwarven ale?" Arhael snapped.
"I'm sorry ada." Haldir sighed, looking down.
"Go… Go to the kitchens, where your siblings and the elfling are, and find a corner and just stay there, like you did when you where an elfling."
"Just that?"
"Yes, you are lucky I did not decide to smack your rear."
"But I am over three thousand years old-
"I don't care Haldir, you are still my child and if you do not go and do as I told I will smack your rear in front of your brothers... How long do you think they will be laughing for?" Arhael asked. Haldir shut his mouth and left miserably.
"Haldir, what did ada do?" Orophin asked as Haldir went to a corner gloomily.
"It seems ada told Haldir to go to a corner and stay there as punishment!" Rumil giggled.
"Hush Rumil, Orophin, else I will send you both to ada." Mallriel shook her head.
"Is the cake ready yet?" Legolas whined.
"Yes, I believe it is. Mallriel smiled at the curious elfling and took the cake; her hands covered with gloves to not burn them.
"Don't touch, it's hot, elfling." Mallriel said. Legolas nodded.
To be continued…