Chapter 150: Buy an Elfling
"Cield, Cield? Wake up, please, I beg of you!" Tonus looked at his brother. Tonus had shut his brother's eyes, as he did not want Firelien to see that Cield's eyes had been wide in shock.
Tonus also had made Firelien leave for one hour for one important reason: Cield's head had opened when Tonus had based him against the wall.
"Ai… Ai…" Cield moaned softly, but his eyes remained shut.
"Cield!" Tonus jumped up. Cield reached up and felt for Tonus, then opened his eyes.
"What happened? I remember… I went… To go to Rivendell… But…" Cield shook his head.
"You had a concussion Cield, you banged your head against a thick tree branch whilst riding to Rivendell, luckily Firelien had followed you and brought you home." Tonus said.
"Oh… Good… Thank you Firelien. Thank you so much." Cield smiled, caressing Firelien's cheek as he turned over to see her face.
"It was nothing Cield, I did it because I love you." Firelien pulled her chair closer to Cield's bedside to talk with him.
"I would do the same for you." Cield smiled, holding Firelien's hand.
"If you two will excuse me, I have business to attend to. If anything happens, tell one of my father's advisors and they will help you until I return." Tonus said, standing up, giving Cield some tea and leaving to find Adan.
"Is the puppy ready to be brought back to its owner?" Tonus asked. Adan smiled and nodded.
"He is a fine dog, make sure whoever his owner is knows that."
"His owner is the servant, Florien."
"Florien is not the very 'careful' elf, now is he?"
"What do you mean by that?" Tonus frowned at the healer's words.
"Well… I mean, he cut off his own toe by dropping a blade, and I saw that, plus his body is covered in scars. Either he has been badly abused or he is just a clumsy elf."
"I have met his parents and they treat him well. The scars he said he received in incidents at the palace, or by being a very energetic elfling." Tonus said, taking Florien's dog and leaving
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"Florien!" Tonus yelled as he entered his home.
"Yes ada? Ai! Ada, thank you!" Florien's tired face turned into a great smile and he nearly dropped his tea on the floor when he saw the puppy in his father's arms.
"Put down the tea ion-nin, and you can hold him." Tonus smiled as Florien slammed his tea mug down on a nearby table and nearly grabbed the dog from his father's arms.
"Ada, thank you so much! Calanon! I missed you!" Florien squeezed his dog and smiled at his father.
"You are very welcome elfling." Tonus smiled, pulling Florien and Calanon the puppy close to him.
"I knew you would make sure Calanon was healed ada. I knew it!" Florien smiled, kissing his father on his cheek.
"I knew it would make you happy, though I never expected you to be this happy!" Tonus smiled as his red-haired son let the dog on the floor and left to feed Calanon.
"Ai Florien, what do you feed the dog anyways?" Tonus asked.
"Well it depends… I give him treats a lot, but as a meal Calanon usually gets some bird or animal I hunt. Nana will not let me feed Calanon eat our food, the food that nana and I eat for our meals, because it is hard to buy that food, so I have to hunt what I feed Calanon. But when I can I sneak Calanon some food nana cooks, bread with butter, I got him some ale a few times and I love giving him strawberries, being my favourite food it seems to be his, too!" Florien said, grabbing a handful of strawberries and feeding them to his dog.
"Well, the healer says he was fed something that upset his stomach. It may have been the ale, or it could be the meat…" Tonus said. Florien nodded.
"I will not give him ale again ada, I promise." Florien muttered as his og jumped on him and licked his face.
"That is just disgusting!" Tonus laughed. "I do not see what the big deal is with dogs, they lick you and it is so repulsive, yet you, my siblings and everyone I seem to know think of this nauseating thing as wonderful!" Tonus smirked as his son wiped off his dog's drool from his face.
"It's not that bad, ada." Florien shrugged.
"Well at least MY father knows that it is gross!" Tonus laughed. "No one believed me but him. Legolas loves bringing home any animal he finds - except crickets, they scare him - Illiendal loves animals though she despises bugs and Cield likes things with fur because they can cuddle up to him and make him feel warm and loved! Me, well, your mother makes me feel warm and loved, I hate snakes and furry thinks always drool on me!" Tonus sighed as his son's dog began to nip at his shoe.
"I am sorry ada, he's just a puppy after all."
"Florien, you have been saying that for the past what? Seven years?" Yáviel entered the kitchen, pulling Calanon off of Tonus' shoe.
"Sorry nana."
"Honestly, I cannot stand that dog." Yáviel sighed, embracing Tonus and giving him a little peck on his cheek before she began to make some soup for lunch.
Florien sighed; no one seemed to like his dog.
"Florien, how have you been doing with schoolwork?" Tonus asked, dipping a finger in his wife's soup.
"Tonus." Tonus' finger was hit with the spoon as Yáviel began to stir. "Florien, answer your father. You are being rude… Just like your father is… Tonus stop eating my soup!"
"Sorry nana… Well… I am doing, alright…" Florien trailed off.
"Florien, show Adar the papers you received some days ago." Yáviel said.
"Aye." Florien left for a minute and returned with a handful of papers. Tonus read the first one.
'To the guardians of Florien,
Your son is doing poorly in class. He misses far too many and he is having trouble catching up. Since Florien's classes are only one hour long and he only has four a week, missing them is very appalling, and it is not going to help him get a better education, and he needs better than what he has.
Florien has also been late for the four classes this week, each time with a different excuse. If this continued I will have to take action and discipline Florien.
Sincerely,
Daeron'
"Ai, Florien…" Tonus sighed, placing that letter on the table nearby and reading the next.
'To the parents of Florien,
I have not been paid for the past four weeks. If I do not receive pay in two weeks time I will not permit Florien to attend his lessons.
Sincerely,
Daeron'
"I will pay for them soon…" Tonus muttered, dropping that letter on top of the other and reading the next. It was a test result.
'16/50
Disappointing.
Please sign test and return.
Florien now has detention for three weeks.
--Daeron'
Tonus looked up from the letter at Florien, who looked at the floor shamefully.
"I did not understand." Florien said quietly.
"Then why did you not tell Daeron that?" Tonus asked, rather unsympathetically.
"Because Daeron will not help me!"
"And why is that? He is a teacher Florien, what do you think his job is?" Tonus yelled. Florien stormed out of the kitchen, something he rarely did.
"FLORIEN!" Tonus yelled.
"Tonus! Stop that! He's just a young boy, he has the cheapest tutor we could get him and he works 15 hours a day for YOUR father!" Yáviel glared at Tonus, who sighed and read the last letter.
'To the parents of Florien,
Your son is doing so poorly in school that I may have to fail him. If Florien does not improve he will be failed. Please try and help the child before I must do what is necessary.
Daeron, Florien's Tutor'
"What is wrong with Florien? He is so smart and this test is so easy! Why is he doing so poorly?" Tonus asked to no one.
"Because of you! You do not dare tell your father, and you do not want anyone to know, so Florien overworks his poor little self to earn us money that your father would give to us by the tons if he knew we related to him, and poor Florien cannot be like a normal child! He cannot play with his friends - he has no friends, for that matter - and he has no extra time. No wait, that is not true. He has eight hours of extra time, but like most he enjoys resting, so he sleeps though most of that time!" Yáviel was fuming now, so Tonus made no further comments. Instead he left to speak with Florien, who was in his room.
"I am sorry that I am failing you, father." Florien whispered when he saw his father enter.
"No ion-nin, I am sorry that I fail you. Listen, when I come back to visit, and I do not know when that is, I will bring with me some money to pay your tutor and…"
Tonus reached into his robes and pulled out a sack. Tonus dropped the leather sack on Florien's lap. It was heavy.
"Is this? Is this filled with money?" Florien's eyes widened.
"Yes… It is your pay, for your job at the palace. Yes, it is a lot, but I am king in my father's absence so I suppose I can pay his servants for him, cant I?" Tonus smiled.
"Ada, thank you! I can pay my tutor!" Florien flung his arms around Tonus, but Tonus pushed him away.
"No. Not 'pay your tutor'. I want - no I ORDER you to use this money in a way that will be good for you. Buy things that make you happy, whatever that may be… New clothes, toys, a pet… Whatever you want, you buy. Do not buy things for others, as you always do, this money is for you to spend." Tonus smiled as Florien kissed him twice.
"Thank you so much father!" Florien smirked, kissing Tonus a third time.
"Go do what you wish with it. I must return home for my own reasons." Tonus kissed Florien's cheek and left, Florien still dancing for joy in his room with the heavy sack of gold coins.
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"Haldir, you can come out now…" Arhael smirked. Rumil was still chuckling at the fact that his brother had been sent to the corner, something that had not happened in hundreds of years.
Haldir grumbled as he left the corner. His mother was just now serving the cake.
"Yummy!" Legolas giggled, nibbling on a piece of cake before pounding his fists into the cake.
"Legolas! What are you doing to the poor cake?" Haldir looked up when some of the icing landed on his face.
"Mashing it!" Legolas giggled, making little balls out of the cake mush.
"Legolas do not do that." Haldir said, Legolas sighing.
"But I want to."
"Well I say no. Now use your fork Legolas." Haldir said, taking his own fork and eating his slice.
Legolas glared at Haldir and shot one of his cake balls at Haldir's head. Haldir's head shot up when he felt the cake ball.
"Legolas!"
Legolas giggled. Legolas yelped when a piece of cake hit his nose, sent to him by Rumil.
"You hit me with cake!" Legolas shrieked, grabbing more balls of cake and flinging them all at Rumil.
"Ai! Elflings!" Haldir sighed, standing up and grabbing Legolas by his wrist, then taking Rumil.
"Hey! Where are we going?" Legolas tried to push Haldir's hand off his wrist but failed.
"I must bathe you both, it seems." Haldir said, dragging his brother and Mirkwood's prince into the bathroom.
"Ai! No!" Rumil whined as Haldir poured water into a tub big enough for his fully-grown brother and the elfling.
Haldir sat down and undressed Legolas, and plopped him in the bath. Rumil demanded that he bathed in his leggings and so he did.
Haldir washed the elfling completely, and he only washed the cake from Rumil, as he was certain that by now Rumil was capable of washing himself.
"I am done with Legolas, so I will leave with him now. You can have the bath all to yourself and you can completely undress yourself now, thoughif you where too shy to bathe without leggings because I was in here that would be silly, I changed your diapers when you where an elfling, you know." Haldir smiled as he dried Legolas off, wrapped a towel around the child and left with him.
"No, that's not the reason Haldir," Rumil shouted as his brother left. "I always bathe with my leggings on!"
"That is disgusting! There must be something living in your leggings by now!" Haldir said as he brought Legolas to a bedroom to dress him.
"How has your time in Lorien been, little one?" Haldir asked as he dressed Legolas slowly.
"Good. I like it here, but it's a little scary." Haldir chuckled when Legolas said that.
"Ai, so you are more scared of a forest that is guarded by a ring, the lady of light and myself than you are afraid of a forest that has spiders, orcs and the valar know what else living in it?" Haldir laughed, patting Legolas on his head. "But I do not blame you. This is not your home and your father is not protecting you here." Haldir smiled.
"I miss my ada, a lot." Legolas sighed. "Maybe I should not have followed you. Ada will be… 'Disappointed in me'." Legolas grumbled.
"You will see him soon, Legolas." Haldir smiled, sitting beside the elfling. Legolas jumped onto Haldir's lap.
"You know Haldir, you should get an elfling."
"And where would I get one?"
"I don't know. Buy one. Maybe the guy who sells llamas will sell you an elfling. Then you will have someone to play with when I'm gone… But Haldir, if you buy yourself an elfling, could you promise me something?" Legolas asked, looking up at Haldir with his blue eyes.
"What would you like me to promise you?" Haldir asked, though he had no intentions on 'buying' an elfling.
"Promise me you will still visit me and play with me." Legolas whispered.
"Of course I will! But, I have no plans to buy an elfling and I do not wish to… Erm… how would I say… 'Make' an elfling for a while." Haldir beamed.
"Okay then. As long as you promise."
"I do promise, Legolas."
"Good."
To be continued…
Chapter 150, yay!