Once again, a big thanks to Dragonfly for serving as beta reader!
Grumpy: Yes, I don't think it will hurt Estel to be mothered once in a while.
Kitsune: No one gets away unscathed from the redoubtable Edwen Nana! Seriously, though, it was something Farflung mentioned that gave me the idea.
Azure Dragonness: One order of mischief coming up.
Silver badger: I have gone back and revised both affected chapters so that Estel now does have hair for Edwen Nana to wash. The upside of this, of course, it that now I can devise a chapter specifically designed to part Estel from his hair! By the way, I owe you a story because you found a substantive error.
Gilraen: Don't worry: I won't be introducing any slash elements. Heck, Tolkien practically omits any reference to heterosexual pairings, so slash would definitely be extremely non-canonical!
Kelly: As I mention to Silver badger above, I restored Estel's hair so that Edwen Nana can wash it. And, of course, I owe you a story.
Farflung: 'Hare-brained', huh? O.K. there is no way I am not going to use that pun in some future story. I will leave no pun unturned!
Joee: Yes, loss of hair seems to have become a leit-motif.
Dragonfly: Your review turned out to be prescient, for Glorfindel's hair was indeed cut in the previous chapter. That leaves Elrond (and, as I have restored his hair, Estel). I do not think I would dare to tamper with the hair of Celeborn, Galadriel, or Gandalf. Well, maybe Gandalf. After all, one time I did contrive to catch his beard on fire. Maybe have a spark from his pipe land upon his head?
Estel was of course sorry that his pony had gone lame, but he could not help being grateful that the injury meant that he would not have to depart Mirkwood for several more weeks.
"Before we set out," Glorfindel had said to Elrond as they looked over the pony late one afternoon, "we must be quite sure that the muscles of that leg have fully recovered."
"Yes," agreed Elrond, "the trek is a long one, so we should not set out if there is still any doubt about the soundness of Estel's mount."
"And perhaps," mused Glorfindel, "we should consider altering our route so that we need not pass over the Misty Mountains. Mayhap that 'twould be asking too much of a pony who has but recently recovered from a bout of lameness."
"You are thinking of the Gap of Rohan, then?"
"Yes. Let us first journey to Lothlórien so that Mithrandir and Erestor may rejoin us. From there we should travel to Isengard and thence further south, through the Gap."
"Erestor will not be pleased with that route," observed Elrond. "He will object to staying at Orthanc."
"You think so? I thought he had recovered from his suspicions of Saruman."
"But," Elrond pointed out, "he has been spending time with Galadriel. I do not doubt but that her influence will have reawoken his dislike for the Istar."
Glorfindel shook his head.
"Elrond, for all I like to spar with Erestor, you know that I have the greatest of respect for him. In this matter, however, he does not display his customary wisdom."
"I am perplexed as well," agreed Elrond. "But I must say," he added thoughtfully, "that Erestor is not the only one who mistrusts Saruman."
"There is Galadriel, of course, but who else?"
"Legolas as you know," replied Elrond, "but it seems to me that Elladan and Elrohir also are uncomfortable in his presence. And I do not think Estel likes him, either."
"But Mithrandir trusts him," Glorfindel argued.
"True," said Elrond slowly, "but, Glorfindel, I cannot help but be glad that we have never told Saruman anything about Estel. And, do you know, I sense that Mithrandir has been hiding some knowledge of his own from the head of his order—although, if you were to question him, no doubt he would be unable to say why."
"So perhaps Erestor is right," said Glorfindel anxiously. "Mayhap we should not go near Isengard after all."
Elrond shook his head.
"We are a large party. I cannot imagine how we could come to harm at Isengard, save by misadventure."
"Perhaps a clever wizard could arrange such a misadventure."
"Do not forget that we will have our own wizard along with us. No, Glorfindel, I am sure that we shall be quite safe."
Estel was not of course present during this conversation—if he had been, no doubt he would have offered his own candid thoughts upon the wisdom of traveling to Isengard. However, as it was late afternoon, he was otherwise occupied in playing a sort of game of hide and seek with Edwen Nana, who was determined to see that he bathed. Estel was equally determined not to wash this evening.
"I have already bathed once this week," he had complained to Legolas after Edwen Nana had materialized and told him that his water had been drawn.
"Where is it written," Legolas asked, "that if you have bathed once in a week you may not do so again?"
"In the chronicles of Men," Estel replied promptly.
"I have seen no such chronicle!"
"Do you not know that Isildur son of Elendil died because he bathed?"
"He was not bathing," retorted Legolas. "He dove into the water to escape Orcs. And it was not the water that harmed him! 'Twas the fault of the One Ring, which abandoned him, thus revealing his presence to the Orcs, who then slew him with arrows. Now go and take your bath! You offend my nose!"
"Elf! Your nose is too sensitive," muttered Estel.
"I heard that!"
"Your ears are too sensitive, too," grumbled the boy as he stomped from the room. He had no intention, however, of meekly climbing into any tub.
"This Hall is large," he said to himself. "Surely there must be some place where I may hide until Edwen Nana gives over her plan of making me bathe."
And so Estel set out to explore the Great Hall of King Thranduil. From the outside, no one would have guessed the extent of it, for much of it lay underground. With torch in hand, Estel descended deeper and deeper into the depths of the Hall, until at last he reached the lowest level, where the dungeon lay. This place was little used, for Thranduil rarely had cause to detain anyone within these cells hewn out of rock. In fact, the last time it had been known to happen had been when a party of Dwarves blundered through the forest and refused to explain their errand to the king.
Now, years later, Estel raised his torch high and stared about him. He noticed with satisfaction that everything was covered with dust. Obviously, no one had come here in a long time. Ergo, it was an excellent place to hide. Of course, it was also an excellent place to become even dirtier than he was, so Elrond himself was sure to order Estel to bathe forthwith when he reappeared in the upper corridors. This fact, however, did not occur to Estel.
For quite some time he wandered about, peering into cell after cell. After a time, though, the boy became bored, for one cell was very much like another. Thranduil had not, after all, troubled to decorate the dungeon!
It was at this point that Estel noticed a hole in the corner of one cell.
"I wonder if that is the entrance to a secret passageway," said Estel to himself. "Perhaps," he thought hopefully, "it will prove to be a means of escaping the dungeon. If I follow it, mayhap I shall find myself outside! That would be grand, for then Edwen Nana should never find me!"
With that, Estel placed his torch in a bracket upon the wall and slipped head first into the opening. He wriggled several feet forward before it came to an end. Ai! It did not prove to be an outlet to the outside. Perhaps the tunnel had been started but then abandoned by an enterprising Dwarf who did not need to finish it because an invisible Hobbit had pinched the keys to the cell. In any event, it was only long enough to admit one boy up to his full length, and that was all.
Disappointed, Estel began to back out of the tunnel, but of course he couldn't. That is always the way in a story such as this. A man-child or an elfling squeezes as far as possible into a narrow space and then cannot get out again. No doubt there is some physical law at work here whose mechanism will someday be explicated by learned philosophers. For now, however, Estel was trapped—and in a place that was rarely, if ever, visited by Thranduil's Elves. This was not good, and Estel knew it.
Matters went downhill from there. A little light came into the tunnel from the torch, but at length the torch began to splutter. Shortly thereafter it burned down to the bracket, and Estel found himself in complete and utter darkness. It was a blackness that could be found only in such places as the depths of Moria.
Once the cell and tunnel had been cast into darkness, the rats of course came out to play, as did spiders, lizards, and assorted other creatures. Estel could hear the scurrying and scrabbling. Worse, sometimes he felt things crawling or scampering across his face and body.
Up until that point, Estel had remained quite calm. He knew he would be missed, he knew a search would be mounted, and he knew that eventually every inch of the Great Hall would be searched, not excepting the dungeon. But now time had begun to matter to the boy. He feared that he would not be found before the rats and other creatures had begun to nibble upon his limbs. If enough time passed, he thought in a panic, might not his body be reduced to nothing but a skeleton? Horrified by his thoughts, he now began to shriek as loudly as he could, just as Legolas had done when he had been trapped in the badger hole and feared that the creature would return and gnaw his toes.
Estel was of course correct in his belief that he would be missed and that the Hall would be searched. It had in fact already been swept twice, but no one had yet given any thought to the dungeon, so little was it frequented. It might have been some time before anyone had thought of searching that place, had it not been for Legolas.
"Hush," he said suddenly to Elladan and Elrohir, with whom he was searching a wing.
"Do you hear something?" said Elladan hopefully.
"I might," retorted Legolas, "if you would cease talking."
Chastened, Elladan fell silent. Legolas stood quite still, his head tilted to one side.
"Yes," he said at last. "That is a child shrieking, and it comes from below. Let us make for the dungeon."
Torches in hand, they began to descend the many steps that led to the dungeon. At last even Elladan and Elrohir could hear Estel's howls. Down a corridor they hastened, until they finally reached the cell from which the yells emanated. For a moment they saw nothing.
"There," Legolas pointed. "That hole."
Legolas handed his torch to Elrohir and then lay down upon his belly, peering into the opening. Yes, there was a small pair of boots.
"Estel," called Legolas, "calm yourself. It is Legolas, Elladan, and Elrohir. We will get you out, or find someone who can."
Legolas reached in to the hole, grabbed Estel's boots, and pulled. The boots slipped off, but the boy did not budge. Legolas reached in again, this time taking a firm grip on Estel's ankles, and tried again,
"Ow! Ow! OW! You are going to pull my feet off!"
Legolas sighed and turned to Elrohir.
"Would you return to the main level and fetch my father? I think we are going to have to enlarge this hole somehow."
Elrohir hurried off and soon returned not only with Thranduil but also with Gilglîr, Elrond, and Glorfindel.
"When this happened to Legolas," Elrond offered, "the Gardener enlarged the hole until we could draw him forth."
"Yes," said Thranduil, "but this is solid rock. 'Twill be no easy matter to enlarge the hole. Pickaxes will be required, and they shall have to be wielded very carefully lest Estel be injured." He turned to Gilglîr. "How came this hole here? It was not planned so."
"No," replied Gilglîr, "no doubt it was painstakingly carved out by some prisoner who fancied that he could escape in that fashion."
"But what prisoner?" said Thranduil, puzzled. "These cells are hardly ever used."
Gilglîr's eyes lit up.
"No doubt one of those Dwarves—and Dwarves are just what we need at the moment. Thranduil, I will take a boat and hasten to Lake-town. There are always Dwarves thereabouts on trading missions. I will prevail upon several to return with me to the Great Hall. They will know how to manage this business."
"Excellent," exclaimed Thranduil and Elrond at once.
"Please hurry," added Elrond. "I know Estel will come to no harm, but he cannot be comfortable, and he shall soon be hungry and thirsty."
"Yes, I will be hungry and thirsty eventually" thought Estel to himself, "but at the moment I have a more, um, pressing problem. I need to make water! Whatever shall I do about that!?"
In a little while the solution presented itself to him, but it is not necessary to go into details. Suffice it to say that Edwen Nana would once again need to be forbearing and discrete when she collected Estel's dirty clothes and carried them off to be laundered.
Gilglîr took one of the boats that always lay in readiness by the bank of the Forest River, and Glorfindel came along and took a second. The two Elves paddled as quickly as they were able to Esgaroth. When they arrived, they went at once to the dwelling of King Bard, who just happened to be entertaining a Dwarven delegation at that very moment. It is truly wonderful how things always work out in tales such as this one. Indeed, not only were four Dwarves to be found at Bard's Hall, but they were Naugrim who were exceptionally well suited to the task at hand. It seems that these particular individuals had acquired personal knowledge of the layout of Thranduil's dungeon.
"Yes," said one dryly, "I am familiar with the accommodations in the lower levels of Thranduil's Great Hall. In fact, it is probable that I know the very tunnel of which you speak. Aye, for likely it is the one I myself carved!"
Gilglîr was simultaneously embarrassed but delighted. Thanking the Dwarves profusely, he conducted them to the boats, and they returned to the Great Hall at once.
Once there, the Dwarves proceeded to tap at the foundation of the cell.
"There," muttered one—it was in fact Bifur.
"Hmm-uh," grunted another—Bofur. "Not quite. A little to the left."
"Aye, and forward as well," said a third—Dori he was.
"That will do it," agreed the fourth—Nori this last one was.
They were several feet away from Estel, and the Elves perceived that they meant to dig sideways toward the boy."
"It is good that we sought their aid," said Thranduil softly to Elrond, "for I should have had our Elves dig straight down, and no doubt Estel would have been injured."
"Aye," agreed Elrond gratefully. "The Dwarves have much wisdom in this matter."
At first the Dwarves wielded their pickaxes with great abandon, but as they neared Estel, they tapped away with such delicacy that you would have thought they wielded small engraving chisels rather than their heavy tools. Still, for all their care, with remarkable speed they reached Estel. They never broke away the rock that lay above him but instead pulled him out sideways. Had they done otherwise, he might have been injured by falling rock.
At first Estel was ecstatic to have been extricated from his cramped quarters, but the look that Elrond gave him was almost enough to make him seek for another small hole in which to hide. Fortunately for Estel, however, Elrond intended to chastise him later, in private, and for now confined himself to ordering Estel to report to Edwen Nana forthwith and without delay.
"You will take your bath," he said, a dangerous look upon his face, "and don't you dare ask Nana to reheat the water. She ought not to have to go to such trouble, and a dunking in frigid water is no more than you deserve!"
As Elrond spoke, Thranduil had to struggle to keep a straight face. He knew perfectly well that, whether or not Estel asked, Edwen Nana would reheat the water. Of course, he was right. Obedient to Elrond, Estel did not beg for the water to be reheated, but the boy nevertheless found himself soaking luxuriously in a warm bath to which Edwen had added soothing salts and fragrant oils. It was noted by some that from this day forward Estel began to change his opinion toward baths, although he never became as fond of them as Legolas (but who could have?).
Legolas himself walked alongside Estel to make sure that the boy did not become 'lost' on the way to Edwen Nana's chambers. The Elf could not forbear chaffing Estel a little—but only a very little, for the lad was truly chastened.
"You were lately complaining that my ears are too sensitive. Had they not been, you would have been imprisoned several hours longer, for it was I who heard you crying out from afar."
Estel was grateful and did not try to hide it.
"Hannon le, mellon-nîn. Hannon le!"
"You are very welcome, Estel," Legolas said kindly. "You may perhaps be glad to know that I was once in the selfsame predicament."
"Were you!?"
"Aye, and mayhap my case was the harder—for I was wearing no clothes."
"You were naked!"
"I have said so," said Legolas gravely, but his eyes were dancing. "Moreover, I was pulled out as filthy as you—mayhap filthier!"
"Were you bathed by Edwen Nana?"
"No, my fate was far worse. I was bathed by Elrond and Glorfindel, who poured bucket after bucket of water over my head. They were not gentle! The water came straight from a well, by the way, and was far colder than the water that is drawn from the Forest River."
"Thank you for telling me this story," Estel said, brightening as he realized that he was not the only one to have gotten into such a scrape. "Legolas, you are a true friend. When I am older, I hope we shall go about together. I know of no one whose fellowship I should prefer to yours!"
"It is very kind of you to say that," replied Legolas, "and I feel likewise. To fellowship!"
"Yes," echoed Estel. "To fellowship!"