The essence of popsicles: Caranlass as a Mary Sue? Interesting thought. She's pulled off some pretty impressive stunts. She is resourceful, brave, and an excellent archer. On the other hand, has she done anything that would raise eyebrows if she were a male Elf, all of whom seem to be resourceful, brave, and excellent archers? (Not to mention capable of skateboarding down the steps of fortresses and performing acrobatic feats on the back of rampaging Mûmakil!) What do you folks think? Weigh in on the question of whether Caranlass is a Mary Sue.
Inuyashaloverfan: Here is the chapter!
MusicalCharlatan: Your request for the kicking of some orc-butt has been duly noted and will receive a response at the author's earliest opportunity. Seriously, though, thank you for your words of encouragement.
Dragonfly: Well, at some point there will be 'further trouble'! Yes, it was touching that the injured Legolas reverted to an elfling seeking comfort from his 'Ada'. When I had double pneumonia, pleurisy, and something else that I cannot spell all rolled into one, all I wanted was my Mommy and Daddy, who overnight drove down 600 miles to be with me when I sent out my distress call. Some things never change.
Zergy: Even though you couldn't elaborate, thanks! Short reviews are encouraging, too!
Legosgurl: Yes, Caranlass certainly is capable of standing up
for herself.
Chapter 71: White Shores
Beta Reader: Dragonfly
With Legolas now under the protection of the Rivendell Elves, the Mirkwood warriors, strengthened by the addition of Glorfindel, Elladan, and Elrohir, quickly returned to the scene of the Orc attack. Equally quickly, they picked up Gilglîr's trail, for the Seneschal had not been attempting to disguise it as he pursued the Orcs and their captives. On the contrary: whenever he could, Gilglîr had left traces, for he knew that help would be dispatched as soon as Legolas' safety was secured. Riding as fast as the terrain permitted, the Elves at length came upon the body of the Orc who had challenged his captain.
"One fewer Orc for us to contend with," observed Elrohir with satisfaction.
"Yes," agreed his brother, "and while they are preoccupied with killing each other, perhaps they will be too busy to mistreat their prisoners."
"Or perhaps the one will lead to the other," opined Glorfindel brusquely. "Enough talk! Ride on!"
While the rescue party rode east with all the speed they could muster, the Orcs, believing themselves in pursuit of their vanished captive, were heedlessly crashing through the forest as they headed back toward the west. Tathar, however, as well as Gilglîr and Caranlass, was of course following behind the Orcs. The Orcs, unaware of this fact, were also unaware that Caranlass had resumed picking them off. The first Orc she felled, Tathar donned his helmet and garb and girt on his sword. One by one Caranlass brought down each Orc, and the three Elves, in their orcish disguise, drew ever nearer to the captain at the head of the rapidly dwindling column.
The would-be rescuers, when they deemed they were close to their quarry, dismounted and moved on without their horses in the interest of stealth. So it was that the captain of the Orcs, cursing over his shoulder at the slowness of his followers, at length blundered right into them. He was brought up short by the sight of the grim warriors who as one raised their weapons and aimed them at him. He was an Orc, however, and therefore reckless and foolhardy. He turned and shouted at the three nearest Orcs, "Have at 'em, boys." Glorfindel, Elladan, and Elrohir had noticed that these three goblins had straightened themselves at spying the Elves and thus stood unusually tall and erect for Orcs. Now the three Orcs stepped forward—and pulled off their helmets. There stood Tathar, Caranlass, and Gilglîr. The captain's look of surprise remained upon his face even after his head had been detached from its body by one mighty blow from Glorfindel's sword.
"I see," Glorfindel said to Gilglîr, "that you were not in need of rescue after all."
"Perhaps not," replied the Mirkwood Elf, "but we shall be glad of your company nonetheless. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have any horses hereabouts, would you?"
"We have left our herd a little to the west of here. You will be glad to know that we brought along spare mounts."
"Ah, that is good to hear. I am anxious to reach Imladris. Legolas has been taken there, has he not?"
"Yes, and he will be looked after by Elrond. You may be certain his foster-father will afford him the best of care."
"I am sure of it. Elrond is famed as a healer."
They were walking as they spoke, and soon they gained the clearing where the horses grazed. Caranlass, Tathar, and Gilglîr each gratefully accepted a mount, and the entire party set out toward Rivendell at the quickest pace possible, given that they were riding through woody lands. Once they reached the Great East Road, they would have broken into a gallop, but Tathar begged them not to.
"We should give some thought to Caranlass," he pointed out. "It is true that she is no frail flower, but she does bear within her the seeds of future life. I would not have those seeds needlessly cast aside."
Glorfindel looked at Caranlass with great respect.
"I am a warrior who takes life, but you both take life and bring it! My Lady, you should be honored amongst Elves!"
As soon as they arrived in Rivendell, Caranlass was conveyed at once to the House of Healing. After she had bathed and changed into fresh clothing, Elrond and Galadriel both came to see her in the comfortable room that had been prepared for her.
"Welcome to Imladris, my Lady," said Elrond. "Legolas has spoken highly of your cleverness and courage, but I shall chide him for neglecting to mention your beauty as well."
"Thank you, my Lord," said Caranlass, casting her eyes down in sudden bashfulness at hearing herself complimented by no less a personage than the Lord of Imladris.
"If you are done being charming," Galadriel teased Elrond, "we should see to the health of Caranlass and her child."
Caranlass looked up eagerly.
"Tathar said he sensed a son when he laid his hand upon my belly, but I am quite sure I felt a daughter. I did not wish to say anything, however, for it hardly seemed the time to have a discussion on the matter!"
"No, indeed," smiled Galadriel, laying her hand gently upon Caranlass' belly. "Ah, a daughter. And quite healthy, I think."
She stepped back to give Elrond an opportunity to likewise check on the health of the infant. He laid his hand upon Caranlass, and a surprised look came over his face.
"Your pardon, Galadriel," he said, "but I'm afraid I must concur with Tathar. It is a son."
Galadriel looked equally surprised. She again drew near and laid a hand upon Caranlass' belly.
"Yes," she agreed after a minute, "a son." Elrond looked a trifle smug. It was not often one proved Galadriel wrong! But as he stood quietly congratulating himself, the Lady of Lothlórien moved her hand slightly. "And a daughter," she added.
"What!"
Galadriel laughed gently.
"Why so surprised, Elrond? Did you think yourself the only Elf in Middle-earth capable of siring twins?"
Now Elrond laid both his hands upon Caranlass, and after a moment he broke into a smile. "Yes, twins. A boy and a girl. And both quite lively!"
Tathar was sent for and told the news. He was speechless for such a length of time that at last Caranlass found herself laughing at him.
"I have never known you to be so restrained," she said, smiling. "Indeed, we would not be having twins had you behaved so during the journey!"
At last Tathar came to himself and begged that Edwen Nana be sent for so that she might be told the news as well.
"Do you suppose," he said anxiously, "that she would agree to be the children's nurse?"
Caranlass found herself laughing once again.
"As if you shall have to ask," she giggled. "Edwen Nana will be in raptures at the news that she shall have not one but two babes to dote upon."
Caranlass was of course right. Although Tathar had been speechless at the news, Edwen Nana more than made up for his silence as she prattled on at the prospect of tending to the infants.
"Twins! They are going to require ever so much nursing. And clothing! It will be necessary to sew outfits not just for one but for two. And nappies! Ever so many will need to be cut and folded. And laundered, too, of course. Why, the laundry cauldron will have to be kept boiling night and day!"
On and on she went until Elrond not only raised his brows but rolled his eyes, a most unusual gesture on his part. Aye, and Galadriel herself, the serene Lady of Lothlórien, began to chortle, an event unprecedented in the annals of Middle-earth. At last Galadriel gently suggested that Caranlass needed to sleep and so succeeded in ushering Edwen Nana to the door. The Nursemaid issued a few injunctions over her shoulder as she departed—advice as to what Caranlass ought to eat and suchlike—and then she departed, although only to descend upon the Seamstress to demand what cloth she had on hand. Over the next months, Edwen Nana would sew enough gowns for an army of infants, much to the benefit of the poor folk of Dunland, for Elrond saw to it that many of these garments were quietly distributed amongst the villages of that land.
Tathar and Caranlass of course agreed that they would remain in Rivendell until the children had been born and had grown sturdy enough for the journey to Mirkwood. For, as Elrond had pointed out, whatever route they chose—whether to cross the Misty Mountains or to head for the Gap of Rohan—the journey would be a hard and perilous one for either a pregnant elleth or a newborn babe. Better not to risk it. Moreover, Rivendell was famed for its healers, Elrond of course being the foremost amongst their number. There could be no better place for Caranlass to bring her infants to term.
Legolas, too, would be remaining in Rivendell. He would not be able to travel for several weeks, and it was agreed that he might as well stay on past that point so that one party could be made up to escort both Legolas and the young family. Gilglîr and his warriors would ride on to Mirkwood to carry news of the delay to Thranduil and then would return to accompany Legolas, Tathar, Caranlass, and the babes.
"I don't envy you, Gilglîr," said Elrond wryly. "You must convey to Thranduil two unwelcome bits of news. His son is not married, and his intended bride—intended by Thranduil, at least!—has married his carpenter and is with child—bearing not one but two infants not of Legolas' siring! Worse, Legolas has been injured and cannot yet return to him. Thranduil will be fit to be tied—indeed! perhaps when you pass through Lothlórien you should be sure to acquire some of their excellent rope!"
Gilglîr assured Elrond that he would be able to handle the irascible King of Mirkwood—"after all, I have had much practice!"—and then excused himself from Elrond's presence so that he might sit with Legolas for a time. The Seneschal found that Haldir, Elladan, and Elrohir had preceded him. The young Elves were a boisterous lot, and surrounded by them, Legolas evinced little evidence of his recent wounding.
"What is this?" asked Gilglîr, hoisting an empty wine bottle in either hand. "I did not know that the healers prescribed this sort of tonic. Now I understand why Elves flock from all around to take the Imladris cure!"
"Gilglîr," Legolas said excitedly, "I am really much better. Haldir, Elladan, and Elrohir are riding out tomorrow, and I want to accompany them."
"Surely that is the wine talking!" exclaimed Gilglîr. "You will do no such thing. If you ever again so much as breathe the idea, I shall set Edwen Nana to watching you!"
Legolas hastily assured him that he would give over the plan, but Gilglîr was suspicious of him.
'No doubt he means to obey', he said to himself, 'but his resolve will weaken—particularly if his friends hang about and encourage him. Elrond had best put a guard on his room. I shall tell him so'.
After a while, Gilglîr bade the young Elves good e'en and departed to his own chamber. When he had left, they resumed an earlier thread of conversation.
"So our grandmother told you about Arwen and Estel," said Elladan.
"Yes," said Haldir. "She said part of her reason for journeying here was to see to Arwen's trousseau."
"Were you surprised?" asked Elrohir.
"Yes, I allow as how I was. I had never thought of Estel as someone who, well, someone who would, um, appeal to a maiden."
"Perhaps not all maidens are as fastidious as you," teased Elrohir.
"Legolas," said Haldir, ignoring Elrohir, "were you surprised?"
"Very!" replied Legolas. "Like you, when I thought of Estel, I did not think in terms of marriage."
"Of course not!" exclaimed Elladan, amused at Legolas' way of putting it. "No one expected you to marry him!"
After the laughter had died down, Haldir asked a more serious question.
"Were you disappointed, Legolas?"
"No. As soon I recovered from my surprise, I realized that Estel and Arwen would be well-suited one to the other—once Estel trims his beard, takes a bath, and changes into clean clothes!"
"But there have long been rumors that you were to marry Arwen. You didn't feel at all slighted?"
"Slighted? Relieved is more like it! When I thought of Arwen, I did not think in terms of marriage."
"Now that's more like it," grinned Elladan. Legolas tossed a pillow at him, which Elladan caught handily and tossed back.
"Elladan," asked Haldir, puzzled. "Legolas has just said that he would not want to marry your sister. Yet you react with laughter rather than anger. Are you not offended?"
"Legolas was fostered here," Elladan reminded the Lothlórien Elf. "I would not want my sworn-brother to marry my sister. Whatever you Lórien Elves think, we're not Orcs, you know! But what of you, Haldir? Were you not disappointed?"
"Yes, I was," replied Haldir honestly. "During Arwen's stay in my homeland, we spent much time together, and I grew—fond of her. Yes, very fond. In fact," he went on bravely, "I loved her—love her. I cannot help but be disappointed. Yet if she is happy in her choice, then I will rejoice on her behalf."
"To speak so, you truly must love her," said Elrohir respectfully. "I am sorry you are not destined to be as one with her."
"No, but I am destined to be her friend," replied Haldir. "We can't all marry her, but we are all permitted to love her and to remain loyal to her."
"You have become as wise as Galadriel," said Legolas, and only half teasingly.
Elrohir reached out and clapped a hand on Haldir's shoulder.
"Hannon le," he said quietly.
"For what, Elrohir?"
"For your love and loyalty toward my sister. To all of us, really. Haldir, you are a good friend."
'Yes', Legolas was thinking to himself. 'Haldir truly is a good friend. He would sacrifice all for those whom he loves. He would die for them'.
Legolas suddenly cried out in pain. As one, his friends turned toward him.
"What is the matter?" exclaimed Elrohir, distressed. "Elladan! run fetch Ada! Haldir, hand me that cloth."
When Elrond arrived shortly thereafter, Elrohir was bathing Legolas' forehead with a damp cloth. The injured Elf was pale and trembling. Elrond at once sent the other Elves from the room, for they hovered so anxiously over their friend that they impeded the healer.
When the other Elves had gone, Elrond tried to unwind the bandages protecting Legolas' wound, but the young Elf stayed him.
"No, Ada, it is not my wound. That pains me very little."
"What ails you, then?"
"I am not sure. We were talking cheerfully, jesting amongst ourselves. Elrohir grew a little solemn. He was thanking Haldir for being a good friend to us all. I was thinking to myself, that, yes, he is truly a good and loyal friend, one who would die for those he loves. Suddenly I was in another place—a fortress, I think, hewn from the side of a mountain. I saw Estel. He was bounding up stone steps, past many bodies, Elf, Orc, and Man. He was running toward Haldir. As I watched, Haldir fell forward. Estel caught him and lowered him to the ground. Then Estel drew his hand back, and it was covered with blood, Haldir's blood, I think. I cried out, and then I found myself back in this room, with Elrohir wiping my brow."
"A vision."
"Yes," Legolas said unhappily, "a vision. Haldir is doomed to die in battle."
"You do not know that."
"I have seen it!"
"Remember this, my son: all visions are equivocal. Surely you have learned at least that from Galadriel!"
Legolas looked at him hopefully.
"So you think Haldir will not die?"
"I did not say that. I simply say that, vision or no vision, you cannot be certain of his fate. Haldir will go into battle, yes—it needed no vision to tell that!—but you must await the event itself to be sure of its outcome."
"I want to be certain now," Legolas insisted.
"We can only ever be sure of the past," Elrond chided him. "Even the Maiar know not the future."
"Do the Valar?"
"I do not know. Such wisdom is beyond my ken."
"So I must live with this uncertainty?"
"Yes," Elrond said simply.
"I cannot!"
"Do not speak nonsense," Elrond said firmly. "You are living at this very moment, yet you do not know what the future shall bring. You have been living so for years, you and all who walk Middle-earth. Clearly ignorance of the future is no obstacle to life."
"Must you be so reasonable?"
"Yes."
This reply admitted of no further discussion. Legolas fell back against his pillows, his face miserable.
"Legolas," said Elrond gently, "if you knew for a certainty that Haldir was going to die, would not that knowledge stand between you and the enjoyment of his company?"
Legolas considered for a while before answering.
"Yes," he replied at last. "I do not see how it could ever be far from my thoughts."
"Then be glad that the Valar have not gifted you—nay! have not cursed you—with foreknowledge. Take pleasure in that with which they have gifted you—a friend who is, as you say, loyal and true. Do not dwell upon a future that may or may not come to pass if doing so causes you to let the present slip away from you."
"Men know that they shall die. How do they endure the knowledge?"
"Even a Man knows not the exact time and manner of his death. Moreover, he knows that to dwell on the certainty of death is a sure path to madness. Most Men therefore live their lives avidly, pushing the thought of death from their minds for the very reason that they know that their stay in Middle-earth is but a passing one. Some of them further comfort themselves by believing that their life in Arda is but a portion of a more lasting existence."
"And is it?"
"That wisdom, too, is beyond my ken. I know, however, that Mithrandir believes it to be so."
"What does he say?" Legolas asked eagerly.
"He says that there is place where Mortals go to dwell after their time in Middle-earth comes to an end. One will smell a sweet fragrance as one approaches it, sailing upon the sea, and a grey rain-curtain will turn to silver glass and roll back, and then one sees white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise."
"And do you believe there to be such a place?"
"As you have said, I am 'reasonable'."
"Well, I am going to believe in such a place," Legolas declared vehemently. "And I am going to believe that an Elf who dies may go there as well. After all, if an Elf dies, then can't he, too, be said to be 'mortal'?"
Elrond smiled at Legolas' passion.
"I see no harm in such a belief. After all, if you are wrong, you will never know it! Now, sleep. Dream, if you will, of white shores."
Legolas did dream that night of white shores. And upon them he saw standing not only Haldir but also Gandalf and Arwen and Aragorn. Oddly, he also saw a Dwarf. But dreams, as you know, are curious constructs that often take bizarre turns, and this fact is doubtless the reason that a Dwarf wandered into an Elf's dream. At least that is what Legolas told himself when he awoke the next morning. Dismissing the peculiar dream from his mind, the young Elf did not recall it to memory for a very long time, and when he did, the circumstances were as odd as the dream had once been.