Chapter 18: Galadriel's mirror knows all
It was the last night that the group from Rivendell would be staying. Elladan had been slapped many times by Illiendal when she awoke beside him, but aside from the pain in his cheek, he was thrilled. But the prank would not commence until after the fireworks celebration, which was starting soon.
Tonus entered Cield's chambers, and clearly he had not found sleep. He was trying to sit himself up, and although Elrond and Glorfindel where near him they did not help him.
"Why don't you help him? He cannot get up!" Tonus said, about to run over to help his brother when Glorfindel grabbed him by his arm.
"Don't think I did not try to help your brother, I did. But Elrond would not allow it. Elrond says that if your brother truly wishes to sit up he will find the strength to sit up… I believe this is good exercise for him. He has been trying to sit up for the past half hour now, clearly he does not really need to sit up so urgently." Glorfindel said. Tonus nodded his head.
"Cield, do you still wish for me to carry you out to the courtyard to see Gandalf's show?" Tonus asked.
"…Yes…" Cield was panting for breath as he failed again to sit up.
"I will only take you if you manage to sit up." Tonus said. Cield frowned at him. "But I am sore, all over!" Cield whined.
"Then you are too sore to see the show, and you should rest." Tonus said. Cield glared at him and with all his energy flung his torso forwards and finally sat up, Tonus smiling.
"I knew you could do it Cield." Tonus smiled.
"Can I lay down now? It hurts now, a lot more…" Cield said quietly before falling limply into his brother's arms.
"Come on, we will make our way to the courtyard now. Glorfindel, put a blanket around his waist please, and take his legs for me." Tonus ordered. Glorfindel nodded and did as asked without complaint. Together Tonus and Glorfindel took Cield to the courtyard and lay him on the grass, keeping the blanket around his waist and making him comfortable.
"You alright there Cield?" Tonus asked, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Yes. Thank you." Cield said. Thranduil walked across the courtyard and smiled at his boys.
"Was it hard to get him out?" Thranduil pulled a chair up near his son and ran his fingers down his hair. Cield winced as one of his father's many rings that he wore on his fingers got tangled in his hair.
"Hold still ion, I will get this out..." Thranduil said, leaning forwards and carefully detangling the ring. Tonus was giggling.
"And what do you find so amusing?" Thranduil concealed a grin as Tonus covered his mouth to muffle his giggles.
"The last time you got your ring caught in our hair, grandsire was around. He was yelling at you for letting me run around in the palace with your rings hanging from my hair, since the rings where worth half the palace to begin with." Tonus smiled. Thranduil laughed.
"True, ion. And I gave you that ring that I had to cut out of your hair." Thranduil said. Tonus nodded and showed his father his hand. Thranduil took his son's hand in his hand.
"You are taking after me, ion. I am not certain if that is a good thing." Thranduil chuckled. Tonus was wearing four rings, all on one hand. Thranduil had given two to him.
"I love your rings, adar. They are much finer than these two." Tonus pointed to his two rings that where on his hand that had been given to him by his friends. Thranduil wore eleven rings in total.
"Aye, they may not be expensive, but they are beautiful none the less. Your close friends gave them to you, that is all that should matter." Thranduil said.
"Ada! You left me!" Legolas ran to his father.
"Ai, Illiendal said she would bring you! What made her forget?" Thranduil sighed. Thranduil sighed a second time when he saw what Legolas had chosen to wear: White. Now it was brown and green, grass stains on the knees of his leggings and dirt everywhere else.
"After having three children, you would think I knew better than to put a little boy in white, or ever even buying that certain little boy white clothing." Thranduil helped Legolas onto his lap.
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"Nana?" Locien peeked his head into Yàviel's bedroom. Yàviel looked up from what she held, and smiled.
"Come in, Locien, you are always allowed to come in and talk to me." Yàviel watched as Locien came into the room shyly.
"I wanted to talk to you about the show tonight." Locien looked sad. "I'm scared." The elfling whispered.
"We do not have to go. We will still be able to see them from my bedroom window, but the noise will not be as loud." Yàviel said. Locien smiled.
"I'm glad. Loud things scare me." Locien turned around to leave.
"Are you hungry?" Yàviel asked.
"No, thank you." Locien smiled.
"Tell me if ever you need anything." Yàviel said. The elfling cheerfully nodded his head before skipping away to see what Florien was up to.
Florien was drawing and he looked angry as he did so. Locien quietly peeked over his shoulder and bit his lip. It was a drawing of a two stick elflings and one looked dead. One had an arrow that said "me" on it (it was the one that was alive) and one said "him" on it (it was dead).
"Ai! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Florien exclaimed when he realized Locien was watching him. Florien hid his papers and sneered at Locien.
"Sorry Florien." Locien said softly. "Will you play with me?" Locien asked, wincing at the cold glare Florien gave him.
"Play what?" Florien asked bitterly.
"I don't know. What do you want to do?"
Florien arched one of his red eyebrows.
"What do you know how to play?" Florien asked.
"Not much but I can try to learn whatever you want me to play with you." Locien admitted softly.
"Let's play hair servant." Florien said, sitting down on his bed and gesturing for Locien to sit as well.
"What's hair servant? That's a funny name."
"That's what I call it. It has another name but I don't remember it." Florien shrugged. "Anyway, it goes like this: I do something with your hair, bigger elves call it styling your hair, and you 'style' my hair."
"I can't do much with my hair. No one ever taught me how to brush my hair or braid it like yours. That's why my hair is loose." Locien pointed to his head of tangled loose black hair.
"Well just try. I will do your hair first. I play this with my ada all the time, I think he has more fun then I do." Florien said, crawling behind Locien and getting a brush. He started to untangle the hair.
"Ow!" Locien winced as his new brother pulled his hair with the brush.
"You should brush your hair. It's bad not to." Florien grumbled. After he was done brushing he began to braid. Florien, only four years old, was not arda's greatest braider.
"Come with me." Florien brought Locien to a mirror and Locien smiled at his reflection.
"Thank you, that looks nice!" Locien gently touched the long braid of his black hair.
"Now you do my hair. I will unbraid it for you." Florien reached behind his head and unbraided the braid his father had made not too long ago.
Locien nervously brushed Florien's hair, afraid he would do everything wrong. Locien pulled out of his hairs and used it to tie a ponytail in Florien's red hair.
"How do you like it?" Locien asked as Florien looked at his reflection in the mirror.
"I like it, it's nice, a bit funny looking." Florien smiled. Florien had never seen an elf with a ponytail like this before, and this one was at the very top of his head. But it looked neat.
Locien smiled. Perhaps Florien and Locien where going to be great friends after all, but maybe not, for Florien loved fireworks and when he found out who was the reason they where not going to go see the fireworks he might not be as merry.
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Galadriel strode over to her mirror. It was time to do a check-up on Thranduil's family. Ever since King Oropher died in battle, Galadriel had looked into her mirror once a month to see how Thranduil and his children where doing. This would be the first time since queen Aldaril's death that she would look into her mirror for information on the royal family of greenwood.
She could see them now. Thranduil was smiling, patting Legolas on his head. Cield, injured, was making much effort to make it seem to the she-elves that he was dependant and needed their care. Tonus was looking around almost as if frantic, apparently trying to find someone in the crowd of elves. Illiendal in-between the twins, smiling at a stupid joke made by one of them. Then the image changed to a small red-haired elfling who was complaining about not seeing fireworks because of someone who he was referring to as 'stupid Locien'.
"Show me Thranduil's family in the present." Galadriel commanded, thinking for some strange reason the mirror was showing her the wrong family. But the elfling stayed. Galadriel figured her mirror was having difficulties. So she said "Thranduil's family's future".
Thranduil did not change much. He was holding a baby, and Cield leaned over his shoulder, smiling at the elfling, Cield having another elfling in his arms and a she-elf at his side. Then there was Illiendal, standing beside what looked like Haldir, standing proud, holding the princess' hand, both wearing matching rings. Three elflings stood near them. Then the image changed to Legolas, riding a horse with a dwarf behind him, no longer a little elfling but now a strapping warrior. This was why Thranduil had never been allowed to look into the mirror; he would surly cry to see his elflings all grown up. But now the image seemed to be going further into the future. Tonus's eyes where shut and he was wrapped tightly in cloaks, robes and tunics and two elves, shirtless male elves, stood near him. Outside. It was winter. One looked like the elfling who had been in the vision before, he had long red hair and looked heartbroken at seeing Tonus like that, the other was a panicked Thranduil.
The mirror went even more into the future. Tonus looked hysterical, he was upright in bed and there were tears on his face. Then it completely changed and there was an elf, a red-haired elf, sprawled on the ground, bleeding and injured almost everywhere. It was hard to tell, but it looked like he was the same red-haired elf as before, but now most of his clothing was destroyed and he looked like he had been badly tortured. Galadriel could not stand this. She had no idea why she was seeing this red-haired elf while she tried to see Thranduil and his family, and she did not enjoy seeing this red-haired elf's future, whoever he might be it did not seem like he deserved whatever was about to befall him.
To be continued…
Oh, are Galadriel's predictions hinting what is to come in the future? Ho hum, I'm not telling! It's my birthday today, just to let you know. And Bberry06 has made me some beautiful pictures based on these stories… (Gives Bberry a big hug). Someone appreciates me! Oh and if any one has any suggestions on what Landion should do to Thranduil for pulling a prank on him tell me now!!! You folks should know by now that 99 percent of the time I love all of your suggestions. I think in the past year I have purposely rejected about 1 suggestions (and then of course, there are some reviews which I just forgot to use).
Miss Telcontar: I'm wondering what form of punishment ol' Landion will use when he finds out who it was that did this to him…
Bberry06: I have nothing against Leggy-poo, I just like… How do I say this without sounding evil… hurting him?
Laer4572: Thranduil gets big migraines because of all the confusion I put into his mind.
Aranna Undomiel: Hey, whose side are you on? You made Thranduil cry! Oh no he's crying on my new pajamas (with sponge bob on them, giggle). Bad Thranduil!
Haldir's Heart and Soul: Next chapter Tonus finds out Legolas was punished. He also screws up with Cield, giving him the wrong ---------- (I'm not saying anymore). Tonus will be feeling mighty bad in the next chapter. Oh, it was the word ashamed. But I mean, he said Thranduil would think of him as weak and he was ashamed that a goblin slashed his hip, so it's not obvious. I like your idea better.
Mistopurr: Taking a picture of a picture. I did that before. The one reason is that they have names that end in I-E-N. I think it took a lot of effort to come up with that! Next chapter Tonus finds out.
Here comes the hockey puck: When I'm not so lazy I will be posting on my website a very lovely picture BBERRY06 (I put that in capitals so she will read this and wonder why I am talking about her) made me of Tonus and Florien. His hair is very red. I like that. Thanks to BBERRY06 I now ENJOY coloring PICTURES on the COMPUTER (I like that button on the keyboard that says 'Caps Lock').
Karone Evertree: Cield wont be giggling in the next chapter, sorry to say.