Folks, this is probably my last post before my daughter and I vanish on vacation to London.
Fluffy's fangirls: Of course, one could argue that Elladan should put up more of a fight when Elrohir tries to drag him into one escapade or another.
Opalkitty: Any 'punishments' will be highly appropriate, as per usual. Elrond is really into the 'teachable moment' school of parenting.
Joee: You are the one who should be called Elf Eye! Thank you for pointing out those two errors, which have now been corrected. By the way, have you checked out my profile lately? I finally got around to acting on all those messages I've received from people suggesting that I REALLY needed to update the list of stories.
Haldir's Heart and Soul: As per request, one update!
Beta Reader: Again, Dragonfly is on vacation, so I'm going out on the proverbial limb here and posting without a net. Joee, that is your cue, of course!
The next morning Gandalf heard hoof beats, as he knew he should. He did not even raise his head when Elrond and his company of scouts cantered into the clearing.
"Mae govannen," he said, poking at the fire with a stick. "You have arrived just in time for a spot of tea. I suppose," he continued, pointing with his beard toward the knot of sleeping elflings, "that you are seeking yonder scamps. They are well, although somewhat chastened."
Elrond dismounted from his horse and bent over to examine the elflings where they lay spooned together, Anomen tucked between Elladan and Elrohir. After a moment he straightened up and gave a relieved smile.
"Yes, my friend, they are well. Now tell me how they came here—and explain to me a great mystery. For not far from here we saw the tracks of a second creature join those of the first."
"Indeed you did not," said Gandalf placidly, using the edge of his robe to grasp the handle of the camp kettle as he poured tea into a battered cup.
Elrond raised an eyebrow.
"My friend, are you asking me to doubt the evidence of my eyes?"
"Yes," Gandalf replied simply. 'Ah, there goes the second eyebrow', he chortled to himself as the elf-lord reacted as the wizard had hoped he would. Aloud he said, "Elrond, you saw two sets of tracks, it is true, but you may not conclude from that fact that there is a second creature—unless, of course, you want to throw in your lot with those who are of the opinion that elven and human young are to be classed with quadrupeds rather than bipeds."
Both of his eyebrows being canted, Elrond now could only express himself by further elevating them. 'Almost to the hairline', Gandalf said cheerfully to himself, 'but I fear I have no other surprises to spring upon him. Pity, really."
Sure enough, Elrond's eyebrows subsided in due course.
"If I am understanding you aright, you are saying that one set of tracks was laid down by an elfling."
"You are, as always, a paragon of perception, Elrond."
"I suppose those tracks would be the ones that you followed from Imladris."
"A sensible supposition, that."
"I know the trail was not laid down by Anomen, for I saw him about the Hall after your departure. Besides, he did not wish you to leave and thus would hardly be the one to lure you away from Imladris. One of the twins must have been the culprit. I thought that I observed them both after you left, but I see I was deceived. One remained to maintain the charade that they both were in attendance—Elladan, no doubt, for Elrohir would have had the greater desire to see you gone from the Hall."
"You are correct. Elrohir laid down the tracks, and Elladan stayed behind to cover for him."
The elflings in question began to stir, and Elrohir's eyes came into focus.
"Ada!" he shouted and scrambled to his feet. He knew he was in no less trouble, but the prospect of punishment at the hands of his father was less fearsome than that of retribution at the end of a wizard's staff.
His shout awoke the other two, and soon Elrond found himself engulfed by elflings who clung to him as desperately as they had clung to Gandalf the day before. Elrond was pleased to see that Anomen was no less frantic than the other two. Above the heads of the young ones, Elrond exchanged a smile with Gandalf. The elf-lord's smile was a wholehearted one, but Gandalf's was a trifle wistful. He knew what he must do.
"Now that you have arrived on the scene," he declared to Elrond, "I may as well get on with my journey. No sense in returning to the Hall when I have come this far along my path. You will of course see to their punishment. Elrohir, especially, has gone to a great deal of trouble to fool me—why, I cannot guess!"
"Of course I will see to their punishment." Elrond said solemnly, although the smile never left his eyes.
"Very good. I'm off then," said Gandalf, picking up the now-cool camp kettle and placing it in his pack.
Elladan and Elrohir each let go of their father with one hand in order to seize hold of Anomen. Anomen, however, although he turned his head toward Gandalf, gave no sign of releasing his grip on Elrond.
"Mithrandir," he said softly. "I'm ever so sorry for all the trouble we've caused you."
"You should be," the wizard said gruffly. Although," he added, "at least you have set me on my way."
"You will come back, won't you?" Anomen asked hopefully, encouraged by the wizard's latter statement.
"Indeed I shall," Gandalf promised. "Elrond keeps too good a table for me to do otherwise. And the beds are very comfortable—when they are dry, that is!"
All three elflings winced at those words, but Gandalf winked at them before grasping his staff and striding off through the trees.
"Let us now return to Imladris," said Elrond after the wizard had vanished from view. "Where you may be sure that this matter will be discussed," he added, but his voice was gentle.
The elven searchers had brought a spare horse, and Elrond lifted the elflings upon it, first Elladan, then Anomen, last of all Elrohir. Elladan clung to the horse's mane, Anomen to Elladan, and Elrohir to Anomen. All three elflings found this arrangement to be an agreeable one, but especially Anomen and Elrohir. Those two felt melancholy when they neared Rivendell, for each wondered when they ever again would feel so close one to the other.
When they arrived at Rivendell, they dismounted before the Hall, and Elrond said, "You will go at once to the chamber that you share." The elflings did not fail to notice that he put great emphasis on the word 'share', and they obediently chorused, "Yes, Ada."
Off the young Elves trooped to their room. As they entered it, Anomen glanced toward the corner where Elrohir's bow had stood. He had cherished the hope that Elrohir had contrived to fix the bow. Sadly, he saw that the corner was empty. Sighing, he sat upon his bed and bent down to pull off his boots. When he raised his head, Elrohir was standing before him. In his hand he clutched three leather thongs, each with a small wooden pendant dangling from it. He held out one of the thongs to Anomen.
"What is this?" Anomen asked in surprise.
"Just something I made," Elrohir said stiffly. "You needn't take it if you don't want it. Perhaps it's too plain for you, what with your princely manners and all."
In spite of his attempts to dissemble, Anomen could not help carry himself like the prince that he was, and Elrohir had often twitted him on that account in the past. Anomen could tell, however, that he wasn't twitting him now. He merely feared that his offering would be found unworthy. Anomen reached out his hand.
"Thank you, Elrohir," he said simply. He held up the pendant and examined it. It was carved with the patterns that had decorated Elrohir's bow. Suddenly he realized that it was in fact a piece of that object. He looked at Elrohir in amazement.
"Couldn't fix the bow," Elrohir said gruffly. "The carvings were very fine, however, and I thought, even if the bow could no longer be used as such, it could serve in another fashion. So I picked three sections and shaped them into pendants."
"It is beautiful," said Anomen, and he tied the thong about his neck. Within seconds, Elladan and Elrohir had donned their pendants as well.
"All for one and one for all," grinned Elladan. Anomen and Elrohir grinned back at him.
"When I touch this pendant," said Elrohir happily, "I shall think of my Naneth, but I shall also think of you, Elladan, and you, Anomen."
And then, tucking their pendants into their tunics to keep them safe, the elflings proceeded to wrestle and roughhouse, shouting and hooting merrily until at length they were all lying upon the floor laughing so hard that Elladan came down with hiccups that only ceased when Elrohir poured an ewer of cold water upon his head and shoulders.
It was nearly suppertime before Elrond sent for the elflings. "I believe I know the answers to the questions I shall ask," Elrond sighed to Glorfindel, "but I should go through the motions nonetheless. This feud between Anomen and the twins must be put to rest."
When the elflings filed into his chamber, however, he was surprised to see that all were grinning. Oddly as well, Elladan's head and tunic were wet. In spite of his puzzlement, though, Elrond commenced catechizing the young ones.
"Anomen," he began, "did you see Mithrandir's creature hereabouts?"
"No, Ada," Anomen replied, adopting a serious manner.
"And you, Elladan?"
"No, Ada."
"Elrohir?"
"I did see the creature, of course, but not hereabouts."
"And you laid down a false trail?"
"Yes, Ada."
"Anomen, why did you tell such a lie?"
"To persuade Mithrandir to stay."
"And you, Elladan and Elrohir, what was your reason for lying?"
"To persuade Mithrandir to leave."
"Anomen, why were you so anxious to keep Mithrandir about?"
"I didn't think Elladan and Elrohir wanted anything to do with me."
"Elladan and Elrohir, why were you so anxious to send Mithrandir packing?
Replied Elladan, "We were afraid that Anomen would not return to us."
"So you told variations of the same lie, but for the selfsame reason, because you were bereft of one another's company."
Each elfling nodded his head.
"It was rather unfair to Mithrandir, don't you think, to drag him into the middle of your machinations? Don't you think you might have found a better way to address your problem without making it Mithrandir's as well?"
To the surprise of everyone, it was Elrohir who spoke next. "I might have told Anomen that I, well, that I am very fond of him."
Elrond hid his smile. It meant much that Elrohir would say that he was 'fond of' Anomen. The elf-lord looked toward Anomen. The elfling looked back and smiled. Good. Anomen knew what Elrohir meant even if the older elfling was as yet incapable of speaking with utter plainness. Indeed, perhaps he never would say, "Anomen, I love you," just as he might never declare his love for Arwen or Elladan or Elrond himself. But there could be no doubt about the matter.
Indeed there was not. Elrohir may have kept his love for Anomen 'close to his chest', but so too he kept that pendant. All three of the elflings bore their pendants wheresoever they went. As Frodo trudged alongside the members of the Fellowship, the Ring hidden on a chain beneath his shirt, Legolas, too, had his hidden jewel, a bid of wood dangling from a leathern string. Of course, Legolas' pendant was a much more wholesome one than Frodo's. Its touch was comforting, whilst Frodo's Ring was as a fiery coal laid next to his skin.
One night, as Legolas and Gimli were undressing after one of the feasts celebrating the coronation of Aragorn, Legolas gave a cry of dismay.
"What is the matter, O Prince of Cleanliness?" chortled Gimli. "Have you a stain upon your tunic?"
Legolas held out his hand. In it rested what looked like a large wooden bead whose topmost part had broken away.
"Now I shall not be able to wear it about my neck," said Legolas mournfully, "for, see, the eyelet portion has been lost. I suppose I could drill a new hole, but part of the design would be destroyed."
Gimli took the pendant from Legolas' hand and studied it.
"I could devise a setting for it," he observed, "that would allow you to suspend it from a chain. If I did so, I should be careful not to obscure the carving."
Elves were not given to bear hugs—or 'dwarf hugs' as they called them—but Legolas threw his arms about Gimli.
"Thank you, my friend!" the Elf cried. "It would mean much to me if you would do so."
The next day Gimli carried the pendant to a smithy and begged leave to use the forge. Permission was granted gladly, for in Minas Tirith Gimli was already quite popular with all manner of smiths, whether of gold or silver or iron or tin. Gimli removed several of the Mithril devices from his own garments and from them created a slender yet strong setting into which to slip the pendant. From the remaining metal, he created a matching chain. When he had finished, rather than the carving being obscured, its beauty was accentuated.
"Here ye be," he said to Legolas when he returned to the chamber they shared. "No!" he objected as Legolas began to thank him profusely. "You need say nothing. And don't hug me!"
"I seem to remember you hugging Aragorn," teased Legolas, "when he reappeared at Helm's Deep after you thought he had fallen."
Gimli turned a brighter red than usual, thus demonstrating that Elves were not the only inhabitants of Middle-earth who might feel awkward about public displays of emotion. But it is not always necessary to say or pantomime that one loves another—not as long as one is able to act upon one's love. And in that respect, in the end neither Gimli nor Elrohir were deficient. And so, from that point on, whenever Legolas felt the pendant against his chest, he bethought himself of not only Elladan and Elrohir but of Gimli as well. Thus it was that a simple pendant became endowed with a power that no massy Ring could ever have matched—nor no bow, neither.
FIN