Many thanks to my beta Niroveka!

Chapter 4

Estel was not having the pleasant ride he had anticipated. The forest around him was alive with watchers, although when he looked closely at any one spot, he saw no one. In addition, the physical well-being he had felt was long gone. In spite of the warm summer day he felt cold and his stomach hurt badly. He seemed to be having trouble thinking clearly again, and decided he had had enough of Mirkwood healers. He let Sadoreth have his head to take him to Imladris. The fact that he was leagues of dangerous territory and a wild range of mountains away from comfort did not find its way through the fog in his mind. He just knew he had to go home.

Not five miles further on Estel fell from his horse. The impact drove the breath from his lungs and he lay holding his ribs. Sadoreth skidded to a stop and turned back to his Chosen. He nosed the boy as he began to breathe again. Estel lay in a narrow streambed that was dry at this time of year. He was bitterly cold and shudders wracked him; his stomach let him know there was something seriously wrong there and the muscles in his limbs began to cramp. In spite of all this, the young man realized he was not alone. His eyes opened to see a wondrous sight. His brothers must have been coming to Mirkwood to fetch him home, for they stood before him. He sobbed with relief.

"Elladan, Elrohir! I am so glad to see you! I have been ill, and now I am feeling worse than ever. I – " He broke off as a fierce spasm in his abdomen caused him to hiss and curl up into a ball.

After the pain eased a bit, he looked up again. He had expected his brothers to try to help him in some way. Instead, they simply stood staring at him. They turned to look at each other and then walked away.

"Elladan! 'Ro! Brothers! Wait!" he struggled to get to his feet and finally managed it. He tried to follow in the direction his brothers had gone, but they were nowhere to be found. He stumbled and fell to his knees. Another cramp hit his stomach and he vomited by the side of the path. Again and again his body heaved. When the convulsions were over and his body finally released him to move on his own, he drew a shaking hand across his mouth. He spat and sank back on his heels, trembling with weakness.

"Elrohir, Elladan," he whispered. "I know you are here."

Sadoreth was pawing the ground furiously. He knew there was something seriously wrong. He started to leave, a vague, blurry picture of Legolas in his mind. He felt compelled to find the elf. But Estel moaned and the horse returned to his master's side.

Estel's head pounded and his vision blurred, cleared, then blurred again. The shaking, from both cold and severe nausea, was increasing. He hung his head and closed his eyes, afraid to make any move to change his position. The retching had been so severe that he was terrified he would set off another spate of it.

"To think we are forced to call that 'brother'"

Estel looked around wildly, causing the trees to whirl around him.

"Elrond says he is needed to do something, so we must pretend to care for him."

"The human is thick as a brick if he truly believes that elves as old as we, as well-born as we, could care a fig for such a thing: a stinking, dirty, thing."

"He is a fool to think that any elf could care for a man. As well care for a pig in a sty!"

Estel looked apprehensively for the two who had sung lullabies to him, carried him, teased him, and taught him war-craft. He saw nothing.

"In the Hall of Fire he ruins the evenings with his caterwauling."

"Elrond should not force us all to pretend to like him. Imladris is hideous while he is there."

Estel covered his ears with his hands. "Stop. Stop it! You are not my brothers!"

The voices ignored him.

"Well, at least we will not have to endure him for long. What is a hundred years to an elf? I have had hangnails that lasted longer."

"I look forward to the day when the air in Imladris is clean again. As you say, it will not be long. We will forget him before his grave grows green."

One by one, the merciless brothers stripped bare every fear the orphan man-child, raised among elves, had ever fought in the darkness of his room at night. Each was exposed with a casual cruelty that was worse than if they had raged at him. They were indifferent as they wounded him beyond any healing.

They appeared before the boy's eyes again. This time he did not cry out in gladness. This time, he sank down and curled again into a ball of misery. He told himself over and over that they were not real. They were not his real brothers, who loved him and had told him they would die for him.

Smiling as if at an obscene joke, Elladan bent down and stroked Estel's hair. The boy felt the fingers, at first gentle, then tangling roughly in the dark strands. Elladan grasped a fistful of hair and forcibly raised Estel's head to look into his eyes. The pain, though nothing compared to what his body was already feeling, was unmistakably real.

"Why do you not simply die, human? It is so easy for your kind. Die and leave us our home that we will scrub free of any taint of your presence. Do not imagine that your importance will really matter. We will find an elf to do whatever it is the Valar wanted you to do. Perhaps Legolas. Do you hear me? Die, and leave us in peace!"

Estel's spirit sought shelter in nothingness. As his soul retreated, Sadoreth panicked. He was just a horse, but when he had Chosen the future king, spirit had called to spirit. That link was now breaking and the horse plunged away into the woods, running wildly, his fear beyond thought.

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Legolas rode hard along Estel's trail. He judged he was overtaking the boy quickly, for the hoof-prints he followed spoke of a sober pace, and Legolas was not riding soberly at all. Still, he was worried, for if the prints followed their present course, they would soon enter an area of fine gravel that was extremely difficult to track. Further, while he now rode a defined path, when they reached the gravel the way would open up widely and any direction might be taken. To make matters even worse, heavy clouds that looked ready to rain any minute had replaced the early sunshine. Sure enough, the first large drops hit the ground, the elf, and the horse he now urged to greater speed.

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The previous day, on the trail to Mirkwood

Glorfindel called a halt, dismounted his troop, and told Elrond in no uncertain terms that the elves and horses must rest and eat. Elrond, standing at the edge of the group closest to Mirkwood, turned exhausted eyes to his friend and began to protest.

"No, my lord! We go no further tonight!" Glorfindel stopped, and began to speak again, quietly. "Elrond, you must listen. Even you can fail if you do not take some modicum of care for yourself. How will you save him if you are comatose or worse? None of us know how to remedy this disaster that faces Estel. We are very close. Let us rest a few hours and tomorrow we will be there before sundown. You must be clear minded and in good condition to deal with what you will find."

Elrond slumped in defeated acknowledgement, his friend catching him before he collapsed entirely. The weariness of the frantic pace, as well as the drain of worry, settled upon Elrond in its entirety. Glorfindel half carried the elf lord to the fire his elves had made. He made signs for the two to be left in peace, and the others moved away to start another fire some distance from the first. Glorfindel sat cross-legged on the ground, and held his lord against his breast. He began to sing and his voice was a soothing balm that coaxed Elrond to let go and slumber. One young warrior tentatively approached with a bedroll blanket. He held it up and questioned with his eyes. Glorfindel smiled and nodded without breaking his song. The elf, who worshiped his lord with all the fervor of the young, tenderly tucked it around Elrond's sleeping form.

Glorfindel sang on into the night, looking occasionally at the troubled face below his. For a few hours, he thought, you will be cared for, as you have always cared for others. Elrond seemed to read the mind of the elf who had protected his family long before he was born. He relaxed fully and slept deeply, taking comfort for once instead of giving it.

End chapter 4