Disclaimer: Please see chapter One

Chapter Two

Elrond flashed his old friend a brief smile before turning to the small Elfling once more. He was still fighting to get away from the blond Elf in front of him and Elrond could feel the fast beat of the Elfling's heart where he was held against his chest.

"Easy, Penneth we will not hurt you. This is Glorfindel and he is my friend and very nice. Come and meet him." He took a step towards Glorfindel only for the Elfling to become like a wild cat in his arms, biting, scratching, and kicking even thumping with his fists. Anything that could help him get away from the Elf that was looming above him.

"I am only upsetting him more by my presence. I will leave, we will talk later?" Glorfindel had already taken a step backwards.

"That is a good idea and yes, we will talk later once this little One has been settled." He watched as his friend entered the Last Homely House. The Elfling slowly calmed down.

Once he had stopped fighting them, Elrond led the way into the house. Making for his bedchambers, he gestured for the others to join them.

Once in his chambers he sat down with the silent Elfling on his lap. He smiled gently as he pushed the knotted, matted hair from the ghostly pale face. In the light of the room the bruises looked far worse than they originally had.

Huge, fear filled blue eyes looked up at him. Elrond smiled gently down into those eyes. "Hello, my name is Elrond. Can you tell me yours?"

"No know." The voice quivered as did that adorable lower lip.

"That is alright, we can think of a name until you remember. We will leave it while so that we can choose one that is good for you. Where did you come from?"

"No know."

"I see. Are you hungry?" He had to be he was so thin and obviously malnourished. The filthy head nodded.

"I will organise something, Ada." Elladan was already making for the door.

"Elladan, please bring some warm milk? He is very cold." At Elladan's nod he turned back to the Elfling.

"You need a bath, Penneth." If the eyes could have grown even larger they just did. "But not for the minute."

That earned him a watery smile. "I do need to look at your back. Calenthol you said that he had been beaten." Intense brown eyes found the patrol leader.

"Yes, Hir Nin, he has welts and bruises all over his back. His front is not much better and I think he may have a couple of broken ribs. You have already seen his face."

"Thank you for taking care of him." Elrond gently took the blankets away from the tiny back. It was as Calenthol had described. The small back had a mixture of healed and partly healed welts. As Elrond continued his examination he could have sworn he saw the outline of a buckle on one tiny shoulder.

Elrond closed his eyes for one long moment. Who in their right mind would do this to a child? So few Elfling's were being born to the Eldar's. Those that were blessed treasured them. For one to do this, it was beyond his comprehension.

"That must be sore, Penneth." He received no answer to that. Instead of pressing the subject he turned the Elfling so that he was facing him. The bruises and welts were still present, although not in the same abundance. You could count each rib clearly and Elrond could see the small bumps that was evidence of callus formation. Once again, Calenthol had been right; this poor Elfling had had a couple of broken ribs.

Elladan came back with Erestor, carrying a tray of food, soft and easily digestible for a small stomach that had not been used to having food.

It took Elrond and Estel quite sometime to encourage the Elfling to eat, but eventually the bowl and plate were empty.

"We need to get you some clothes; you cannot go around wearing a blanket all the time." He was hoping for a smile from the child, he was disappointed the Elfling just blinked at him, face strangely blank.

It was Erestor who spoke up. "I will see if some of the Ladies have clothes that he can use until we can organise some proper clothes for him."

"That is a good idea; please do so Mellon-nin." Elrond smiled at his friend and Councillor.

"Now, Penneth we need to look at those ribs of yours. They must be as sore as your back." He gently made the Elfling lift his arms out of the way. It was not lost on him that the Elfling winced as he lifted his left arm.

Elrond gently mixed some Athelas with some warm water, smiling as the Elfling sighed as the fragrance lifted the air around them.

First he gently washed the small back, stopping once in a while as the Elfling hissed when he caught a sore part. As the old Athelas was removed and more of the grime came off it revealed old scars that were in the same state of healing as the welts and bruises.

Elrond's face hardened as he took in the damage that the small back had sustained. He looked up at the others in the chamber and read the same anger in their eyes as well.

As he moved down the back he reached the buttocks. These had not escaped from the beating or beating's, as Elrond was beginning to suspect was likely. To his horror the welts continued all the way down the tiny thighs and there were buckle marks and wounds that could only have been caused by a belt tine.

Once they were cleaned and dried to his satisfaction he moved onto the small chest and abdomen, noting as he did so that the Elfling was sat rigid on his lap, not even moving a muscle. The small front was soon washed and dried. The small ribs had been fractured in several places, again some new, some old and although they were healing it was not with the usual swiftness of the first born.

As he was binding the ribs he was aware of the look of pain in the blue eyes. He finished as quickly as he could. Once finished he captured the bruised left arm gently.

There was a definite callus formation just above the wrist. This was obviously an old, healed injury. The same could not be said of the small collar bone. Now that Elrond was looking he could see the injury clearly. The Elfling was that thin.

He gently palpated the area causing the Elfling to hiss and try to pull back. "Please, Penneth I need to do this so that I can heal you." Those blue eyes looked haunted for a while and then they looked so old and weary that Elrond's heart almost shattered at the sight. Without thought he swept the Elfling into a hug whispering to him. "You are safe here; I promise that no one will ever hurt you again. Please trust me."

When he pulled back the blue eyes were full of unshed tears, it was almost as if he dare not shed them.

Blinking hard to stop his own tears from falling he carried on his examination. The right wrist had been badly fractured and from the way that it sat it had healed wrongly. It would have to be broken and re-set. It was not something he looked forward to. He looked up once more to find that the tears had started to fall, slowly and without sound. Pain filled those eyes.

"I am sorry; I will give you something for the pain. Estel can you sit with him I need to make him some tea?" Elrond asked.

"I can make the tea, Ada. Stay with him." Estel moved from where he stood with the three Elves.

"No this is more complex. I have to get this just right. I need it to contain a sleeping herb. That wrist needs seeing too and I do not want him to be awake for that. Also, he is so malnourished that the tea has to be carefully calculated." Elrond did not want to offend his foster son, but he also needed to make sure the potion was just as it should be. The risk of overdose in this case was great.

"I understand, Ada I will sit with him." Estel took his father's place.

Soon they were trying to coax the small Elfling into taking the bitter tea. It was hard as it became obvious that the small Elfling did not trust them at all.

Finally he lay unconscious in Estel's arms. He stayed still as his father gathered the items he would need, once ready Elrond finished his initial examination, washing the small face free from grime. Without its camouflage the difference was amazing. Underneath the different colour bruises the face was a pale porcelain and they all gaped at him. This child was beautiful!

Then as he was washing the jaw he noticed another swelling. It was with mounting fury that he realised that the lump was right over the jaw bone. At some point in the not too distant past the small jaw had been broken. He met Estel's eyes. "If I every find the person who perpetrated this evil, I swear upon the Valar they will regret their actions." His voice was cold and full of promise.

"We will be behind you every step of the way, Ada." The same tone was echoed in the voice of his eldest son. The others all nodded their agreement.

"Are you going to see to his arm now, Ada?" Estel's voice throbbed with anger.

"In a while, but first it may be wise to try and give him a good wash and maybe see to that rats nest while he is asleep. That will not be pleasant. He will not be able to bathe for a few days while these wounds heal."

"I will organise some hot water for us to use." Elrohir rushed off eager to help with the small Elfling.

While he was waiting Elrond gently teased some of the hair away from the scalp. The hair was so tightly matted that when he tried to tease it further away it pulled at the skin. The Elfling stirred slightly and Elrond halted waiting until he settled once more.

"This hair is so matted; it must not have seen a brush in sometime." He winced as he realised that the hair was in far worse a condition than he had originally thought.

"How long do you think he has been out there for, Ada? Why has no other of the Eleven Realm's reported an Elfling missing?" Estel asked watching as his father worked.

"I wish I could answer those questions, Ion-nin but alas I cannot." Elrond looked up as Elrohir came back with two buckets of warm water.

It took three of them to hold the Elfling in such a way that they did not hurt him. Estel held him firmly. Elrond was going to wash the hair and Elrohir was in charge of pouring the water.

With the first soaking the water came away a filthy, muddy brown. Elrond poured some soft soap into his hands and rubbed them until the foamed, this he then used to wash the hair. Elrohir then rinsed. The colour was awful as the water drained away.

It took five washes before the water ran clear. Satisfied they sat back and watched as Elrond picked up a fine bone comb. He tried several times to pull the comb through the hair, but the tangles were just too well established. He sat back with a frustrated sigh.

"Ada?" Estel's voice was worried.

"I cannot pull the comb through his hair. I am going to have to cut the hair." Elrond hated having to do this.

"That will not be too bad. He will still have hair." Estel caught his father's look. "He will have hair will he?" The last was quiet.

"The mats are too close to the skin. The only way I can deal with them will be to cut the hair as close to the scalp as possible." He had to smile at their shock. "It will soon grow back and this must be hurting him."

He crossed the room to the large chest of drawers. Pulling one open he lifted out a sharp pair of scissors. Silence filled the room as he began the work of cutting the mats from the small head.

Soon nothing but a small amount of hair was left. He had to smile at the sight, it made the Elfling look all the more like an urchin than ever.

"We will give it one last wash as we can now get to the scalp." When they had finished, what little hair was left was not brown but a bright golden blond. The others were as amazed as he was. "Well, there can only be two places that he can hail from with hair of that colour, Lothlorien or Mirkwood."

"If he was missing from Lothlorien DaerNaneth would have alerted us all." Elladan's voice was thoughtful.

"I agree, Elladan. That means that he most probably comes from Mirkwood. Unfortunately with the weather as it is we will have to wait for the spring until sending messenger's to Thranduil to enquire about any missing Elfling. He will have to stay here with us, for the time being."

"Hir Nin, my Wife and I would like to foster him if there are any problems." Calenthol pushed himself forward.

"Thank you, Calenthol I will bear that in mind. For the time being, though I think that he should stay here with us. I want to keep an eye on his recovery, we can certainly expect for him to have psychological issues and then there is the fact that he is so obviously terrified of Glorfindel. No for the time being he will stay here with me."

"As you wish, Hir Nin." Calenthol somehow managed to hide his disappointment. It was still obvious to Elrond.

"You will in all likelihood be very involved with this Penneth's recovery. He will be glad to have you around." That earned the Lord a grateful smile.

"We need to see to his arm. Along with his collar bone he will be in need of a lot of help over the next few weeks."

It was the work of minutes to re-break the wrist and set it properly, a splint tied tightly into place to stop any accidental movement. The left arm was also bandaged tightly to prevent the small bone moving as well.

He had just finished when Erestor came back into the chamber carrying a small pile of clothes. He stopped at seeing the Elfling, his face a picture of shock. "What have you done to the poor Mite? Elrond, how could you?!"

"We could not have done any other; Erestor his hair was too badly matted. It will grow back. You have some clothes I see."

"Yes, the Elleth's were all wonderful when they heard about this little one's dilemma. I am not sure they will fit him, but it is better than nothing."

"I agree we will have the tailors provide some temporary clothes until they have the time to make his some in his size. Do you have a sleeping tunic, by any chance?" He asked his friend.

"Yes, they insisted that he have at least three." The Councillor was still shaking his head bemused at the lady elves actions. He picked up the first sleeping tunic that his hands found and he handed it to Elrond.

He was right, the tunic did not fit, and it was so large that it hung on the pitiful frame, making him look all the more slender.

"I will take him to my study; I will keep an eye on him while he sleeps. Can you ask Glorfindel to join me? I need to speak with him." The others quickly left and Elrond carried the sleeping child to his study.

Once there he gently laid the Elfling in the large chair by the fire. The chair seemed to swamp the Elfling and he covered him with a blanket and waited for him to wake.

Elrond managed to get a lot of work finished. His letter to Galadriel now carried word of the Elfling and information that he would be staying with them in Rivendell until his family could be found.

He looked up in time to see his old friend enter the chamber. He held two wine glasses and a bottle of Elrond's finest Dorwinion wine.

"I thought you might like to join me with some wine." Elrond readily accepted.

"How is he?" Glorfindel nodded in the direction of the still sleeping Elfling.

"Not good, he really has been badly abused. If I ever, ever see the Son of an Orc that did this they will wish they had never been born." Cold fury laced the normally calm voice.

"Estel said that he had some broken bones." Glorfindel moved over to the chair and kneeling he took in the sleeping child. "Is it true that you think that he hails from Mirkwood?" He stroked the pale fluff that remained of the little one's hair.

"Yes to both question's. It may also have some bearing on why he was so scared of you. He will stay with us until his family can be found and then he will only return if I think it safe for him to do so. I will not let him go back for the abuse to start again."

"I am glad, no child deserves that. I will have to gain his trust."

Elrond rose and walked to his friend's side; placing a hand on his shoulder he gave a grim smile. "It is not just you that he does not trust, Mellon-nin. He does not trust any of us; we will all have to make sure that he knows that he is safe. How he survived on his own I do not know; it must have been a miracle."

"The Valar work mysteriously, Mellon-nin we both know that." Glorfindel smiled up at his friend.

"Aye, that is true. They brought you back to Arda after all." A mischievous grin was in place, one the Balrog Slayer had seen more often than not on the twins.

They sat chatting for a while and did not realise that the Elfling had woken them and was watching them a look of terror on his face. He did not dare move; the fair haired being would scream and hurt him if he did. So he lay there in silence not daring to take his gaze away from the monster who sat in front of him.

It was Glorfindel turning to check the Elfling, who realised he was awake. He smiled making sure that he was no threat to the child. "Hello, there. Are you feeling any better?"

The frightened blue eyes watched his every move and as he reached out for the Elfling, he pulled back shaking.

"It is alright, I will not hurt you." With every step that he took the Elfling drew back even more. The closer to the chair he got the more the Elfling looked for a way to escape.

He took his chance and fled from the chair, panic and fear feeding his limbs as he ran as fast as he could to the partially opened door. He could hear the startled cries from the Elves behind him, exhorting him to stop. He ignored them.

Pulling the door open was impossible with his arms tied as they were. They said they wanted to help him and then tie him like this? No they would only hurt him. He used a foot to open the door and dashed through only to run full tilt into a grey covered person.

Bouncing back he was steadied by a hand, looking up he found he was looking into the face of an old man with a huge pointed hat. He could only gape at the being before him, twinkling blue eyes met his and a kind voice spoke.

"Well, well and what do we have here then?"

The Elfling could not speak nor move he was so scared. He could not think what to do so he just stood there and waited for the beating to begin.

To be continued

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Mei and Shell