DISCLAIMER: I do not own any piece of the wonderful world that Tolkien named Middle-Earth, none of the characters, places or names. Anything you recognize is not mine. All elvish (mainly sindarin) is from the site "The council of Elrond". Don't steal my original characters, if you want to use them, ask first. This and the following chapters have been slightly edited, but the plot is unchanged.
Wild Horse
Chapter IV: Two sets of mornings
As Legolas woke the next morning, he had no idea where he was. He had lain half awake for some minutes while staring at the roof, till it hit him that this was not his roof. He sat up, slightly panicking, but he saw his muddy sandals he remembered everything about last night, Mudolwen and the rain. He heard the crackling fire, so the she-elf had to be up.
Legolas dressed and ventured into the living room, which he found empty. So were all the other rooms he discovered. There was no note saying where Mudolwen might be so he guessed the servant had had to go to work. The table was set for breakfast for two, but he would eat back at the palace. He gathered the books and headed for the door, just as she entered.
"Oh, good morning, my prince, I was just about to wake you! I hope you have had a good night's sleep?"
"Yes, I have. Where have you been?"
"Me? Just outside collecting eggs from the hens and the bottle from the milkman, my prince." She showed him a basket with four eggs and a bottle. "Were you leaving?" she asked as she saw the books in his arms.
"Yes, because I could not find you anywhere. I thought you had gone to work."
"No, I don't start until 7.30 so I still have 20 minutes before I have to go, my prince. Shall we eat?"
"Yes." Legolas didn't want to seem impolite. "What can you offer?"
"Let's see…boiled eggs, milk, butter, cheese, bread and tea. Will it do?"
"It will do just nicely. Is there any place I can refresh myself before we eat?" He had not seen a bathroom when he had searched the house for her.
"You just go out the door and round the corner to the left. There you will find a basin of fresh water you can use," she said as she cut the bread. Legolas had been thinking more in the lines of a bath, but he had no plan in telling her that. Either way she seemed to have guessed his desires for she asked "You were thinking of a bath were you not?" He nodded.
"Sorry, but I do not have one, my prince. I use the public baths in the caves, I only have the most essential here. The lavatory is in the edge of the forest behind the house if you need it. Again, I am so sorry for the inconvenience, my prince." He smiled the most polite smile he could conjure so early in the morning.
"It will just have to do."
Legolas walked outside and relieved himself first. The ice-cold water from the basin felt as if it was too peel the skin off his face when he washed his face. When his hands were clean and his hair was done, he went inside again. Warm tea was luckily waiting for him.
"The bread may be some days old, my prince, but other than that, there is nothing wrong with it," she said as she put a small basket with bread down in front of him. Then he noticed that she had no tea, even if she had drunk several cups last night. She let out a short laugh when he pointed it out.
"I just forgot to boil up enough water for two, my prince. Usually it is only me."
"Have you always lived alone?" he asked as he helped himself for a slice of bread.
"No, I have not. Idhreneth, the one who wrote the greeting in the book remember," he nodded, "we lived together before she got married two years ago. We were the only females working in the stables, and also very good friends."
"Have you always lived here then?"
"No, I used to live back at the caves. I moved out here last spring, when the forest was cleansed." He nodded approvingly while he tried to figure out what to put on the bread. Jam or cheese? Cheese or jam?
"It is so wonderful to see how much it has changed," he said, "and still changing. When I came back a week ago I nearly could not believe it to be the same. There were birds in the trees, along with squirrels and I saw a deer some days ago! No longer do we need to trust from supplies from Esgaroth."
In the dark years not much had grown in Mirkwood, so they had used much gold to buy food supplies from the men living in Lake Town.
"I know what you mean," she said. "The horses have gotten in a better mood, and the foals we had this summer has grown faster than in any other year I can remember." Legolas started to notice that whatever the stable girl was talking about; it nearly always had, in one way or another, something to do with horses.
They ate in silence, she dug in, but Legolas only took one slice of bread. It was hard and quite dry, (but the strawberry jam was good) so he decided to save his appetite for the fresh bread that was waiting for him back at the palace. He finished the tea while she cleared off the table.
She laid an apple, a few slices of bread, a boiled egg and some cheese on a cloth and tied it shut. She helped him carry the books as they made their path back to the stable. The chirping birds were the only ones who saw them this early morning on their way through the forest. When they reached the stables, none of the other workers had come yet.
"When will you come today, my Prince?" she asked.
"Come?"
"To start the training? If we don't start today Gladholion will run off again." She wondered if he had believed that the horse would train himself.
"Then I will train him today, but what business is that of yours?"
"I ask of you to let me train him this first time, my prince. He will only become worse if he is trained by one who doubts what he does."
"I do not doubt myself!"
"I did not say that, my Prince, but after all the things I told you last night about training horses, do you think you can train him without ever even witnessing the training of a horse before, without finishing your first book on the subject?" Legolas saw her reasoning, but still felt the need to growl at her.
"Alright, you are allowed to train him. But I would like to be there, so that I can learn how to train him myself."
"I did not expect anything else, my prince. Is it alright if you come down here around half past eleven?"
"No problem." The only other plan that Legolas had for this day was to practice archery with his cousin and some other friends, so he could do as he wished the rest of the day.
"Good. See you then my Prince, good day." She bowed shortly.
"Good day." He was about to walk out the gate when she called him back.
"Ey! My Prince, you forgot your books!" She ran over to where he had stopped and placed the books she had carried in his arms. "Try to read as much as you can of the first one before we meet again, or else you will not understand all the things I do."
"I will see what I can do. Good day."
"Good day, my Prince," she said with another small bow.
As Legolas walked towards the palace, he knew that there would be no archery before after half past eleven. The book was thick and he knew that if he was to understand anything of what Mudolwen did without her explanations along the way, he had a whole lot of reading to do before their meeting.
While Legolas walked beneath the weight of all the books back to the castle, Mudolwen skipped over to the stable. You could nearly believe she had springs under her feet from how she walked as she fed the 26 hungry horses together with Turgon. The stable they worked in was the stable of the nobles, which would say the king, his family and their relatives had their horses here.
Mudolwen was very proud over the fact that she was working here. Well, technically she was not working here; she was yet a trainee to become the new Rider of the Wood. Every now and then (A/N: thinking in years here) Serondrych, the stable master, would pick one rider from one of the public stables to be a trainee for the next two years, before taking the test to see if he, or she, had enough experience to step into the lines of the Riders. She remembered all the hard work she had done to impress her former stable master to make him recommend her to Serondrych. The day she had been picked had been some of the happiest days of her life. And now she was training the horse of the Prince, the most beautiful horse in the Wood!
But the rest of the work was not so exiting. While she had been working at the public stable she was one of those who did the most riding and the least cleaning and feeding, here it was the exact opposite. She did all the dirty work and had hated it at first. But then she understood the meaning. The fact that she fed and groomed the horses everyday brought a bond, a feeling she only had had with a few horses before. She understood why the Riders became as talented as they were with the animals, for they had gone through the same that she was going through now, being around the horses, making them as comfortable as possible 24 hour a day. The horses trusted her and they were glad to see her every time, every horse but Gladholion. She hoped that would change before the end of the week.
But there was no left time to think about her happy history as she was humming to herself while measuring the different meals for every horse. They had all gotten their hay, now it was time for a mix of oats, barley, corn and different weeds to each horse, widely called concentrates. The list on the wall told her what every horse should have.
Turgon walked into the room at that moment. He was the newest Rider of the Wood and therefore set to train her, such as the tradition was.
"I noticed that Nimpien's coat was not as it should be. It seemed too..." Turgon failed find a fitting word.
"Yes, I know what you mean. It was not shining as usual," Mudolwen answered.
Nimpien, or just Nimp for short, was the mare of the Queen. She was pale white and quite old, even for an Elvish horse.
"What would you do to make it better?" he asked Mudolwen. This was one of the usual tests she had to pass throughout the day. Turgon of course knew the answer, but that was not the point, which was to make Mudolwen learn everything there was to know about horses.
"I would give her linseeds to make the fur seem more glistening. The fact that the fur is like this can be a sign that the digestion system is not working as it should be. When I noticed I checked her manure and was more moist than usual."
"Correct and well noticed. How much and for how long would you give her linseeds?"
"Three tablespoons once a day, preferably together with the evening meal for a...week?"
"Correct again. Since she is so old she will need it for a week, a younger horse would have managed with three days. Last, is anything special needed to be done with linseeds before you give them to her?"
"Boil them for 20 minutes and then let them soak in cold water for about 12 hours."
"Very good, Mudolwen. Prepare it after you have finished with feeding, then come and help me with the broken wagon, alright?"
"See you in half an hour, slave driver." She could hear his laugh echoing through the hall as he walked to the wagon shed. She finished her work and left the horses to eat in peace.
When the linseeds were soaking in the cold water, she went to check what else there was to be done today. She, as always was to groom all the horses (not the ones the other Riders were training, they did that themselves), and that left about 20 horses, just for her and she were to clean out all the 26 stalls. Then some of the horses had to be put out in paddocks and those who for some reason could not be properly trained, she had to take a walk with. She had riding lessons with one of the Riders in the afternoon, so she always had enough to do.
Then it always ended with her and some others (usually Turgon) were left to polish the saddles, bridles and all the other leather at the end of the day, before she did the last feeding with Turgon. She could not wait to begin the day!
Legolas' morning was quite different. When he entered the dining room, after taking a quick bath and changing his clothes, he did not expect everyone to look so shocked.
"Where have you been?" his mother asked as she got up and went over to hug him. "Are you alright?"
"What do you mean? Of course I am alright!" Why would he not be?
"But you didn't come back last night. We were worried."
"Are you saying that you were worried, Naneth, when your three thousand year old son, who has been out ever so often and has just come from war, was not in his bed?" he kissed his mother on the cheeks. "And did you actually check my room?" he laughed.
"Yes, I did. I guess you are right; there is no need for me to worry. I cannot help myself sometimes."
"Yes, let us hope you illness passes," it came from Thranduil, sitting at the high seat of the table. "Now sit down, son."
"Yes, Ada," replied Legolas and sat down.
"Where did you sleep tonight?" Thranduil asked.
"At the house of the stable girl you met in the garden." This caused the entire table of royals to choke whatever they were eating or drinking.
Legolas had to tell his cousin, aunts and uncles, mother and father about the pervious evening, the night and the morning. They laughed when he told about the dirty chair, the dry bread and the fact that she did not have a bathroom.
"I am meeting her half past eleven so I must go and prepare myself," he finished the story off with.
"Meeting her?" asked his cousin Gelir. "Why?"
"To train Gladholion, of course!"
"Seriously, a stable girl? I thought only the Riders trained the horses."
"Well, she offered to train him and I am sure she will let me participate much more than the Riders anyway. Well, I must be of; I have a whole book to finish. Good day to you all."
Legolas heard good days being mumbled around the table as he left. He went straight for his room, folded up on the right page and sat down to read in his favourite green armchair.
Mudolwen was planning to train Gladholion during lunch break. This meant no eating for her part, but she could just eat later if she had nothing to do.
"Fat chance," she mumbled as she led Carnil back into his stall. She had not told any of the riders, not even Turgon about her deal with the Prince, knowing that they would like to take over the training. Something they could actually do, if the Prince did not insist on her doing it. Knowing he would never do that, she hoped she would impress him today with her way with horses. As long as she stayed focused on Gladholion and not on impressing the Prince she knew she would succeed.
Just now, she was finishing the last horse to be groomed. She put the brushes and all the other things she had used such as halters back where it belonged. She and Turgon had finished on the wagon just as the riders had started arriving, so now many of the horses were outside being trained and some were on their way out, some on their way in.
Her job this time of day was to saddle up the horses of the royals that would come for a ride. Just at this day, only the two grown children of the brother of the Queen came, but she noticed them staring at her more than usual. After she had given them their horses and seen them of, she was sick of their laughter and whispering, so when she laid the brushes back in place, she might have laid them a bit hard. Alright, she threw them in the wall. Turgon walked in to the equipment room just as she did this.
"Ey, what is wrong with you? Stop making such a racket!" he scolded. She sighed and picked up the brushes.
"Sorry, I did not mean to."
"Is something the matter that needs my attention?" he enquired.
"Some of the royals laughed of me again. That has not happened in a long time now."
"Did you do something wrong?" She put the brushes back in the basket then turned towards him.
"No, I did not." The first weeks she had been here she had been so nervous around the royals that she had done many silly mistakes. Like saddling up the wrong horse, forgetting to take down the stirrups for them and not holding the horse till they were safe upon it. This was because she was not used to the manners of the royals, for it was much different from the public stable. But that had changed, the year she had spent here had managed to get her used to it, and now she was not even nervous to do mistakes when the king asked for his horse to be sent up to the palace.
"They just laughed?" he asked, a smile starting to form on his face
"Mainly, yes," she answered, sounding as if she were to give up.
"Well, I can see why." Now her face was a big frown, for his tone was to unserious
"Why? Do I have something in my face or?" The elf started laughing. "What Turgon?"
"Your looks are laughable, it is just that." she put her head in her hands, why was he never serious when she wanted him to be?
"Please stop the joking; I am not in the mood."
"Oh, but I am."
"You should not be."
"I am the one telling you what to do, remember?"
"Yes, Turgon. Now will you tell me why they laughed?"
"Actually, I don't know, they must be insane." Then he walked out of the door, only to reappear a few seconds later. "And by the way, did Gladholion run of last night?" Now he was back to horse-mode, meaning serious-mode.
"Yes, he did." And at that moment she remembered some horse manure in the middle of a garden. "Oh no," she groaned.
"What?" Turgon was busy taking down the saddle and the bridle of the next horse he was to train.
"Nothing, I just forgot something that I have to go and do." She walked past him, "And don't worry, it is work."
"Ok, but be back in quarter. I need you to start painting the wagon."
"Fine."
Mudolwen picked up a spade and put it in a trolley and made her way towards the gardens. She hoped that there would not be too many people there. Her wish was granted. There were only a few seated on the benches and others walking past her, not even wasting a look on her.
When she came to the place where the "incidence" had taken place and started to remove the manure with her own footprint in, it was the time two of the royal ladies decided to walk by. This caused them to have to lift their skirts up high and dramatically jumping over that part of the road, even if they easily could have walked next to it. Mudolwen stepped aside as they passed, and also these royals looked at her and laughed, whispering things as they walked away.
"There must have been some disease that makes you laugh because of stable girls raging up at the palace," she thought as she walked back to the waiting wagon.
OOO
Legolas had skimmed through the whole book now. He only remembered half of it, but Mudolwen could not say that he had not read it. He had gotten the main points and knew more or less what Mudolwen was to try to do today. She would first make the animal except that she was the boss and in that case make the horse trust her. He sat out on the balcony now trying to remember all she had said to him the previous night. Just then there was a nock on his door.
"Come in!" he called. His mother, Queen Rísithil, walked in.
"Naneth, what are you doing here?" She never came to see him like this. Well, at least she had not done so since his early childhood.
"Just wanted to talk to my only child, is that also wrong now?"
"No, I am just surprised to see you that is all. Come and sit," he went to meet her and pulled out a chair for her and then sat back down in his own, facing her.
"It is so good to have you home, Legolas," she said.
"You must have said that about a thousand times on these seven days, you are aware of that?"
"Yes, but it is only because we missed you so. Now, I want to talk to you about a matter that becomes more pressing and you can not avoid it much longer."
"The marriage part I guess." Legolas stared down at the page in the book as he spoke.
"Yes. I was wondering, because I have not asked you in a long time, but, eh, how to put this...?"
"You are wondering if I-"
"Yes. Fitting company."
"No, I have not company, Naneth. I know I used too, but it did not work out."
"Did you see no ladies in Rivendell or Lothlorien that fitted?"
"Naneth, those were times of war, and I had no time to think about matters of the heart."
"So on this year that you have been away, there has been no one?"
"The closest I have been to a she-elf this last year is the stable girl I slept at tonight. So no, there has been no one."
"Closest! Legolas are you saying that you are...seeing a stable girl!"
"No, of course not! For the sake of the Valar, it was just a way of saying that I have not," at this he felt pretty embarrassed, "had any intimacy with anyone. In a long time…" The embarrassing silence that developed showed just how unusual this sort of conversation was in the royal families.
"I see. Well, you still have time before your father will have to do something about the matter." At this, when she saw the angry look forming on her son's face, there was a sudden change of subject. "Excuse me for being so curious, but what did you and that stable girl talk about?"
"Horses mostly. She borrowed me these books too, to help me train Gladholion." He motioned for the books lying on his desk. The Queen got up and read the titles out loud.
"And I expect you to have thanked her for this? This is her private property." Legolas made a face to his mothers back. When he did not answer she turned.
"You did not thank her?" Oh, Legolas knew he was in trouble.
"No."
"Did you thank her for your stay then?" Yes, Naneth was going to be angry.
"No."
"Have I never taught you any manners?" her voice was strict and her eyebrows knitted.
"Yes, but I simply forgot. It is just a servant."
"She is a servant yes, but not when not at work. Then she is a person with her own life."
"I will say thank you when I see her! Naneth, I am sorry," he got up and walked toward her.
"I hope this was not the way you treated the peoples of Middle-Earth on your journey. They do not think of the Mirkwood elves as arrogant and impolite now, do they?"
"I swear they do not. Now I have to go and meet Mudolwen, I will not have her waiting for me, making me more impolite than I already am."
"That is the way, Legolas, but remember, she is now your servant. Still I want you to find her a gift as a thank you for your stay, but give her it when she is of duty. We must think of our reputation, you know."
"As you wish Naneth. Now I have to dress, so if you will excuse me."
"Good luck with the training, Ion. Good day." His mother left.
Legolas quickly undressed and put on breeches and tunic. He felt better immediately. Then it was the present. He had no time to buy anything, so he just had to take something from his room.
A book? No she seemed to have enough of those. A piece of jewellery was too much. Ah, he knew it, a quill! He had been given so many through the years, with different houses emblem engraved. He looked through the drawers till he found one from King Eomer of Rohan. It had horse motives and the sun engraved.
"Fits perfectly," he thought and with that in his hands he walked through the gardens and over to the stables.
OOO
A/N: At first I had thought that this chapter would have the first training in it, but it turned out with much more "stuff" than I had expected and it seemed right to cut it here. The training comes in the next chapter don't worry. Next, here come the names and meanings on some of the characters.
Mudolwen: working maiden
Nimpien: pale white (the queen's horse).
Turgon: commander of power
Serondrych: lover of horses (Stable master).
Carnil: name of the planet Mars in Quenya. The horse is called so because he is red (Mars is red, just if you did not know that, something I am sure you did).
Idhreneth: thoughtful maiden (friend in Valinor).
Gelir: happy person (Legolas cousin).
Last, but not least, there is some sindarin (elvish) in here. Ada(r) means father, Naneth means mother, Ion means son.
I had never thought anyone would review this little fantasy mumbo jumbo of mine, but hey, some even come back to read more. Then another thing, yes, they do have watches in Middle-Earth. I don't mean like hand watches, but big things (clocks) that stand into a wall or on a mantelpiece. Tolkien says that Bilbo has a clock on the mantelpiece in The Hobbit, so let's agree with him, shall we? And also, yes, I know some of the chapters have names and some doesn't. That is just the way things are.
And then, I need your help. What are the covers that you put on a horse when it is cold in the winter or the horse is sweat (I know these are two totally different covers)? What is the name of that? I only know what all these horse things are in my native tongue, so I have a hard time finding out what they are in English. If YOU happen to know what for example the different parts of a bridle and a saddle is called, or the different brushes you use to brush a horse with etc, etc, please mail me! None of these words are in my dictionary so please help!
I start school next week and I am moving this weekend, so I have no idea when the next chapter is up. Just as you know, I will finish this gory story, no matter what. See you next time and please review. Sayonara.