Elrond had lost his sense for time. The woods all seemed to look the same for a while. They were passing through Taur-im-Duinath, but Elrond noticed that they rode alongside its borders; the edge of the forest could always be seen. He wondered why the mighty, evil elves would not enter the forest completely. Surely, they were capable of killing anything in their way.
He looked around. There were at least a dozen elves still in the company of the evil brothers. He spotted his brother Elros sitting in front of Maglor, whimpering silently. Elrond's butt started to hurt from the saddle. He had never been longer mounted on a horse than a few hours. When the sun was setting, Maedhros signalled everyone to halt and camp for the night.
"What about the boys?" one elf asked.
"We set watch anyway. The boys should know better than to run from us," Maedhros answered.
Elrond and Elros were heaved down from the horses and set into the middle of the elves. They took out blankets to lie upon, but they had not bothered to take any tents. Elros crawled over next to Elrond. Both of them were sitting on grass.
"Do you think father will find us?" Elros muttered.
"I hope so," Elrond said. He swallowed hard. The scene of his mother falling from the lookout tower played again and again in his mind. He suddenly felt his brother squeezing his hand.
"He will come and rescue us," Elros reassured his brother, knowing that something was on his mind.
Elrond took a deep breath and began to explain to Elros what had happened. His brother wanted to ask something when Maglor hissed, "be quiet."
Not daring to defy the evil elf, Elros and Elrond cuddled together, knowing full well that they would not find any rest tonight.
Elrond must have actually dozen off as he was surprised to be ungently shaken by Maedhros. "Wake up, little man."
"I am not a man."
"Your father is. And you are definitely not an elf," Maedhros said while he picked up the 13-year-old boy and put him onto his horse. The whole camp was already cleared, and they were ready to continue their journey.
The whole day they rode on without only a few rests to relieve themselves. Bread was passed, but Elrond and Elros were offered none. Elrond thought that another rest was long overdue when he could spot a camp in the hills maybe a few hours ride ahead. His butt and every muscle in his body hurt from the journey on the horse, but something told him that he would only come to rest once they had reached the lights near the hill.
And indeed, it was already past midnight that the company returned to the camp on Amon Ereb, a single hill in a plain near the mountain range of Andram. Coming closer, Elrond recognised indeed some stone housing, most of them having been carved into the mountain. There were several stone-wood buildings, but they all seemed to be made without devotion or motivation. The small town was so very different from the town at the Mouths of Sirion. The company demounted the horses and departed. Maglor and Maedhros dragged Elrond and Elros to the highest stone-housing of the settlement. Some torches lit the doorway and the hall inside.
There was an elf sitting near a fireplace, whetting a knife.
"Naht," Maglor called the elf with light brown hair. He was small but had dark eyes that seemed to pierce right through everything they looked at.
"What are they?" the elf that was actually called Kalerion but went by the name of Naht said.
"They are the sons of Eärendil," Maglor explained. "We did not kill them, and I do not intend to. See to it that they get a room with no windows and make sure they do not escape."
"What do you intend to do with them?"
"I do not know yet."
Naht pushed the boys to the opposite end of the hall. He grabbed their long hair and dragged them down a stairway into the cellar. It was cold, but luckily elves did not feel the cold like Men did. Elrond and Elros were pushed by an arch that led to a kitchen that smelled temptingly. They had not eaten in over a day and were both very hungry. But Naht opened a heavy wood-door and pushed them through. There was indeed no window and no furniture either. Actually, there was nothing. The walls were humid and smelly.
"Have a good night, princes of Doriath," Naht said and closed the door.
Elros and Elrond said down and huddled next to each other. Neither dared to check whether there was indeed a guard at the other side.
"Tomorrow is our birthday," Elros said in a sad voice.
"Midnight has passed. It is our birthday," Elrond responded. "Happy birthday, Elros."
"Happy birthday, Elrond."
Then they spoke not for the rest of the night. Again, Elrond's eyes were watering with tears until he felt numb and doze off. Again, Elrond's sleep was dreamless, and he awoke by someone ungently shaking him.
It was Naht. "Up you get. The Masters want to see you," he said.
Without a word, Elros and Elrond followed the elf. He led them to the hall with the fireplace where they first met Naht the night before. Maglor and Maedhros were sitting at a large table and eating breakfast. Naht signalled the young elves to sit down.
Maglor pushed some bread over to the boys. Neither of them moved.
"You haven't eaten anything in over a day," Maedhros said.
"What will you do with us?" Elros asked.
"Why didn't you just kill us?" Elrond asked.
The mean elves did not answer at first. After a while, Maedhros spoke, "do you know the history of the jewel that your mother wore?"
"Whatever its history, it gave you no right to kill her!" Elrond shouted.
Maedhros hesitated before he continued. "You need to learn to master your temper, young elf. These outbursts do no good, and if all, they only show your human side."
"The jewel that your mother wore was made by our father," Maglor said. "It was stolen from him by Morgoth and we swore to take all three jewels back. Your great-grandfather stole this jewel from Morgoth and since then it has passed down into the possession of your mother. We would have gotten the Silmaril earlier, but your mother fled from us. She brought this upon herself."
"And besides," Maedhros intervened, "I did not kill your mother. She jumped off that tower on her own will."
"You're lying!" Elrond wanted to shout but instead, only a whimper came out of his mouth. The tears began flowing from his eyes again. He looked at his brother who sat opposite at the table from him. He, too, was crying silently.
"Your father will not find you here," Maedhros said.
"Then you should have killed us," Elrond whimpered.
"Naht," Maglor called upon his servant who had been standing silently by the wall. "Bring the twins back into their room. Then take some blankets down there and give them food. Find a guard for the door."
Elros and Elrond stood up and were already cruelly pushed into the direction of the stairs. Back in their prison cell, darkness fell upon them. Neither of them talked. After a while, two other elves brought some blankets and bread. They also brought a candle which they lid in the middle of the room, and a jar of water, but no glasses.
When they had left, Elrond sighed. "It won't do any good for us or for dad if we're starving."
"If we're dead, then at least they can't torture us," Elros answered. Neither of them moved. "You saw mum fall?"
Elrond nodded.
"Is there any chance she survived?"
"I don't know."
Elros slowly began to reach out his hand for the bread. He picked up a piece and looked at it.
"Don't waste food," Elrond said, well knowing that his brother intended to throw the edible against the walls and scream as loud as he could. He had the same urge. But instead, Elrond picked up the bread and began to chew it. It took him a long time until he could swallow it and he drank some of the water. It tasted horrible.
Elros did the same. Within a few minutes, they had eaten the bread. The water they had only drunk half as Elrond cautioned them not to waste water.
"You always liked to ride out with Kundaё and the others," Elros remarked. "They trained you how to survive."
"You always helped mother with the cooking," Elrond responded. "I never know which herbs to add to what food."
They continued in silence. From time to time, they would start crying again and cuddle to spend each other solace. They had lost any sense for time, but Elrond guessed that it was evening when Naht opened the door again. The same procedure followed, and they were brought to the dining table.
Soup was served and this time, both Elrond and Elros ate.
"I am glad to see that you have found your appetite again," Maglor said and it sounded honest.
"You still haven't told us what you're going to do with us," Elros said.
"My brother and I have talked long about this. We do not want to slay you. You will stay with us."
"For how long?"
Maglor did not respond to that.
"Do not think that your father will come looking for you," Maedhros said. "Men are weak. Your father will succumb to grief and he will not think that you are alive anyway."
Elros began to whimper again. Elrond wanted to reach over the table, but his brother sat too far away. Suddenly, Maedhros hit Elros at the back of his head. Elros shrieked and began to cry completely. Elrond jumped up and ran over to his brother to hug him.
"Naht, take them downstairs again," Maedhros said. Then he added to the twins, "crying and whimpering will get you nowhere. You need to grow up if you want to survive in this world."
Elrond supported his brother and carried him back to their room. Naht shut the door behind them. The candle had been blown out when they had been taken for dinner and now, they sat in darkness again.
"Father will come for us," Elros cried.
Elrond hugged him deeply. Elros had always been the more optimistic one of the two.