Anyone of Us

Eleniel: 17

Eleniel moved uncomfortably in her chair, which was fairly difficult, seeing as she was turned so that her legs were hanging over one of the arms, and her head was lying on a cushion on the other. She sighed.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

It should have been her.

The elleth turned her head, the brightness in her eyes dimming even more as she looked at her father, lying still in the bed.

They were in the healing rooms; the last place she wanted to be. An… accident had occurred not two hours ago in the stables. She didn't like to think about it, but she couldn't help it as she sat in silence. There was nothing else to think about, and so she didn't stop the memories of that morning as they rushed uninvited into her head...

Eleniel had been getting ready for a ride with her father; everyone else was busy, the twins, Glorfindel and Estel included, when a new horse – who she had fittingly (in her opinion) dubbed 'Amarth' – caused an interruption in the stables. He was wild and untamed, clearly, but had an injured leg, and was found lying in a shallow stream by some villagers nearby. They had brought him to the elves, hoping they could heal him quicker than them. But, Amarth had been terrified by his new surroundings once Arthion the stable master had healed him, and had woken up in a fit of panic, pacing manically up and down his stall and kicking wildly at the gate separating him from the outside world. Unfortunately, Elrond and Eleniel had been there at this time and, while Arthion had attempted to quickly unlock the gate and move in to the stall to calm the stallion down, the black beast had charged through and gotten out before the gate could be shut again. Arthion had been unharmed, thank the Valar, but Elrond…

Eleniel still remembered how terrified she had been as Amarth panicked even more at the sight of her and reared up, readying himself to kick at her. And that feeling of dread when Elrond had pushed her out of the way and taken the kick…

The elleth angrily wiped a tear from her cheek. If she had only been quicker, and hadn't stood there like a small elfling, staring up at the frightening animal instead of moving, her father would not have had to do it for her, and he would not be lying there with three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a broken wrist.

"Anything?"

Eleniel looked up as Erestor walked into the room, and shook her head slightly, glancing down at her hands. "He's been asleep since Landion gave him that medicine. Will he wake soon?"

Erestor smiled and moved forward to stroke the girl's blonde hair. "He will, tithen pen, I promise you. You have not been crying, have you?" he asked, noticing the glistening blue eyes.

Eleniel shook her head. "No," she insisted, but the advisor knew better than to trust a Peredhel when it came to talking about their feelings. He kneeled down next to the chair she was sat on and took her hand in his.

"Do not blame yourself for what happened, Eleniel, do you hear me? It could have been anyone standing in front of that horse-"

"It should have been me."

"It should not have been you, and if I ever hear you say something like that again, I will not be happy. Do not wish harm upon yourself when someone has taken it for you instead. Your father would gladly sacrifice his life for any one of his children, you know that. He is strong – a horse's kick will not deter him for long, I assure you."

Eleniel smiled faintly at that, ignoring the tears that were now openly rolling down from her eyes. "He is not supposed to be injured. He's… he's Ada."

"I know it is not nice to see the one who cares for you have to be cared for, for once," Erestor told her, soothingly rubbing his thumb along her cold hand, "but your adar will be out of this bed in no time. He will soon come to realise why your brothers and Glorfindel plead with him for days to be allowed out whenever they are injured."

Eleniel laughed at that, and it brought a smile to Erestor's face. "Maybe we should keep him in there for longer than needed, just to show him how it feels," she said.

"I do not think he would stand for that, I'm afraid."

"He deserves a taste of his own medicine!"

Erestor chuckled before grimacing. "In both terms… that tea is disgusting."

Elvish used:

Tithen pen – Little one

Ada – Dad/Daddy

Adar – Father

This is one of three requests from GreyLynx… I plan to fulfil them all! A part 2 to this should come soon. Thanks for reading! ~ Gre3nleaf