Out of Mirkwood

Scribbles-on-Parchment

March 7, 2020

Chapter 33 – Frustrations

Elrond raised his brows at Tamír's words. He had not expected the Silvan to be so harsh towards the elfling, after all Maer had just revealed to them that he thought himself kidnapped. Making threats, no matter how subtle, would not aid them in earning the young elf's trust. They needed him to learn that they meant him no harm and that they were only here to help him. If he could realize this then perhaps this would help him to reveal who he was and what had happened to him.

At the Silvan's words, the elf lord could see the body of the elfling stiffen. He shot his mellon a stern look before saying,

"Penneth, he only means that we fear for your safety. There are many groups of yrch that hunt this plain. You would not make it far on your own and with no weapons."

At the mention of weapons Elrond quickly thought of Maer's beautiful bow and quiver that lay stashed in one of the bags on his horse. He had forgotten about the elegant weapon and promised himself to look over it before he gave it back to the Sinda. However, he knew that this was not that time.

As the Noldo came over to the young ellon, he slowed his pace. The elfling had still not stood up yet and he was growing increasingly worried that the fall from the horse had injured him in some way. As he came to stop a couple paces from Maer, Elrond could see the azure eyes gazing up at him through the strands of fine gold hair that hid most of his face.

"Are you well Maer? You took quite a fall."

Legolas regarded the Noldo with guarded eyes. His heart was still pounding from waking up falling, yet he did not believe he was injured elsewhere. He would live, no thanks to them.

"Where are you taking me?"

The voice sounded low and dangerous to the group around him and caused the elf lord to wrinkle his brow, something which the prince had noticed him doing quite a lot. If the Noldo did not stop, his face would eventually freeze in that position. The young elf smiled to himself at that thought.

"We are going to…" the Silvan's voice was cut off by Elrond.

"We cannot stay in one place, mellon. It is too dangerous and we are too easily caught by yrch if we do not move."

Legolas missed the glance that the other ellyn and human in the company gave to the elf lord, he was too focused on trying to discern if the Noldo was telling him the truth. The eldar had not given him reason to doubt that he was telling the truth but based on the things that his adar and Kélion had told him there was no reason to trust anything this elf said. If the stories were true then this Noldo was a murderer, a kinslayer.

"I trust that you have not injured yourself," Elrond continued, "But I would like to check your wound to see how it heals, it would not do you any good if it were to get infected while we are out here."

Legolas watched cautiously as the ellon knelt next to him and reached out to grab his arm. The young prince moved away from the hand and scrambled to his feet.

"I do not need your help. I am fine," the prince's voice came out harsher than he had expected, but the Noldo did not seem to notice or care and simply stepped back, giving the Sinda space.

The elfling was grateful for this and allowed himself to look around at the circle of horses that almost surrounded him completely. His eyes lingered a little longer on Tamír, the Silvan elf who had threatened him. He narrowed his eyes. This was one of his own people. This eldar was a traitor to the Greenwood. Had this ellon been in on the Noldor's betrayal so long ago?

Tamír felt Maer's stern gaze on him and found himself wondering what the elfling was thinking. He was obviously not trusting them and seemed to not want Elrond to touch him, even to just check his wound. But the Silvan had very little regret for the words that he had spoken to the young Sinda for his frustration was still there. It seemed to him that at every opportunity Maer was doing the least logical thing. And why in the Valar was the dumb elf not trusting them? Could he not see he was not kidnapped and that they were only trying to protect him?

Yet as he looked at the eldar's pale face and mistrustful eyes, guilt began to creep into his heart. They needed to earn Maer's trust for him to tell them anything and if he never trusted them then he may never know the truth about the Greenwood and about Hethion. Tamír swallowed his pride and said softly,

"Forgive me for my harsh word mellon nín, they came out in frustration. I did not mean them."

The Sinda's blue eyes still looked at him with suspicion, yet his body seemed to relax a little at the gentle words spoken in his tongue. Tamír took this opportunity to step closer to the elfling before he reached out to grab Maer's bandaged arm. To his surprise the elfling did not shy away but let the ellon look at his arm.

"Elrond is a healer. He must look at your wound to make sure that you did not cause it damage in your fall," as he spoke the Silvan did not break eye contact with eldar, "But you know all of this. So, there is no reason to mistrust us. We only want to help you."

Legolas wanted to shake his head at Tamír. The Silvan was speaking to him as he would to an elfling. Could the ellon not see that he was almost as his majority? He was a grown elf, not still a child. Yet, the Silvan's words were true. If his arm were to get infected then that could prove to be deadly out here on the plains.

His guarded cerulean eyes watched the elf lord carefully as Eorond reached out and gently began to unwrap the white bandages from around his wound. The prince's gaze almost seemed to dare the Noldo to attack him, to show his true nature. If what the stories that he had been told were true then it would not be long before the genuine character of the ellon would begin to show itself. He would play along with their game, for he knew that they were just trying to make excuses to not let him go. They needed him for some purpose that they had not yet revealed. However, as soon as he was beyond the danger of infection and the poison had completely left his body or if anyone of this group acted aggressively towards him, he would leave. They would not be able to stop him then.

The young prince did not notice his mind had been drifting off until a sudden pain shot through his arm. He gave a yelp before he could stop himself and instinctively yanked his hand out of Elrond's grasp. Legolas's cheeks flushed slightly at the pained sound he had let escape his lips, but the sudden agony in his arm had startled him. The Sinda glared at the elf lord as the wound continued to smart. He looked down to see what the Noldo had done and frowned.

He had not yet seen his injury and it looked worse than he had thought. The two identical puncture wounds on his forearm were tinged red and swollen. The skin around them looked inflamed and blood was slowly seeping from the still open gashes. Why was it not almost healed yet?

The first thought that came to the young prince's mind was how his adar would react to seeing this. He had no doubt the ellon would worry over him excessively until the wound was healed. Ask him several days ago and he would not have been eager for this treatment, but now he wanted this desperately. Then more horrible thoughts struck him, what if his adar would not take him back? What if he had done so much wrong that he could never be forgiven? Was that why his adar had not come to rescue him?

Tears began to sting in his eyes and Legolas was forced to quickly blink them away. He would not appear weak and childish in front of Elrond.

"I am sorry penneth. I did not intend to cause you such pain," the gentle voice of the Noldo came to the elfling's ears, "You broke them open in your fall from the horse. I was merely trying to apply salve to help the inflammation die down."

The Sinda saw the small jar of ointment in the elf lord's hand, yet the smarting in his forearm did not make him eager to let Elrond finish with his treatment. However he also did not want to appear weak; he wanted to be a warrior and warriors had to endure pain with no signs of weakness.

Legolas lifted his head up and thrust his arm at the elf lord before he could change his mind. The young ellon gritted his teeth as the pain that shot through his body but this time, he managed to remain quiet.

Estel watched the exchange between his ada and Maer with a hint of amusement. He had never seen anyone act in such a way to the elf lord, especially when it was clear that he was not finished with healing the wound. No doubt it would sting more before it finally began to numb.

The human fidgeted on his horse trying to find a better spot to sit. He was anxious to continue as they had been stopped here for quite some time. They seemed to be stopping a lot to care for Maer and it was beginning to grow on his nerves. Why could the stupid elf not just sit and say seated on the horse for more than a few hours? At the rate they were going it would take forever for them to get to the Gap of Rohan, let alone all of the way back to Imladris; and who was to know what more would happen to them before they arrived back in that peaceful valley.

Tamír handed Elrond a swath of fresh bandages indicating that the elfling's torment was soon to be over. From Estel's viewpoint all he could see was the back of Maer's golden head, but the yelp that had escape the Sinda's mouth had sounded so young. He had truly not understood the ellon's age until now for he was almost at tall as any eldar and his build spoke of strength and skill. The young human rubbed his chest absentmindedly, he had witnessed this. However the face of the Sinda still looked younger than the elves he had grown up with. There was not the look of aged wisdom or patience in this ellon's eye. Instead there was an air of innocence and even foolishness around him. He had been told many stories of elves before their majorities, yet this was different then what he had imagined.

Estel shook his head. At least his adar would at last have someone else to dote over and worry about. For the first time in his life he would no longer have to be treated as the youngest. This elf could be like a little brother to him, if they ever got back.

Elvish Translations:

maer – golden

mellon – friend

penneth – young one

yrch – orcs

adar - father

mellon nín – my friend

ada - dad