Thranduil stood with his back to the door, staring out the window at the rain. Cinwe leaned over the hearth in their room, stoking up the fire to keep back the damp. She straightened up and came to stand beside him.
"Ever since you returned from the summons to the healing wing, you have seemed worried," Cinwe said.
"Web is not back," Thranduil said.
"He has run away?"
"Or been caught in the rain," Thranduil sighed.
"Much more likely," Cinwe said. She stared out at the dark night. "It is doubtful he will return tonight; he may have lived in a cellar for many years but he has sense. He will seek shelter."
"Do you think the wolves will eat him?"
Thranduil and Cinwe whirled around. The door to their room stood open, the knob held by Brenen's hand. Brenen's blue eyes were opened wide.
"How long have you been there?" Cinwe asked.
"Long enough," said Brenen. He persisted, "But do you think the wolves will eat him?"
"We will all go to bed and hope not," Thranduil replied coolly. "Now, had you intended to say something other then express your concern for Web?"
"Good night," Brenen replied and slammed the door. His running feet retreated down the hall toward his shared room. Thranduil thought he heard faint giggling.
Cinwe pulled down the blankets on the bed and slid under the covers. As Thranduil came to join her, untying his dressing gown, the door opened again.
"Goodnight, Realn," Thranduil said without turning.
"Night, ada," Realn said. He looked at Cinwe. "I might say good night to you but I do not need to; Legolas is coming to do it for me."
"And that is what you get when you refuse to give him a third bowl of ice cream," Cinwe said with a small sigh.
"Good night, naneth," Realn said with a grin. The door slammed after him.
As the door creaked open for a third time, Thranduil said, "If I hear the door slam one more time you will be the one fixing it when its abused limbs break!"
Legolas blinked. "Goodnight, ada . . . naneth."
"Goodnight, Legolas," Thranduil said and Cinwe waved as the door shut quietly.
Thranduil discarded his dressing gown and climbed into bed. He was about to pull up the blankets and lie down when the door opened and a frowning Mykar appeared.
"Goodnight," he grumbled. He shut the door with an indignant bang.
"What is with him?" Cinwe wondered.
"I expect he was dragged away from his book of Office Work," Thranduil replied. He stared at the ceiling and said thoughtfully, "I should get rid of it. It is depressing to look at."
Galleon walked out into the main room of his house, yawning and stretching. He stopped mid-stretch as he approached the fireplace to stoke up the fire and warm the house before his wife left bed and stared at the curled bundle on the rug before the stone hearth. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was dreaming. As the scene refused to dissolve into smoke, he decided it must be real.
The door to the left of the fireplace opened and his dark haired son, Zionel, came out.
"Morning, ada," said the tall elf lad, his yellow eyes shining in his face. His chest and arm muscles were well developed from cutting the family's wood. "Is naneth up yet . . ." He trailed off as he followed his father's gaze and signal to be quiet. Walking quietly, Zionel came to stand beside his father.
"What on Middle Earth?"
"Good morning!"
Galleon and Zionel both turned with fingers to their lips to face the willowy elf woman stepping from the door behind them. Her green eyes looked puzzled as she looked at them, her eyebrows dipped. She finished tying the ties of her blue dress and said, "But Ilune is awake already."
A little elf girl in a pink dress toddled past her mother's skirts and ran toward Galleon, her round face split into a smile. She hugged her father around his legs, reaching up to his thighs.
"Oh my . . ." said Anialia as she joined her husband and followed his gaze to the hearth. "He must have wandered in out of the rain. It is a he, right?"
Galleon and Zionel both shrugged.
The cracked door of Zionel's room creaked open and his wolf-dog walked out, his sleek brown coat glistening. He had a feral, almost wild face and sharp white teeth. He sniffed the air and stalked slowly toward the bundle on the hearthrug.
"Briar!" hissed Zionel. "Come here! Briar!"
Briar sniffed the bundle. His tongue snaked out to lick the elfling's face. The elfling stirred and mumbled, reaching out a hand to shove the wolf away. Briar licked him again. The elfling's hand froze as it met the smooth fur and he sat up, wild-eyed and disheveled. He took one look at the wolf and screamed long and high and loud.
Ilune, running toward Briar, stopped mid-step and burst into tears. Zionel made a lunge for his wolf while Anialia scooped up her wailing daughter. Galleon reached for the elfling but he scrambled back, his eyes wide with terror. The bruises on his face disturbed Galleon greatly. The heat of the coals behind him stopped the elfling from moving back too far but he continued to scream even after Galleon reached out to pull him into a soothing hug. The frightened wailing turned to muffled sobs as Galleon rubbed his back.
"It is all right," Galleon said. "We will not hurt you. Anialia."
Zionel turned around from turning Briar out of the house and took a step back as Anialia put the sniffling Ilune into his arms. His mother moved forward to kneel beside her husband and peer down at the pale face pressed against Galleon's chest. Seeing his flushed cheeks and glassy eyes, she touched a hand to his forehead, feeling the boy flinch.
"He has a fever," she said. "And a slight chill. He should be put to bed and given hot tea and broth. We will have to keep him here until his parents are found. While I tend to him, you step out and see if you can find his parents. He may not live far from us."
Galleon shifted the elfling to his wife's lap.
"It is best he sleeps close to the hearth where we can all keep an eye on him," Anialia said. "It is warm here to. Put together a bed frame for me, Galleon. Zionel, bring me blankets and then take Ilune with you to fill a mattress cover with clean hay from the barn."
Zionel put Ilune down and opened the door. Briar bounded in.
"Now you stay with Ilune," Zionel said, eying the wolf. Briar settled down beside Ilune and licked the hand she held to her nose. Zionel set off for the hall closet and returned with an armful of quilts. Galleon rose to his feet and bounded out the door to the woodshed out back.
Anialia smiled down at the elfling in her arms, feeling him shudder. He looked up at her, his hands curled into fists beneath his chin, blinking away the water in his big eyes. He looked away again as he heard the banging of Galleon's hammer outside.
"You can put the kettle of water on to boil," Anialia said, looking up at her son.
Zionel nodded and moved away to fill up the iron kettle hanging over the bed of coals in the hearth. Anialia rocked the child in her arms, feeling him shake with fever.
Galleon came through the door with a quickly fashioned bedframe behind him. Anialia scotched backward across the floor so Galleon could tug the bed frame into place a few feet from the hearth. Zionel ducked out the door with the mattress cover in his arms.
Galleon came to look down at his wife. "How is he?"
"Not well," said Anialia. "And growing worst. He has a bad fever."
Zionel returned with the mattress in his arms, made plumb by straw. He crammed the bulging folds into the bed frame, securing it against the ropes crisscrossing the bottom of the frame. Anialia rose to her feet and laid the elfling down on the bed. She tucked the thick quilts around him and placed a pillow beneath his head. He regarded her with half-closed eyes, the haze of terror beneath them dulled by sickness.
"We will have to take good care of him," Anialia said, stepping back, "A cool cloth will have to stay on his head. I will make some tea and broth. Galleon, you step out and see if anyone is missing a child."
Galleon headed for the door, leaning down to plant a kiss on Ilune's head before he shut the door behind him. Anialia looked at Zionel as he moved to stoke up the fire with more wood and get a steady blaze going. After a moment she moved away to fetch herbs from the kitchen cupboards.