XVII

The Midwinter Market

Elladan held his promise. They rode off one early morning three days before Midwinter, when the weary sun was still only a shimmer on the eastern sky, and twilight was still in the valley.

It was a cold morning, but fair. The last fading stars winked at them as they rode over the southern bridge.

"We have a five hour journey ahead of us", Elladan said as they rode into the silence of the frost-tinted forest. "A little more, if we stay and rest by the river."

Tilwine yawned. "Rest sounds fine."

"Rest always sounds fine to you", Echail teased him. "Rest and food! That's all you ever ask for."

The trees and their shadows were grey as stone in the morning light, silent pillars in the unbroken snow on either side of the path. The riders became silent too. Further in, the trees faded into thin white mist, and as the path started to lean slowly upwards it became a narrow bridge over a white sea. Then they rode down again, and up, and down, until suddenly the cliff wall towered above them, tinted with gold at the top.

"We should lead the horses", Elladan said, so they all dismounted, and the twins went first. Tilwine walked after them leading the creamy mare he had borrowed from the elves, and Scead was behind him with a hazel-brown gelding. Marigold seemed to think it highly unnecessary that Legolas would walk.

"I know you can take me up safely", Legolas told her, "but I feel like stretching my legs too, you see."

The guards at the foot of the cliff hailed them sleepily, leaning on their spears. Echail seemed glad he did not have to do their duty today, though he had not been very happy with riding to Netherford either - until he learnt Tilwine was going too, that was. The twins were going to show him how to get those unusual herbs that lord Elrond wanted, but they didn't seem to like him, and Echail went quiet whenever they spoke. Finally someone who shut him up, Legolas thought and didn't bother to wonder why. Echail went last, and it wasn't easy for him to get up the narrow and uneven path with his stiff leg, but he didn't complain even once.

They mounted their horses on top of the cliff and Elladan beckoned at Legolas to come and stand beside him. He was looking down the slope to their right.

"I thought you wanted to see it", he said. "This is the West."

Though he'd already seen it when they crossed the mountains, Legolas was taken aback once again. The light was spreading out of the mountain's shadow, and the mists were gone around the foot-hills and from the windy grasslands at their feet. Everything was white, the hills and the plains, the woods and the oak groves, and the broad, winding ribbon of ice that was the river Bruinen. The path led down towards it, past a row of fir and birches, until it joined what looked like a broader road; another ribbon, edged with large stones.

"I wish you could see it in summer", Elladan said, "when all is green and the air is clear. Netherford is down there in the river valley, but we can't see it from here. You can see Arret, though, across the river."

At that distance, and under the snow, all Legolas could see were dots of weathered wood against the white. It did not look like a place where people could live, but then, this was the West.

Tilwine joined them where they stood. "When we came here in the night, Scead and I - well, that was further south, where we were attacked - all of the lowlands were alight - little groups of lights, a village here and maybe a campfire there. I thought to myself, then, the world's not very big after all. It looked just like home."

"Do you know what I thought about?" Scead asked.

"What did you think about?"

"That I was dying because you'd mixed up the leaves. Come on, we want to get to Netherford before it's dark."

They set off at a brisk pace down the wind-blown slope, along a path that was sometimes laid bare and sometimes covered in knee-high droves of snow, all depending on wind and shelter. The twins rode first, quiet as usual, and Legolas rode beside Scead, who seemed immensely happy to have finally left the House of Elrond. Tilwine and Echail brought up the rear, riding as close as their horses would allow and talking all the time.

"Why does Tilwine like Echail so much?" he asked Scead.

Scead smiled. "Who can tell? Sometimes..."

"No, I mean - I know a lot of people like Echail, but he's always mean to me. The twins don't seem to like him either. I don't understand why he's like that. And I don't understand why Tilwine doesn't care that he's like that."

"I see what you mean", Scead said after a moment. "But you must understand that Tilwine has had a hard time. He's been shunned by everyone he knows - expect me, and Tilwine has never been a person to stick to just one friend. He needs a bunch of friends, a lot of people to respect him and admire him. He's starving for that kind of attention, and Echail is very much the same - a warrior, a jester, and they've both done things they regret. Maybe Tilwine ought to be more picky, but he can't, not now. And who knows, maybe he'll bring out the good sides in Echail more than the bad?"

Legolas looked over his shoulder. When Echail smiled without scorn he looked much kinder, but he was always so tense, always anxious to laugh when Tilwine did, to be seen and heard and respected. Maybe Echail was like Tilwine in some ways, but he reminded Legolas of Tinuhen as well - not because they were alike, but because Tinuhen's desperate desire to be noble, and Echail's need for admiration, somehow seemed to stem from the same thing. They both craved to be seen as good and worthy, and if they stepped on some people in their way it didn't matter to them. If only they could have stepped on someone else than Legolas.

"What has Echail done that he regrets?" he asked.

"Nothing I can tell you", Scead said.

"Oh. It has something to do with his injury, then? The one Glorfindel wouldn't tell me about either."

Scead smiled. "Clever thinking, little one. But I still won't tell you."

Legolas shrugged. He didn't care what Echail had done, or whatever good sides Tilwine could bring out in him, or indeed if Echail would be more friendly if Legolas was friendly to him, like Glorfindel had suggested. Echail didn't like him, and Legolas didn't like Echail even at his best, so that was that.

Moreover, it had been ever so much easier to sneak on lord Elrond without Echail always on the lookout with his eagle eyes. After he heard about lord Elrond's plans Legolas had thought one out of his own: learn as much more as possible about it, so that when he left Rivendell and found Quick-wing - or another bird willing to take a message, if he had flown back to the wood-elves - Tinuhen would know everything. He figured Tinuhen would want to know more, so that he could be certain it was safe for him at the secret council, and so that he would know what to say to get in. But it had been impossible to get anywhere near lord Elrond, so Legolas still knew nothing more than that lord Elrond didn't want Greenwood on his council.

The morning grew as they rode. The sky turned pink and golden, though still dark in the far west, and the snow shone so brightly they had to cover the horse's eyes. The men had their hoods up over their faces, for the wind was bitterly cold and stung everyone's skin. They rode through the row of trees and into a valley, and the view disappeared behind the ridge. The path turned to the north.

"How far is it to the river?" Legolas asked.

"An hour's ride from here", said Elladan. "We can see it soon, though."

The valley became narrow and steep-sided, and they rode in between slender spruces and wind-twisted firs, where birds fluttered between snow-heavy branches. When Legolas called, one brave robin came down to sit on his hand.

"Ye gods", said Scead. "And here I thought you elves could not surprise me anymore."

Elrohir looked over his shoulder and flashed a rare smile at that.

"Do you want to hold it?" Legolas asked. He had stuffed his belt pouch full of bread crumbs and nuts, and the robin was eating them happily off his hand.

"Won't it be afraid?"

"Would you sit on his hand too?" Legolas asked the robin. "I'll give you more food if you do."

The robin tilted its head to the side and looked thoughtfully (as thoughtfully as little birds can look) at Scead. Then it flew over to sit on his hand. Scead stared at it, hardly daring to move. Then he let go of his reins, expertly steering the horse with his knees, so he could stroke the robin over its head. The bird let him do that a little while, then flew back to Legolas and demanded its payment.

"Amazing", Tilwine said when the robin flew back into the trees. "You actually talked to it, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Unbelievable."

"Hardly", Echail said. "And there are far more important thing than speaking to birds."

"Like fetching lord Elrond wine?" Tilwine asked teasingly.

"Well, if you ask me", said Echail, "I'd say that is more important than speaking to birds."

"Nobody asked you", said Elladan (which was not true, of course, since Tilwine just did). "So keep your mouth shut."

Echail did so for a while, and Legolas wondered why he - who was a warrior after all, and lord Elrond's valet - was so scared of the twins. But when Echail sunk into a brooding silence, the twins became instead more talkative, and Elladan began to talk about the western lands, the villages and the rivers, and his and Elrohir's many adventures along the Great West Road. Even Elrohir inserted a comment here and there, and they were all startled to silence when he told a joke, but it made him nervous that they hadn't understood so he was quiet after that. Then they finally rode down a bank and out of the trees, and the river Bruinen lay before them.

"Oh!" said Tilwine. "Rest!"

Elladan smiled. "We shall cross first, and then ride a little ways downstream, where it is more open. But soon we will rest."

They crossed in single file, leading their horses, though the river had been frozen since many weeks. While he stood on the other bank and waited for the last ones to cross, Legolas caught sight of a red bullfinch's chest in the branches of a beech nearby and called for it to come down. He asked it if it had seen a sparrow hawk somewhere nearby. The bullfinch answered that it had.

"Could you find him for me? I need to speak to him. Tell him I'll be further south by the river."

The bullfinch looked upset and said that no finches with any self-respect would talk to a sparrow-hawk, because they were wicked and mean and ate finches.

"He won't eat you, I promise", Legolas said. "Say little elf sent you. Please, it's very important!" He stuck one hand into his belt-pouch and brought out a handful bread crumbs. "You'll get all of these if you do it for me."

The bullfinch eyed the bread crumbs hungrily and gave in. When he turned back to the others, Legolas found Echail and the men watch him curiously, but they wouldn't understand the speech of birds unless they had learnt it, and he doubted that they had.

When everyone had crossed they rode up the bank and followed the road for a while. They weren't they only ones who had done so; there were dozens of tracks from horse hooves, wagon wheels and even a sleigh, some new and some half snowed over. All were heading south towards Netherford. But they did not see anyone, and soon they left the road and headed back to the river, where there was an opening in the trees below a small waterfall.

Tilwine and Scead grumbled and swore as they trudged through the snow far behind the elves, and Echail laughed at them, quicker for once.

There was less snow by the river, and there the men spread out deer-skins to sit on while Elrohir got a fire started and Elladan and Legolas packed up their breakfast. They were heating milk for the hot chocolate when a sharp cry overhead made them all look up.

"Ye gods!" said Scead with a laugh. "Just a hawk, but it scared me."

"Don't say just a hawk", said Echail. "I'm sure it has come to share important news with our Greenwood friend."

"I am sure it's hungry", said Legolas, "and I'm going to feed it. But if you have a message for it, Echail, I'll gladly take it to him."

Quick-wing did not come down until Legolas was well out of sight from the others. He was tired and anxious and couldn't sit still.

"Little elf late", he said. "Was worried - was going to fly back to elves if not come today, yes, but waited to make sure. Too late for message now. Not important."

Legolas had expected as much. Two weeks had passed since he last met Quick-wing, and whatever Tinuhen had wanted to say lord Elrond then - probably about supplies and the condition of the company - was hardly relevant now.

"Well", he said, "I have something important to tell Tinuhen, and it's a good thing I was late, because I only learnt it two days ago. How were the others when you left them?"

"Hungry. Tired. Tried to talk to other elves, under golden trees. Don't know if succeeded. " Quick-wing looked around, and his yellow eyes narrowed. "Mountains are restless. Goblins has been moving, yes, sneaky goblins hiding where elves can't find them. Other things moving, too. Foul birds. Snakes, spiders. They whisper of Old One. Little elf heard?"

Legolas frowned. "Old One?"

"Old One, yes. All wicked things knows. Don't know who is, but dangerous, very dangerous. Maybe traitor, maybe more powerful than traitor. Is near you, little elf. Must be careful."

"I'm trying", Legolas said, "but I don't know how to. I mean - I wish I could tell someone..."

"Little elf not tell anyone", Quick-wing said sharply. "Is very important, little elf listen!"

"I do! I am listening." Legolas bit his lip and looked anxiously at Quick-wing. "I'm being careful, but I don't know if it's enough."

"Little elf very small, doesn't know much."

"You don't need to remind me of that."

"But clever", Quick-wing said encouragingly. "Not dead yet, so still has chance, yes?

Legolas scowled and kicked at the snow. Then, because he wanted to prove for Quick-wing as much as for himself that he wasn't entirely useless, he told Quick-wing about the conversation he had heard between Glorfindel and lord Elrond.

"You must tell Tinuhen everything", he said. "He will know what to do. Don't tell him how I heard it though, he's going to be mad if he learns I was stealing wine. And eavesdropping. Just let him know what lord Elrond's planning."

"Will do", said Quick-wing and fluffed his wings importantly. "More?"

"No, that's all I know. Tell him to be careful."

"Little elf be careful, too."

"Yes, and you too, Quick-wing. Stay away from that bird."

Legolas felt a sting of worry as he watched Quick-wing fly away. There was only three days until Midwinter now. Unless Tinuhen was soon on his way through the Stair, there was no way he would be in time.

The sun had risen to its highest point when they set off again, and the horses were eager to chase the cold out of their legs. Soon the woods opened to snowy field land. From the top of a tall hill they could see the village of Arret, now a cluster of small grey houses, surrounded by fields and pastures only visible because of the fence-poles sticking up through the snow. Thin coils of smoke rose towards the pale blue sky.

"Is there a king here?" Legolas asked.

"No", said Elladan, "and there has not been anything like a king for many years. This is lawless land, all the way down to Bree-land, down along the Great West Road. But that is far away."

A road left the main one and trailed down the hill towards Arret, but they passed it by, rode across the hill and down into the valley, back between tall trees. Not much later they could feel the smell of cooking fires on the wind, and hear the rise and fall of voices of from many men and women. The first houses became visible between the firs - grey and weather-worn, with thatched roofs and low doors, they stood sunken deep into the river bank as if they had once been twice as tall. Then, out of the river - right on the ice - they saw the Midwinter market. Dozens of stalls and tents had been set up in complete disarray, as tightly together as the ice allowed, and hung with colourful ribbons that would've caught one's attention if there hadn't been so many of them. People milled around them, sharing news, arguing about prices, weighing silver coins on little scales and examining the quality of deer skins. The voices of the sellers boasting about their wares blended with each other so that not a single word could be distinguished. In the middle of the river there was a square of sorts, and there was a wooden platform built up with a large log-fire on top of it. But before Legolas could ride into the village, Elladan stopped him.

"We cannot ride down there without some preparation", he said. "It is better for everyone if they think we are Men, so that is what we will be."

He adjusted Legolas' fur hat so it covered his ears properly, and made sure his hair was hidden under it. Then he pulled two long black cloaks from his pack, handed one to Elrohir and swept the other around himself. The cloaks looked plain and worn enough and with the hoods pulled over their heads, their postures not as straight as before and with all their gear simple and used, no one would have suspected the twins were elves.

"Legolas is too strange a name for these folks", Elladan said. "From here on you will be Las if anyone asks. That is simple enough."

"What about you?"

Elladan gave him a dark look under the hood, then grinned. "I doubt anyone will ask."

"Are we ready?" Elrohir asked, looking at the others, then frowned. "Echail, don't you have anything else?"

"Don't", Echail mumbled, obviously embarrassed, and looked down on his cloak. It was a bright blue with silver embroideries along the hem, and he had probably thought it was plain enough, but this wasn't a market for lords and ladies.

Elladan said: "I told you to bring something simple. Something that wouldn't draw attention. You have been outside Rivendell before, have you not?"

"You know I have."

Elrohir's eyes darkened to jet black. "I know you have once, and you came back bloody quick. Why don't you - "

"Here, now!" Tilwine said and urged his horse closer to Echail's, effectively putting himself between him and Elrohir. "There's no use in arguing about something we can't change now, especially not if we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Here, Echail. This should suffice." He helped Echail take off his cloak, unclasped the twin brooches of his own, and hung it over Echail's shoulders. Echail protested.

"You'll be cold!"

"Nah", Tilwine said and locked the brooches together around Echail's neck. "I'll be fine. There, now you look like a true prince of Rohan!"

Echail gave him a smile that could have melted the ice of Helcaraxë and pulled the hood over his head. Elrohir glared but didn't say anything. There was a moment's hesitation while no one seemed certain if there was going to be more arguing, and no one dared to break the silence. Then, as if on cue, they all turned their horses and rode down the river bank.

Two villagers with hunting spears watched their arrival, but Tilwine hailed them cheerfully, as far from mysterious as anyone could get, and they softened immediately.

"Welcome to Netherford!" they said. "We have the best inn and the biggest market between Tharbad and Bree! From Rohan, are you?"

"Aye!" said Tilwine. "And we are heading back there as soon as we have replenished our supples. These lands are wretched cold!"

"Especially for one without a cloak", the men said, smiling. "You're in for quite a journey then, and in the middle of winter."

"Quite. We were delayed - my friend Scead here was injured, and we had to stay at the Forsaken Inn for nearly three weeks before we could go on. Gave us the opportunity to see your market, though. Say, is there anywhere we can stable our horses?"

The inn's stable was full, but the men beckoned at a couple of children to come take care of the horses and make sure they were fed and watered. Then Tilwine launched into a long and exciting tale about their adventurous journey as easily as nothing, and now and then Scead piped in to add some detail. The others nodded their confirmation and tried to look like everything was true.

"Come", Elladan said after a while. "Tilwine will go on for ages. Let us look at the market."

The market! Legolas had never seen anything like it. There were dark-haired, wild-looking folk from the south, and easterners in brightly coloured clothes selling equally colourful fabrics and painted earthen ware, a travelling bard and a couple of grim-looking mercenaries, dwarves with their beards full of gold and silver and their wagons full of smith-work. People were shouting and arguing and shoving others out of the way, and as Legolas and the twins walked over the ice they were pushed and called at and urged to come look at everything from tin pitchers to live hens. Legolas soon discovered the safest place was between the twins, since they just needed to glare for people to leave them alone. They walked past stalls selling kitchen utensils and necklaces with glass pearls, buttons made of horn or bone, ring clasps and painted bronze brooches, cauldrons, harnesses, pipe weed or salt or spices. They walked past the great fire, where people sat on benches and warmed their feet and a woman sold hot mulled wine with raisins and almonds, and pancakes with jam and cream. They looked inside a tent full of swords and daggers, and Legolas was shouted at by the shop keeper for almost touching a shield leaning to a sword rack, so the twins quickly pulled him out of there.

"This is why we must pretend to be men", Elladan said. "The people here are suspicious enough of their own kind. Elves they would not trust one bit."

"And elves don't trust men", Legolas said. "At least in Greenwood we don't. Isn't that sad?"

"It is", Elladan agreed. "And it has not always been so, but these are dark times."

The twins became increasingly talkative as they went, and they greeted some of the sellers like friends, though the sellers themselves seemed to be a bit afraid of them. It seemed they were looking for someone. They asked more than once for a Man called Skulker, and many had seen him, but no one really wanted to talk about him.

"Who is he?" Legolas asked.

"You'll see", Elladan said. "Skulker is not his real name. People call him that because he does not use his real name very often, and he is very secretive. Rarely seen. You have met him, though."

"I have?"

"More than once. And there he is! Hey, Skulker!"

A man over by the fire turned, first with a frown, then with a smile. "Bless my beard, as the dwarves say!"

It was Arahad. He was even dirtier than when Legolas had first seen him, as if he had not bathed once since he left Rivendell. And he seemed didn't seem to mind that Elladan called him Skulker, maybe because Elladan was clearly in a better mood that he had been for ages.

"I heard about the goblin attack", he said, as the twins and Legolas sat down by the fire with him. The man was eating pancakes and the strawberry jam dripped from his fingers. "I take it you are better, Elladan?"

"Of course. I am not a Man; I heal quickly."

"Why do they call you Skulker?" Legolas asked.

"Because I have not told them my real name, and they thought Skulker was fitting." Arahad grinned. "In their eyes that is what rangers do, skulking about in the shadows around their homes. Here, I did not expect to see you at the market, little one!"

"Are there other rangers here?"

"Some. Others will be coming over the days. Your friends Findel and Hawn were looking at some lass at the inn last I saw them. Didn't want to sit with them. I needed fresh air."

"The rangers will ride with us home", Elladan said. "And stay over Midwinter."

Arahad nodded and licked jam from his fingers. "It is getting cold out here. And dangerous."He gave the mountains a dark look. "You already know, of course."

"There is Echail", said Elladan, looking up. "I suppose we better get out errand over and done with. We're taking him to see Brittleleaf. Father's all out of bloodroot, and he does not even know where the last of it got to." He rose, but when Legolas moved to do the same, Elladan put a hand on his shoulder. "Would you stay here by the fire? Only a little while."

"Why can't I come?"

"Because there are certain things that can only be acquired if you follow the procedure", said Elrohir, "and bringing elflings along is not following the procedure."

The twins dragged a reluctant Echail along in between the stalls again, and though Legolas tried to follow them just to see where they went, he soon lost them in the ground. When he returned to the fire Arahad had finished his last pancake and was looking regretfully at his empty hands. Legolas sat down beside him.

"Arahad?"

"Mhm?"

"Have you heard... do you know about someone called Old One?"

Arahad shot him a surprised glance. "The Old One? Where did you learn that name?"

"So you've heard it then?"

"I've heard it", Arahad said slowly, wiping strawberry jam from his beard with the back of his hand. "It's been circulating a bit this winter. People's been whispering about an old man with a hood and a staff that's supposed to be wandering the mountains, but no one has seen him - they just know someone who has. They call him the Old One since no one knows his name."

"Is he evil?"

"People seem to assume so. If he's real, he is indeed secretive, because none of us rangers has found a single track of him - but most likely, he is nothing but a ghost story."

Legolas stretched out his legs towards the fire, because his toes were getting cold, and watched a group of men and women with skin the colour of dry soil, who stood in a shivering circle and laughed at a joke someone had just told. They looked very much out of place in all the snow and the grey, with their red and yellow and purple wool robes billowing around them and their language sounding like rattling stones and whispering water. He wondered if they ever sung songs of their home like the Greenwood elves did to make it feel closer, and he wondered exactly how far away they lived, and if it was further away that Gondor. Erestor would probably know.

Very slowly a feeling crept over Legolas that he was being watched.

He turned around, but there was too much people to tell if anyone had been looking at him. A group of dwarves stood nearby talking about the price of good steel, but none of them paid him any attention. Maybe it was just the amount of people, Legolas thought, or maybe being so close to the cursed dwarves. Father had often said he could feel their presence on miles away, and not only because of their smell.

Legolas turned back to the fire, suddenly aware of how many people there were around him, how close they stood and how strange their voices were. Some of them were old; some of them had hoods... And he thought, what if there was no traitor in Rivendell - after all, would not lord Elrond recognise one when he saw him? - but outside it. What if they had just waited for a chance to strike. What if Legolas had walked right into...

"Watch it!" Arahad yelled and moved, quick as lightning, in between Legolas and another man behind him. It went too fast for Legolas to understand, but when he turned, Arahad held a small dagger in hand and the other man man was pushing his way through the crowd away from them.

"Stop him!" Arahad shouted, but no one wanted to have anything to do with ranger affairs, and the crowd simply parted to let the man through.

"Thieves", Arahad said. "They're everywhere. He would've slit your bag and taken any valuables you had as it fell out."

Legolas stared at the spot where the man had disappeared, still trying to figure out what had happened. "What if he had hurt me?"

Arahad shook his head. "That would have drawn attention. This is just a small market, he wouldn't have got away with assault. What he tried to do was to take your stuff without your noticing. He didn't know you are an elf though, nor did he know I am a ranger."

Slowly it dawned on Legolas that he could have been killed - that whatever Arahad said he had been closer to death than he had ever imagined he would be, because Arahad did not know everything. Had Arahad been a second too late, Legolas might have been dead now.

He hugged himself tightly. "What if... what if..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Speak up", Arahad said. "You look frightened, little one."

"I'm not supposed to say anything", Legolas mumbled, but he didn't know what else to do. The fear made his chest tighten until it became hard to breath. He wished the twins would come back. "What if I've a reason to believe he truly wanted to hurt me? If I know something you don't. Something I can't tell you."

Arahad became silent. When he spoke again he looked very grave, and Legolas realised, not without surprise, that the man took him seriously. "Does anyone else here know? The twins?"

"No. They don't."

"And you cannot tell them either?"

"I... I don't think so."

Arahad ran his thumb along the edge of the dagger. "Then you stay close to me until we leave. Do not go off by yourself. I will keep watch over you. And... you promise that if there is anyone you trust, be it the twins or lord Elrond or anyone else, you let them know what it is you fear. They can protect you better than I ever can. Can you promise me that?"

Legolas bit his lip. "I... I guess I can." If there was anyone he trusted, he would tell them. Like Gandalf or Radagast, when they arrived. As of yet he did not trust lord Elrond, and as long as he didn't trust him, he dared not tell the twins either.

But Arahad was a ranger, and their Chieftain no less. Surely he would know to keep close watch for other attacks. And maybe the traitor - if it was him - would stay away now that he knew Legolas wasn't alone.

"Can I look at that dagger?"

"Certainly."

It was a plain steel dagger - at least by elven standards, with a fairly straight blade and a handle bound with coarse leather. Legolas turned it over in his hands. It had seen some use but was very sharp. Perhaps he had expected some evil mark to be inscribed on it, but there was none.

He did not say anything to Elladan and Elrohir when they came back. Echail was not with them. They took another walk around the stalls and at first, Legolas looked for traitors everywhere around and made sure Arahad did the same - but he soon forgot about it, because there was so much to look at and hear and smell. Had it not been for Arahad, a devoted assassin could probably have killed Legolas a dozen times while he was busy admiring a beautifully carved longbow - but no one so much as tried, and soon the briefness of the assault and the distracting chatter of the twins made it all seem like a dream. The sense of overhanging danger had subsided altogether when they watched the travelling bard perform a song that made Arahad roar with laughter and Elladan look with displease at Legolas as if contemplating covering his ears.

Tilwine, Scead and Echail found them there. They were done with their errands, and the men were hungry again.

"The inn is crowded", Arahad said. "You won't get anything to eat there within an hour, and we've already been here long. I say let's get everyone together and have a meal by the fire."

"But you've already eaten", Echail said.

"Two pancakes. I could eat eleven more."

"Eleven!"

"Are you surprised?" Tilwine said. "I could easily eat fifteen!"

They took a roundabout back to the fire, looking for rangers as they went, and found Findel and Hawn arguing with a seller about the price of arrow-tips. They were over a dozen when they sat down by the fire, and the woman selling pancakes was a little overwhelmed with the large order, because how many pancakes one could eat had become a competition between the men - the elves, even Echail, had long since accepted their inferiority.

So it was that nine mysterious rangers, the fearsome twins, two horse-thieves from Rohan and an elfing from Greenwood came to sit by the fire eating pancakes with strawberry jam and cream, as if that would not ruin their reputation at all.

It was when they made ready to go home again that the strangest thing that day happened.

Legolas sat on a fence by the horses and waited for the men to saddle up, and he was fiddling with the dagger again, when Echail stopped in front of him with a frown on his face.

"Where did you find that?"

"I didn't find it, I - "

"Give it to me", Echail said and reached for it, and when Legolas did not give it to him at once, he rolled his eyes and explained: "It's mine. I lost it at the market. It fell out of the sheath when I sat down or something. Not that it is any special, but it's not yours and you're going to give it back to me."

Very slowly, Legolas turned the dagger in his hand and gave it to Echail hilt first.

"Lucky I found it then", he said quietly. "Before it got into the wrong person's hands."

Legolas looked after Echail when he walked back to his horse, sat up an carefully arranged Tilwine's cloak over his horse's back. He looked so pleased with himself. It was too much of a coincidence, Legolas thought, that Echail had dropped that dagger only for the attacker to find it and use it. Knives didn't fall out of sheaths like that. And Echail had not been with the twins when they returned from their errand. There would have been time to leave them, sneak up to the fire, then disappear in the crowd and find Tilwine and Scead before anyone missed him.

But it could not possibly have been Echail. He was lord Elrond's valet; the elf-lord must trust him as much as he trusted Glorfindel or Erestor. No, it could not be Echail - could it?

A note on birds, because it will be relevant for the next chapter. In The Hobbit it says that 'the men of Dale had the trick of understanding bird speech' and that Bard, when a thrush speaks to him in the battle against Smaug, is surprised he can understand it since he's a descendant of Dale. So the birds don't speak elvish, and not everyone understand them - though they don't need to learn the language, it's probably more of an instinctive understanding. The wood-elves are said to be friends of the birds, but as far as I know the same isn't said about the noldor. This is why Legolas understands them but not Scead, Tilwine or the other elves. Quick-wing speaks the way he does because I figure bird speech would be a lot simpler than elven speech - they're simply not intelligent enough to be as well-spoken.

Thank you for reading!