"The best cure for drunkenness is whilst sober, to observe a drunken person."

- Chinese Proverb

Time suspended: The Halls of Waiting – Lord Namo's domain, his inner sanctum

Namo sat back in his carved ebony chair and a small smile tugged at the corners of his finely sculpted lips. The Chief stared at the move his opponent had just made so smoothly and with so little hesitation.

"You just scuppered Thadak's little plans." He said shaking his head in utter disbelief. "Which of our Elven friends have you just brought into play?"

The Lord of Mandos chuckled. "I thought a little of the unexpected might make the situation more interesting." He admitted. "Too much do you think?"

Chief countered Namo's mischievous expression with a calm imperturbable countenance of his own. "Well considering I have no idea who you just threw in Thadak's way, I have no way of knowing whether it was too much or not. On the other hand, you may have just saved Kim from a fate worse than death, so perhaps I won't complain too much about you introducing random factors to our little game."

"I would hardly call the Kinslayers a 'random factor'." Murmured Namo. "More of a dynamic catalyst. Feanor's boys were ever wild and unpredictable. About the only thing anyone knows for sure about them is that wherever the Silmarils are likely to be, there they will be. I am guessing it is one of the driving reasons for them being involved in the War of Wrath in the first place."

Chief raised his eyebrow in surprise. "You must be talking about Maedhros and Maglor then. You made them rescue Kim ? Isn't that a bit like jumping from the frying pan into the fire for her?" He moved one of the orc pieces into Thadak's path, making him the filling in an orc and elf sandwich and grinned widely at Namo, who gave a mildly discontented snort at the mortal's impudence.

"And you call me nasty?" He sniffed and considered his next move. "I did not 'make' them do anything. I simply ordered it so they would be in the same place at the same time. Their actions and choices are entirely their own. She will be in no more danger with the Feanorians than she would with 'Gil-galang' and his merry men, as she is wont to think of them and I think she fully realises this."

The other shoe dropped for the Chief and he laughed outright. "Aha, you want her out of the way! No more little night-time love trysts with Gary or Eonwe for her. What a party pooper you are, spoiling such innocent pleasures!"

Namo joined in the laughter, causing Vaire, who was passing by the open door to her husband's sanctum, to peek round it. She shook her head and smiled at the much feared Lord of Mandos and the mortal man both laughing uproariously over the chessboard. She could quite clearly see what they were doing, but said nothing. Instead she walked back to her tapestry room with an immensely thoughtful look on her face. So, those two were meddling were they? Well two, or maybe even three or four, can play at that game.

She viewed her tapestry of the current events in which she was constantly weaving incidents and sent out a thought message to Varda. Only a scant few moments later Varda herself appeared in a sparkle of stardust.

"You called?" She said archly. Her silvery laughter bubbled out and filled the room.

Vaire smiled. "My husband and his guest are doing a little dabbling in the affairs in Middle Earth. I know you already have Olorin there acting on your behalf, but I believe that we should try to offset some of this mischief those two are brewing."

Varda's beautiful eyes lit up with interest and she moved her chair a little closer. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

ooOoo

The Feanorian camp somewhere in Beleriand

Elrond bent down and lifted Kim 's hand to check her pulse which was steady and strong. He then placed a cool hand on her brow to reassure himself there was no fever present.

Elros hunkered down beside him. "Is she well?"

"I believe so. As well as can be expected at any rate." Elrond said quietly. "There were no apparent injuries. I believe she was just distressed and in a shocked state. The sleep and a decent meal will do wonders for her."

Elros scratched his chin. "Think you that we should wake her up to give her something to eat?"

His brother stood up and shook his head. "Let her sleep in comfort while she may. We have at least two days hard riding before we reach the outer battle-groups of the Host and at least another half a day until we reach the main Elven encampment. I doubt that Uncle Maedhros will allow us to stop for this long again in one spot. He only did so this time because Maglor pleaded on her behalf."

Elros picked up the knife that his brother had carefully laid down beside her after he had helped her get comfortable. His dark, delicately arched brows knitted together in perplexity. "This dagger is the work of a fine Elven smith and quite ancient by the look of it. How does an Edain woman come to be in possession of such a thing?"

"Perhaps she stole it." Maedhros dropped down beside them and held his hand out for the dagger, which Elros gave to him. He turned it over carefully, scrutinised the runes etched delicately along the fine curved blade and frowned. "I know this piece. I believe it is one made by Adar at Daeradar's request when he was first courting Indis. I do not believe that Adar was pleased to do it. I have heard him say many times that he had rather melted it down than give it to the woman who stole our Daernaneth's place in Daeradar's life."

Elros stared at the dagger in fascination. "So it was made on the Blessed Isle then?"

Maedhros nodded. "Which still begs the question of how an woman such as this has possession of it. Unless some scion of Ingwion's house inherited it and gave it to her as a favour of sorts. I would not have thought she would have been some Vanyarin whelp's fancy though." He placed the knife back down and picked up the finely worked, but plain leathern scabbard which had been strapped to a belt around Kim's waist.

"There was no sword." Elrond pointed out quietly.

Maedhros shrugged. "She had none when I came across her and the orc, just the knife. Perhaps she was running away from the orc and dropped it. The leather work is of Elven design for sure." He glanced over at Kim's sleeping form and grinned. "I see you have cleaned her face a little, she is a lot prettier without the dirt."

Elrond glanced at Kim and smiled. "What will we do with her? She seems to have no husband or protector of any kind."

Maedhros threw his head back and shouted with laughter. "Husband? The Edain often do not take husbands little one. Sometimes their women offer their bodies to the highest bidder. I see no rings on her finger. Mayhap she was following one of the Edain battle groups and they discharged themselves of her when they discovered she was with child?"

Elrond shook his head. "I think not. Her pregnancy is in its very early days. The Edain are not usually aware of the moment of conception. I do not think even she realises that she carries a child within her." He gazed across at Kim again and studied her face carefully. "I do not believe that she is some tavern whore. I do not get that impression at all."

"Well, we shall take her with us and let Lord Eonwe decide as to what should be done with her then. He can perhaps send her up to the northern coast with whatever refugees the Host come across next." He shrugged again rather carelessly. "I care not. Perhaps we should give her to one of the Edain armies for them to look after instead and save the Herald of Manwe the trouble. She is one of their kind after all."

Elrond's face paled. "No." His tone was emphatic. " I do not think that would be wise. I have seen the way the men treat the women who work for them. Little better than slaves. She is with child and would not survive it."

Maedhros raised one eyebrow. "She is pregnant Elrond, not sick. Edain women give birth in the fields and then go back to work."

"Nevertheless I will not allow it." Elrond's voice was firm. His dark eyebrows were drawn together in a straight line and there was a stubborn set to his mouth. Elros chuckled to himself. It was no use arguing with his twin when he was in that sort of mood. He could be remarkably stubborn when he chose to be. However he could also see by Maedhros' expression that he was deliberately teasing Elrond. A sly wink from the red-haired elf in Elros' direction confirmed this.

"You seek to tell me what to do youngling?" Maedhros enquired in a stern voice.

Elrond flushed. "I would not normally be so discourteous Uncle as you well know, however in matters of healing I will stand by everything I have said." He said stiffly.

Maedhros laughed and clapped Elrond on the shoulder. "Peace child. I was merely teasing you. As it happens I agree with you about the way the secondborn treat their female camp followers. Besides, she showed great courage when faced with a deadly enemy. She did not fold into a weeping heap when she saw the wolf, but prepared to defend herself. For that she gets my respect at least. Besides which, I get the feeling that the orc had not come across her by accident. He was hunting her for some purpose I cannot fathom. He only ran away when I came on the scene. That alone is interesting enough for me to hand her over to Eonwe. There is more to her than meets the eye methinks." He got to his feet in one fluid movement and gestured with his head towards Kim as he walked away towards the main camp-fire. "She is awake by the way. You might want to get her some of that hot stew. She will need all her strength for the hard riding we have to do."

Elros got to his feet and went over to the cooking pot. While he was putting some of the vegetable stew in a bowl that he borrowed from the one of the other Elves, Elrond helped Kim into a sitting position.

Elrond gestured towards the bowl that his twin was carrying carefully across to them. He pointed to her mouth and then made eating motions with his fingers towards his own mouth.

"Eat?" Kim asked shyly. The delicious smell of the stew tortured her nostrils and she could feel herself salivating. She nodded vigorously and pointed to herself. "Hungry."

Elrond grinned. "Eet, yes. Hungaree?" He frowned at himself struggling with the strange Westron she spoke.

Kim was utterly delighted that she could make herself understood to these lads, because lads they obviously were, despite their height. They also had slightly broader physiques than the other Elves which made her wonder if they had some kind of mixed blood in them.

She made short work of the stew, soaking up the gravy with the remains of the hard bread they had given her as a spoon and leaned back in relief. She pointed to the empty dish. "Thank you."

This time it was Elros who grinned at her. "Le hannon." He said and she looked at him questioningly. "Le hannon. Thank yew." He repeated and she laughed merrily and duly repeated the Sindarin for thank you.

Both the twins then caught on and started to teach her the basic words. They pointed to an object, she said it in English, or Westron as they thought, and they said the Sindarin for it.

Maglor sat down at the fireside with his brother and glanced over at the three youngsters laughing and giggling over the mispronunciation. "They seem to have taken to our young Edain friend." He said mildly.

Maedhros looked up from mending a hole in his spare pair of leggings and laughed softly. "They are much of an age I think, in growth at least."

"You intend to hand her over to Eonwe." It was a statement rather than a question.

Maedhros frowned slightly. "I think it best. There is something not quite right about her and too many unanswered questions about her presence in those woods. Most, if not all of the Edain in this area have already fled north towards the Gulf of Falas. That orc was hunting her quite deliberately. I saw his actions before he made his presence felt between her and the wolf. I believe that Eonwe will need to know. In any case he is in more of a position to deal with her properly."

Maglor nodded, reached over for his pack and took out a small harp. He began to tune it, making a number of beautiful ripples of random notes sound across the strings. Those of the group not on watch drew closer to the fire. To hear the voice of Maglor was a wonderful thing and not to be missed. The laughter and banter from Kim and the twins slowly dwindled and went quiet as Maglor's glorious voice filled the camp.

Kim thought she had never heard anything so beautiful in her entire life. It was alternately joyous and mournful. She lay back in the blankets and her eyelids slowly closed. All her worries and concerns over Gary and her situation faded into nothing and she slept soundly once again.

Elrond smiled when he saw how peacefully she slept. He gently drew her blanket up to her chin and then drew his own cloak around him and lay down on one side of her. Elros did the same on the other side of her. It was probably the most protected and safest she had been since the night she had spent in Gary's arms only a short twenty four hours earlier.

OoOoo

Interlude in Beleriand

It had to be said that neither Eonwe nor Gary had the same peaceful night's sleep their lady love was enjoying. Eonwe sat beside the camp-fire in Gil-galad's camp and brooded on events. Gary would have done the same except that Tulcas wouldn't let him brood, besides which he had all of Eonwe's duties as Commander of the Host to carry out, not to mention battle orders for the whole of the massed armies to plan. He finally fell into his cot in the tent and prayed for sleep. But it was not to be. Finarfin and Ingwion came in with some bottles of fine Vanyarin wine which they proceeded to uncork and pour into goblets. Tulcas joined them with alacrity, he was never far away when the wine was being poured and the wine and laughter flowed.

After a while of stuffing the pillow over his ears and an abortive attempt to persuade them to hold their revels elsewhere, like perhaps at least a dozen leagues up the coast, Gary finally gave up and decided that if he couldn't beat them, all he could do was join them. The only thing that concerned him slightly was his alter ego's brooding. He sensed that Eonwe blamed himself for Kim's current situation, and whilst Gary was extremely concerned for her safety given that the scouts had found no further signs of her, he knew that there was little he could do about it so far away. Gil-galad and his people didn't seem to be providing the same distraction for Eonwe that Tulcas and the others were for him.

On second thoughts, perhaps he had the better part of the deal. At least he would get some sleep, thought Gary wryly. Being in charge of the Host of the Valar was not likely to be a pleasant experience with a monster hangover.

The other matter for concern was the continuing situation of Eonwe still being with Gil-galad, while Gary was with the Host and it was a concern they both shared. So far they had not switched back to their correct places and both were wondering why. Gary decided to mention it to Tulcas once the two Elven commanders had wended their slightly unsteady way back to their own tents. That's always supposing he could string two intelligent syllables together and as long as Tulcas could compose an intelligent, non-slurred reply. The odds did not look promising at all.

ooOoo

The Halls of Lord Manwe and Lady Varda, Oiolosse, Taniquetil

"Why have they not switched back yet?" Mused Manwe, almost to himself.

"Talking to yourself my beloved?" Varda slipped her arm around his waist and gazed up at her husband through her lashes.

Manwe sighed. "Eonwe and the mortal have not yet switched back. Eonwe is, as usual, alone and brooding darkly about it and his lover, the mortal is concerned but apparently drowning his sorrows in wine along with Ingwion, Finarfin and Tulcas. It strikes me that Tulcas is not a very good influence on any of them."

Varda dimpled at her husband. "Did Tulcas supply the wine then?"

"No." Manwe said slowly, staring into the east and frowning horribly. "I believe that Ingwion did that, but Tulcas should be showing some sign of responsibility. He is a Vala after all. He has the Valar's reputation to uphold."

Varda gazed in the same direction as her husband and her laughter tinkled around him when she saw Tulcas demonstrating some elaborate sword or perhaps a dance movement. It was difficult to really say which. His legs didn't seem to want to move in conjunction with each other and he ended up in an ungraceful heap on the floor, whereupon Finarfin and Ingwion laughed so much they could hardly draw breath or see for the tears and Gary fell backwards out of his chair. Further hilarity ensued when the two Elves and the Valar tried to be helpful and hoist him onto his feet. Rather a disaster considering they could hardly help themselves never mind anyone else.

"My love, I don't think any of them can actually stand on their own two feet at the moment, never mind uphold anything as serious as a responsibility." She gently cupped her husband's face in her slender hand and drew it around to her. "Let them be Manwe. Their burdens are great and the mortal is sorely troubled. Allow them laughter while they may. Who knows what sorrow tomorrow might bring for them. My one worry is for Eonwe, he seems so alone in Gil-galad's camp. Would that he had companions there who would chivvy him out of his brooding."

Manwe nodded slowly. "You are right as always my love. I will seek counsel from Eru though. I am concerned that they have not switched back to their rightful places. If I get an answer I can at least set Eonwe's mind at rest about that, even if I cannot tell him that his lady is well and safe. God knows what Eru was thinking allowing her to be rescued by Feanor's sons."

Varda wisely decided not to tell her husband that it was hardly the will of Eru that had placed the Feanorians in the position of rescuing Kim.

She would keep her own and Vaire's counsel about that matter. For the time being anyway.

ooOo