Just a Friend- Chapter 2
Next chapter coming up! Thanks to everyone who is reading and following this. Reviews make me very happy indeed, so the more reviews the better!
Disclaimer: see Chapter 1
Telan looked up at the sound of running feet, and adjusted his grip on the branch that he had, just in case. He heard a piping voice from nearby.
"We're nearly there, Mama! Just a bit further!"
Telan sighed with relief. "Ma!" he cried out. "Over here!"
Alya came in through the bushes to find Telan crouched over a limp figure on the ground. She went to her knees beside him. "Is he hurt?"
"Aye," said Telan, pointing at his shoulder, "but I think it's worse than that. He doesn't look good, Ma."
"He?" asked Alya, looking at the long blond hair.
"Ma, he's an elf." Telan turned his head and showed her the pointed ear. Cat, ever curious, got in closer to get a better look.
"Stay back Cat," said Alya. "Just in case." She checked the elf's pulse and breathing. "He's definitely sick" she murmured. She pulled back the tunic to expose the wound: an ugly gash in his shoulder. "We need to get him back home quickly."
Behind them, Cat sucked in a breath. Telan picked her up as Alya slung the elf's body over her shoulders. "Ma, ain't he heavy?"
Alya shook her head. "I don't know why, but he ain't," she said. "We need to get back." She began to walk back towards the edge of the wood. The elf's head lolled sickeningly as she walked, and Cat sobbed into Telan's shoulder.
"It's alright kitten," said Telan soothingly. "It's alright. He's gonna be just fine, and then you can meet an elf! Won't that be great, kitten?"
Cat nodded. They reached the tree stump with the bag of logs, and Telan picked them up, slinging the bag over his back. Whatever was going to happen with this elf, they still needed firewood.
0-o-0-o-0
When Telan came through the door, Alya had already placed the elf on a low bed in the room. Telan lowered Cat to the floor. "Go play with your dolls," he said, already starting forwards towards the bed.
Cat whimpered, and Telan paused. He crouched down to look at her. "It's ok, little kitten. Just go into the other room and play with your dolls. Ma knows what she is doing." Alya had been an apprentice healer in Minas Tirith, and knew enough to look after the elf. At least, Telan hoped she did.
He got to his feet and made his way to where Alya was stripping the elf of his sodden bloody clothes. "Can I do anything, Ma?" he asked tentatively. In the poor light of the cottage, the elf looked even worse. As Alya pulled his tunic over his head and away from the gash in his shoulder, he moaned slightly, and twisted.
"Get my box from under the sink," said Alya, dumping the muddy tunic by the fire. She looked at the gash. "Boil some water, Telan, and then grab some of your father's old clothes."
Telan nodded and did as she asked. When he came back with a pile of clothes and the boiled water in a deep bowl, Alya had already begun to wipe the mud and blood away from the elf's shoulder. His skin was pale, beaded with sweat. Alya dipped the cloth in the boiled water and washed the wound. She did it gently, but it still elicited a moan from the unconscious form in the bed.
"Something is wrong," said Alya. "Even for a man, this wound is not bad enough to warrant a fever and unconsciousness. If it is poison, then I don't know what to do."
"Shall I go into town, Ma?" asked Telan, handing over his clothes. Alya put some herbs over the wound and bandaged it with scraps of linen.
"No, I don't want this news spreading," she said quietly. "Some of those men in town would come knocking if they knew an elf was lying in our cottage. We just have to hope he will get better. Boil more water, please."
Telan nodded and filled the kettle from the bucket in the corner. "Will he get better, Ma?"
"I don't know," replied Alya. She crushed a few herbs and put them in the kettle before looking down at the elf. He face was worried. "I just don't know, Telan. But you have to keep this quiet. No going into town before this ends, one way or another."
Telan nodded. "I'm sure it'll be alright, Ma," he said. "He's an elf, right? It's like all the stories about the War. There was an elf there, says the tales, and the tales say how he couldn't be hurt, like the King. So this elf will be alright."
Alya shook her head with a sigh. "Those tales are tales, Telan," she said. She pulled the loose tunic over the elf's head. "Get a bowl of water, as cold as possible," she told him. "He needs to be kept cool."
Telan nodded and dipped a bowl in the bucket of water in the corner. One day, he thought, as he handed the bowl to his mother, he would go back to Minas Tirith and he would become a soldier. He would learn to use a sword and he would protect the King. It was all he really wanted to do.
Alya took another scrap of linen and dipped it in the water. She placed it over the elf's forehead, and the elf moaned and twisted on the bed. Taking the kettle off the hearth, she poured it into a cup and let it cool. "Sit him up, Telan, just a bit. He needs to drink this."
Telan slid his hands under the elf's head and shoulders and pulled him up slightly. The elf grimaced and his lips moved. Telan made a face. "Sorry," he murmured to the elf. Alya held the cup of water laced with herbs to the elf's lips, and slowly he drank, the water trickling down his throat. Telan carefully set him back down on the bed.
"What was that, Ma?"
"Something to stop the fever, hopefully," replied Alya. She pulled a chair over to the side of the bed. "Your father should be home soon," she said, adjusting the cloth on the elf's brow. She frowned as she felt his hot skin.
The elf twisted again, and his lips moved slightly. Alya leaned in, listening, and Telan couldn't help getting closer. "What is he saying, Ma?"
"Nothing in our tongue," said Alya, sitting back. "It was only a few words."
"Did he say his name?" The elf was still nameless, and Telan was curious as to who it was.
"Nay," said Alya. "The fever has him; he can't think, nor wake up properly. He just repeated one word."
"What was it, Ma?"
Alya frowned. "It sounded like Estel," she said. "Aye. Estel."
0-o-0-o-0
The door swung open and Alya looked up from where she was changing the elf's bandages. In the past few hours the elf had gotten more restless, tossing and turning on the bed.
"You're late," she said teasingly.
"Never mind late," said the man, walking over to where Alya sat. "Who is this? Why is he in our house?"
"It's an elf, Da," said Telan from where he was stacking logs in the corner. "Cat found him in the woods. He's hurt."
"Hurt?" asked his father. "Why did you bring him back here? If those men in the town find out…"
"We couldn't leave him, Henric," said Alya calmly.
"Aye, I know," said Henric, rubbing his jaw. "But we might get men knocking on our door if he stays too long. What's wrong with him, anyway?"
"His shoulder is injured," said Telan. "And he has a fever. It keeps rising." The elf on the bed twisted again, his lips whispering a word.
"What is he saying?" asked Henric. "His name?"
Alya shook her head. "It's another tongue," she replied. "His own, I guess. He mainly repeats a word, though. It sounds like a name, but I don't think it's his own."
"Aye, and what name is this?"
"Estel," said Telan. "Or something similar. It sounds like it's a friend of his, the way he keeps trying to call out to them."
"Aye, well let's hope his friend comes soon," said Henric. "Can you help him, love?"
Alya shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I can do my best, but whatever ails him is far beyond the little skill I have."
"Is the elf gonna die?" piped a small voice from the other room of the cottage. Telan turned to see Cat peeping around the door.
Henric came over to her and picked her up. "Hush kitten," he said soothingly. "Ma's gonna do her best."
"He won't die," said Telan. "He's an elf, right? You know the elves in stories don't die."
Henric sighed, but said nothing and put Cat back down to the floor. "A quick supper," he said. "Is that soup over the fire?"
Alya nodded, getting up and pulling the pot off the fire with a thick towel. "Onion soup. There's a bit of cured ham left over, but I thought we'd save it." Henric nodded and ladled the soup out into rough earthen bowls.
"Here," he said, passing a bowl to Telan. "More you eat, stronger you get." Telan grinned and tore a hunk of bread from the loaf sitting on the small table. He dunked it in the soup.
"Will there be any left?" he asked around a mouthful of soupy bread.
"Chew first then talk," replied Alya. "But I want to keep some, see if I can't get the elf to drink a bit."
"Do elves like soup?" asked Telan.
"It's not about whether he likes it or not, it's about whether it will keep him alive, son," said Henric. "But your Ma is right." He took another hunk of bread and dipped it in his soup. "Chew your food before talking."
Telan grumbled and finished his soup quickly. "Here Cat," he said, handing her the heel of his bread. "I've run out of soup."
Cat took it. "Fanks Telan," she said as she crammed it in her mouth. Crumbs sprayed everywhere.
Henric laughed. "You two need to go to sleep," he said. "Take the mattress, me and your Ma may stay up late." Alya was already sitting beside the elf again, rewetting the cloth on his brow.
Telan nodded. "Come on Cat." In the next room he helped her change into her nightshift and then pulled back the blankets on the small mattress. Cat climbed in.
"Aren't you sleeping too?" she asked.
"Aye, soon," said Telan, "but not right now." He sat down on the mattress next to Cat. "Do you want a story?"
Cat shook her head. "A song."
Telan heard the elf moan slightly in the other room. "A song then." He thought for a while, before picking one. "One song, and then you go to sleep, alright?"
Cat nodded. Her eyes were already sliding shut, and she nestled up against Telan. He smiled and stroked her hair gently.
"The Road goes ever on and on," he sang softly.
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet."
To Be Continued...
Next chapter will be up in two days- a Tuesday for me. And I have written about two chapters, so far, on the fanfic I am working on now, so it's going well!