Chapter 34: A Friend In Need
(~***~)
Angharad had explained that after the mid-morning meal, her training cohort would attend academic classes for a few hours before meeting again for more training in the early afternoon. Lossrilleth asked her daughter if she could request permission to skip class for one day to show her family around, which Angharad was more than happy to do. When Angharad went to speak with her teachers after breakfast, Lossrilleth pulled her ellyn aside.
"I would like to stop in to see what Ginnar is doing. I would like to tell him that he is welcome to begin staying with us whenever he wishes," she said. "Both of the children have had too many abrupt transitions, often for the worse. They have been inseparable for the better part of two years. It is cruel to leave him on his own now that Angharad is staying with us. What do you think?"
Thranduil did not look overly happy about this idea. Legolas wasn't sure what to think. They'd only just found each other again. Shouldn't they continue reconnecting as a family? Their silence dragged out and Lossrilleth tried again.
"In my opinion I think it is best if we begin treating him like he is our foster child immediately," she argued. "It is likely he will be with us for the better part of a year – at the very least. I will not have him treated like a second-class citizen all that time. Do you not think there is some thread of fate in all this? Truly? What are the chances kin of Gimli's would become your daughter's closest companion?" she said, gesturing towards Legolas.
Legolas had to admit there was something to that. "I actually think she is right, Adar," he finally said.
Thranduil continued to look skeptical. He had been happy to speak with the boy – but sharing their family quarters? It was already unfamiliar to them to all be sleeping in a single room on floor pallets.
"Look, I am happy to bear the brunt of it if you both prefer that," Lossrilleth said. "But he will want for something other than mothering all the time. Thranduil, can you just ask him about the military history he learned again? Maybe teach him chess? I think a little will go a long way from either of you."
"I say yes," Legolas agreed. He was becoming more convinced the more she spoke.
"If you both think this is best, then so be it. But I think you should ask your daughter first," Thranduil finally said with a touch of resignation.
Angharad came running back to them, looking excited. She'd been excused from class for the day. She happily pulled her family along behind her as she retraced the circuit of her morning run around the (surprisingly vast) grounds of the monastery. Eventually she brought them to the site of the ancient building under restoration. It was a short walk down a steep staircase, nestled in a dell against the cliffside. Before they went in, Lossrilleth pulled her aside, gesturing for Legolas to join them.
"We have been speaking, and we would like to tell Ginnar that is he welcome to start staying with us whenever he wishes. What do you think?" she asked the girl.
Angharad pinched her eyebrows together and seemed to think for a moment. "I do not know if he would wish to share quarters with us just yet," she told her mother honestly. "He does not like to look soft. He does not know you. And he needs more rest than we do – we would all have to be quiet the whole night," Angharad said with a sigh.
She had been looking forward to not sitting in the dark, bored, for a few hours every night. The Brothers had just told her to practice more meditation during this time when she had explained her situation. She was sick of it.
"We will have to be quiet at night for him soon anyway. The boat we will take home is small. I truly hate to think of him all alone in that room all of a sudden," Lossrilleth said. "Do you think there is anything we can do to help?"
"You ask him, nana, he likes you," Angharad replied. "I will miss him if I never see him anymore before we go," she admitted.
"We will make sure you see your friend enough before we go whether he says yes or no," Legolas told her with an encouraging smile.
"I suggest you and I speak with him together, Angharad. Now, let us go see what he has been doing while you have been learning to fly through the air like a squirrel," Lossrilleth said, winking at her daughter. The girl snickered at that image.
"So this is the old temple to Guan Yin, which is just another name for Nienna," Angharad began to explain to them as they walked in. "There was a big flood a while ago. It had something to do with Xiaoqing, and maybe her sister? Fahai will not explain more. They brought in some artisans for a few years just to fix all the ancient art and treasures. Ginnar has been working with them – they teach him things."
Angharad had been leading them through the work zone, past a bamboo scaffolding set against an enormous statue of a seated woman, which was being repainted in gold. She stopped short in front of a shrine at the back wall. Ginnar was sitting next to it, focused so hard on a figure he was painting that he had not noticed them. The tip of his tongue stuck out in his concentration.
"Ginnar" the girl whispered, not wanting to make him make a mistake. He looked up in surprise, holding his brush in the air.
"Did you fix all of these?" she asked in awe, gesturing to five beautiful statues of the same woman, some standing, some seated. "Are they the same ones you showed me two moons ago?"
Ginnar beamed at her compliment as he washed his paintbrush and carefully stowed his materials.
"Aye, these are the same. They cleaned up alright, eh?" he said happily.
"I cannot believe my eyes," his friend said, leaning over to look at each statue carefully. "They look new! How? This one was missing an arm, was it not?"
"We made it a new one and affixed it with glue!" Ginnar crowed. He was glowing. "Master Gongshu let me carve it myself. He only had to fix two things."
"Which arm was that?" Lossrilleth asked, looking over her daughter's shoulder at the statues. Angharad pointed and her mother made an appreciative noise.
"This is flawless, Ginnar. I cannot find the seam even knowing it should be there," she told him. "Your parents would be so proud of this work, I am sure."
The boy wilted a little. He had been a bit sore lately that he would not be able to show any of this to his mam. She would have loved it so loudly for him.
Angharad was busy pointing out the figures that had not been fixed yet, showing the older elves just how much had been done to the renewed ones. Legolas had been hanging back, so caught the boy's look. It reminded him a little of some of Gimli's first visits to Ithilien. His friend had regretted not being able to show his work as well. He been just as put out not to be able to see what Legolas had accomplished in Ithilien when the elf had visited Aglarond. Legolas had eventually concluded that sharing projects was something quite meaningful to dwarves. They'd found a solution, though, that had pleased mollified Gimli.
"You know," Legolas said to Ginnar. "You could keep a journal you could bring home with you to show your parents. You can draw these statues, maybe with some small paint samples to show the colors. Gimli and I used to pass such a thing between us when he was establishing Aglarond and I was working on improvements in Ithilien."
Ginnar perked up at this idea. "I do not know if I can draw them well," he said thoughtfully, looking over the figures with a studied eye. "It is different than painting on an object. But it is a good idea. I think my mam would like to see," he added wistfully.
Legolas looked at the statues carefully. "I have drawn plants but not figures before, but I could try I suppose. Lossrilleth, you have a good drafting hand, do you not? Do you think you could capture a likeness of this?"
He looked up at his wife to see her beaming back at him. She would have marched over and kissed him if it wouldn't have embarrassed everyone else.
"I do not know what they have to draw with here. I cannot say I am practiced with ink brushes, but I am certainly willing to try," she agreed. "Could you ask these artisans for such materials, or shall we go to the Brothers? I think it is an excellent idea. Of course your parents would want to see your work."
Master Gongshu had shuffled over from his place on the scaffolding when the eerie strangers had entered his domain and began speaking with his young apprentice. The boy had explained that his friend's parents had arrived, and that it finally gave him a means to return home. The Artisan appraised them. The dwarf was a good lad. He had listened to some of the boy's tale as he told it to the chattier craftsmen over a few meals. He'd had enough trials. The man wanted to know the boy was in good hands before he let him leave.
"They're the ones who'll take you home?" the man asked the dwarf as he walked up to the boy with a sense of propriety. "What are they saying?
"We're talking about making a journal to bring to my mother so I can show her what I've learned with you," Ginnar replied. "Could we get materials to try drawing the statues, and maybe the gems you had me re-set? Could I take a little dab of the paints to show her? Two of them say they can try their hand at drawing. I don't know if I could do them justice."
The Artisan looked at the two pale adults looking over the statues of Guan Yin carefully, appearing to point out features here and there.
"This was their idea?" he asked. Ginnar confirmed it was true. It was a kind suggestion, the Artisan thought. It bode well.
"Tell them they will not draw these items," Master Gongshu told the boy firmly. The lad looked crestfallen for a moment. "No one can draw my own works as well as I can, boy. If you wish to bring a record home to your family, I think it's good. I'll make it myself, with notes about what we've done and what you've learned. Maybe your own people can fix that heavy hand of yours with a wood carving knife. You can read Eastron, can't you?"
Ginnar clapped his hands in excitement, confirming he could probably read it (although they should go over it together before he left). When he told his visitors, two of the adults turned to Master Gongshu and bowed in the manner of their own people. The Artisan noticed that the face of the woman was radiant. For a moment he felt as though he looked on the image of some Bodhisattva of joy. He felt much better about the boy's fate in the hands of these people, he thought to himself as he went to request a blank scroll and some artist's ink from the calligraphy school. Now, if he was sending a record of these works into the West, he was determined to produce something excellent.
"Well that was good fortune!" Lossrilleth said as the Artisan walked away. "What a generous man. And a good teacher apparently. I think you have been in good hands here at Temple Mountain as well, Ginnar. I am glad."
"It is the best place we have been," Ginnar agreed, glancing at Angharad, who was nodding enthusiastically.
"I can see that this is an interesting project, and I am happy for you," Thranduil commented graciously. "However I must admit the smell of all these paints are quite strong to me. Forgive me, I will wait outside," he said and excused himself to let the others speak.
Legolas considered joining him but thought better of it. If his family was going to welcome the boy in, he would stand with them. Lossrilleth nodded at Angharad, encouraging her to broach the subject. It was her friend.
"Ginnar," the girl started, unsure of how this was going to go. "I do not like to think of you all alone at night now – none of us do. If you wished to stay with us, you could," she tried, feeling a bit awkward in front of her parents.
Ginnar frowned at the ground, looking uncomfortable.
"Whenever you wish," Lossrilleth added. "I know Angharad has always enjoyed a little story sharing or song before rest. Do you? Perhaps you would like to join for a bit in the evenings and go back to your own room instead? Are you far from us?"
Angharad shook her head. "The rooms are in the same building," she told her mother. "He is just upstairs."
"Well that would be easy, would it not? Else you two might hardly see each other for two months. Surely we cannot have that," Lossrilleth wheedled.
"We still need to hear your full account," Legolas added.
Lossrilleth shot him a warning glance. "That may be better not to tell just before they try to rest," she suggested. She suspected they were not finished with post-traumatic meltdowns, maybe even from both children.
Ginnar was still thinking, chewing his lower lip.
"Our boat for the journey home is quite small, Ginnar, and it will take long," the young mother said gently. "I think you have had too many sudden changes these last years. Shall we not ease in this time?"
"Alright," he finally said. "Just for a bit before sleep, I guess."
Angharad clapped her hands. "You will not regret it, my friend. My nana is the best at telling tales!"
In the distance, a deep bell rang.
"Oh, it is time to meet at the practice grounds!" the girl exclaimed. Then she remembered what they'd be doing. "For sparring," she added reluctantly.
Her friend noticed. "You always like sparring. What happened?" the dwarf asked suspiciously. He hoped her parents hadn't discouraged her. Training had made her very happy.
"It is tradition, apparently," the young elf said unhappily. "I have to spar with him." She gestured at her father, who had a subtle sense of amusement about him every time she brought it up.
Ginnar guffawed and slapped his thighs. He laughed so hard his eyes watered. Angharad glared at him.
"I will not miss this. I am coming to watch," he chortled.
"What? No!" Angharad gasped. "You are coming just to laugh at me?" she asked, starting to sound offended.
"Oh no, I shall be cheering for your side, my friend," Ginnar reassured her. "But you have a bad habit of bragging a bit sometimes. I have warned you before such things come back to bite you. It seems I was right!"
"And now you are gloating," she observed coolly. "Which is hardly better than bragging, in terms of things which have teeth."
Ginnar made himself quiet down. "Fair enough. Still, I am coming to watch," he said, trying to keep his grin from getting too large.
They began to make their way out, the girl still pouting and the boy still trying not to be too enthusiastic about his mirth. He stopped for a moment in the doorway to leave a message as to where he was going. As she stepped past him, he called out quietly to Lossrilleth.
"Pardon me, um, madam," he said very shyly. "Could I ask you something?"
She stopped in front of him. "Of course," she replied.
Ginnar looked nervously at the other elves just a few steps ahead of them. She followed his gaze and interceded.
"You all go ahead," she said. "We must leave a message for his teacher so he is not missed. We will meet you at the practice court. It is the same as this morning, right?"
"Yes, but we can wait," Angharad said, dragging her feet.
"Nonsense. Do not be late. We will meet you there," her mother insisted. Lossrilleth caught Legolas's eye and urged him on with a glance. He took her meaning.
"Come, surely you are not frightened, fierce fighter that you have become," Legolas teased Angharad. "I will not be too hard on you. There is a difference between fighting an enemy and fighting a student." He gave her a little push down the path.
"Oh, but you cannot be too soft on me, either ada, or everyone will know you think I am weak! Oh, I would die from shame, promise you will not do so. I shall just have to be beaten," she chattered as they walked down the path.
Thranduil was pleased with her for saying so. She was a good little warrior, through and through.
"I would not think the question in such an exercise would be whether such a young student could beat their father, but whether they could make him work for his victory," her grandfather suggested. "I have high expectations for you on that point."
"Oh, Adar, do not be too harsh on her, she is only twenty-seven," Legolas teased, hoping to get a little banter going that might distract her from her thoughts. This should be a fun challenge if he did not want to discourage her.
"So little faith in your daughter, ion nin," Thranduil shot back, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "One could almost think you were not watching during practice this morning."
He turned to Angharad. "While everyone here is teasing you for being too confident, I have been thinking the opposite. It is high time someone else made my son sweat for a win. It goes to his head. I trust you to do this for me, soldier."
Angharad was getting ramped up. She gave Thranduil an enthusiastic salute. "I shall give it my all, commander!" she said, laughing. She had missed playing with her granddad very much, even if it was changing a bit.
(~***~)
Lossrilleth watched her family fondly as they disappeared down the path, engaging in fighters' rituals together. When they were out of earshot she knelt down where she could look her new foster child in the eye.
"How can I help you, Ginnar?" she asked him calmly.
He chewed his lip, looking a bit upset. He was embarrassed about this. But surely a mother would understand. She seemed good…
"I could not stay with you until I fix something," he said, not sure how to start. Lossrilleth waited patiently. "I have been trying to take care of it myself, but I do not think it has worked," he said, struggling a bit.
"Is it something that would be easier to show me?" the elf mother asked, completely in the dark.
Ginnar looked around them uneasily. No one was near them. Just the trees and birds.
"You cannot hear anyone coming, can you?" he asked, remembering elves could hear very well. Angharad's mother shook her head.
Ginnar reluctantly took off the cap he'd taken to wearing constantly for months. He had even been wearing it at night, feeling grateful his friend had not seemed to notice anything strange as she chatted about high kicks and weapons.
His thickly spiraled hair was a long, tangled mess. He turned around so she could see what he suspected was the worst part.
"Oh, my dear," Lossrilleth said. "No one here knows how to work with curly hair, do they?"
"No one has been checking to see if I comb it anyway," the boy admitted very, very quietly. Even in the rebel camp one of the widows had taken pity on him and helped him keep it managed.
"I am sorry, Ginnar. Well, those days are finished. May I touch? I would like to get a sense of what we have to work with," Lossrilleth asked. Ginnar nodded, not trusting his voice not to wobble if he spoke.
He could feel her fingers gingerly testing at the knots he'd felt solidifying in the back over a few months. Not having to see her face gave him the courage to go on.
"If I stay with you everyone will see that I do not go to the baths anymore. I have just been sneaking off to use a wet rag," he squeaked in humiliation. "I do not want anyone to see."
He felt the arms of the elf lady wrap around him and squeeze.
"That will not do at all. Those hot springs are delightful. I insist that you should be able to visit them after working hard here all day," she replied quietly, holding him good and tight. It wasn't like a dwarf mother's hug. But it was so good anyway, after all this time adrift. Ginnar sniffed and shook his head. He did not want to go red-eyed to the practice grounds. She let him go and gave his hair another inspection.
"I will not lie to you, Ginnar. I think the best thing to do is cut quite a bit off. If I just cut out the worst knots, it will be very uneven, and I truly do not believe I can loosen them all," she told him.
"How short?" he asked, feeling nervous. Dwarves' hair was important to them. He did not want to cut it all.
Lossrilleth measured something behind him. She reached a hand over his shoulder and pulled at a lock of hair near his face. She pulled it straight, down to about the level of his nose.
"I think I could do this much, even all over. We would still need to spend some time with a comb and some oil, but it should be possible," she said.
"Do it," he said gruffly. It was still too short for a proper dwarf style, but it could have been worse. "Let us get it over with."
"Yes, and start fresh," Lossrilleth told him, turning him around by the shoulders. "We will fix this, and I will not let it happen again. I thank you for your trust."
"You will not tell the elf lords, will you? Do you promise?" Ginnar could not bear to have the warriors see him in such a state.
"If you want me to promise, then I shall. But Ginnar, I hope you can come to trust Legolas at least. He loved your kinsman very dearly indeed. And he is a good father, if I may brag about my own husband," she said in a slightly silly voice for the boy's benefit. "There will be places in the next year where he can help you and I cannot. The hot springs here being one good example."
Ginnar looked at the ground and shook his head. He could not bear for Legolas to know. Not yet, at least. This elf lady could not understand the shame of this for a dwarf. He was worried Legolas might.
"Alright. Then I promise. I will not tell them anything about it. And if anyone notices you had a haircut you can say what you like. We will deal with this this very day, when the sparring is over," Lossrilleth suggested.
Ginnar leaned forward and hugged her very hard, which she returned.
"Thank you, madam," he said sincerely.
"It is my pleasure, sir. And how about you start calling me by name, my new friend," she said, rising and indicating that they should make their way to the practice court.
Ginnar pulled the cap awkwardly back over his head. Lossrilleth leaned over and fixed it, tucking his hair under carefully so the mess was well hidden.
"I do not know your name," Ginnar admitted as they walked down the path together. "Angharad only calls you nana."
"Well, if you wished to use that title for me, I would be entirely honored to accept it for the time being. But my name is Lossrilleth," she told him kindly.
Ginnar was quiet for a minute as he thought about it.
"Eight out of ten points, Lossrilleth," he said finally. She looked at him quizzically, then realized he was grading her hugs.
"Leaving me some room for improvement, I see," she teased him back. "Perhaps I shall have to ask Angharad's trainers for some exercises to increase my arm strength."
Ginnar chuckled happily. He was feeling a little better about this. He could think about staying with the elves after this was solved. If anyone could fix it, it would be this nana of his friend's.
(~***~)
