THE FORGOTTEN
Suilad Ada
Hi Dad!
Author's note: The chapter in which – Lothril has a family reunion. … And the arrival is April 3rd.
As the probable date of arrival of Elrond and company drew close, Thranduil began receiving word from the birds even some of the squirrels of a party of elves entering the forest. Thranduil ordered preparations to be made for the guests and ordered the border guards to send word as soon as they saw or heard them coming. He kept Lothril apprised of Elrond's progress and she found herself growing giddy with excitement. Oh, how she missed Elrond and the twins!
As the forest was no longer dark, save that one corner, everyone figured they would take their time going through the forest. That meant that instead of three days of non-stop travel day or night, it would likely be something like eight days of easy travel, with rests and stopping at night and so forth. Plans were made accordingly and Lothril grew giddier as the days to the arrival grew shorter and at every progress report they received from the birds. She was pleased as she could be to see that Elrond and the twins were going to be staying in the nearest possible rooms to theirs. In fact, it was the next hallway to the right, and if she wanted, she could go through the servants passage and right into the anteroom if she wanted. She didn't think she would take that route, but all the same, she was excited that from that route, it wasn't but ten feet further to get to their rooms than it was to get to Legolas'. She found herself wondering if they would join them for breakfast in Thranduil's rooms or if they would start eating in the larger family dining room together each morning? She thought about asking a few times, but she didn't want to seem like an over-eager elfling… but still…
In the meantime, just to ensure that the elven road through the forest was safe, Thranduil sent out soldiers on the ninth of Ethuil (April 3) to travel the length of it and ensure it was clear and that the men did get off the road before getting ensnared. He also told them that if they ran into Elrond and his company to escort them back as honored guests.
Then one morning at breakfast Thranduil said, "When your adar and brothers get here, I plan on all of us having breakfast in the dining room together, if that suits you. I would invite them here, but there really is not much room for six."
She nodded. "I was wondering about that."
"And given they are your kin and our private guests first and official ones second, I have decided I will extend to them permission to use our private wing as they wish as well as what we share with the rest of our family," he added.
At that she smiled. "Oh good! I have been wondering about that as well."
"I see you have been wondering many things but asking none. Ask now before they arrive," Thranduil invited.
And with that she burst into questions about all sorts of little details and Thranduil and Legolas finally got to see just how excited she was, which made both of them smile. When she finally stopped to breathe, Thranduil teased her a little about expecting her to be more excited about her family coming.
It was two days before the expected arrival, no word of their imminent coming had been received at breakfast. However, reports from the scouts about the size of the darkened part of the forest had. It seemed to cover about roughly eight acres of forest and though it certainly wasn't as big as it had been formerly, it was also not far from their borders and that was unsettling. After breakfast, Thranduil told the two of them to go about their day while he and Raven discussed a plan of attack. When they had it sorted, they would pull them in, make final plans, then see about their plan of attack. As it was her regular sword practice day, she and Legolas headed down to the field in their gear.
She was greatly looking forward to their sparring. Commander Raven had taught her a new trick and she was eager to try it out. Once they arrived, they quickly got their swords and began to fight. Legolas was impressed with how well she was doing, especially given this was one of her weaker sword disciplines. He didn't let the fight go to its end though because he wanted to work on a problem he was noticing. They went over it a few times and then resumed sparring.
"Well done!" Legolas praised. "That was much better."
"Indeed, you are much improved since I saw you sparring last in Rivendell," said a voice Lothril knew very well.
"Elrond!" Lothril cried, handing off her practice sword to the nearest elf, which happened to be Legolas, before running over to the edge of the field where he stood still in his riding clothes and accompanied by Elrohir and Elladan with all three of their horses in tow.
"Lothril, iell nin! How are you?" Elrond asked, folding her into a tight hug.
"Oh, I am very well!" she replied. "Especially now that you are here! And you two also!"
"It is good to see you again," Elrohir said with a warm smile and a hug.
"Indeed it is," Elladan said, giving her a hug in turn.
"I am surprised to see you so early. You were not expected for two days, I think."
"We grew impatient and pressed on hard yesterday and then rode on ahead before first light," Elrond said.
"And we are glad you did," Legolas said walking up. "It is good to see you Lord Elrond, and you both also, Elladan and Elrohir."
"It is good to see you also, Prince Legolas," Elrond replied with a smile.
"Here are grooms to take your horses. Let us go inside and have food and drink and catch up," Legolas said.
They headed into the palace and were met at the door by Thranduil.
"Greetings Lord Elrond and Elladan and Elrohir," Thranduil said with a smile and a polite nod.
"Greetings King Thranduil," Elrond replied with a bow of his head.
"We are pleased to have you here as guests. Come, let us show you to your rooms and then we may all catch up," Thranduil said.
"Thank you," Elrond replied. "I hope you will forgive us if we catch up in our riding clothes. In our eagerness to arrive we rode ahead of our luggage and the rest of our company."
"That is perfectly fine," Thranduil said congenially.
Thranduil himself showed them to their rooms and Lothril and Legolas went to theirs to change out of their fighting clothes.
"Estelneth! Estelneth!" Lothril called as soon as she hit her room. "Elrond is here already!"
"He is?" Estelneth replied, sounding genuinely surprised. "Then we must change you and make you look presentable. What do you wish to wear?"
"Ooh, I have no idea! He already saw me; he caught in the middle of sword practice. He and the twins rode ahead of their things, so I reckon they are just shedding their riding cloaks and dusting themselves off a little before joining us in the drawing room. So we needn't do anything fancy, just clean and presentable and quick."
"We will get you presentable and quickly."
Not fifteen minutes later Lothril was leaving her room in a spring green dress, wearing her star ring, her agate ring and necklace, and her hair neatly brushed and half pulled back and braided. Outside her door for half a moment she dithered on whether she should go to their rooms and offer to escort them to the drawing room, but it seemed Thranduil had given them directions on how to find it as she saw them turn down the passage.
She hurried to meet them with a wide grin on her face. "Oh, I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you all! I have missed you all terribly!" She gave them each another hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"We have missed you too, dear gwathel (sworn sister)!" Elrohir said.
"Are you finding your way about yet?" Elladan asked.
"Barely. I can make it to certain places alright, but I have managed to get myself properly lost a couple times. Once I accidentally wound up in the servants passage and stumbled into Thranduil's private study," she answered as they began ascending the stairs. "But I can certainly find my way to the drawing room," she joked.
Not long after the six of them were sitting up in the royal family's private drawing room and Thranduil had called for tea.
"How was your trip?" Thranduil asked as they all settled.
"Uneventful, thankfully," Elrond answered.
"We are glad to hear it," Thranduil replied with a smile.
"How have things been here?" Elrond asked, noting that smile looked just a touch relieved.
"The word 'wild' comes to mind," Lothril answered with a sarcastic smile.
"Oh?" Elrond asked, looking from Lothril to Legolas to Thranduil.
"Would you like the news oldest or newest first?" Lothril asked.
"Oldest," Elrond answered.
"Well, I had only been here… a week? Maybe two, and trying to find my way around when I left the stairs at the wrong hallway and ran into my first lord."
"Literally or figuratively?" Elrohir asked.
"I think it would be fair to say both," Thranduil commented snarkily*.
"Oh?" Elrond asked with a raised brow.
"She seems to have a talent for making members of the court show their true colors," Thranduil answered with a rather funny look on his face.
"Gwathel (sworn sister), whatever did you do?" Elladan asked with a slight tease to his voice.
"Me? I walked down the hallway that the throne room is off of. I had just figured out my error and was about to turn around when this sour faced looking lord comes flying out of some door and demands I go fetch him some sort of records from the library. I try to tell him that I am not a servant and I have no idea what he is talking about or where to find it, but he keeps cutting me off and gets so mad at me for refusing that he flies at me and tries to strike me, so I grabbed his wrist. He gets even more mad, swings with his other hand, so I whipped him around, twisted his arm behind his back and dislocated his shoulder and broke his arm in one quick action. By then the guards had run over to me and they marched him into the throne room," Lothril said.
Three dark haired, grey eyed elves stared at her wide eyed until Elladan broke the stunned silence. "Good for you!"
Elrond wasn't sure if he was more angry that some random elf (never mind him being a lord) tried to strike her for no good reason or if he was immensely proud that she dispatched him so easily. "Well done! But why did he attack you?" Elrond asked, looking from her to Thranduil.
"To be blunt, this particular lord has always had a bit of a temper and thought far too much of himself," Thranduil said. "We always supposed at some point he would do something irrevocably stupid, but we also supposed it would be during a council meeting. As for why he lashed out at Lothril at that particular moment – he confessed later that he had been scheming for some time about how to gain more territory and thus sway on the council, and his research and plotting had distracted him from his regular duties. He was in the midst of trying to do a couple weeks worth of work in a couple days in preparation for the council meeting later that day when he stepped out to fetch charters, saw Lothril, and thought he could bully her into fetching them for her. He had no idea who she was or what she was, just that she was there and he was in a rush."
"That is unpardonable," Elrond said sharply.
"That is what I thought," Thranduil replied. "But your daughter held a different opinion."
"And I stand by it!" she said firmly.
"And what was your opinion, sister?" Elrohir asked.
"Well," she paused. "You tell this part, Thranduil. It will make more sense from your point of view.
"Very well," he said. "In she came with two guards behind her and Acharon between them looking miserable and in pain and she succinctly relays the story to me. The moment I heard that he had tried to strike her I was more than prepared to summon the executioner on the spot. But then she asks what the penalty is for striking a member of the royal family, which is what he was facing, and she argued as she had not been introduced yet to court and had so changed since she had been here last, that it was simply unfair to levy such a heavy penalty against him and so pleaded for his life to be spared, but allowing the fullest extent of penalties for assault charges," Thranduil said.
Elrond looked at Lothril with some surprise. "Very merciful and judicious of you, iell nîn."
She smiled and blushed slightly.
"And the outcome?" Elrond asked.
"She changed my mind," Thranduil said with a slight smile.
Elrond looked thoroughly impressed at that. "She changed the mind of Thranduil! I am sure the shock rippled through your court like a rock thrown in a still pond."
"It was not far off," Legolas said with a proud smile.
"That is a rather crazy introduction, gwathel," Elrohir said.
"It gets crazier," Lothril said.
"Than nearly being struck by a power hungry lord?" Elrohir asked skeptically.
"Oh yes! So early rhîw there is a boar hunt and a few weeks prior I had been introduced to court and learned of the existence of a certain Lady Gormes who is convinced she is the epitome of proper elvendom ladyship-"
"Oh dear," Elrond said.
Lothril nodded . "Uh-huh, and she is also a tremendous gossip. Did you know, I am, er was, a random human girl from Esgaroth who was taken to Rivendell and resettled with humans, by you, Ada; and that I, the prince's betrothed, am actually some lowly elfmaid of Imladris who either bewitched or convinced you to say you adopted me, either as a scheme by me and Legolas to allow me to marry up and better our chances of Thranduil's approval, or a ploy by you to create a political alliance and we are pretending to be in love to save face?"
"You are here less than twelve weeks and are assaulted and slandered. Lothril, you may have set a record for making enemies amongst our kindred without a silmaril being involved," Elrond commented.
"But are you really all that surprised, Ada? Really?" Lothril asked giving him a pointed look.
"I am so sorry, iell nîn," Elrond replied sincerely. And he knew she knew he was talking about far more than just the two elves in question.
"Surely, you are exaggerating those rumors for effect," Elladan said, bringing the conversation back to the main plot as he knew how Lothril could rabbit trail.
"No, I actually picked the tamer and more plausible ones of the lot that I heard," Lothril said.
"And what has been done about this Lady Gormes?" Elrond asked, looking from her to Thranduil.
"We will get there!" Lothril said and resumed. "So we are getting ready to leave for the boar hunt and Lady Gormes decides that as we are going to be hunting in her husband's jurisdiction that she ought to play the hostess and accompany us there. Well, she changed her mind after she insisted on being the first tent pitched and wound up near the horses. But that's beside the point. We head out in the morning on the boar hunt and our party split in two and I decided as I had no idea how these hunts work, we," she gestured to Legolas and Thranduil and herself, "decided I should hang back, so I did. Our half caught our quarry and once it was dead, I dismounted my horse and started towards the others. I was in between my horse and the party when the second half that had splintered off started sounding horns. I could not tell the direction though, and so as I was looking about and trying to find where they were, I heard Thranduil and Legolas both yell my name and at once I saw the boar charging me. As I had no intention of getting anywhere near the boar, I had no boar hunting weapons, just my knives out of habit and as a precaution, so I drew them and began to run, but the thing began to follow me, Legolas and Thranduil came to my aid, loosing arrows and sword drawn. Legolas barrels into it and they both go tumbling. Thranduil comes upon it at almost the same time and runs it through and then I took off its head. In the process of this, Thranduil received a serious gash to his leg and Legolas was gored by the tusks."
The three dark haired elves all turned their eyes to Legolas who looked as hearty and hale as ever and was certainly fighting with gusto earlier when they came upon them.
Lothril continued. "I began tending to Legolas and immediately realized he was dying, and… well… let's just say, I wished at the moment that I was a better surgeon because I well imagine you might have been able to save his life without half killing yourselves in the process."
"How did you manage it?" Elrond asked, sounding a mix of professional and wonderstruck.
"Well," she started and hesitated. She hadn't said exactly what she did for a reason, though she suspected Legolas and Thranduil both had probably figured it out, but still… "I realized he was dying and quickly… I had my bag fetched and I cleaned it out and realized the extent of the damage and decided the only thing I could do would be to use… well, essentially I poured myself into him to heal him."
"You what?!" the twins exclaimed.
"Lothril, that was-" Elrond started.
"Dangerous, fool hardy, my only option…" Lothril offered.
"You should be dead," Elrond said, taking her hand between both of his.
"I was fine. I got up the next morning and felt fine," Lothril said.
"Yes, and then when you checked on my wounds you nearly fell over and I had to all but sit on you for the next seven days to keep you still long enough to let yourself recover," Legolas said, giving a pointed look.
"I did not nearly fall over and I was perfectly fine and well back to normal after three days but neither of you would believe me," she retorted.
"Only three days?" Elrond asked, looking incredulous. So far as he could tell, she felt perfectly normal.
"Seven," Thranduil and Legolas said in unison.
Elrond took Lothril's hand and closed his eyes for a second. "I would have expected you to still feel weak, but you feel absolutely fine. Do you remember exactly what you did?"
Elrohir looked at his brother and used ósanwe to say, "Elrond the scholar shall be musing and puzzling over this all the way to the Blessed Realm."
Elladan said nothing in return but the one corner of his mouth quirked ever so slightly and his eyes glittered merrily.
"I will have to think about it. I was working quickly and doing whatever I thought would work," she replied to Elrond.
"After all that, I imagine winter seemed dull," Elladan said.
Lothril looked at Legolas who was frowning slightly then at Thranduil who gave a slight nod. "Funny you mention winter… After the hunting trip I inadvertently created an enemy by helping liberate Gormes' daughter from her clutches, and had a string of odd incidences that turned into attacks and an assassination attempt."
Elrond looked at her then looked at Thranduil with a raised brow. "An assassination attempt?!"
"Two," Legolas said, sounding distinctly unhappy and taking hold of her other hand.
"I see you can imagine how I felt," Thranduil said, his face that unnerving cool mask he would wear when he didn't want to let on how he felt.
"Quite," Elrond said tersely. "I assume the would-be assassin was caught."
"Because if not, we humbly offer our services," Elladan said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"She was caught, tried, and promptly executed," Thranduil answered coldly.
"Good!" Elrond said with a sharp edge to his voice.
"Goodness, Lothril. And here I thought you would have a quiet winter," Elladan said.
"Do tell us you had no more excitement after that," Elrohir said.
"That was the end of my drama. Since then it has been largely fun! Ice Festival, Methor and Iestor, gardening… Nothing crazy," she answered with a smile. She felt his grip on her hand loosen a little and began lightly rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand.
"We are glad to hear that, but what happened to Gormes? That seems to be the most important plot point this story has neglected," Elorhir teased.
"I shall answer that," Thranduil said. "After Lothril saved Legolas we went to the home of his friend Farion who lived closest, and there stayed until Legolas and Lothril were recovered. Shortly after we arrived, Gormes appeared with her daughter at which time she slighted Lothril multiple times ranging from failing to acknowledge her when she entered to suggesting she was acting improperly and inappropriately and then crowned it by suggesting they be friends so she could teach her manners. When her daughter protested, Lothril defended her, and when Gormes tried to Lothril that her daughter was acting beyond the realm of propriety, Lothril deftly called out her lie and turned the tables on Gormes, which caused her former ladyship to fly into a rage. For a moment I thought she might attack Lothril, but she kept her composure just long enough to leave the room and scream for her cloak. The next day Lord Himben appeared to talk to his nephew and daughter and discern the truth of the matter. As soon as he learned his wife had not only told him a very twisted version of events, but that she had been purposefully keeping his daughter from him, concealing all manner of things from him, and slighted Lady Lothril in a manner that could warrant imprisonment. He immediately apologized to us all, formally requested his wife have court privileges revoked, her title revoked, sought to legally rename his daughter to the name he initially wanted before Gormes talked him out of it, and he is taking an extended leave of absence to get his house in order and has his daughter acting in his stead."
Not long after the explanation of what happened to Gormes, a servant came in and announced that the border guards reported that the rest of the party was likely arrive in an hour or so.
"Who all came with you?" Lothril asked.
"We are a small party of Glorfindel, a servant to drive the cart, and us," Elrond answered.
"Glorfindel? Oh huzzah! He is such a dear!" Lothril said enthusiastically.
"I thought you would appreciate his inclusion," Elrond said with a smile.
"It has been a very long time since I have had a chance to speak with him. I was so preoccupied in Minas Tirith that I did little more than wave from a distance. I think the last time I did speak with him was at your wedding, Elrond," Thranduil said.
"Likely. He has largely stayed west of the mountains and you east of them since then," Elrond replied. "And speaking of which, I believe there is a matter of a billiards game to settle between us."
"A billiards game?" Legolas asked, suddenly looking terribly interested in the conversation.
"Yes, your father and mother showed up some days before my wedding feast and in the span of those days we struck up a billiards competition. The last game that would have served as a tie breaker was disrupted when in through the open door leading out onto the balcony a couple of squirrels ran, jumped onto the billiards table, and knocked two of the balls onto the floor. They rolled towards the open door and before we could reach them they fell off the balcony and into the river. We agreed if we had the chance we would replay the last game," Elrond explained.
"Shall we after dinner tonight or would you prefer another day?" Thranduil asked.
"Tonight," Elrond said. "I was hoping we could finish our game in Minas Tirith, but to my disappointment, neither house had a table. I would have said something to Aragorn about it, but he preemptively apologized for the lack of one when we arrived."
A chuckle was had by all as they could all well imagine the conversation. Lothril though was a bit surprised. She had seen a pool table in Rivendell, but she hadn't realized it was Elrond's and that he was such a fanatic. Then again, given darts and billiards were regular occurrences here, she supposed it wasn't too terribly shocking.
-⸙ - ⸙-
Between their conversation and lunch, Glorfindel and the rest of their things arrived, so everyone washed up, changed, and ate lunch in the dining room with an assortment of mildly surprised family members. After lunch, Elrond asked Lothril if they could catch up privately. She happily agreed and took him out to her garden.
"I know it is not very much to look at just yet, but you should have seen it four weeks ago! Thranduil just locked it up and let it run wild after Lauríel sailed, so when I got to it, it was an overgrown, tangled mess with several mature trees in it," Lothril explained. "I cannot even guess all of the things she once had in here, except I recognized some wild grape vines and a dead raspberry bush and loads and loads of creeping ivy, but beyond that there was a mess of things I could not begin to identify. But either way, I decided it was best I just tear everything out and start over. She had some lovely cut rocks I think she used as a border and I was able to save most of them, I think, and I have them outlining the herb garden." She pointed over to the said spot. "But I did change the path she had going through it… I think… Thranduil told me it was dirt and lined, and I think I found it, but it was really hard to tell. So until I get everything in and marked again, I have it all marked with string as you see. And I am putting in wooden benches and wooden pathways and lots of wooden stuff because of all the trees I took out. There is a glut of timber in the Woodland Realm right now, so I figured I ought to put some of it to good use."
"I was wondering what this frame we are walking in is about."
"I hadn't intended to do it originally, but there was so much wood taken out and I have more than a passing interest in woodworking, so I have been promised to be allowed to help out and learn a few things. I also did wood burning as a hobby back home, so I decided I wanted to burn designs into the path, so right now in a woodshop over," she turned to face one of the many outbuildings, "there I have big ten foot sections of boards I am sketching designs in and then burning. With help. I had not done much wood burning back home, so I am getting a little help with that too. I will show it to you later, if you like."
"I would love to see it," Elrond said with a smile. They came up to a well-tended little plot and Elrond stopped to look at it. "You have quite a variety growing there, I see. And quite a bit bigger than I would expect for how long they've been planted," he said with a slight smile.
"Yes, well, it helps when spring comes early and you plant immediately. I am using this as an experimental garden of sorts. There is a group of elves here who call themselves Saintor Min Sant (Gardeners Afield)," she said, getting a chuckle from Elrond at their name, "and I have befriended a good number of them. They are helping me learn the basics of gardening and whatnot. Anyway, they advised me to get an earlier start than one would usually because of the state the garden had been in and they are trying to teach me how to make things bloom and grow more fully."
"You seem to be doing well at it," Elrond said approvingly.
"Only sort of. A good portion of this growth is thanks to my friend Belneth and her giving me fertilizer from her rabbits. Otherwise, I am finding exploring the nurturing, growing side of my nature far more challenging than the sword swinging, destructive side," she said with a frown. "I suppose that is just what happens when one has to start sort of backwards."
"I am sorry that you have to explore your abilities backwards from the rest of us, but I am glad you are getting the chance now and making friends in the process. How are you getting along with Legolas' family?" Elrond asked.
"Quite well," she said with a smile splitting her face. "His Nethel-naneth (maternal aunt**) Cîlwen is fun, Thranduil's cousin Gladhrion is hilarious, and I really like his cousin Elior and his wife Linnrien, which is good because Elior is his favorite cousin and he loves Linnrien too so we spend a lot of time together."
"What about Thranduil? You two seemed to be getting along fairly well."
"Oooh, Thranduil! What do I even do with him? So, I have decided he is one of the dearest and closest people in my life and I love him to bits and I am very sure I am the daughter he never had. For as much as I love and respect him, I have no idea how to view him," she answered with a small shake of her head and a smile.
"Thranduil is a particularly complex elf. He has many facets and usually only allows one at a time to show. I invited him to my wedding out of courtesy and I truly did not expect him to come. Hitherto our interactions had largely been diplomatic correspondence or during the war of the Last Alliance. When he came to Rivendell though, he was very cordial, I was surprised at his generosity, and during our game I was further surprised by how friendly he was. Then of course, at the wedding feast he made sure to have a good deal of fun."
"Did he giggle?" Lothril asked.
"Not that I recall," Elrond answered. "Why do you ask?"
"I learned at Ice Fest that he giggles when he is drunk. That was such a weird day," Lothril replied with a slow shake of her head.
"What was odd about it?" Elrond asked while quietly filing away that little fact.
She told him all about the Ice Festival and the frozen fish fling, the first night's feast, the drinking contest, and everything between.
"It sounds like you enjoyed yourself though," Elrond said.
"Oh, I did!" she replied. That was right after the execution of Thuringwen and it was a much needed break!"
"Yes, you seemed to have taken this assassination attempt rather well," Elrond commented.
"Heh… I held it together, but only because Legolas started sharing a bed with me at night," she said and then realized she had just admitted to that.
"He has?" Elrond asked, quite surprised.
She nodded. "Most nights, I am afraid." She looked all kinds of guilty.
"Praise be! I never would have dreamed you would have reached this level of comfortable intimacy with him this quickly! Are you able to be somewhat intimate with him?"
"Well, yes. We have mutually agreed not to see uncovered or touch certain places until we are married, but we are slowly working our way through everything else."
"Lothril, that is normal. That is very normal! Does this mean you can receive his touch and give in return freely?"
"Well... Yes. I think I can say that now. As recently as early echuir I was still freezing up sometimes when he would touch me and feeling very disconnected, but then, you might not believe this, but I ended up telling Thranduil everything after I had a minor breakdown with him in his garden. Some flowers he had reminded me of a perfume Matilda wore and... Well, I told him everything. And we talked about a lot of things, one of which is how disconnected and distracted I feel when I am with Legolas sometimes. He gave me some very helpful advice on how to focus."
"And what of the guilt you were so struggling with back in Minas Tirith?"
"Oh… I am fairly certain that is long gone. For a week or two there I felt like I must have turned into some brazen reprobate for not being more upset that I no longer felt guilty, but when I said as much to Legolas he was very firm in telling me that was not the case and to banish those feelings. And to be honest – when I objectively consider what we do when we are alone in bed, I have nothing to feel guilty about. Not really. I mean, we mîbed nûr, but he is meticulous about keeping his hands… well, let's say to more respectable places."
"Lothril, truly, if I told you I was proud of you, that would be an understatement," Elrond said with a warm smile. "I am thrilled that you are opening up to someone besides Legolas and me. You have been so tight shut for so long; it warms my heart to see you opening up."
She smiled. "It feels nice to have people around me I feel safe opening up to. There were… well, I figured out when I went back that the reason I did not tell my mother and father about Matilda was because I didn't trust them implicitly. There were certain things that I… that I never felt like I could say to them. My mother is extremely self-assured and confident and she has a hard time seeing that not everyone sees the world like her. I am still not sure that she wouldn't have blamed me for allowing myself to get sucked in in the first place."
"Lothril, there was no way you could have known. None. You were a child. You were innocent. Very innocent," Elrond insisted.
"I know that, and you know that, but I cannot tell you how many times I heard my mother say something along the lines of, 'well they should have known better in the first place' for situations where I certainly would not have known better and I would like to think I am circumspect and not a fool."
"You are most definitely circumspect and you are not a fool," Elrond reassured. His other thoughts he kept in check. "What about your father?"
Lothril took a deep breath and sank down onto a wooden bench she had been using while working and said, "He probably would have believed me, and he might not have blamed me, but for as much as I love him, there were things we just didn't talk about and given the nature of what happened to me… I wasn't comfortable telling him about it."
"I am sorry things were that way for you," Elrond said, putting an arm around her and drawing her close.
"So am I. Life was much easier when I was deluded," she said with a wan half grin.
Elrond stopped and looked at her face before commenting, "So was mine, but we are both better off knowing the full truth of things. In time you will gain perspective and things will not seem as they do now."
"I know. But for the moment, I am done looking back and am looking forward."
"I think that is for the best," Elrond said with a smile. "A wedding is a wonderful thing to look forward to."
-⸙ - ⸙-
After supper, the twins demanded Legolas show them around and Glorfindel declared he wanted to tag along, so off they went in search of a relative understanding of the layout of the palace and maybe a bottle of wine from Legolas' private stash and then perhaps catch up with Elrond and Thranduil's pool game later. Because if any of the sons knew either of their fathers, there was no way it was only going to be one game. Meanwhile, up in the game room, they were both down to tunics with sleeves rolled up and Thranduil was racking up the balls and Elrond was selecting a pool cue.
"Elrond, did you and yours notice anything odd as you drew near my realm?" Thranduil asked as he arranged the balls in the rack.
"There seems to be a dark and shadowy place near your borders, but it seemed far off. Even so, we hurried by and did not linger. It surprised us as the rest of the forest seems healthy now, but again, it was far off and we did not linger," Elrond answered.
"Hmm," was Thranduil's only reply.
"I know that face well. I have been wearing it since Gandalf told me he wanted to retake Erebor," Elrond commented.
Thranduil didn't say anything as he carefully removed the rack and hung it on the wall. He grabbed his cue stick and said, "Guest may break." He watched Elrond line up a shot and said, "Well, I may as well tell you, as it involves your daughter."
"It does?" Elrond asked, sounding quite surprised but not wavering in the slightest as he broke the balls, immediately sinking a striped one.
"It does. A few days ago, Lothril was coming in from her garden when she noticed the flash of a glathralvas coming from the forest. We immediately assembled troops to search and rescue and Lothril insisted she be one of them out of fear it might be you and your party. Remembering well the futility of keeping your great-grandmother home when she was bent on helping one she loved, I decided it was safer all around to let her be a part of the assembled. Armed and well-guarded, I sent her and Legolas along with the troops to go in and see what was going on and affect a rescue. According to Legolas and our Commander Raven, she single handedly pushed back the darkness until they stumbled onto three captured Gondorian soldiers who had been attached to an expected group of traders. The merchants had told us a couple days prior these soldiers should have arrived first to herald their coming and were immediately presumed lost. We recovered them easily, and in no small part in thanks to Lothril, and upon their rescue, one of them told Legolas how they came to be lost. They were on the road and one morning a strange and heavy fog came upon them on the road. The soldier reckons as they pressed on they lost the road and thought perhaps a great storm was coming for the darkness that was descending, but then the next thing they knew, there were spiders and they were overwhelmed and captured. Hence my query and sending soldiers out to meet you," Thranduil answered.
During this tale Elrond sank two balls, but the third barely brushed the side of another ball and got thrown off course just enough to avoid the side pocket.
"That is strange. Are there any other lingering places of darkness in the forest?" Elrond asked.
"Nay, just that," Thranduil said as he observed the table and made his choice for his first shot. "And as your daughter has insisted on remaining involved in the effort to get rid of it once and for all, I thought I would tell you."
"To have me talk her out of it?" Elrond asked as he watched Thranduil sink his first ball in a corner pocket.
Thranduil smirked. "Good luck with that. Rather I was thinking you could help her, given you have been involved in expelling the Necromancer."
"I have, but the Necromancer and spawn of Ungoliant are two different things. Besides, you are the ones who have been fighting the giant spiders for all these long years."
Thranduil held off replying as he lined up to make a very tricky shot in order to avoid the entirely too close to the pocket black eight ball. As soon as his green ball was safely sunk and the eight ball nudged further out of the way in the process, he paused his game to reply, "We have, but we are concerned there may be more than just spiders behind this."
"I think we can safely rule out Sauron and the Nazgûl, so what is it you fear is behind it?"
Thranduil shook his head. "I do not know and that is what concerns me. All these years we reckoned the darkness came from the Necromancer and Dol Guldur and that the spiders took advantage of it, if not coming from it. Now I think we were wrong. Now I begin to wonder if the two were unrelated but fed off each other's presence. I fear we may find something greater than the lesser spawn of Ungoliant we have battled all these years."
"I think it unlikely it is Ungoliant herself, as we all reckon she consumed herself and her valley sunk beneath the waves long ago," Elrond said.
"I do not fear that, and for that reason, but if her daughter Shelob could be a terror to the orcs of Mordor and hold Cirith Ungol by herself for heaven knows how long, and none but a blade of Gondolin driven by her own force could wound her, then what if another as powerful as her is behind this?"
Elrond nodded. "I see what you mean. And I can see why you would not refuse the help of one such as her, especially as she is insistent on volunteering. You ought to speak to Glorfindel about this also. He may be more help than I. How does Legolas feel about all this?"
"He is less than enthusiastic about the idea, but he also knows how powerful she is better than anyone, and so he has conceded on the condition he gets to pick her guard and be included," Thranduil replied and then lined up for another shot.
"I am surprised he conceded at all."
Thranduil's next shot stopped with the ball right on the edge but refusing to fall in. Silence fell for a moment but when it became apparent gravity would not be doing him any favors, he told Elrond to go ahead. "I was a little surprised as well, but he said after he unsuccessfully tried to talk her out of multiple things she was set upon, he reckoned it useless to argue. Excellent shot!"
"Thank you," Elrond replied as he lined up for the next one. He had made a particularly tricky banked shot that succeeded in not only dodging Thranduil's ball, which was in the way, but also set up a lovely shot for himself which he easily sunk. "I do recall him having a particularly unhappy face after the council when she announced she believed she was to go to Mordor. I suspected he had words with her afterwards as he looked resigned by supper." Well now Elrond was in a pickle and carefully studied the table to figure out his next move.
Thranduil smirked as he saw Elrond's predicament. He certainly had his work cut out for him. Standing at the other end of the table from Elrond, he saw the shot he would take if he were in his shoes, but he wasn't about to say anything and kept his face perfectly neutral. And in an effort to keep him from noticing it – "Tell me truly, Elrond – when did you figure out Lothril and Legolas were in love?"
Elrond didn't reply immediately but instead walked around the corner of the table to study it from a different angle, but not the one Thranduil was looking at it from. "In a way, Arwen figured it out first. She and Legolas being such good friends, she could read his moods better and came to me shortly after the council saying she believed a romantic attachment. However, I knew they would be in love first." Elrond moved around the table again. "They had only arrived three or four weeks prior and we were discussing the metaphysics of the union of fëar when foresight came to me unbidden of the two of them lying on a green hill and then Legolas sat up and kissed her. That was all. They were not married and I noticed niphredil and elanor in the grass beside them, so I can only assume now that I had a vision of their confessing their love on Cerin Amroth."
The conversation sufficiently distracted Elrond as he frowned, raised a brow, and took a shot which effectively just moved the cue ball into an inconvenient place for Thranduil. Ah well.
"Metaphysics of the union of fëar. So I take it that this was a casual conversation?" Thranduil teased as he made the cue ball jump over Elrond's to neatly knock one of his into the pocket.
Elrond chuckled quietly. "We discussed many things that seem very obvious and natural to us. I must say, I do not envy her having to figure out a completely new nature as she does."
"We have had a couple such conversations ourselves. I am surprised she has been able to keep everything straight. She is rapidly mastering our culture, she is tackling our laws and customs, a couple weeks ago she told me she perused our annual budget report and amongst other things, concluded we are financially solvent as a kingdom, to say nothing of her adjusting quite quickly to her position here."
Elrond frowned slightly.
"What is that frown about?" Thranduil asked. "I thought you would be pleased." He had two shots he could take and decided to try tapping the ball on the edge of the pocket into it.
"It might be nothing," he said.
Thranduil sent the cue ball too gently towards his precariously perched ball and it stopped just shy of actually tapping into it. "Or it might be…?"
Elrond took a deep breath. "It might be any of several things. But the two that concern me most and that I think most likely are that she is still viewing time as a human and therefore is pushing herself to master in months or years what took us scores and centuries to learn or that she is trying to keep herself busy so she does not have to be alone with herself."
"The latter seems very unlikely to me as she does seem to be a bit of a reclusive thing naturally," Thranduil replied.
"She is, and that is why I am wondering…" he trailed off as he turned it over in his mind.
"If she is avoiding dealing with something or seeking to validate her position and presence here by proving herself useful as quickly as possible?"
"You are obnoxiously perceptive sometimes, Thranduil."
The reply was a smirk.
The reply to that was Elrond sinking the last two of the striped balls and calling the black ball in the right corner pocket. "And now we are tied," Elrond said with a smirk in reply. "Shall we play again?"
"I believe we must," Thranduil replied.
Partway through their third game of the night, everyone returned to find Elrond and Thranduil both down to mid-layer tunics which were thinner and allowed the sleeves to be rolled up above the elbow, and both with their hair tied back at the nape of their necks with two half drunk mugs of beer on a nearby table.
"Just as I suspected," Elladan said with a smirk. "Game three or four?"
"Three," Elrond replied.
Thranduil sunk two balls in two separate corners. He barely glanced up at the newcomers before returning his gaze back at the table for his next shot. "Glorfindel, I have a problem on my hands that I think may interest you."
"Oh? Pray tell," Glorfindel replied with piqued curiosity.
"Do you recall that dark and foreboding little corner of the wood not far from my borders? Elrond said you passed it at a distance."
"I do," the balrog slayer replied.
"We suspect some cursed spawn of Ungoliant is behind it, and more than the spiders to which we are long accustomed," Thranduil said. "Lothril here is very interested in helping us eradicate whatever is behind it and I thought you may wish to join her."
"Spawn of Ungoliant? Not just some oversized spider?" Glorfindel repeated.
"That is our conjecture," Thranduil said.
"And Lothril, why are you interested in eradicating this thing?" Glorfindel asked.
"Until you arrived, I supposed I was perhaps the strongest and most qualified. All my training hitherto has been geared towards this sort of thing," she replied. "And I am not overly fond of the idea of some nasty creature belching darkness this close to home," she answered. "And after our initial foray into the darkness and how I was able to push it back, I think… well, it is a hunch more than anything, but I think if I can push the darkness back, the creature will be easier to kill. I think if they try to do it without the darkness being held back or contained that it would be significantly more dangerous."
Glorfindel nodded. "And how did you push back the darkness?"
"Yes, how did you do it?" Legolas asked.
"Well, I…" Lothril blushed slightly, realizing she was the center of attention and once again surrounded by some of the most powerful personages in the entirety of Middle-earth and that all of them were wildly more qualified to fight these things than her. "…I remembered something Finrod told me in Valinor. He said the reason he did so well against Sauron even though he was woefully outmatched is because he heard what Sauron was chanting and so he said the opposite, but not just the opposite – truth. So, as we drew near, I listened. I knew we were looking for captured people friendly with elves to some degree or other, likely, and that this gloom felt like despair. So I sang about finding ones way into light, woods ending and finding the sun, and how darkness can and must yield to light. The darkness… it felt like… like a very heavy curtain that wanted to fall upon me, but as I pushed it back, it felt like it was getting easier, like the weight of it was making it fall in on itself, if that makes sense."
"Hmm… Is that how the darkness would feel before?" Glorfindel asked Legolas.
Legolas shook his head. "I would have described it more suffocating and stifling than heavy. And I agree with what Lothril said. It did feel like a very heavy curtain pressing down upon us until she pushed it off."
"Curious," Glorfindel said thoughtfully. "Count me in, Thranduil. Shall we go investigate it tomorrow?"
"Make it the day after. Tomorrow night is a welcoming feast for you all as our official guests," Thranduil said.
"So this really is a normal thing you do!" Lothril said.
"Of course, pen mell. You are a guest dignitary until you wed. And at some point after you are, we shall have an official recognition of your new title of brethil (princess)," Thranduil said. "But there is no rush to when we have it. It can be up until a year after you are wed, if you like."
She wasn't quite sure what to think of that… because for all she was worth, she would have sworn he had that funny little look he got when he was saying more than he said.
"Day after tomorrow then," Glorfindel said.
-⸙ - ⸙-
A/N: *snarkily – I don't care what Word or the dictionary says. Snarkily is a word and you all know exactly what it meant, I've no doubt. Haha! **Nethel-naneth – it means maternal aunt, but just so Legolas' family tree isn't terrifyingly confusing, Cîlwen is married to Istelion who is Lauríel's brother. So it's his mother's sister-in-law.