Maedhros

There was a window overlooking the street outside. A narrow bed, long enough to fit Maedhros provided he didn't need anything essential like his head or feet, stood askew a few feet from the wall. The scent of wild sage lingered in the air.

The room was surprisingly bare; not even a carpet to cover up the wooden planks of the floor. At least there was a closet, though it was occupied.

Maedhros sighed when he saw the children. "Too young to die, Maglor. Maybe if I had been there I could have kept more control over things." He squatted down and tried to gently fold their hands.

Maglor hung back. "I wonder if Earendil has heard the news about his sons yet."

Maedhros studied the boys in the closet. After a moment he nodded to himself. "Perhaps. These aren't his sons."

Behind him, Maedhros heard the crowded silence of someone carefully considering their next words. "Elwing had no children with her when you found her."

Maedhros used his finger to brush away a speck of blood on one boy's cheek. Here in private, the weight of the day's events pulled down in his chest like lead. "Correct."

Maglor had been small like this once, back when they had lived under the light of the trees in Aman. Celegorm, Caranthir, and Curufin, too. Maedhros had watched all of his younger brothers grow up, had patted their backs when they were fussy with colic and played games with them on the carpet until they were ready to be handed off to some adult. The twins too, of course. Amrod and Amras had fit together neatly like this when Maedhros would occasionally tuck them into bed before heading off on his duties. Eventually, because people always wanted to generate work where none was needed, they had built separate beds for the twins, but personally Maedhros had always smiled at the sight of Amrod and Amras curled around each other like peas in a pod.

He made a mental note to send Iarben's team here, too. These boys deserved a better final resting place than some poky closet.

Maedhros stood up and shut the closet door. "These are no half-elven."

Maglor looked aghast. "You've never met the peredhil."

"I've never met these peredhil. I saw Elured and Elurin briefly with Celegorm in Doriath, before…" he bit the inside of his cheek, "Before the battle ended."

"So where are Elrond and Elros, then? Somewhere in the town?"

Maedhros frowned and pointed his chin at the bed. "What happened here?"

"Ah." Maglor looked more certain now. "You see that little box down there? That's where Elwing had our Silmaril. I found it when I moved the bed away from the wall."

"Just underneath, like that?"

Maglor paused. "Ah."

Maedhros gave his younger brother a pitying grimace. "I don't mean to ridicule you."

Maglor looked miserable now. "No, speak plainly. I can hear it."

Maedhros sighed. "You think Elwing hid our father's Silmaril simply under the bed like a child hiding a toy from their parents?" Without waiting for an answer, Maedhros stepped carefully towards the bed. Maglor watched silently.

Maedhros' armored feet tapped on the floorboards as he inched closer. He got to one spot and his eyes narrowed. His left hand, still clad in its armor, floated down until it hovered a few inches above the seam in the planks.

Maedhros grabbed the top of the board and quickly wrenched it upwards, throwing it down again next to the bed. Behind him, he heard Maglor gasp.

The first boy, the older one, rose from the hollow in the floorboards like a vengeful Maiar, already swinging the dagger clutched tightly in his hand. Tried to, at least. Whatever length of time they'd been in that space under the floor must have been considerable; long enough for his legs to go numb. He stumbled as he climbed back to surface level, the dagger waving unnervingly close to his chin.

Maedhros shook his head in disapproval. "Absolutely not."

Elwing's son swung at Maedhros again while the younger one, still recumbent under the floor, scooted backwards away from Maedhros as if he could pass through the wood and disappear.

Maedhros grabbed the older one's wrist and squeezed, just hard enough for the boy to gasp and reflexively loosen his grip. Maedhros immediately grabbed hold of the knife and yanked it out of his hands. The boy's eyes followed it as Maedhros tossed it into the corner of the room.

The little one's breaths were quick now. "Elros!" he screamed.

The older one, Elros apparently, looked determined. Absent of his knife, he instead went at Maedhros with his fists, small knuckles colliding against unyielding bronze plate hard enough to make Maedhros wince in sympathy. "Get past them to the door!" he commanded.

Instead Maglor shut it, grimacing.

Elros went pale.

Maedhros grabbed both of Elros' hands in his single left one. He stared hard at Elros, whose grey eyes widened in fear. "And now we talk." He gestured with his chin towards the space where Elrond cringed away. "Who hid you under there?"

Maglor hovered nearby. "Maedhros … "

Maedhros waved him quiet. They needed to get answers now, while the boys were still too disoriented to come up with a lie. "I asked a question."

Elros' eyes flickered imperceptibly to Elrond, curled up just beyond Maedhros' reach, and then quickly back again to Maedhros as if worried that looking for too long would remind the soldier of Elrond's presence in the room.

Maedhros shook his head. "Your brother is safe. I'm talking to you now. Who hid you?"

Elros was breathing hard. He swallowed. "Mother. My mother."

"Under the floorboards there. Did she take anything out?"

Elros hesitated.

Maedhros, oldest of seven brothers, squeezed Elros' hands again just hard enough for Elros to wince. "I said your brother was safe. So are you, if you answer everything honestly." He ignored Maglor's disapproving expression.

Elros swallowed. "A box. It was small. I didn't see what was in it."

Maedhros nodded towards the closet behind him. "And the boys? Were they a false trail?"

"Who?"

Maedhros could see the genuine confusion in his eyes.

Elros could perhaps sense that Maedhros was unsatisfied by his answer.. "She hid us hours ago. Before sunrise. How long has it been?"

Maedhros was the one to ask the questions. "What happened after that?" He saw Maglor's expression. Maedhros let go of Elros' hands.

Elros rubbed his knuckles, on which red scrapes already showed where his fists had slammed against Maedhros' armor. "And then we waited. For hours."

"What happened in this house?"

He looked helpless. "We just heard a lot of noise. There are a lot of people here. Maids, cinder-boys, tutors. We waited a long time, and then it got very loud, and then we waited some more. Then we heard footsteps and the bed moving above us. Those went away, too. And then you found us." He swallowed. "What are you going to do with us now?"

Elrond, in the floor, still shivered with fear, eyes moving back and forth constantly in a three-step dance between Maedhros, Elros, and the door. The older brother wasn't much better. He looked quite unwell now, pale skin contrasted against Elwing's dark hair.

Maedhros felt Maglor's hand on his shoulder. "I think that's enough, Maedhros. There isn't much else to learn."

Maedhros nodded and stepped back. Maglor came forward.

"No more questions now," Maglor told them. He looked at Elrond. "You can sit up if you like." Maglor extended a hand.

Elrond didn't take it. Instead Elros turned back to his younger brother and helped him climb onto the floor. The little one stumbled, as if his legs were still numb. It was evening now. If the boys were telling the truth, they had been tucked away in that space for a full day.

Maedhros spoke as he pulled out his knife. "Let's leave this place."

The boys sprang back in alarm, and the little one screamed. Maglor sprang in front of them. "What in Mandos' Halls are you doing, Maedhros?"

Maedhros grabbed the bedsheet and cut a strip off, then another. He held the two pieces of cloth up meaningfully. "We'll need to walk back out through the town streets. These are for the boys."

"Restraints?"

"Blindfolds."

"I doubt they'll have any meaningful military espionage to share with Gil-Galad."

"Would they rather they walked through Sirion today without blindfolds?"

Maglor drew in a sharp breath as the realization hit him.

The peredhil stared up at him, uncomprehending. Maglor turned. "He's right, you know."

The older boy spoke quickly. "We promise not to tell any secrets. Or any ess, espin …. "

"It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid." Maedhros knelt again.

"Please." The older boy hid his brother behind his back. "Please don't separate us."

Whichever emotions were hiding behind Maglor's expression were indecipherable to Maedhros. Maglor paused before answering. "All right. I promise not to separate you two."

"Can I trust that?"

This time Maedhros knew exactly what was happening in Maglor's head. "You can. I could never break an oath."