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Days of Estel's Life -- Part III - News of the East
July 29, 2004
Submitted By Ugluk
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By this time, of course, Estel was sitting up all right, with blood crusted all over one side of his face. I wanted to stop and have him wash so Father wouldn't be quite so angry. Of course, Estel thought of it as some sort of `battle scars' although it was just due to his clumsiness. Father's eyebrows were twitching like mad. Instantly I got nervous.
"What happened?" Father growled.
Before Elladan could speak a word - not that I was sure he was even going to - Estel piped up. "We were hiding on top of a hill when a war-band of about 250 Orcs came along, and they told me to charge, and I thought they knew what they were doing, so I ran down, but it turned out pretty nasty, and then we had to escape on the horses.
Father glared at me. I was massaging my temples.
"How did that happen?" he asked, pointing at the gash on the side of Estel's head.
"Well, Elladan was fighting just a few feet away from me, and an Orc hit him with a club, and he fell over, and another Orc was about to stab him, and I jumped forward and killed the Orc but the other one slashed at me with a knife and I ducked too late."
Elladan almost fell off his horse in surprise. I groaned.
Luckily, Father wasn't taken in. An eyebrow raised an half-inch. "Is that so?" he asked sternly.
Estel sighed. "No, I slipped and fell against a rock. But I did kill a lot of Orcs."
Father nodded. "Go at once to my room. I shall attend to the cut in a moment."
Estel nodded, dismounted, and walked rather quickly away. Father watched until he was out of earshot, then turned back to us, his arms folded across his chest.
"What happened?"
Elladan sighed, and then, speaking very quickly and not even pausing for breath, told the entire story from beginning to end. It took him about ten minutes, and Father did not say anything throughout the entire tale. When it was finished he sighed deeply.
"Elladan, go put away the horses."
I dismounted. Elladan quickly led the horses away.
"Come," Father said.
We began walking slowly through Imladris, along a smooth path through trees.
"Elrohir; Estel, as you know, is the heir of the Kings of old, Elendil of Westernesse, and Isildur, who cut the One Ring - "
"Yes, I know," I said.
Father sighed. "The day will come soon when the Ring is found again. I feel it. And when that day comes Estel must be ready to fulfill his destiny."
"You mean become King of Gondor? Not very likely," I said. "Even if he survived the wars he would fight he would be resisted by the Stewards of Gondor. Even if they accepted the fact that he was King."
Father shrugged. "I promised his mother that I would prepare him. Once he is prepared, he must face those dangers himself."
"Alright," I said. "So even after what happened today, you still want us to keep training him, as a Ranger and warrior?"
"Yes," Father said. "Tomorrow would be an excellent time to start. But no foolishness, Elrohir. I have no desire to lose any of you. Also, I think your choice of war-band was too big, from Estel's description."
"If we had set up the ambush properly, it would not have mattered," I said. "But very well, I shall."
Father nodded gravely at me. "Send Elladan to me."
As I walked up to my room, thinking of a refreshing bath under a small waterfall, I could not be surprised at Father's reaction. It made sense, to be sure, yet it simply was not what I was suspecting.
In my room, I removed my sword and belt, setting them at the foot of my bed. I unfastened my boots and set them down, then took off my outer tunic. Stepping through the doorway and down between a row of shady trees, I made my way down to my personal bath. A waterfall cascaded down into a beautiful shallow pool, tucked away beneath some curved trees, well-hidden, so no one would ever happen upon me.
Glancing around quickly to make sure I was alone, I dropped my tunic to the side and slid into the pool. The cool water felt heavenly on my battle-stained body. I sighed, leaning back against an underwater rock, and felt utterly relaxed.
"Enjoying yourself?" inquired a voice six inches behind my head. If you've ever been told that Elves cannot be surprised you're wrong. I let out a shriek and leapt eleven feet in the air, returning to earth with a resounding splash that soaked Estel completely, for it was him.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded, for Estel was not even supposed to know this pool existed.
"I came to find you, Father sent me with a message for you - from Lorien." Estel handed me the folded sheet of paper.
I took it, and immediately rued the fact, my hands were dripping wet. Quickly I scanned the message. In far more words than were necessary, Galadriel was writing to say that Arwen was journeying to Imladris - had already left three days previous, to be exact. My eyebrow raised slightly, and I quickly corrected it.
Estel was reading my reactions carefully. I glanced up at him, he had a small bandage on his forehead where the cut had been. He was studying me furtively, and it made me rather uncomfortable.
"I'm trying to take a bath here," I said finally, "would you mind leaving?"
"Alright," Estel said, rising up and turning away. He took a few steps and glanced back. "Can I ever use it?"
"NO!" I said emphatically, and by that I meant No. No human will foul up my bath, not while I still breathe.
At the table, tucking into a slice of delicious bread, I looked over at Father, who was on my left.
"Did you see the letter from Galadriel?"
"I did," Father replied, take a drink of wine.
"It's odd, I received a letter from Arwen just yesterday and she made no mention of it."
"It was probably delayed," Father said. "Orcs are multiplying in the Misty Mountains. The passage over them is growing harder to cross. I worry for her safety."
Elladan twitched an eyebrow, then slapped himself across the face.
"Elladan, what are you doing?" Father inquired.
"I'm hitting myself every time my eyebrow twitches, I don't want it to turn into some disgusting habit," Elladan said.
Father turned a shade of purple and his eyebrows twitched like mad. Around the table, Elves flinched involuntarily.
"I also received a message from an eagle," Father said. "Many Orcs have been seen traveling up the Westward site of the mountains, through Dunland and up towards the pass."
I said nothing, but felt a sense of dread passing over me. I looked over at Elladan, he felt the same way.
"I want you two to travel towards the pass," Father said. "Meet Arwen and her company halfway, guard them on the return journey."
"Two?" Elladan said, scarcely daring to hope.
"Two, Estel should not accompany you on this journey," Father said. "You leave in the morning, at dawn."
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... 6 Comments
Followed the link you gave us in the FoTMT Guild, so this is the first one of these I have read. I really like it!! I like how you have it from Elrohir's point of view--especially the bath scene.
Hehe. Will go and read the others, as well.
~Sil
Comment by GwenElf - July 29, 2004 @ 11:48 AM
Good schtuff!
Comment by *~Linsul~*~Songbreeze~* - July 29, 2004 @ 7:02 PM
Yay ugluk!! You know I really like this series of yours
This one was great.. especially the bath scene and the eyebrow-twiching-face-slapping thingy!!
Can't wait for more!
Comment by -|---Anduril - July 31, 2004 @ 12:47 AM
I really did not need that image in my mind. It was okay, but the bath scene.
Comment by Arwenslove - August 4, 2004 @ 10:32 AM
Thank God it's here!!! I was waiting for ages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU, UGLUK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by StarDustShieldmaiden - August 23, 2004 @ 2:52 PM
A picture's worth a thousand words.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Comment by WithyWyrm - October 20, 2004 @ 4:50 PM