Far Horizons 23:  Love’s Memory

Legolas bowed courteously.  ‘I am honoured to meet you, Lady,’ he said as he straightened up and smiled.  ‘I am Legolas Thranduilion and this is my brother-in-law, Camentur Taryaturion.’

She stood, frozen, gazing at him with wide, cedar-blue eyes.  ‘You are most welcome here, Thranduilion,’ she said, her voice husky with emotion.

He looked at her, puzzled by the depth of feeling he sensed in her.  She was tall and slender, with the pure and unshadowed light of the reborn in her eyes.   The long hair rippling down her back had the gleaming green-tinted silver fairness of aspen bark and she dressed in the softest mossy green, but her pale hands were clenched before her as if shielding her from harm.   He felt a familiarity with the power within her – a bond with the forest as deep as that concealed beneath the surface of his adar’s strength. 

‘So will the Lord of Eryn Lasgalen be joining you here?’ she continued.

‘In time,’ he agreed pleasantly.  ‘There are many among us who wish to establish themselves in some part of this vast forest, but we have no desire to harm that which we crave.  Thranduil will come, I have no doubt, to visit the trees as soon as he is able to do so.  He will look forward to making the acquaintance of the forest’s Lady.’

‘As I wish to see him.’  Her eyes were consuming him.  He felt uncomfortable under her stare, as if she were eager to absorb him in a single moment.  She turned away abruptly to look out over the rain-dampened leaves.  ‘You have family you wish to bring to the forest?’

‘My wife and I have two elflings,’ Legolas said a little more easily once the pressure of her look had shifted.  ‘An ellon and an elleth.  I would like them to come here while they are young enough to grow up with this as their home.’

‘You grew up in Lasgalen when it was Mirkwood, did you not?’ she asked.  ‘How did you endure the presence of the Shadow?’

He looked surprised.  ‘I did not question it as an elfling, Lady.  It was just what was.  As I grew to adulthood, I fought it – and I continued to fight it for centuries.  I remained long enough to see the beginning of the healing once Sauron’s Ring was destroyed, but by then I had heard the call of the sea.’  He looked at her long fall of hair.  ‘Did you know the Woodland Realm?’

‘I did,’ she said simply.  ‘In another lifetime.’  She dropped into a brooding silence, before turning and forcing herself to smile.  ‘But no matter,’ she added.  ‘Now is not the time to speak of it.  You will be hungry.  I would be happy to have you join me for breakfast. You can tell me more about yourselves as we eat.’

***

Wet horse, Neldin thought, was a singularly repulsive smell.  He had not been particularly fond of the creature before – and neither, he felt, was the horse fond of him, for she seemed to go out of her way to brush under every dripping bough and trot through every splashing puddle.  Those sons of Elrond had spoken to her before they left and he was sure that they had told her to make his life as difficult as possible.  She certainly was not listening to anything he said to her – although perhaps if he tried it without the curses, she might be more responsive.

‘Do you think we should put his mare on the leading rein?’ one of the guards asked, looking at him impatiently.  ‘He is lagging again.’

‘I will ask her to keep up, Culuin,’ an archer replied.  ‘There is no need to make her suffer just because she has to carry him.’

Neldin scowled.  He had never liked Talathin – he had always been big-headed just because he was useful with that bow.  He seemed to feel he was something special simply because he could put arrows into orcs.  Where was the difficulty in that?  It was not as if they had ever tried to run away.  And it was hardly the most valuable talent here in the Blessed Realm.  Surely it was a far more useful skill to be able to create beautiful platforms in the trees, where elves could live in peace and harmony with the woods. 

Talathin flicked a glance at him.  ‘We want to get through this journey as swiftly as we can,’ he remarked.  ‘I expect the mare is as keen to be rid of him as we are.’

Neldin pulled at his bound wrists, but they were securely leashed to the saddle and he cursed again at the ill-chance that saw him the captive of these boot-licking time-servers.  In a just world, he fumed, they would be joining him to demand their rights, not dragging him off to face judgment for his actions.

The mare, unimpressed, treated him to another shower from the trailing branches of a young willow.  Neldin cursed her.

‘Be quiet,’ Culuin instructed him. ‘Unless you wish to be gagged. You have nothing to say that is of interest to us.’

***

Elrohir watched carefully, taking in every shift of leaf and rustle of hidden creature. There was nothing, he was sure, that threatened them here.  He listened to the forest song, but he heard only mild curiosity for their passing in the welcome the leaves gave to the gentle but persistent drizzle. 

‘They cannot be far from here,’ Elladan breathed.

‘There is a brightening to the woodland ahead,’ Elrohir pointed out.  ‘A glade, perhaps.  They might have had horses there to bear them more swiftly.’

‘It could be where they were intending to take them,’ suggested his twin.  ‘Let us approach more closely.’

Elrohir shook the water from his hair and pulled his cloak round him possessively, before taking it off and rolling it into a bundle.  ‘What a morning to be crawling through the undergrowth,’ he remarked.

Elladan grinned.  ‘It will do us both good,’ he said. ‘We were getting soft.’

The glade appeared uninhabited, but the pattern of the dripping water from above suggested otherwise.  Elrohir looked up, his eyes taking in the broad platforms and sloped roofs of the linked network of flets. His eyebrows lifted.  ‘We seem to have happened upon a place of some importance,’ he muttered.

‘It makes me feel at home,’ Elladan commented.  ‘I can see Daeradar living here.’

‘I think,’ Elrohir said slowly, ‘that the wisest thing to do would be simply to approach – with our hands clearly visible – and await the arrival of those who are undoubtedly watching us.  We would not have been permitted to come this close unless we were to be made welcome.’

Elladan pulled a face.  ‘Do you mean there was no need for us to wallow in mud and drag ourselves through the bushes?  I shall hold your caution against you, my brother.  Although perhaps a cup of steaming hot tea and the possibility of dry clothing would do a lot to reconcile me.’

‘We will see what we can do,’ Elrohir said absently.  ‘Come – make yourself look as respectable as you can.’

The glade appeared empty as they stepped through the trees, but before they had taken a dozen steps, three elves stood confronting them, their hands defensively on the hilts of their long knives.

They faced each other without speaking, until finally Elladan inclined his head slightly and said pleasantly, ‘Mae govannen.’

‘Welcome, sons of Elrond,’ the leader of the three said formally.  ‘The Lady greets you and invites you to take your ease in her home.’

‘You know us?’ Elrohir enquired.

‘Many of us know the twin sons of Lady Celebrian,’ a second elf informed him. ‘Even among those who have never seen the mallorn groves of Lothlorien.’

‘We are seeking two friends who did not return to our camp last night,’ Elladan said. ‘Have you seen anything of them?’

‘They are here,’ the leader said briefly.  ‘You will see them later – but first you need to make yourselves ready to meet the Lady.  We will provide you with food and clean clothing.  Follow me.’

***

Glorfindel read through the notes Rindor had made on his second interview with Neldin.  There were points of interest, he thought, but the elf had clearly learned from his first experience at the hands of Elrond’s spymaster and it had been much harder to prise words from his reluctant mouth.  However, one thing was quite clear: Neldin did not recognise Legolas’s brother-in-law – the Camentur of his acquaintance was an entirely different person.  And that, Glorfindel sighed, was to the good.  He really did not want to take any part in tearing apart Thranduil’s family.  Elerrina had been good for both adar and son – and the two little elflings were a delight.

It was almost time, he felt, to send back messengers requesting that a few very special people should begin their journeys to join them here.  They needed to show their good faith – and that meant bringing out some families to settle.  What better way could there be to show your commitment?  What he did not want – and he did not care what Elrond and the others thought – was to be on the receiving end of a politically chosen selection of incompetents.  A project like this did not need spoilt youths, but hard-working, responsible and, above all, skilled elves who could build a rounded society in which it would be a pleasure to live.

He turned to look for the brats who had been sent out with the twins.  Give him a month – or better still, six – and he would have both of them turned into useful members of society, but he did not require half a hundred like them.

‘Do you think Elrond will manage to get more information out of Neldin?’ he asked.  ‘I am not too anxious to start bringing families out here until this business is settled.’

‘It will depend on what is already known,’ Rindor mused.  ‘I suspect they have questions about topics I have not considered.’  He sat back and they listened to the patter of raindrops on the canvas sheltering them.  ‘Elrond’s reports are intriguing, I think – and there are some questions I want to put to Elrohir – and some others for Legolas.  I have a niggle,’ he admitted, ‘deep down in some buried recess of my mind.  If I only obtain the relevant information, it might help the thought to surface, but I need to know more.’

***

They waited for her in the broad chamber constructed around the bole of the aged tree.  The smell of rain freshened the air and the pattering on the tented roof relaxed the twins. 

‘Do you think Adar would consider building our new Imladris among the tall trees?’ Elladan asked.  ‘There is something about it which is very special.’

‘I doubt it,’ his brother grinned.  ‘He is not at his most comfortable in the canopy – but Naneth is bound to have some say in the design of her new home and she will probably demand that at least part of it incorporates trees.  It astonishes me that she has spent so long here living within stone walls – especially as there is no need of protection in these lands.’

‘Although it still rains – as you see,’ a soft voice told them. ‘And, in winter, there can be deep snow. Protection from Shadow is not needed, but it would be foolish to assume that nothing bad can happen.’

The twins turned towards her as if on wires, standing still and straight, shock apparent on their faces.

‘It is long since we have met, sons of Elrond,’ she remarked, looking at them with a wistful smile.  ‘You have changed but little in appearance, although you are now clearly adult.  Do you still know me?’

Elladan bowed deeply, followed swiftly by his brother.  ‘My lady,’ he said.  ‘It warms my heart to see you here and well.’

‘But I am surprised,’ Elrohir admitted.  ‘Why are you here in the deep forest, secluded from the elves of Valinor?  What kept you from the quayside?’  He stopped and added very quietly.  ‘Is Legolas aware of just who you are?’

She stood looking at their faces.  ‘He does not know,’ she sighed.  ‘And I do not wish you to tell him.  It is why I had them brought here first – and separately.  I did not want your faces to inform him of something that I am not sure should be said at all.’ Her eyes filled with tears.  ‘What can I say?’ she implored. ‘How can you tell someone you abandoned to live a life without you that you want to step into a place you never earned?’

‘You did not abandon him,’ Elladan said with gentle certainty.  ‘You died.  You would have stayed by his side throughout every vicissitude life threw at you, but you were not given the chance.  You were killed, my lady – that is not deserting either your husband or your son.’

Two great tears spilled over to roll down her cheeks.  ‘He was an elfling – so young he does not remember me.  Elflings do not understand the difference between a severance that is willing and one that nothing can prevent – he will only know that I was not there for him.’

Elrohir stepped closer and took her gently in his arms.  ‘He is not an elfling now, Lady Laerwen.  He has not been an elfling for a long time.  He understands the concept of inexorability.  He has suffered from it himself.’

The Lady allowed her head to droop briefly on to his shoulder.  ‘I could not endure his rejection of me,’ she murmured.  ‘Better he does not know.’

‘And Thranduil?’ Elladan insisted, taking her hand in his and kissing it softly.  ‘Will you bear an eternal division from him for fear of speaking to your son?’

She turned to face him.  ‘If I had believed for one moment that he would leave the Greenwood to cross the sea, I would have risked my son’s denial of me,’ she told him.

‘But how can I face either of them now?’

‘They have come to you, my lady,’ Elrohir assured her. ‘The decision is no longer yours to make.  We will not speak if you command us to silence – but he will know that we are hiding something from him.  It will not take him long to work out what it is.  And Thranduil will come – you cannot hide from him indefinitely.  He will hear the forest sing of you from the moment he crosses the mountains.  The time has come, Laerwen.  Heart calls to heart – you will not be alone.  Be the one to claim him, Lady,’ he invited her.  ‘Tell him the truth.’

***

It seemed rather less attractive this morning, Falas thought, to quit the watertight shelters of the village and head on towards the camp.

‘It is only rain,’ Vondil told him with amusement.  ‘You will not dissolve.’

Falas grinned.  ‘I am a natural villager, my friend,’ he shrugged.  ‘Despite Orntar’s clear reluctance to have us anywhere near his daughters, I like it here.  It is well-built and there is a clear purpose to everyone’s activities.’

‘Come,’ Aelindor laughed. ‘It is time for us to report back to Lord Glorfindel.  He will be eagerly awaiting our return.  I am sure he will also find a clear purpose to our activities.’

‘Do you think your brother will come into camp with us?’ Falas asked Vondil.  ‘He seems very interested in what we are doing.’

‘Dumir might come,’ Vondil agreed.  ‘And he might bring Thonion or Cirith – but two people who will not, I am certain, be joining us are Brethiliel and Domeniel.  My nephews are uncomfortable enough already,’ he added gazing pointedly at Aelindor, ‘with the attention their sister is receiving.  I would think Dumir might decide to leave his wife and daughter here – I believe that is the main reason for our side trip.’

‘If they think,’ Aelindor said, shaking his head, ‘to leave Domeniel here without a tussle, I suspect they are being optimistic.  We might have to wait a while until the battle is fought.’

Alagsir shook the water from his cloak as he joined them under the shelter. 

‘Have the elflings had enough of you?’  Falas asked easily.

He laughed.  ‘They are all being kept tucked safely out of sight this morning,’ he said. ‘It is the kind of day when even elves prefer to remain indoors.  Especially,’ he grinned, ‘considering the battle that is going on out there.’

‘Domeniel?’ Vondil asked.

‘Oddly enough, no,’ Alagsir spread his cloak to dry.  ‘Orntar does not wish to have any of your brother’s family remain here while he visits our camp. He is expressing himself most forcefully on the subject.   He seems to feel that they will be disruptive to the harmony between the village and the forest.’

Aelindor snorted with laughter at his sudden understanding.  ‘It is not Domeniel who worries him,’ he chuckled.  ‘Orntar is much more concerned about Thonion and Cirith.  Domeniel told me that they chased after every unwed elleth within miles. I suppose Orntar does not want them sniffing around his daughters.  If Domeniel and Brethiliel stay here, then he will not be able to keep them out.’

‘We must tell Glorfindel,’ Falas laughed.  ‘The more ellyth we can bring here, the more welcome we will be.  I am sure he will be glad of the advice.’

***

‘Do you know her?’  Legolas joined his friends, a tension about him that they could almost taste.

Elladan looked at him in silence, then opened and closed his mouth like a landed fish.

Legolas turned his intent stare to Elrohir, who looked sympathetic, but shook his head.  ‘It is not our place, Legolas,’ he said.  ‘We have no right to speak.’

‘She is my naneth, is she not?’ he whispered.  ‘I felt it in her.  I cannot remember her face well enough to be sure of that – but her voice, and the feel of her.  My naneth has been returned to us – but she does not care enough about us to want to be part of our lives.’  His eyes dropped to the silken wood of the floor.  ‘She has chosen to hide from us as far away as the Blessed Realm can take her.’  He felt the sting of tears and blinked them back.  ‘Lady Celebrian waited for your adar and her sons until even the faintest hope was all but gone, but my naneth decided to run from the very thought of us.’

‘That is not true, Legolas,’ Elrohir said sympathetically, glancing at his brother and indicating with a tiny jerk of his head.  ‘Naneth was gravely injured, but she did not have the trauma of the return from Mandos.  She waited for those who were part of her life.  For Lady Laerwen – you were part of another life.  She was returned to start again.  The effect of that is so different – such a shock – that some find it almost beyond endurance.  She was not waiting for someone she knew, my friend, but for someone from a different world, of whom she knew nothing.  She is crying out for you, Legolas. Be generous.’

Elladan kept his hand on Laerwen’s back as he encouraged her into the room, offering what physical reassurance he could.  ‘My son,’ she said, ‘my son.’    The tears pouring down her cheeks contrasted with the brilliance of her tremulous smile.  ‘Forgive me for leaving you to grow up without me.  I tried to stay,’ she said. ‘I would have given anything to be there for you, but I could not fight the power of my death.’

Legolas turned to look at her, glancing swiftly at Elladan before returning his gaze to his naneth’s face.  ‘Naneth,’ he said, rolling the word round his mouth as if it were strange on his tongue.  ‘You are my naneth.’