Far Horizons 13: Joining the Party   

The buzz of excitement at the public announcement had swept round the assembled elves and within minutes Thranduil, Celeborn and Elrond were being besieged by those who thought that the experience would be good for their sons.  Before many more moments had elapsed they had resorted to a standard instruction – ‘put it in writing’.

‘It would seem,’ Thranduil said acidly, ‘that most here have been looking for an excuse to send their spoilt brats away to learn the realities of life away from the cushions of family and wealth.’

‘Have you noticed, however,’ Elrond added, ‘the complete absence of ellyth from the proposed travellers? If we are not careful, we will end up with an all-male group, all of whom would starve within a year’s turn as none of them knows how to do anything useful.’

‘Fortunately,’ his friend added, ‘I feel no duty to oblige any here by taking on the training of their sons.  I am inclined to give the next person to ask a straight ‘no’ – and follow it up with my reasons.’

‘We could take them,’ Celeborn said quietly, ‘and just send them off to explore.  I doubt whether many would return – and those who did would, I suppose, have come to merit their place among us.’

‘Are you suggesting sending them to certain death?’ Finarfin tutted in his ear. ‘Would that not be a form of kinslaying?’

‘No, my lord king,’ his son-in-law replied.  ‘I would not do anything to harm them.’ He grinned.  ‘Nor would I encourage them to harm themselves.  I would even make a point of informing them of the dangers of the wild and telling them what skills they needed to survive – and offering them instruction.’

‘Whereupon they would sacrifice themselves on the spears of their own arrogance.  Tempting, my son, but I cannot allow you to wipe out the finest flowers of our noblest houses,’ Finarfin said.

‘Have you observed,’ Galadriel murmured as she joined them, ‘that there are some who appear very disgruntled by this news?  And there are others who are smiling too much?’

‘Artamir seems unable to make up his mind,’ Thranduil observed.

Galadriel laughed softly.  ‘He will be torn,’ she agreed.  ‘He will be furious that he has been overlooked, worried that he has been cheated of something that would bring him profit,  relieved that no-one expects him to leave his comfortable life and delighted that his son will be removed from Minyariel’s sight.’

‘Perhaps I should suggest to Legolas that he leave Calion here – in some role that means he would have to be in regular dealings with his adar’s house,’ Thranduil mused, surprising a giggle from the lady.

‘That would be rather pointless, though,’ Elrond suggested, ‘since we would not be here to be amused by it.’

‘I would suggest,’ the king remarked amiably, as they watched the crowd, ‘that you retire early from this gathering.  At the moment my presence is protecting you from those who wish to accost you, but I am obliged to spread my attentions around – and you would prefer to be away from here, I am sure.  And I would advise you to send your sons off on their visit to Lord Glorfindel before the news has had time to sink in to some minds.’   He looked at Thranduil sharply, a keen intelligence in his eyes.  ‘It would be as well to leave Artamir’s son here this time, I feel,’ he added.  ‘Just as a precaution.’

Thranduil inclined his head slowly.  ‘I believe you are right,’ he said.

***

Elladan’s eye sparkled with excitement.  ‘You mean it?’ he asked somewhat incredulously.  ‘I thought you wanted to keep us here working on the plans rather than send us off with the advance party.’

‘This is not all it seems, is it?’ Elrohir put in.  ‘Why do you feel that we would be safer in a small group travelling west?  Surely there are more guards here and better security.’

‘You have been stirring up too many buried resentments,’ their adar told them firmly. ‘It will be better if you are out of the way for a month or two.  And you are not,’ he insisted, ‘going on your own.’

‘Legolas, I should imagine,’ Elladan suggested. 

‘His wife’s brother, too,’ Celeborn said. ‘And Thranduil has four or five of his guard who will accompany you.  A few of Lothlorien’s archers might be useful and your adar has some of his people he wishes to send out to Glorfindel and Rindor. There will be some fifteen to twenty of you.’

‘It is not quite what we had in mind,’ Elrohir said reflectively.  He shot a quick look at his adar and daeradar.  ‘Can you guarantee my wife’s safety?  And that of Miriwen and Elrin?  For I will not leave here unless I am assured that they will be safer in my absence than they would be if I were here.’

‘We will take every precaution,’ Elrond assured him.  ‘They will be guarded night and day, whether they want to be or not.’

‘We will go.  But first,’ Elladan insisted, ‘you will need to know everything that Elrohir has worked out.  Otherwise you will not know who to watch.’

***

Elladan pushed forward as quickly as conserving the strength of the horses would allow.  The party behind him spread out a little, but he remained alert and reined in enough to keep them in the formation that would offer maximum protection to those his elders felt were most under threat.  They had ridden hard and fast since they left at first light, but he would not allow more than a brief respite for the horses until the last minute – and then he would select a spot off the usual beaten track for them to set up camp.

Leaving Miriwen and his son had been hard: this was the first time he had ever separated from them in anxiety, and he was ever more surprised at the boundless courage that thousands of elves had displayed in countless conflicts over the centuries.  His wife had accepted his adar’s word without question and, decided that, if Elladan had to make this journey, then she would send him on his way with a smile.  Sirithiel had clearly found it harder to release Elrohir and it had taken his brother some time to put her tears out of his mind. 

Two more days hard riding, he thought, and they would be able to relax a little, for then he would be fairly sure that they would be ahead of any pursuit.  He glanced back at the guards Thranduil had provided and was glad to see them scanning the area on either side of the road.  It would take more that a few decades of safety to blunt their instincts, he thought.  Celeborn’s archers, too, seemed alert to every movement.  Elladan was less sure of his adar’s contribution to the group – they looked rather nondescript, riding quietly with saddlebags stuffed with papers, but it would be foolish to underestimate them.  Finarfin’s guards were impeccable – smart, efficient and rather out of place.  The only ones who appeared to have no sense of caution were the two young Noldor riding behind Legolas’s brother-in-law.  Minalcar and Ambantor seemed to be looking on this trip as a pleasant excursion and they were already beginning to complain about the discomfort of a long day in the saddle.

Elrohir turned to them impatiently.  ‘You did not have to come,’ he said shortly.  ‘You were warned that this was no elflings’ picnic.  If you cannot keep up, then you had better turn back now.’

Legolas raised his eyebrows.  Elrohir was normally the most good-natured of elves and it was unlike him to snap – but then, he had been the most reluctant of them to make this journey.  ‘We will be stopping soon enough,’ he told the inexperienced duo. ‘Make the most of what time you have, for we will not be taking a rest day yet awhile – we need to get well on our way.’

Camentur eased himself in his saddle.  ‘It has been many years since I have contemplated a week or two on horseback,’ he remarked pleasantly. ‘I am going to suffer for this.’

‘You will toughen up,’ Legolas grinned.  ‘And Elrond provided us with some good salve.  You might even come to enjoy yourself.’

His brother-in-law shrugged.  ‘It is not what I saw myself doing,’ he said, ‘but when the king insists, there is little to be said.’

By the end of the second day, Elladan noted, the complaints had dried up, mostly because those who felt they had the right to moan were now too sore and exhausted to express their displeasure.  Elrohir had given the salve to Camentur and ensured that it was applied where needed, but he refused to cosset Minalcar and Ambantor, both of whom, Elladan was amused to see, now appeared to look on his twin as a particularly unpleasant novice master.

It was worth noting, however, Elladan decided after some days, that Elrohir’s lack of sympathy had probably done them both a favour.  In not much over a week, the two rather indulged young elves had become leaner and fitter and they had learned to take criticism in silence.  And that in itself was a good thing, since it had stopped the remainder of the party from inflicting on them all the petty teasing that was usually the lot of the naïve in such a party.

‘They have been trained well,’ Legolas said quietly to him as they saw to the horses shortly after dawn one morning. ‘Ambantor is good with the bow – and he just takes it for granted, he makes no boasts about his skill.  Minalcar is less confident, but they work as a pair.  They are rather old to be at such a level of immaturity, but they have potential.  It is just the way they expect to have someone trailing along behind them, picking up their arrows and cooking their meals, digging their latrines and washing their clothes.’

‘I suppose it is what you are used to,’ Elladan shrugged.  He glanced at Legolas and grinned.  ‘How did you cope when you first went out on patrol?’ he asked. ‘We were used to camping out, and Adar and we had prepared camp food and cleaned up after ourselves – I thought we could do everything we were likely to be called upon to perform – but it had never occurred to anyone to show me how to get my clothes clean.  In the end we took laundry lessons from an old veteran of Dagorlad who took pity on us.’

Legolas laughed.  ‘Much the same – although my cooking skills were pretty non-existent.  Adar was usually too busy to take me out on those kinds of trips, and it was never safe enough for elflings to go camping without adults along.  And I had no idea how to mend any clothing that got damaged.  I had always just abandoned my clothes in whatever condition they happened to be, only to retrieve them later, clean, mended and ironed, from my cupboards.  I could not believe how much time I ended up sitting with a needle, trying to pull together the ripped edges of my tunics.’

‘At least we had enough sense not to whine,’ Elrohir commented as he joined them.

‘Can you imagine how Glorfindel would have reacted?’ his brother asked him.

Elrohir smiled wryly.  ‘We would have been condemned to carry out every dirty job for the rest of the time we were on patrol,’ he said. 

‘How old were you when you first started to ride out against orcs?’ Camentur enquired.

The three friends looked at each other.  ‘Just after we came of age, I suppose,’ Legolas said.  ‘Although I had encountered orcs before that – and I spent more time on my early patrols clearing the forest of spiders than fighting orcs.’

‘We rode on the border patrols,’ Elladan told Camentur.  ‘We fought orcs on occasion, but much of the time it was simply that – patrolling the borders.’

‘It is no wonder that you have little patience with those of us who have led long lives of perfect safety.’  Camentur watched the two young Noldor see to their horses.  ‘We have not had to learn much of what seems automatic to you,’ he said.  ‘Give us the benefit of the doubt from time to time.  We will learn – and so will you.’

The cold freshness of the windy pass led them down into the humid warmth of the forest as Elrohir and Legolas took charge of tracking the original party as they move south-west through the trees.  Finarfin’s guard seemed somewhat less comfortable as they moved into unknown territory and Minalcar seem slightly intimidated by the sheer size of the trees. 

Elladan found it more entertaining, however, to watch Thranduil’s guards and the archers of Lothlorien, who all relaxed into purring contentment as the throbbing song of the forest soothed tensions they had not realised existed.  Legolas frowned slightly at elements of the song, but the soft gleam of him brightened as the music of the trees revitalised him.

‘They speak of elves that are not just those who came with Glorfindel,’ he told his friends, ‘and there is something about a Lady.  I think that we may have come to a forest that is not entirely empty.’  He rubbed his nose thoughtfully.  ‘I can sense watchers, my friends, although the trees will not reveal them to me.’

‘I would be surprised if it were empty,’ Elrohir shrugged.  ‘There must be thousands of Silvan elves who have ended up in the Blessed Realm – none of them would have endured the city life for more than a few days.  I am sure there will be many living quietly in the forest, but we should be able to come to some accommodation – there will be room enough for all.’

Elladan’s mouth dropped open.  ‘It never occurred to me,’ he said in amazement. ‘How long have you thought this?’

‘Ever since the subject came up.’  Elrohir grinned at his brother. ‘Really, Elladan!  Do you think that land simply sits there empty and unused?  Just because Daernaneth’s Adar believes the land is uninhabited, that does not make it so.  Birds get here and animals and the rivers will be full of fish. And where there are forests, there will be elves.  The Noldor cannot resist changing things and they find it difficult to imagine an inhabited land that looks exactly like an uninhabited land.’

‘You impress me, my twin,’ Elladan said simply.

‘Come,’ Legolas insisted.  ‘We are almost there.  Let us go and find Glorfindel.’

As the party continued with a different kind of caution from they had exhibited on the other side of the mountains, shadows in the highest branches observed them, noting the differences between each of them and carrying back to their leaders the news of fresh arrivals.

***

Tineithil lifted his head and listened to a chittering song.  ‘There are others coming,’ he said.  ‘Twenty three elves. Some in the uniforms of guards.  Five fair-haired, the rest dark. They will be with you within the day.’

A smile spread across Glorfindel’s face.  ‘Are two of them exactly similar in their features?’ he asked.

‘You expect that level of detail?’ Tineithil enquired.

Glorfindel replied with a simple lift of his brows.

The Silvan elf shook his head.  ‘I do not believe we have ever found a need to develop a signal for twins,’ he said.  ‘You will have to wait and see.’

‘You seem overly interested in hair colour,’ Rindor observed. 

Tineithil smiled.  ‘Is that so?’ he said.  ‘Perhaps it is just the strangeness of seeing those with golden hair.  Wood Elves are generally quite dark.’

Rindor did not reply, but his eyes lingered on the elf in front of him and Glorfindel made a mental note that he must press the spymaster to let him in on whatever idea had just occurred to him, when his attention was diverted to the dispute taking place under Haldir’s canopy.

The visitor looked amused.  ‘It seems that your patient is anything but,’ he remarked to the grim-looking healer.  ‘Surely Haldir is not yet sufficiently mended to rise from his bed.’

‘He is not,’ Thornen agreed.  ‘Fortunately, his injury is such that he will not be able to disobey my instructions for some time yet.  Whatever he says,’ he added pointedly.

‘I do not wish to remain on this bed any longer,’ Haldir snapped.  ‘I have endured enough of the company of clerks and healers and I wish to get back to doing something useful.’

‘You are lucky,’ Tineithil crouched beside the low pallet, ‘to have survived at all.  You fell far further than was safe – if you had landed on any other part of your body the force of the landing would have caused irreparable injury.’

‘Wood Elves do not fall from trees!’

‘They do if they are hit on the head,’ Tineithil told him.  ‘A sling and a river pebble – and it was that far,’ he said, holding his fingers up, a small gap between them, ‘from making it irrelevant whether the fall would kill you or not.’

‘Your witness?’ Rindor said softly

‘Loareg.’  Tineithil whistled a brief call.  A shadow detached itself from the trees and moved into the light, remaining cautiously at a distance from the strangers.  The new arrival was slight and young – and wary, approaching only when Tineithil insisted.  He remained as distant as courtesy allowed.

‘Loareg,’ Tineithil repeated, ‘tell Glorfindel and Rindor what you saw.’

The green-grey eyes slid sideways to inspect the fair-haired elf lying on his bed, his leg bound.  ‘There is little to tell, Adar,’ he said.  ‘This one was moving through the trees – he seemed to be following something or someone, but he was not quite cautious enough.  The elf on the ground heard something and turned.  He used a strip of leather he took from his belt and the stone was in the air before I had time to move.  This one lost his grasp as the stone struck and tumbled to the ground.  I would have helped,’ the young elf said defensively, ‘but others arrived quickly and there was no need.’

‘Did you see the one who did it?’ Rindor asked gently, so as not to disturb the narration.  ‘Would you recognise him again?’

‘Of course I would,’ the youngster said, half offended at the suggestion. ‘I am not a fool.’

Tineithil cast his eyes up in exasperation.  Glorfindel caught the expression and grinned.  Parents throughout the world and across time all seemed to use it as their children insisted they had achieved maturity; just as their young needed to assert, far too often and far too stridently, that they could look after themselves and that they were more than ready for the demands of adulthood.

‘Who was it?’  Rindor prodded gently.

‘I do not know his name,’ Loareg pointed out, ‘but he is one of those who are building the flets – the one who usually works in the trees.’

‘Neldin?’ said Glorfindel incredulously.  ‘I thought we had eliminated him.’

Rindor kept his eyes on the youth in front of him.  ‘Apparently not,’ he murmured.

***

Glorfindel was waiting when the party arrived, and he admitted to himself that he would be more than a little pleased to be welcoming Elrond’s sons to the project.  He had never found the elleth he wanted to wed, so he had never had elflings of his own, but these two were as close to him as his brother’s children would have been and he had regretted the need to leave them behind.  If he discovered that they were not among the new arrivals, he was afraid that he would be quite disappointed.

He was not destined to suffer regret this time, he discovered, as the twins, accompanied as usual by the milk-fair son of Thranduil led the group through the trees into the clearing.  He made himself inspect the remainder of the group before going to welcome them and his eyebrows lifted at the appearance of so many who were clearly warriors.

‘What have you been doing to be escorted here by the king’s guard?’ he asked.  ‘Are you so unpopular now that your family felt the need to be rid of you?’

Elladan grinned.  ‘That is no way to greet us,’ he complained.  ‘We spend weeks in the saddle to bring you provisions and dispatches only to have you accuse us of being exiled from our homes!  I will have you know that only the most severe need made our elders agree to have us come here.’

‘And a lot of persuasion from some very agile tongues, I daresay,’ their former arms-master added.  ‘I am glad you have come.’  He clapped the twins on the back and smiled at Legolas.  ‘You are most welcome.’  He hesitated before remarking, ‘We have more to talk about than you could have known.’

Elrohir shot a sober look at him, replying, ‘We, too, have a great deal of information.  I am of the opinion that we should allow the rest of our party to take some rest while we go somewhere private to share what has been happening.’

‘I think Rindor had best join us,’ Glorfindel told him.  ‘It will save us having to repeat ourselves.’

‘And Camentur,’ Legolas sighed.  ‘Since he appears to have been delegated to represent the High King.  Just find someone to keep the ellyn out of our hair while we talk.’

It took some time for each side to provide the details required by the other, since Rindor’s experience in providing succinct reports and Elrohir’s brevity were not enough to satisfy the rest of the group.  Glorfindel demanded details of the attack on Legolas and an explanation of their research into who held which grudges and who was sufficiently malevolent to conceive of a conspiracy, nodding thoughtfully as Elrohir went into his thought processes.  Legolas requested more information about the Wood Elves who made the forest their home, sifting through the small amount revealed by Tineithil.  Camentur seemed most interested in the petty sabotage and the fresh suspicion that had fallen on Neldin as the chief perpetrator and the author of the attack on Haldir.

Rindor sat back and attempted to follow all the lines of discussion, keeping his mind open as he stored and filed all the information and inferences.  He felt eyes on him and looked up to see Elladan watching him with amusement.

‘You are still searching for the answers?’ he asked.  ‘I am surprised that you have not yet worked it all out.’

‘There are too many pieces that refuse to fit,’ Rindor shrugged.

‘Then turn them upside-down,’ Elladan suggested.  ‘Maybe we are looking at all this in the wrong way.  Maybe this is not some major Noldor conspiracy.  Perhaps there is something else behind it.’

Rindor’s eyes drifted out of focus as the mass of facts and suspicion floated before him.  ‘Perhaps,’ he agreed, thinking again that his lord’s first-born made a point of concealing a very good brain behind his boisterous exterior.   

‘There are Wood Elves watching us from the trees,’ Legolas said softly.  ‘I think that we might be about to receive a visit of some importance.’

‘The Lady?’

Legolas looked up and smiled.  ‘I do not think she will come to us,’ he said, ‘but she is observing us closely.  She will summon us when she is ready.’

***

In the majestic oak in Legolas’s line of sight, the Lady put her hand to her throat to subdue the choked sound that was all she could utter.

‘I do not yet know who he is, my Lady,’ Tineithil murmured.  ‘There are others who are fair –archers, who have joined Haldir, whom they seem to know.  This one is different.  The trees sense him and they would sing for him if we would let them.’

‘I know him, Tineithil,’ the Lady breathed.  ‘Even after all this time, I know him.’  She gazed at the hair of soft gold and the long lean body, absorbing the planes of his face and his sweet smile.  ‘Come,’ she commanded.  ‘You will continue to learn about them as we watch.  The time is not yet.’ 

Legolas narrowed his eyes at the trees as he felt the observers withdraw.  He, too, could wait, but he wanted to know more about the presence he sensed in this forest and he was not prepared to wait too long.