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The Seeds of Time  by daw the minstrel

Many thanks to Nilmandra for beta reading this chapter for me.

*******

Chapter 3.  Meetings

"We saw traces of orcs all through this area."  Eilian slid his finger across the map, just below the line marking the Dwarf Road.  The gazes of the elves crowded around the table followed his gesture.  "My guess is we are talking about three to four hundred orcs."

Anolith, the Northern Border Patrol captain, pursed his lips.  "But you found only three camps?"  He gestured to the marks Todith had made earlier.  "If that many orcs were present, surely you would have found more."

Eilian stiffened against the doubt in Anolith's tone.  The Northern Border Patrol seldom saw orcs, Eilian reminded himself, so it was unsurprising Anolith had trouble accepting what Eilian was reporting.  But Eilian had been there, and Anolith had not, and if Anolith wanted to continue seeing few orcs, he would do well to listen to what Eilian said.  He opened his mouth to tell Anolith so, but Todith intervened.

"That will be all, Eilian."

Eilian hesitated, then snapped his mouth shut and moved back to the edge of the small council chamber where he joined the row of scouts from the other patrols.  He leaned against the wall next to Maltanaur, shoulders hunched.

Todith turned to Anolith.  "I grant you we should have found more camps, but Sauron has twisted the woods to his purpose there, creating more and more places for the orcs to hide.  We hear the trees mourning almost everywhere we go, so we cannot even use their song to help us in our hunt."

At the head of the table, Thranduil was ignoring the exchange and studying the map. From where Eilian stood, he could see the marks the various scouts had made.  The southern part of the map was thick with patches of shadow, with marred forest that would not hide or support elf warriors, with orc camps, with remembered battles.

Moreover, black trails of spiders streamed north as they too fled from the orcs.   Eilian's jaw tightened.  He had once been present at a feast his father held to welcome some men from Esgaroth, come to negotiate trade arrangements.  One of them had joked about rival traders.  The enemy of my enemy is my friend, he had said.  Eilian wanted to tell him that he now knew for a fact that was untrue.

Deler, the Home Guard captain, rubbed his jaw.  "I had not realized how numerous they had become."

"We will not be rid of them permanently unless we drive Sauron out of Dol Guldur," Ithilden said.

Todith drew in his breath and looked at Ithilden, whose back was to Eilian.  "In my opinion," Todith said, "we do not have the forces to drive the ones we have encountered back to Dol Guldur, and I am not sure it would be a good thing if we could because that would only give Sauron more orcs to deploy in his defense.  Our only chance lies in slipping through their lines and attacking Sauron while these orcs are busy elsewhere."  He gestured toward the map.

"We cannot leave these orcs busy elsewhere."  Deler's tone was sharp. "They are already too close to some of our settlements."

For the first time, Thranduil spoke.  "If we get behind their lines, our warriors stand a good chance of being caught between whatever forces Sauron has at Dol Guldur and the orcs behind them.  We do not know how many orcs are at Dol Guldur itself."

Ithilden braced his hands on the table, arms stiff.  "We do not know nearly enough."

Eilian shifted his weight.  He could not see his brother's face, only his broad-shouldered back, rigid as a shield, holding Eilian off as if he were the enemy. Was Ithilden saying the Southern Patrol scouts should have done more?  Well then, send them back there now rather than keeping them standing around while people talked.  If Ithilden doubted Eilian's ability or courage, Eilian asked only for a chance to prove him wrong.

"They are pressing toward the Dwarf Road," Ithilden said.

Thranduil grimaced.  "That would seem to be their objective."

"I will not surrender it," Ithilden said.

Thranduil raised his eyes and regarded Ithilden.  "If we can see a way to destroy Dol Guldur, we will not have to."

"I will not let them have it in any case," Ithilden said.

Eilian heard the doubt, the near despair in Ithilden's voices, and an alarm drum beat in his head.  It was all he could do to keep silent.  We have to drive them out, he silently pleaded.  We cannot go on with things as they are.  He clenched his fists, holding back an urgent desire to knock the map off the table, stride out of the palace, and ride south where he could do something, anything rather than hold still and listen.

Maltanaur cleared his throat.  Eilian sighed.  I know, he thought.  Stop worrying.  He loosened the muscles in his shoulders and settled himself to wait.  The captains continued talking, trying to devise a way to save the southern part of the Realm.

***

Legolas pushed to his knees on the high stool so he could see into the basket as Nana tucked the loaves of bread in next to the wheel of cheese.

Cook was on the other side of the kitchen table, wrapping a roast chicken in a heavy cloth.  "Do you want some fruit too, my lady?  Not much is left from last fall, but I think I have a few apples."

"Yes, please," Nana said.

Cook went down the stairs to the storeroom.

"When the elf went to the Halls of Waiting," Legolas said, "did he take all their food with him?  Is that why they need more?"

Nana smiled.  "No.  It was his spirit that went, and the spirit does not need this kind of food.  But his family is still here, and they will have many friends visit them to say how sorry they are that the elf died.  They will want to offer food to their visitors, but they might be too sad to cook just now because they will miss him."

Legolas thought about that.  He would miss Eilian or Ithilden if their bodies grew too small to hold them.  It might take a long time for the Valar to make new bodies, maybe all the way to winter.  "We should take jam to put on the bread."

"What a good idea," Nana said.  She went into the pantry and came back with a jar of red jam just as Cook returned with a small bag of apples.  She took the apples and handed the jam to Legolas.  "Can you put that in for me?"

He leaned over and pushed the jam into a space between the cheese and the side of the basket.  It would be safe there.  Nana put the bag of apples on top.

"I think we have everything."   Nana put a cloth over the basket.  "Thank you, Cook."

"You are most welcome, my lady."

Legolas hopped down from the stool and followed Nana up the stairs and out of the palace.

The Green was busy today because tonight was the feast, and Legolas would stay up.  Elves tended the firepit where a boar was roasting.  Legolas had eaten his mid-day meal not very long ago, but his mouth still got all full of spit at the smell.  The feast would be very good.  More elves hung lanterns in trees and set up tables where people could eat.

One of them saw Nana and called, "My lady."  Nana stopped, and he came running.  "My lady, one of the tables has a broken leg, so there may not be enough places.  We could prop it up or borrow something perhaps."

"Can it be repaired in time?" Nana asked.

While she talked, Legolas skipped ahead, singing to himself.  "The trees are waving to me, and the river is roaring, but I am not afraid, and Eilian's body is not too small for his spirit, and Ithilden's is not, and Ada's is not, and Nana's is not, and mine is not."

He took one more skip and stopped.  The boys were there again, crouched on some rocks near the edge of the river.  They stood up and ran along the bank, watching something in the water.  They both whooped, then ran back toward where they had been.

Legolas dashed back to Nana, who had just left the elf with the broken table.  "Nana, can we see what those boys are doing?"  He pointed to the two along the river.

She glanced at the boys, then swept her gaze along the riverbank.  "I think we should."

Legolas ran toward the boys.  "Wait for me, Legolas," Nana called.  "Go no closer to the water until I get there."

Legolas skidded to a halt and rocked from side to side.  The two boys turned their heads at the sound of Nana's voice.  Annael waved, and Legolas waved back.  When Nana caught up, Legolas walked next to her, glad of her presence.  Ada had taught him to swim in the summer, but that was before the river got too full.

Annael and the other boy stood on a flat rock at the river's edge, water lapping at their bare feet.  More flat rocks jutted out into the river.  White water churned around them.  Annael and the other boy both clutched pieces of birch bark.  Near Legolas's foot was a toy boat with a mast and a sail.  Next to the boat was a small wooden bowl with splashes of red paint around its sides.

"Mae govannen, Annael," Nana said.  "And I think you are Turgon.  This is Legolas."

Turgon grinned at Legolas.  One of his dark braids was coming unraveled, and his cheeks were red.   "We are playing boats.  You can play too, but you need a boat."  He held up the chunk of bark.

Legolas eyed it, then looked at the boat near his foot.  Did he need a boat like that?  And what was the bowl for?  Before he could ask anything, Nana spoke.

"Is there a grownup watching you?"

"My nana is."  Turgon pointed behind them, and Legolas saw a lady rising from her seat on a fallen cottonwood tree.  He had not seen her before because bushes hid her from the Green.  She had dark braids, like Turgon's, only hers were looped and twisted like the pieces of a fish trap.  She was holding some knitting, and when she stood up, the ball of yarn fell off her lap and rolled away.  Annael ran to get it and bring it back.  The lady curtsied to Nana.

Nana smiled.  "I beg your pardon.  I did not see you."

"And I did not hear you approach, my lady.  I had just realized I dropped a stitch, and I was trying to pick it up, and I am afraid I was concentrating too hard."

Legolas eyed the lady closely.  Her fancy hair quivered when she moved her head, and Legolas liked it, but he liked Nana's better.

"Picking up a stitch is a tricky task," Nana said.  "You are Mírdaniel, I believe, the new minstrel's wife.  I have been eager to meet you because I think you came from Tindir's village, and nearly all my family is there."

Mírdaniel laughed.  "I knew that.  Indeed, somewhere I have letters for you from them, but I have not yet found them among all the bags and boxes we brought."

"Oh!"  Nana laughed.  "You have letters?"  She hesitated, then said, "If you can find them, I really would like to see them."

"Of course," Mírdaniel said.

"I am looking forward to hearing your husband sing at tonight's feast," Nana said.

"Oh yes, it is so good for him to have people to sing for again.  That was why we left Tindir's village, you know.  So many people thought the woods were too dangerous there, especially if they had children, that they moved, so there was less need for a minstrel."

Nana's mouth bunched up a little.  "I am sorry to hear that."

"If Legolas would like to stay and play, you are welcome to leave him," Mírdaniel said.  "You must be busy with the feast to plan."

"The planning is done," Nana said.  "Now it is all execution."

"Can I stay please, Nana?"  Legolas had wondered about Annael and his new friend for days now.  He would like to see what they were doing.

Nana looked down at him, and, after an instant, she smiled.  "You would like that?"

"Yes, please."

"Then you may.  Fithral's family will have fewer visitors next week, anyway, and will be ready for you to come.  I will pay my visit now and look for you on the way home."

Legolas jumped up and down, then turned to Annael and Turgon.

Nana laughed.  "Be good.  Thank you, Mírdaniel.  If you need to go before I have returned, you can just leave him with one of the guards in the palace. They will see to it that he has someone to look after him."

Legolas watched her walk away, but Turgon was already at his side.  "You need to find a boat," Turgon said.

Legolas looked once again at the one on the ground.  "What about this one?"

"That one is mine," Annael said.  He bit his lip, then added, "Maybe later we can share it.  My ada made it, and he says the river might break it or wash it away if I sail it now.  I just brought it to show Turgon."  He pulled his cloak tighter around him.  Water dripped off the bottom and made a dark border.

Legolas nudged the bowl with his toe.  "What is this?"

"That is my boat."  Turgon wore no cloak, so his did not drip.  "The red marks are sea monster blood because my boat flies over rocks and lands on the monsters' heads and their blood splashes up on the boat."

Legolas looked at the bowl.  The red marks looked like paint to him, but he supposed they could be sea monster blood.  His breath quickened.

Annael held up his piece of bark.  "We are just using bark for now."

"Watch," Turgon cried.  He twirled on the wet surface of the rock and ran the few steps to the water's edge.  With a shove, he launched his piece of bark.  It wriggled its way through the rocks at the river's edge until, all at once, it found a clear place, and the river jerked it straight.  It flew up over a rock and smacked down into the water again.  Then it did a quick spin before tearing off down the river, bouncing over the rough water.  Turgon ran along the bank watching it, and Legolas and Annael ran with him.  A short distance away, the front of the boat jammed up again a big rock.   The river flipped its back end up, and it dove out of sight.

The boys waited for a moment to see if it would resurface. Then Turgon said, "Time to launch another one!"

Legolas began searching the underbrush for a good boat.

***

Lorellin hurried along, automatically choosing the right path for the cottage of Fithral's family.  Just how dangerous had the woods grown near her family's village?  Mírdaniel said the families with children had left.  That was news to Lorellin, because those families had, for the most part, not come to the Stronghold.  She supposed they had gone to other villages, where they could still live a simple life, in harmony with the forest and the other life that dwelt there.  She wished Mírdaniel would dig out the letters her own family had written her.  She missed them all.

She emerged from the tree-lined path to the clearing in which stood the cottage of Fithral's family and sobered as she recalled herself to her errand.  Grief dwelt here.  Even the trees sheltering the cottage sang more somberly than usual.  A willow trailed a branch over the thatched roof, as if caressing it and offering comfort to those within.

The door was opened to her knock by an elf she recognized as a neighbor.

"Come in, my lady," the neighbor said.  "Let me take that."  She relieved Lorellin of the basket and showed her toward the tiny sitting room.  So many people crowded into it that several spilled out into the hall, and the neighbor had to edge around them to take the basket to the kitchen.  To Lorellin's surprise, one of the people in the hallway was Eilian.  She had thought him still closeted with his father and others in the meeting about Dol Guldur.

Eilian bent to speak to Fithral's younger brother, a half-grown youth, whose name she recalled was Mion.  Slumped against the wall next to them was Gelmir. 

As Lorellin approached, she heard Mion say, "I could not ask in front of my naneth.  Was it bad?"  He awaited the answer with his body held so stiffly, it quivered.

"He died quickly," Eilian said.  "He would not have had time to feel fear or pain."  He noticed her and straightened.

She gave him a level look, which he met briefly before looking away.  If the tone of his voice had not told her he was lying, that failure to brave her gaze would have.  She understood the pity from which he spoke, but surely he could have leaned on his wood elf heritage and curled his tongue around an ambiguous answer.  Thranduil would speak sharply if he knew.  People had to be able to trust Eilian's words.  He must still be awash in the distress he had brought home with him, she thought, and no wonder if Fithral's death was hard.

Mion gave her a small bow.  "Thank you for coming, my lady."

"I am so sorry about Fithral, Mion."

"Thank you, my lady."  The boy spoke in a monotone, as if grief took all his attention.  She wondered if he even knew what he was saying or what others said to him.

She looked at Eilian again.  "Is the meeting over?"

Eilian's mouth tightened.  "They sent us scouts on our way.  The captains are still talking."  His tone told her what he thought about the usefulness of talk.

Lorellin tended to agree with him.  But Thranduil ordinarily had little patience for endless talk either, and if he was tolerating this meeting, it must be important.  She patted Gelmir's arm as she passed him on her way into the sitting room.

The little room was so full that most of the males were already standing, but everyone rose when they noticed her.  She went straight to Fithral's father and mother, took his mother's hands, and drew her back down onto the padded bench.  Over the rustle of people reseating themselves, she said, "I am so sorry, Helith."  She flinched at how inadequate a balm the words were for this mother's loss.  "Fithral was so brave and so selfless.  We all have to admire him and his choice to defend his home, but I know how painful this must be for you."

Did she know?  If she were honest, not really.  She could try to imagine what it would be like to lose Ithilden or Eilian, but surely nothing she imagined touched the reality of the bone deep agony she saw on Helith's face.

Helith's mouth trembled.  "He was brave, and when the Shadow returned, he said nothing was more important than fighting it."

Fithral's father put his arm around her shoulders.  "He was good with a bow.  I saw to that myself.  He wanted to make a difference, and I think he did."

"I am sure he did."  Lorellin squeezed Helith's hands and leaned forward to listen as they talked about their son.  In the background, she was aware of the murmured conversation of the others in the room.  Some were neighbors, she knew, but most were some degree of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews.  Fithral had been part of a sprawling family that reminded her of her own.

She thought again of what Mírdaniel had said about the growing danger near her family's village.  She had not been to visit them since Legolas's birth.  Perhaps she should go and see for herself whether they were safe.  She would be more than willing to have them nearer the Stronghold if they decided to move.

Helith paused and looked up, and Lorellin became aware that Eilian stood next to her, waiting for a chance to speak.

Eilian bowed to Fithrals' parents.  "Gelmir and I will take our leave now."  He glanced at Lorellin.  "Unless you would like me to wait for you, Naneth?"

Lorellin knew she should probably go with him.  She had the Equinox Feast to see to.  But Helith still clung to her hands, and Lorellin could not bear to abandon her just yet.  "No, go on.  I will stay a while more."

He nodded and took his departure, followed by Gelmir, his head still lowered.  Trouble might be flooding Eilian's heart, but it was drowning Gelmir.  Lorellin reminded herself to be sure the healers knew of Gelmir's suffering.  According to Thranduil, Eilian believed Gelmir had Shadow sickness, and it had been long since the healers had much experience with it.  Doubtless some of them had never seen it.  They would all have to learn to deal with it again.  She worried that Eilian, too, suffered from it, but Thranduil said he had convincingly denied it.

She turned back to Helith and found her staring after Eilian and Gelmir, naked longing on her face.  Lorellin bit her lip.  She understood.  Helith would never wish harm on Eilian or Gelmir, but she could not help wishing her own son had just walked through that doorway.

***

Legolas ran back to the starting place.  It was his turn, and he had found a good boat for this time.  It had fallen off the cottonwood tree Turgon's nana was sitting on.  It curved up at the side, and Legolas thought it would sail very far before it sank.

"Did you see my boat, Nana?" Turgon cried.  "Did you see it?"

"I saw it."  Turgon's nana smiled.

Annael waved to her.  "We are being careful by the water," he called.

"What good elflings you are."  She rooted in her bag and pulled out a ball of blue yarn.

Turgon jumped up and down and waved his hands.  "Go, Legolas!  Your boat is an orc boat!"

Legolas stopped.  "It is not."

"It is!  It is full of orcs, and they will all drown."

Legolas scowled at him.  "It is not an orc boat.  It is a warrior boat, and they are sailing all the way to Numenor."

Annael frowned.  "Numenor is very far away, and maybe something happened to it."

"My boat can go there."

"All right."  Turgon started jumping again.  "Launch the boat, Warrior Legolas!"

Legolas crept toward the edge of the flat rock.  The river grumbled past, raising up pieces of itself and turning them over to slap back down again.  Legolas's heart beat fast.  He clutched a bush straggling up through a crack in the rock.  Then he slowly crouched.  The river sent a spurt of water over the rock.  The bottom of his cloak dragged in it, and it flooded over his shoes.  He curled his toes inside his wet stockings and waited for the water to slide away.  Then, still clinging to the bush with one hand, he used the other to push his boat into the wild river.

The boat snaked its way through the rocks, snapped around, and flew off downstream.  Legolas jumped to his feet and ran to follow Turgon and Annael, who were already racing along the bank.  The boat sailed and sailed.  It shot past the far place Turgon's boat went last time and kept going.

"Yay!" Turgon shouted.  "The warriors are sailing."

But more rocks were in the way now, and Legolas could not even see his boat.  He scrambled around the rocks, and there it was, turned sideways and beating up against the trunk of a tree that had fallen into the river.  Legolas ran to stand next to Annael.

"Save the warriors!" Turgon cried.  Before Legolas knew what he meant, Turgon leapt onto the fallen tree and ran along it to where Legolas's boat was.  He flung himself on his stomach and dangled over the side.

Annael gasped and grabbed Legolas's hand.

Turgon wrapped his legs around the tree, leaned a little further, and snatched Legolas's boat from the water.  "Yes!"   He jumped to his feet and ran back to where Legolas and Annael stood.  "That is a very good boat."  He handed it to Legolas.

"It is good," Annael said.  "It went the farthest of all."

Slowly, Legolas smiled.  The edges of the boat were a little crumpled, but he thought it might sail again.  "Come on," he said to his friends, and they trotted back around the rocks and up the river to where Turgon's nana sat with her knitting.

It would be Turgon's turn now, but he did not have his boat ready yet.  He poked through the bushes looking for a good one.  Then he stopped, whirled, and snatched up the bowl with the sea monster's blood on its sides.  "We can use the real boats!"

Annael's eyes widened.  "My ada says not yet."

"We can."  Turgon ran back and forth, talking.  "We got Legolas's boat back, and we can get ours too.  We can sail them all at once and see which one goes fastest.  You can use the warrior boat again," he told Legolas.  "The boats can be hunting, and they have to get there fast before the monsters get away, and the one that gets there first will be the captain's boat.  We should put warriors in them."  He scooped up a pebble and dropped it into the bowl.

Legolas was not sure he understood exactly what Turgon meant, but it sounded wonderful.  He found a pebble, balanced it on his boat, and held the boat in both hands so the warrior would not fall out.  He walked carefully to the flat rock where Turgon waited.

Annael clutched his boat to his chest and screwed up his face.

"Come on, Annael," Turgon said.  "The monsters are swimming around, and we need to get them.  You can hear them."

Legolas listened.  Maybe Turgon was right.  Maybe monsters were roaring in the river.

Annael came slowly toward them.  For a moment, he stood looking down at the churning river.  Then he squatted and held out his boat.  "You are right.  The monsters might hurt someone.  We should attack them."

"Wait."  Turgon ran back onto the bank, found a pebble, and brought it back to put in Annael's boat.  "Get ready!"

Legolas crouched next to his friends, ready to launch his boat.

"Go!" Turgon cried.

Legolas shoved his boat into the water and ran to see what would happen.  The three boats bucked their way down the wild river.  The warrior fell out of Legolas's boat right away, but the boat kept going.  Turgon's boat spun so, that Legolas thought the warrior riding in it must be getting dizzy.  Annael's boat skipped from side to side but at least stayed upright.

The boats came to first outcrop of rocks.  Legolas's boat had skimmed past them on its last trip, but this time, it caught, shuddered up against their unyielding surface, and sank, so probably it was a good thing the warrior had already jumped out.

"Oh! Oh!"

At the sound of his friends' cries, Legolas ran around the rocks to where they were.  Turgon and Annael stood by the water's edge, darting one way and then the other.  Both their boats seemed caught among small rocks poking out of the water.  A wave slapped Turgon's boat and knocked it free.  It spun away to lodge against the same fallen tree that had snared Legolas's boat last time.

Legolas ran to the fallen tree.  "I can get it!"  He put one foot on the tree's trunk, but it slid right off because the tree was all wet and slippery.  He grabbed a branch, pulled himself up, and started edging his feet carefully along.

An arm grabbed him around the waist.  "Whoa!" cried Eilian's voice.  "What are you doing, little one?"  Eilian swung him around and set him on the riverbank.  Eilian's friend Gelmir was there, hanging onto Turgon with one hand and Annael with the other.

"Turgon's boat!"  Legolas pointed to the boat with the monster blood.

Eilian looked, then made a face.  "All right.  I will get it."  He leapt onto the log, ran along it, and swooped to fish out the floundering boat.

"Oh no!" Annael cried.  His boat had come loose from the rocks, but rather than coming to rest against the log where Eilian still stood, it had bumped its way further out into the river, where it was floundering, as if trying to decide whether to sail on.  "My boat!"  Annael looked as if he might cry.

"Eilian!  Annael's boat is there!"  Legolas pointed.

Eilian glanced at the boat and then at Legolas.

"Please, Eilian!" Legolas cried.

Eilian tossed Turgon's boat onto the shore and edged his way further out along the fallen tree.  Then he did an odd thing.  He crouched to lower one foot into the river and move it around as if feeling for something.  His foot stopped moving and, to Legolas's surprise, he shifted to stand on it.  Still holding onto the tree, he lowered his other foot into the water too.  Step by step, he moved to the end of the tree, looking as if he were walking on water.

"Who is that?" Turgon asked.

"My brother," Legolas said.

Eilian reached the end of the fallen tree and stopped.  He clutched a branch at the very top of the tree, took one more step, and stretched to grab Annael's boat.

"Yay!" Annael cried.  Turgon jumped up and down, and Legolas did too.

Eilian edged his way backward and jumped onto the tree trunk to run to shore.  He grinned at Legolas and handed the boat to Annael.  "You are Siondel's son, yes?"

Annael's eyes were huge.  He nodded and hugged his boat.  "How did you do that?"

Eilian laughed.  "There are rocks under the water there.  I just stepped from one rock to another."

"But how did you know the rocks were there?"  Legolas took Eilian's hand.

Gelmir smiled.  "Yes, Eilian.  How did you know the rocks were there?"

Eilian grinned at him.  "I think that is a story for when these three are a bit older."

"You mean your naneth would be unhappy if you told that story."

"I mean my naneth does not know that story, and I would like to keep it that way."

"Ada says Nana knows everything," Legolas said.

Eilian ruffled Legolas's hair and laughed.  "Ada is almost always right, so you should never try to fool Nana."

Legolas nodded.  Eilian was right.

"Are you three out here on your own?"  Eilian asked.

"Turgon's nana is watching us."

"Where is she?"

"Over there."  Legolas pointed in the right direction.  You could not really see Turgon's nana from here, but she was still there.

Gelmir and Eilian both looked where Legolas pointed, then at one another.

"Perhaps Gelmir and I will just walk you back to her," Eilian said.  "And really, Legolas, I think maybe you should come home.  You are soaking wet, and the air is chilly.  Nana will have my hide if I let you stay out here like this."

"All right."  Legolas liked the idea of going home with Eilian.  Turgon and Annael ran ahead, and Legolas ran to join them.  He glanced back to make sure Eilian was coming and saw him walking with his hand on Gelmir's shoulder.  Legolas turned forward again and put one hand on Turgon's shoulder and the other on Annael's.

Annael said, "My ada says your brother is a very good scout.  He says he can track anything."

Legolas nodded.  He thought that about Eilian too.

"He walked right out into the river," Turgon said.  "I want to do that."

Legolas looked at the river.  It shoved past them, grumbling to itself in its angry voice.  He shivered.  "Not today.  The river is all full.  The extra water might hurt you."

Turgon too looked at the river.  He pursed his lips.  "Not today," he conceded.  "Some other day."

They ran on to where Turgon's nana sat.

*******

AN:  I'll be out of town on business for the rest of the week so I may be slow updating.





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