6: Meanwhile, in Lórien...

Irmo looked upon the shattered expressions of the elves who had come to Lórien and sighed. The adults were not too bad; their shock was wearing off and they would be succored by his People. He had even asked Indis to help there and the good lady had agreed. No, it was the five children standing before him that troubled him the most and he wondered who he should have help him with them. That he would take responsibility for their healing was unquestioned, but he would not always be available and so he needed to choose others to take over for him when necessary.

"Melian," Estë said, as she helped the Maiar to find suitable pavilions for them all. The children would be housed in their own grove along with Alassiel, who refused to leave them alone. Manwen had also indicated her willingness to stay with them, but Estë, as her Mistress, had insisted she return to her own grove to sleep, at least for that first night.

Irmo nodded. "Yes, I think you are correct," he said to his spouse and silently ordered Melian to attend them.

The former Queen of Doriath appeared, her expression one of deep concern. "I heard what happened," she said to Irmo as she gave him her obeisance. "My nephew...."

"Findaráto and Glorfindel are both alive and well, but I cannot tell you anything more than that. We are doing all we can to bring them back."

"Back from where?" Alassiel asked, having heard the exchange as she helped one of the Maiar attendants get the elflings undressed and into bed.

Irmo shook his head. "Of that I may not speak. Know only that they are safe and will return."

Alassiel looked upon the Lord of Lórien with frustration and deep distrust. "That’s what Lord Manwë said, but it’s not an answer."

"It is the only answer any of us can give you, Lady Alassiel," Irmo said, not at all upset by her words. "Now, you, too, must rest, my dear," he added solicitously. "You’ve had a tremendous shock and you are beyond exhaustion. Come, let Melian help you undress and then sleep."

Alassiel shook her head. "I couldn’t sleep now," she protested. "I’m afraid...." She gulped back tears, tears she had refused to shed before the children, tears she had refused to acknowledge were even there. Now, however....

Melian took her in her arms and held her as the storm of emotions let loose and she finally broke down. Irmo watched her with compassion, though he kept a clinical eye on her as well. When her weeping stilled somewhat he brushed a gentle hand through her hair.

"Melian will remain with you while you at least rest," he suggested. "Perhaps you can talk to her about what you are feeling and that will help you to come to terms with what has happened. I do hope you sleep, my dear, for you will need to be strong for the children in the coming days."

Alassiel looked up at the Lord of Dreams from Melian’s arms, her expression somewhat puzzled. "Aren’t you going to send me to sleep or force me to take some vile sleeping potion?"

Irmo smiled, as did Melian. "Is that what you want me to do, child?" he asked.

Alassiel grimaced, shaking her head.

"Then I will not," Irmo continued. "I will trust you to see to your own needs for now, but if I see you are not following our advice, I will step in and take more... drastic measures. Are we understood?"

Alassiel gulped. "Yes, lord," she whispered.

Irmo nodded. "Then I will leave you for now. Tomorrow I will speak to the children alone. Melian will bring them to me."

"I would like to be there...."

"Nay, child," Irmo said gently. "This must be done. Trust me, please."

There was just the hint of pleading in the Vala’s voice that so startled the elleth that all she could do was nod in acquiescence. Irmo gave her a brief, though warm, smile and bent down to leave a kiss on her brow, then did the same to the five elflings who were now fast asleep, before leaving her alone with Melian. For a moment Alassiel just stared up at the Maia queen with a bemused expression.

"Come," Melian said, giving her a warm smile, "let us get you settled and you can tell me all the details of just what sort of trouble my impossible great-nephew has gotten himself into this time." Her tone of voice sounded just exasperated enough that Alassiel actually found herself giggling as Melian helped her out of her dress.

Shortly thereafter she was sitting up in her cot with a blanket around her and a cup of hot tea in her hand telling Melian all about the last match. It was not long though before she found herself nodding and yawning between sentences. She never noticed when Melian took the tea cup out of her hand and she had no memory of nestling under the covers and falling asleep, while Melian sat beside her, gently humming a lullaby and watching over them all.

****

The next morning, the five elflings were herded into the dining pavilion and encouraged to eat something, though the most any of them was able to get down was some dry toast. Lindorillë looked ready to faint and Melian had to hold Oromendil while he sicked up what little he had managed to eat when she told them they were to be taken to Lord Irmo.

"There is naught to fear, children," she said soothingly as she comforted Oromendil and gave him some water to drink. "Lord Irmo merely wishes to speak to you and see that you are comforted at this time. He will try to answer any questions you might have about what happened."

"Will he tell us wh-what happened to L-lord Findaráto?" little Veryandur asked, his eyes wide as saucers as he clutched at Narmollë, which Aldundil had returned to him with his thanks before following Tiutalion to Lady Nienna’s house with a still sleeping Vorondil.

Melian gave him her warmest smile. "He will tell you what he can but rest assure that Lords Findaráto and Glorfindel are alive and unharmed. Now, let us go. We mustn’t keep Lord Irmo waiting."

With that she and Ingil, who was with them, took the children from the dining pavilion and led them along the sward until they came upon another pavilion set in a clearing along a lake. The children looked about with unabashed interest and they seemed less nervous and distraught as the calm air of Lórien worked upon them. When they came to the pavilion they found the Lord of Lórien there, dressed in a knee-length tunic of off-white figured silk and an overrobe of spring green silk brocade with a light blue floral pattern. The tunic was belted with mithril links set with emeralds and sapphires and he was crowned with a wreath of yellow crocuses.

The children made their obeisance, though they were awkward with youth and nerves. Irmo smiled at them and gestured. "Welcome, my children," he said. "Come and sit with me." With some gentle encouragement from the two Maiar, the five elflings found seats around a small table on which sat a carafe of cut crystal and five crystal goblets etched with the emblem of a harp beneath a rainbow. Irmo took the decanter and poured some red juice into the five goblets before taking his own seat. Melian and Ingil stood before the entrance of the pavilion looking out, obviously on guard for intruders. Irmo gestured to the goblets. "Have some hawthorn juice, children," he said. "I know it’s Eruanna’s favorite."

He smiled at the youngster who smiled back, her eyes eager as she reached out to take one of the goblets. The other children followed suit and soon all were sipping their drinks, reveling in the sweetness of the taste, like strawberries, yet not. Irmo remained silent, watching them with an indulgent smile on his face as the children continued drinking their juice. Oromendil, he was glad to see, was looking less pale and Lindorillë’s heartbeat was steadier. Her brother and the two youngest were also looking less lost and fearful. He nodded to himself, then spoke.

"You have many questions, I know," he told them and they all stopped to stare at him, some of the fear and horror they had experienced earlier creeping back into their consciousness. Irmo raised a hand to forestall the onslaught of questions he knew would come. "Let me assure you that Findaráto and Glorfindel are well and unharmed."

"Wh-where are they...sir?" Eruanna asked for all of them.

"That is something I cannot tell you, child," Irmo said softly. "There are some things about which I am not allowed to speak."

"Wh-why?" Sorondil asked in surprise. "Yo-you’re a Vala... sir." The idea that any of the Valar would not be able to do as they wished was too alien for him to comprehend. The adults in his life seemed able to do as they pleased compared to his own life with its strictures and rules and shalt-nots; that the Valar would suffer the same restrictions as an elfling seemed... unnatural.

Irmo smiled in amusement, quite aware of what they were all thinking. "You will find, children, that even the Valar are enjoined by Ilúvatar from doing certain things and as you are under obligation to be obedient unto your parents and Lord Findaráto, so I hold a similar obligation under the Elder King as vice-gerent to Ilúvatar."

That seemed to mollify them somewhat though they still were not sure if they liked the idea of any of the Valar not being able to do as they wanted. It was their fondest dream, that when they became adults they too would be free to do whatever they wished, just as they saw their parents and other adults do. Irmo reached over and picked up the carafe and poured more juice into their goblets. It never occurred to the children to wonder why the decanter never seemed to be empty, for the level of the contents never seemed to change.

"Do you know why you’ve been brought here?" Irmo asked them and the five elflings scrunched their faces in thought, then, almost as one, shook their heads. "You know that Lord Findaráto meant to bring you to Lórien after the tournament."

"Some of us," Sorondil replied, casting a dark look at Eruanna and Veryandur. The youngest ellon clutched his stuffed toy and looked uncertainly at the Vala.

"All of you," Irmo said firmly, "though I grant you that you three older ones would have been sent to Tirion first. I may still send you there if I feel it necessary."

Lindorillë and the two older ellyn paled. "B-but if Lord Findaráto isn’t here, then why can’t we go home?" the elleth asked in confusion. "H-how can we be in his... his service if he’s not here?"

Irmo shook his head, giving them a sympathetic look. "That is not how it works, my dears," he said. "If Lord Findaráto were dead, that might be the case, but he is not. He is merely... missing. Your oaths stand and so you will stay here in Lórien until your lord returns to claim you."

"And if he never returns?" Sorondil asked somewhat belligerently.

"Oh, he will return, never fear," Irmo replied with a faint smile, not at all upset by the elfling’s lack of respect. "The question of course is to what will he return?"

The children were unsure how or if they should answer that question and Irmo allowed them to sit and think about it and perhaps voice their fears, for he knew they were rife with them. Several minutes went by though and none of the children spoke. Irmo nodded to himself, not entirely pleased, but not surprised either. The events were too raw and immediate for them to have processed their feelings. He would give them a little more time before forcing the issue. In the meantime....

"Well, if you have finished your juice, then perhaps you would care to go with Melian and Ingil and explore Lórien on your own. We’ll discuss duties later." The children looked at the Vala with varying degrees of surprise and suspicion, but not knowing what else to do, they quickly downed their drinks, and, with a gentle reminder from Melian and Ingil, gave the Vala their obeisance before filing out of the pavilion, their expressions ones of bemusement. Irmo remained where he was, making a bet with himself as to which one of the children would break first.

****

Irmo didn’t have long to wait for the outcome of his bet. It was two days later. During the intervening time the children were encouraged to explore Lórien, or the part of it that they were allowed to see. The area reserved primarily for the Reborn was kept off-limits, though none of the children were actually aware of being gently directed away from certain sections of the Woods by Melian or Ingil, who proved to be their constant companions.

The first indication that the Maiar had that they needed to be extra careful around these particular charges was when, without thinking, Ingil suddenly faded from their sight when called to attend his lord as they were sitting under an elm enjoying a picnic lunch. Both ellith screamed, Sorondil actually fainted, Oromendil began throwing up and Veryandur clutched his stuffed toy to his chest and started weeping uncontrollably. Then, before Melian or any other Maia could react, Lindorillë jumped up from where she was sitting and ran, stark terror in her eyes.

Where she thought she might go, if she was thinking at all, none knew. Melian called out her name, but to no avail and she was forced to leave the elleth to others while she tried to deal with the other four elflings.

****

Lindorillë ran blindly, terror ever before her and behind her. She did not even realize she was running, only that some intolerable need to escape held her in thrall and she heeded nothing else but the siren call of freedom. Freedom from what, she could not have said, only that she wanted to be far away, far, far away. Thus, it came as a shock when someone appeared directly before her, too close for her to avoid, so that she ran into the person who grabbed her and held her through her screams and attempts to escape. It was some time before exhaustion took over and she collapsed, whimpering. She was barely conscious of the other person holding her, cradling her actually, and rocking her as her ammë had done when she was a babe.

"There, there," a gentle, warm voice said. "All is well, child. There is naught to fear. Hush now, it is well, it is well..."

The voice, so calm and loving and sweet, went on and on in the same manner until Lindorillë finally succumbed to it and lay quiescent. She felt rather than saw another approach and then Lord Irmo was there, gently brushing his hand through her hair.

"Thank you, Olórin," she heard him say.

"My lord, I am thy servant in all things," Olórin said and when Lindorillë looked up into the young old face of the Maia, she saw him smiling, the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. Then, the Maia gave her a wink, which surprised her. "Even if it’s just to stop wayward elflings from headlong flight into deep waters."

Irmo chuckled and when Lindorillë gave them a confused look, Olórin stood her up and turned her around, pointing. "That’s where you would have ended up, child, had I not stopped you."

Lindorillë looked and gave a small gasp. Before her was the lake with its island in the middle. There was no beach here, just a quick drop into still waters. This part of the lake, she had been warned, was quite deep and she did not know how to swim. She glanced up at the Maia, her expression fearful at what might have happened to her. Olórin smiled, bent down and kissed the top of her head.

"Fear not, Lindorillë," Irmo said then. "All is well. Now, why don’t we go back and see how everyone else is doing, shall we?" He put out his hand and the elleth took it and when she hesitantly put out her other hand to Olórin the Maia took it and the three of them returned to where Melian, and a chagrined Ingil, as well as several other Maiar were gathered around the elm tree succoring the other elflings.

Sorondil had been brought out of his faint and was sipping on water, as was Oromendil, who looked pale but composed. Eruanna and Veryandur, however, were still upset. The younger elleth would not allow anyone near her. She kept backing up and making shooing motions with her hands while Veryandur simply sat there clutching his toy and rocking himself, weeping as if he never planned to stop. Melian looked up as Irmo arrived with Olórin and Lindorillë, her expression deeply saddened.

"We cannot get him to stop, my lord," she said quietly, "and Eruanna will allow none near her else she starts screaming."

Irmo nodded, but turned his attention to Lindorillë. "Why don’t you sit here with your brother and have something to drink, my dear?" he said to the elleth and she complied. Olórin, meanwhile, was conversing with the other Maiar and then he turned to the Lord of Lórien.

"With your permission, lord," the Maia said, "I will see to young Veryandur."

"Thank you, Olórin," Irmo said with a nod, then turned to the other Maiar. "Melian, Ingil, the rest of you, watch over these children. Leave Eruanna alone for now. As long as you do not attempt to go near her, she’ll be fine. I will return with some reinforcements."

Then, without bothering to explain, he walked away, and the Maiar all knew that their lord was showing by example what they themselves must do from now on when dealing with these children.

"I never even thought," Ingil began to castigate himself but Olórin made a tsking sound in disapproval.

"Do not berate yourself, my friend," he said as he gathered Veryandur into his arms and held him close. "You could not have known. At least now we know not to think ourselves to and fro before them."

Melian nodded in agreement. "We must take care to wait until we are out of sight before... disappearing."

"So now, why don’t we see if we cannot get this little one to stop weeping," Olórin said, quietly rocking the still crying ellon. Without preamble, he began singing softly and soon the other Maiar joined him in singing a lullaby. By the time Irmo returned with his ‘reinforcements’, all the children save Eruanna were fast asleep.

As their lord approached, the Maiar saw that he was accompanied by Elindis, which surprised them all. Irmo merely gave them a slight smile and gestured to Eruanna, who had stopped backing up as soon as the Maiar ceased to try and approach her. She stood there in the field, her eyes blank of any knowledge of where she was. The Maiar gazed upon the High Queen of All the Eldar with curiosity, wondering how she could succeed where they had failed. Elindis, well aware of their scrutiny, merely gave Irmo a slight nod of her regal head then walked towards the elleth. Ingil made to stay her, but a gesture from Irmo stopped him.

Elindis did not try to reach the elfling, but stopped when she was several feet from her, going to her knees. For the longest time she did nothing, and then she reached down and began to pick the wildflowers around her, deftly weaving them into a wreath, all the while singing a child’s rhyme. They all recognized it, though they also realized that she was singing parts of it wrong, perhaps deliberately:

     "Chain of flowers, chain of love,

     As the sun shines high above,

     Let me see my true love’s face,

     In every bower’s leafy trace.

     Chain of love, chain of flowers,

     Wherefore doth my true love bold...."

"That’s not how it goes," Eruanna suddenly said, her eyes focusing on the queen kneeling three feet away.

"Oh?" Elindis said diffidently, continuing weaving the flowers into a crown, and refusing to look at the elleth.

"It’s ‘as the moon shines high above’", Eruanna explained, looking somewhat annoyed that the lady did not know the proper words. The Maiar looked on with amusement at the affronted expression on the elleth’s face. "And... and the second verse begins ‘Chain of love, chain of gold, wherefore hath my true love bold’. Yours doesn’t even rhyme!"

"I see," Elindis said, still not looking at the elleth. "And next you’ll be telling me I’m also weaving the flowers incorrectly."

Eruanna took a hesitant step towards the queen to better see what she was doing, though stopping at least two feet from her. She crouched down, her expression serious. "It looks fine to me," she opined and so intent was she on examining Elindis’ efforts with the flowers that she did not notice Irmo’s approach until he was almost upon her and then it was too late. He knelt down beside her, his hand on her shoulder to keep her in her place. Her expression went from interested to fearful in an eyeblink, but Irmo smiled down on her kindly and she relaxed somewhat. Elindis stopped her weaving and looked on.

"I am glad to see you are feeling better, child," Irmo said softly. "Would you like to return to the others and have some water?"

Eruanna gave an almost imperceptible nod and Irmo stood, helping her to rise. Elindis rose gracefully from her kneeling position and offered the crown of wildflowers to the elleth, who accepted them somewhat shyly, allowing Elindis to place the wreath on her head. Vala and Queen then brought the child back to the others, who were all sleeping. She stopped in amazement at the sight of their somnolent forms but when Irmo assured her that they were unharmed, she allowed herself to be seated next to Veryandur and drank the water given her, never realizing that a light sleeping potion had been added to it. Soon, though, she was yawning and in a matter of minutes she was curled up along with the other elflings, her head in Elindis’ lap as the Queen gently stroked her hair.

While they slept, Irmo and his Maiar stood in a protective circle around them and silently discussed what their next course of action should be in regards to the children.