Chapter 3. Where Mothers Come From

Where do mothers come from? Elladan repeated silently to himself. Then he scowled at his brother. "I do not know where mothers come from. We have not studied that in lessons yet," he answered sulkily.

"But they must come from somewhere," Elrohir insisted.

"You are better in lessons than me. You decide," Elladan said crossly. He hoped his brother would stop talking about mothers. The elfling didn’t really care to know where they came from. He was not going to be a father for a very long time, he had decided. He would find out where mothers came from when he was ready to have elflings of his own. Silence descended in the linen cabinet as the twins sat thinking in the dark. Elladan tried hard not to think about mothers, elflings of his own, or ellyth who wanted Begetting Day kisses.

"Maybe mothers come from ellyth who are not as orc-y as Lenniel," Elrohir whispered.

Elladan looked at him dubiously. "How can ellyth not be orc-y?"

"Maybe they take lessons to be not orc-y?"

"Then Lenniel is bad in her learning," Elladan said impishly. The twins giggled. Elladan caught his breath as an idea occurred to him. "Elrohir, maybe when ellyth are older, they have to train to become mothers."

Elrohir's eyes grew wide. "Like those who want to be warriors!" he exclaimed.

Elladan nodded. Elrohir and he had often watched the young adults who wished to become warriors. When they were allowed, the elflings would sit on the sides of the archery or combat practice fields. Far enough away for safety, but close enough for a good view, the brothers studied every move the young warriors-to-be made, trying to learn as much as possible. Elladan wanted to be a warrior when he was old enough. He knew Elrohir wanted to be one too.

"But only those ellyth who are not as orc-y as Lenniel are allowed to become mothers," Elladan clarified. "Just like only some elves are allowed to warrior train." Satisfied with the explanation, he looked to see if Elrohir agreed, but his brother seemed deep in thought. Elladan became annoyed. When Elrohir looked like that, it meant that he still had questions to ask.

"Warriors train on the practice fields," his brother said slowly. "I have never seen ellyth train to be mothers. Where do they train?"

"I do not know, and I do not care! Who wants to watch ellyth train? It would be boring to watch anyway. That is a stupid question!" Elladan answered angrily. He crossed his arms and looked hard at Elrohir, willing him to stop questioning. Elrohir dropped his eyes and studied his feet in the dim light, rubbing his wrist absent-mindedly. I hurt his feelings Elladan thought, watching his brother. It's not my fault! Elladan thought as he tried not to feel guilty. It was a stupid question! You are always asking stupid questions just like orc-y ellyth!

However he couldn't stay angry with his brother for long, not when Elrohir seemed so sad. He uncrossed his arms, reached over, and patted Elrohir's shoulder in apology. He was relieved to see him smile back. "Does your wrist still hurt?" Elladan asked.

"Not much any more. I almost forgot about it."

"That's good." Elladan paused. "I do not know where the ellyth train," he said again, more calmly. "Maybe they train some place in Imladris we have not visited."

"Or maybe they go some place that's not in Imladris. Like the healers who have come from Lorien to train with Ada."

A memory struck Elladan, and his eyes widened. "I know!" he exclaimed. "Remember what Ada told us? That he had to ask Daerada and Daernana if he could marry Nana? Nana must have been training to be a mother then --"

"-- where Daerada and Daernana live. In Belfalas!" Elrohir grinned and then looked puzzled. "Daerada is a great warrior. Do you think he knows about mother things?"

Elladan thought for a moment then shook his head. "Daerada is very good at archery and swords. But I do not think he knows about Hurt-Go-Away kisses or pretty mother dresses."

"Daernana knows about them. I am certain. When she was here and you cut your finger, she gave it a Hurt-Go-Away kiss. Remember?"

"She did! You're right! And my finger stopped hurting!" Elladan was convinced they had the answer to where mothers came from. "I guess it's Daernana who trains the ellyth to become mothers, not Daerada. When an ellon is ready to become a father, he goes to ask Daernana for an elleth who has finished her mother training. Ada probably asked Daerada as well because Ada did not want him to feel left out." Elladan knew his father was very kind and would not want his grandfather to feel unimportant.

Elrohir smiled. "When I grow up, I'm going to ask Daernana for the best mother she has."

"I am going to ask her and Daerada for a mother just like Nana. Then I'll have the best mother!" Elladan countered.

"You will not! I'm going to have the best one!" Elrohir said loudly.

"No! I will!" Elladan yelled.

Elrohir opened his mouth to answer back but closed it before saying anything. The linen cabinet door had begun to swing open slowly. Lenniel! Elladan thought fearfully. We were too loud! She found us! Elladan looked at his brother in horror.

"I thought I heard voices in here," said a voice from beyond the opening.

"Glorfindel!"

"You scared us!" Elladan sighed and smiled in relief. He loved Glorfindel almost as much as he loved his parents. The elfling was very glad the person beyond the door was the elf-lord instead of Lenniel.

Bent from the waist, Glorfindel peered through the cabinet opening and looked at the brothers in turn. "I am sorry. I did not intend to scare you. Why are you sitting in the cabinet on such a beautiful day? You should be outside playing."

"We are hiding," Elrohir said.

"From Lenniel. She wants me to kiss her for her Begetting Day. I do not want to though."

"She thought I was Elladan and tried to make me kiss her instead. But I'm not Elladan. I'm Elrohir!" the elfling declared indignantly.

Glorfindel chuckled. "Yes, you are Elrohir." Glorfindel turned to Elladan with a serious expression. "It is terrible when an elleth wants to kiss you, but you do not want to kiss back, isn't it?" Elladan nodded. He wasn't surprised that Glorfindel understood. Glorfindel always understood such things. The elf-lord stood up and gestured for the twins to come out of the cabinet. "I do not think you will need to worry about Lenniel for the rest of the day." He smiled. "I suspect she will be busy for some time to come. You can play outside safely now if you wish."

Elladan frowned. He recognized that smile. It was the smile grown up elves used when they knew something they did not wish to explain to elflings. Elladan did not like that smile too much; it made him feel like a very small elfling. Even still, he trusted Glorfindel. If the elf-lord said they did not have to hide from Lenniel, then it was safe to leave the cabinet. Elladan climbed out first. After Elrohir left, Elladan reached in to straighten the linen piles. Nana would not be happy if he left the linens messy. Turning around, he saw Elrohir tug on Glorfindel's sleeve.

"Guess what we learned today!"

"What?"

"We learned where mothers come from."

"You learned where mothers come from?" the elf-lord said in a strangled voice.

"Yes, we learned it by ourselves while we were hiding in the cabinet." Elladan didn't understand why Glorfindel looked so strange. He's not happy that we know. I don't think he even wants us to talk about it. Why not? He should be proud of us for knowing. … Maybe … maybe he doesn't know himself? The idea seemed impossible; Glorfindel was one of the smartest elves Elladan knew. He was almost as smart as Ada. But then, Ada was a father, and Glorfindel wasn't. And Glorfindel didn't have a father in Imladris to tell him about going to Daernana to ask for a mother like Elladan had. Perhaps Glorfindel really didn't know where mothers came from. Elladan looked at Elrohir and knew he was thinking the same thing. They silently agreed on what to do. The two reached out and patted the elf-lord's arms.

"Do not worry, Glorfindel, -- "

" -- we will not tell anyone." The twins smiled reassuringly at their friend.

"When you are ready to become a father, -- "

" -- we will ask Daernana to give you her best!" Elladan grabbed his brother's hand. "Come on, let's play outside!" Hand in hand, the two ran to the doorway at the end of the hall. At the arch, Elladan turned back to wave good-bye to the elf-lord. Poor Glorfindel! He looks so confused.

Translations:
elleth / ellyth: elf-maid (singular / plural)
ada: daddy
daerada: grand-daddy
daernana: grand-mommy
nana: mommy
ellon: elf lad