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Legolas's Begetting Day by daw the minstrel	21 Review(s)
Dot	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/24/2004
What? The mice escaped? From the impenetrable rock-and-towel house? I don’t believe it… ;-) A great Eilian-centric chapter. I love the way he quickly assesses the situation and realises that it is he who will end up in trouble with Thranduil and not his baby brother – and isn’t one bit pleased about it. It sounds as if Lorellin was fairly adept at occupying mischievous elflings. Actually, Legolas could probably have told Eilian what happened and might have found an ally… if only there wasn’t a female involved and something Eilian would MUCH rather be doing. Can Eilian really get Thelion to let them off sword-training? And talk parents into letting the elflings off lessons? Hmmn. He could be right about Turgon’s tutor. There’s a job I’d hate to have. As always, I loved the flashback. It was so tense! Eilian’s obvious concern for his mother was very touching. Even here I could really sense the closeness between them. Eilian really was such a young warrior when he was sent south. No wonder Ithilden fought against posting him there for as long as he could. I thought it was rather sad to see that even way back then Eilian felt strongly the life in the trees when he ventures out of the southern parts of Mirkwood. It really says a lot about his strength of character that he chose that place of darkness to be his life for so long. I gasped out loud when Eilian realises where the Orcs are headed! What a terrible predicament for Eilian and Maltanaur. I felt sorry for Maltanaur, actually. He clearly wants to get Eilian home but there’s no way the two of them could leave the elves of the settlement to such a horrific fate. That little game-plan of theirs was so dangerous. I had to laugh, though, at Maltanaur running back and forth, singing loudly! And then he fell! Oh my God! Eilian is so clever to use the stream to hide the scent of blood. I can’t believe the Orcs are going to spend the day in the ravine. You have to let us know what happened next! Ah, Amelith is here and the mice are on the loose. I think I see why we never hear of her again in later stories! And if Legolas realises that the mice could have ventured further than his chamber, he might see that a treasure hunt could also be used for searching for stray pets… I can’t wait to see what happens. Those mice are SO going to cause trouble and those elflings won’t be able to deny they know about them when the mice have such pretty ribbons. Still, I’m feeling most sorry for Eilian for some reason…:-) Author Reply: As usual, Eilian acted (or in this case spoke) without thinking first when he said he would get them out of their lessons. Thranduil would be the first to point that out! And indeed, I think his mind was elsewhere. Amelith may find that this evening in the palace will not be so great. And you know, I'll bet if it were Celuwen, she'd laugh. As I wrote this, I realized how young Eilian was when I had him sent south. The only explanation I can offer is the Watchful Peace had ended only recently and the realm was short of warriors. Otherwise, I can't imagine Ithilden posting him there. Of course, it could also be that Ithilden didn't yet realize how bad the south was getting. Eilian is, indeed, close to his mother, and it's her he's thinking of here, not the new baby. Ithilden has had a baby brother appear before but Eilian never has and he's not so sure it's a good idea.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/24/2004
'You do not have to watch us, Eilian. We will just stay in my room.' Doing their lessons and tidying up, I suppose. Now who wouldn't be convinced by this display of innocent charm? Let me see - anybody who has ever had any dealings with a child? Eilian certainly knew better than to fall for this one. However, I think his hormones have tempted him into danger - I'm not convinced a treasure hunt would keep them out of trouble, even without the complication of the mice. Fancy the mice escaping! Who would have thought it! Now - Amelith will probably be upset - they will turn up in Thranduil's office and the Men will think they are seeing things - Nimloth's sewing basket seems a good place for a mouse to hide - and then there are the kitchen's and the breakfast table - the possibilities are endless. Eilian and the Orcs - it must have been serious for Maltanaur to ENCOURAGE Eilian to expose himself to danger. I love those two. I hope to see a bit more of Legolas's naneth soon - Thranduil is an excellent adar, but Lorellin must be rather special, too. Her relationship with Eilian always seems such an important factor in his character. I would like to see Ithilden when he was small and less responsible, too. Keep the chapters coming - please! Author Reply: LOL. Oh yes, doing their lessons, that's it. I'm afraid that Eilian's desire to have some privacy means that the children will be wandering around a bit on their own. Poor kids. Their pets ran away! Who could ever have guessed that a towel and some rocks wouldn't hold the mice? I really hesitated in writing the Maltanaur-Eilian scene, wondering if Maltanaur would allow Eilian to do something so dangerous, but I decided that neither one of them would be able to simply let the orcs attack the settlement, and there didn't seem to be another way for them to help. Naneth will certainly be back. She and Eilian are close and he's worried about her. He's also about to cease being the family baby!

Ms. Whatsit	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/23/2004
I liked the Eilian flashback. I wish Eilian had been my baby-sitter when I was little. He'd be cool. I like the way you connected Legolas and his birth, the waterfall, and Eilian and his rescue of Maltanaur. I just like the Eilian-Legolas stories in general :). Let's see, what would be the most awkward way for the mice to reappear? During Eilian's date with Amelith, probably. Poor girl. Author Reply: The qualities that make Eilian a cool babysitter are exactly those that drive his father to distraction! But even he had sense enough to see that something was up. Have you been looking at my notes, Ms. Whatsit? :-)

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/23/2004
Ooh man, now you've got me remembering all the babysitting jobs I've had. . . even Eilian has more sense than I had, and that's saying something. I'm sure Eilian would never have distracted a kid from mischief with an offer to play catch with toy planes in a tchotchke-filled living room. . . Well, we know where Brownie got to. Have you ever read Lois Lowry's "Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst?" There are some fairly similar situations involving gerbils in that book, and it seems like the sort of thing you'd get a kick out of. I have to say I am really looking forward to your account of Legolas's birth. I'll get to read about childbirth as written by someone who's actually had a kid, a professional! And it strikes me that the celebration of the begetting day, while cute for little kids, could become a real pain when adolescence hits. Your grouchy adolescent Elfling sclomps down the stairs, scowls at the younger sibs and says to you, "I know what yooooooouuuuuu were doing forty-one years ago today!" Eilian is, of course, still Eilian in the flashback, but it's interesting that Maltanaur seems a bit less, well, mom-ly. It's clear that he hasn't been working with Eilian all that long and hasn't learned to keep a tight rein on his principal. I'm thinking that the arrow wound will be a valuable teaching tool for Maltanaur in that regard. Waterfall hideouts are neat. I wonder if Eilian ever gets to see Henneth Annûn. I bet he'd like it. Where are the Orcs going? It seems that Orcs are always tramping through your Mirkwood, and for the first time I wondered where they come from and where they go. Mirkwood seems to be the I-95 of Orc-dom. Author Reply: I've never read the Lowry book. Is it a kid's book? I should look. You're making me laugh about being a professional on childbirth! I don't know that I'll go into the details. For one thing, I'm using people's memories and that means that I can't get into Lorellin's head because she's dead. :-( And yes, the whole "begetting day" thing seems a like a little too much information to me. You've touched on two things I was a little concerned about in the Eilian part. Would Maltanaur allow this and what were the Orcs doing? I decided that the danger to the settlement was so serious that Maltanaur would decided that he and Eilian were warriors first here. He always has to let Eilian act like a warrior, meaning it's hard to be a bodyguard. He mostly has to watch Eilian's back and make sure he doesn't do anything foolish. And this situation really skirted along the edges of that charge. I just didn't think they'd go on their way and let the settlement suffer. The Orcs are another matter. The Tale of the Years says they were multiplying in the Misty Mountains about now. So what was that about? Maybe they were trying to block east-west travel and keep the various realms from forming alliances? I don't know. Sauron was at Dol Guldur, though, and was probably trying to organize things, so maybe there was some traffic of Orcs back and forth from there to the mountains. This particular band was after the settlement at the moment, but may have been on its way to the mountains. (I like weasel words like "may" :-)) Author Reply: French Pony-- At the library today, I picked up a copy of "Anastasia Krupnik" and read it this afternoon (I love being an academic and getting the summer off!). The little girl was charming. The first thing I liked was that the cover picture of her looks a lot like I did at that age -- skinny, glasses, bangs. And I liked her parents -- a professor father and an artist mother, living in Boston near Harvard. That sounds like my dream family! My own family was blue collar living in Detroit. That had its interesting moments too, I suppose. Just as someone writing stories now, I was struck by how well done this was. The point of view is Anastasia's and it's well controlled and believeable, and I liked the way pages of her notebook were interspersed. It's a little weird to have spent a couple of hours amusing myself with a kid's book, but this was fun. daw

OakWolf	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/23/2004
How are the elflings getting out of this?(having owned rodents I sympathize)Lovely job Daw,Keep it up! Author Reply: You know, I am amazed at the number of people who appear to have kept rodents as pets. I just don't see the attraction! Although I guess every nursery school I ever set foot in had gerbils, and they did seem kind of cute. The elflings are going to have a busy evening. :-)

The Karenator	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/23/2004
Well, your dawness, you got this up quickly, didn't you? To keep me from blabbing? Well, I never. "Eilian never objected to getting into a little entertaining trouble himself,..." One of my favorite lines. It's so Eilian. By the looks of the missing mice, I'd say the entertainment is about to commence. And it's true, I'm sure, Thranduil will not be pleased that his baby-sitter has allowed the mouse hunt to get out of hand...which I'm sure it will. Eilian's memories of Legolas's begetting day are exciting. I'm so impressed with all the 'new' adventures you cook up for your characters. They're so original. I'm sure it just killed Maltanaur to have to agree with Eilian that they had to do something...the two of them...to aid the settlement. And now they're stuck behind a waterfall with orcs as neighbors...and a wounded Maltanaur. Oh, his poor wife. Does she sense this, I wonder? The mouse hunt promises to be fun. I'm sure Eilian thought he was seeing things when he glimpsed a mouse with a brown ribbon tied around his tail. I can't wait to hear what the king has to say about his new housemates. This is such a delightful story, daw. I'm really enjoying the lightheartedness of it interspersed with memories that have, so far, ranged from anticipation to dangerous. I'm looking forward to reading the other memories and seeing how Eilian and Maltanaur get out of this tight spot. And as always, I'm enjoying your easy style and distinctive voice. It's always such fun to read your stories. Carry on, Karen Author Reply: It needed beta-reading and Nilmandra delivered, so it was ready. :-) Eilian likes a little excitement -- not as much as the Orcs provided him and Maltanaur and maybe not even as much as the mice will provide! But the girlfriend? Now that, he's looking forward to. I wonder if she likes mice? Poor Maltanaur. He was in a bad spot. But he and Eilian did the right thing. We'll see what happens now. I'm glad you liked it.

Elena Tiriel	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/23/2004
Great chapter, Daw! But I am just shocked, shocked I say, that the mice escaped already! Who woulda thunk it? ;-D Poor Eilian! He's so much more adept at dealing with Orcs than elflings! Speaking of which, I love the unfolding story with Eilian and Maltanaur... trapped behind a waterfall? Brrrr... And the threat to the settlement was certainly putting Maltanaur in a difficult quandary, caught between competing duties. Oh, and by putting ribbons on the mice tails, the elflings can't claim that they were wild mice that just snuck in on their own... Lovely story, Daw! Can't wait to see what happens next... - Barbara P.S. I'll refrain from telling you why snakes make lovely pets... I'm not sure you'd believe me... ;-) Author Reply: Little L and his friends were shocked too. Who would have guessed that some piled up rocks and towel wouldn't hold mice??? :-) Maltanaur was indeed in a difficult situation. And now things are kind of tight. In the meantime, the baby's soon to be on the way at home, and Eilian needs to get there to greet him. But in the "present," the girlfriend and the mice await him!

Manderly	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/23/2004
The little excitement of the orc chase in the middle of the chapter was certainly unexpected, but nonetheless welcome. What a brilliant way to mingle giggles with heart pounding. The smile had barely left my face over the prospect of the treasure hunt when you started with the flashback (flashed back to the exact hour, I might add) with the excitement of the orc chase (or should it be elf chase?). Then you left those two poor elves sitting behind the waterfall surrounded by orcs and brought us back to the present with sightings of ribboned mice scurrying around. Quite a roller-coaster ride for the emotions. I loved it! Author Reply: Glad you enjoyed it, Manderly. Eilian is seldom able to come home without bringing some excitement with him. His poor parents have enough to worry about without wondering where he is! And the elflings are missing their pets too, poor babies.

sofia	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/23/2004
good chapter. I like the little flashback with Eilian before Legolas' birth. -sofia Author Reply: Thank you, Sofia. Legolas's family is going to continue to remember that day while the brat himself is worried about his mice. :-)

Karri	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/23/2004
Aw! I hope they get their mice back before someone shoos them out of the palace. Great chapter. :-) Author Reply: I'm not sure the mice would agree with you about that, Karri! I don't think they liked being pets.

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