At the Mercy of a Burning Coal

Disclaimer; I only own the people whose names are Lathwen, Lily, and Eothain. The rest Tolkien can have.
Note: I know its been a long time, and please don’t think that I’m slacking off…its just that since it’s the holiday season, I’ve been cooking, baking, wrapping, boxing, decorating, making cards, shopping, and the like.

Glorfindel winced as a piercing cry echoed in his talan. His nephews were being cared for by a different elf-maiden, and apparently, they didn’t like it. They wanted Alanessa back. Normally Glorfindel would have taken them into his own talan and cared for them, but tonight he had to think, and think hard at that.

There had been whispers among the elf-maids, the young, old, and in between. He had heard bits and pieces of their conversations as their words floated on the air. They had been talking about Alanessa’s words to Lindariel…what she had said about having no adventures and so little freedom. Her speech had stirred a longing in the maiden’s hearts…a longing to be free and go wherever they wanted to go.

Glorfindel sighed and rubbed his temples…three maids had left undercover of night; Manwathiel, Nestariel, and Edhelwen. Manwathiel was Sarethiel’s best friend…it was strange that Sarethiel didn’t seem worried at all.

Many had questioned Sarethiel about the disappearance of the three maids, and she had only said in that calming way of hers, “ Manwathiel will return, have no fear. The other two have gone to see what they are missing.” Glorfindel could unravel those words and what they meant. Nestariel and Edhelwen had gone to see their freedom and everything else out there that they had missed in their lifetimes. They had gone to join Alanessa and Lillian.

Glorfindel frowned at the thought of his adversary, Alanessa. He was grateful for what she had done for his nephews…very grateful. But she had no right to go about and cause maidens to disappear after her. She had caused a quiet rebellion among the elf-maids.

Something in their manner and way of thinking had changed, and it seemed as if they were somewhat disappointed or disgusted by males treated them. He had personally over heard one of the servants say that she was surprised at how long she had put up with being ordered around.

But then, only small portions of the elf-maids were truly serious about it. Among most of them, any thought of rebellion had fled away, and they were back to their usual demeanor and standards.

Glorfindel admired Alanessa’s courage in a way…he admired that she had the strength to think for herself, but wasn’t this a little drastic?

He sighed again and heavily walked out of his talan to comfort his nephews…if he could.

***
Lathwen’s face was wet with salty tears. She and Lily had been riding hard for quite some time, about two days…now they were stopped at a split in Nimrodel, and they would turn to the right and follow the river Limlight to the edge of the Fangorn forest.

Lathwen wiped at her tears impatiently…she had cried a lot after they had left Lothlorien. She knew why to, she missed the twins and the feeling of being wanted and loved. She also felt sad for the inhabitants…she had seen their haunted faces during hard times.

Lily walked over to Lathwen’s side and stood with her. Lathwen sighed and said quietly, “ I don’t understand.” Lily asked, “ Understand what?” Lathwen sat down on the grassy bank and answered, “ Why I feel so much pity for the elves of Lorien. They have everything we mortals’ don’t, and yet, I pity them because I know that they are immortal and they have lived through so much war and worry. I can’t believe I ever wanted to live forever.”

Lily crossed her legs as she sat next to her friend, “ We all did once upon a time. Elves carry a burden though, and most of their kind would say that our mortality is a gift…we don’t have to watch those we loved most wither away and die.” Lathwen nodded, “ Sometimes I wonder why we live if we have to loose so much. You live and love, then you loose, which is hard for us mortals too…not only elves.”

“ We live because it is our chance to do good…anywhere else Eru created is most likely already perfect…we have to prove ourselves worthy of the mortality he gave us, I suppose.” Lily answered.

Lathwen leaned back on her elbows and stared at the afternoon clouds in the bright blue sky, “ Then why do the elves live? They aren’t mortal.” Lily pushed back stray strands of her hair, “ To help us, to help others. They have to prove themselves to get into Valinor I guess. Why else would any of us be here if not to prove ourselves?”

Lathwen sighed again and flipped over onto her stomach. She watched a beetle crawl on a leaf while she twirled a blade of grass between her fingers. “ This was so stupid of me.” She said simply, “ This whole trip is just foolish.”

Lily shook her head emphatically and said forcefully, “ No Lathwen! Never say that! This journey got you to a better place, it helped you discover what else is out here, and it’s done so many other good things for you! How can you say its foolish when you deserve the chance to get back what your uncle stole? You deserve a better life Lathwen, we both do. I told you that before.”

Lathwen flapped a hand and dropped the blade of grass, “ I *know* that! I do believe what you say Lily, but sometimes I wonder…is my inheritance really worth all of the pain and suffering we’ve gone through?” Lily was silent.

Lathwen sat up and brushed the specks of dirt from her clothes before standing up. “ We should get going.” She said to Lily who sighed reluctantly and walked back with Lathwen to the horses.

Ah. The horses.

Lathwen gasped and she heard Lily curse from between clenched teeth. They were gone. Without a single hoof beat or whinny, they had gone. How could they not have heard them? WHERE WERE THE HORSES?!

Lathwen groaned loudly and sat on the ground, resting her forehead on her knees, “ This is *not* turning out to be a good day.” She said to herself. Lily let out a loud noise of frustration, which echoed through the empty plains. “ We do *not* need this right now!” She shouted to the sky.

Lathwen stood up and looked around, no hoof prints. Great. Just great. “ No hoof prints…no sounds…nothing. And we don’t have time to go looking for them.” Lathwen said in frustration. She thought for a moment then asked, “ Hey Lily…do you remember any elvish that was used to call the horses?” Lily shook her head, shamefaced. “ I remember nothing of elvish.”

Lathwen nodded, and fought to keep down the panic, “ That’s okay…oh wait…no, its not. The horses had our food, water, and map in the saddlebags.” Lily groaned and Lathwen slapped her forehead with her hand. (Yeah, I think they’re in a bit of a dilemma…)

“ But we still have our weapons,” Lily said, “ So if we went after them we’d be protected and we could shoot our dinner if we have a need. I think we’re both good enough shots now. And honestly Lathwen, who cares about the time limit? We’re already behind the planned schedule so who’s gonna care if we waste some more time?”

Lathwen smirked in spite of herself, “ You’re right.” She said, “ Let’s try looking in those woods over there first.” She pointed to their right. Lily nodded and started running towards the forest, Lathwen at her tail.

***
“ This is absolutely ridiculous.” Lathwen grumbled as they made their way through yet another mud pit blocking their progress through the woods. Lily rolled her eyes, “ You’ve said that before.” Lathwen shot her friend a playful glare, “ I know. And you agreed with me.” Lily nodded, “ That I did, but I also mentioned that we should save our breath for the rest of this little search we’re doing.” She suddenly let out a squawk and Lathwen pulled an arrow from her bowstring, thinking an enemy, like the cloaked man, had come back to haunt them.

But it ended up that Lily was fine, she was just pointing to some tracks in the mud. They were hoof prints, one pair a bit smaller than the other, “ Wildfire’s definitely smaller than Rosethorn.” Lily said almost to herself.

Lathwen nodded impatiently, “ But we saw more of their tracks a while back…and headed in a different direction. Don’t you get the feeling that someone thinks its fun toying with us?” Lily snorted and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like the name, ‘Glorfy’.

Lathwen shook her head; “ ‘Glorfy’ and company are back in Lothlorien last we saw them…they won’t bother with us anymore, especially not since— HOLY ERU!”

She had turned around and instantly stepped backwards…three horses were barreling toward them at top speed. Atop the horses were three maidens…*elven* maidens by the looks of their ears. They all wore green shirts, and brown leggings…just like Lily and Lathwen. They looked quite worn and flushed from their journey.

“ Er…hello?” Lily said tentatively as the three slowed to a halt near Lily and Lathwen. One of the maidens nodded toward Lily, dismounted and walked toward Lathwen, holding out a scroll. “ I am Manwathiel, a messenger from Sarethiel,” She explained, “ She sent me to deliver this to you.” Lathwen gasped, “ Sarethiel?! How is she?” The elf-maiden smiled, “ She is with child.” Lily and Lathwen grinned like idiots, “ Tell her congratulations!” Lily said enthusiastically. The elf-maiden smiled and nodded, “ I will do that.”

Lathwen opened up the letter and read it quickly. She turned to Lily and said, “ Okay, so…Sarethiel says that the other two with Manwathiel wish to join us on our journey, and that Manwathiel is willing to be an envoy to keep us in contact no matter where we are, and no matter where she is. She says that she is fine, and that it seems our freedom has stirred a longing to travel among some of the elf-maids. She says that only two are willing to join us now, the others are indecisive. She wishes us luck, and says to visit her soon.”

Lily stood in shock for a few long moments, her mouth working but no sound coming out. Finally she said, “ Er…great. Oh my, what a bunch of news to take in.” Lathwen looked at Manwathiel and said, “ Thank you so very much Manwathiel…we accept your offer to help us. But keep in mind that you can stop whenever you want, and that you don’t have to do this…you have a choice.” Manwathiel nodded and said, “ This is my choice. Perhaps later on it will change, but for now, this is how I wish it to be.”

Lathwen smiled and gave the scroll back to Manwathiel. “ Tell her thank you and that we are very grateful for her kindness. Oh, and will you tell her where we are right now? We’re heading toward Gondor and making good progress.” Manwathiel nodded and mounted back on her horse and said ‘farewell’ to the other two elf-maidens and the two humans. She cantered away, her long hair shining in the sun.

Lily looked at the other two elves left and grinned, “ Welcome to an endless journey of muscle torture.” Lathwen rolled her eyes, but the elves laughed along with Lily. Lathwen said, “ That’s Lily for you…but we don’t know your names.”

The short (short in elven terms…not human terms), delicate looking elf-maid on the right said, “ My name is Nestariel, and this is Edhelwen.” She motioned gracefully to a very tall, jolly looking elf whose hair seemed to glow like a halo. “ Hello!” Edhelwen said, her gentle voice simply bubbling with energy and happiness, “ You are Lillian and Alanessa, correct?”

Lily and Lathwen glanced at each other. Lily said, “ Just call me Lily.” Lathwen stepped forward and said, “ Um…funny story…my name isn’t really Alanessa.” Nestariel shrugged with a forgiving smile, “ We figured that.” Lathwen grinned and went on, “ My real name is Lathwen, not Alanessa. So please, call me whatever you want.”

Edhelwen snickered and said, “ Anything? How about Lathie’…or ‘Nessa? Or maybe Allie…” Lily and Edhelwen burst out laughing while Nestariel rolled her eyes at Lathwen who was trying not to grin. She said in a mock stern voice, “ Anything but ‘Lathie’ please…sounds like you’re calling a dog.”

Edhelwen stopped laughing and said with a twinkling light in her eye, “ Of course…Nessie.” Lily thought, “ Sounds like Bessie…old Bess! That’ll be her new name! Ha!” They dissolved in laughter once more, and this time, even Lathwen and Nestariel had to join in. It was so nice to be laughing again, even if it was over a completely non-humorous thing.

Edhelwen said after their moment of cheerfulness vanished, “ So, where do we start?” Lathwen sighed and said, “ I don’t mean to rope you guys into this to fast, but we have a bit of a problem.” The two new recruits waited.

Lathwen sighed and said, “ As you may already know, we’re going to Gondor. Perhaps an hour back, Rosethorn and Wildfire, our horses, vanished.” Lathwen held up a hand to stem the flow of questions, “ And no, it’s not because of our lack of vigilance, thank you for showing you complete confidence in us Edhelwen.”

Edhelwen closed her mouth with a playful smile and Lathwen went on, “ We didn’t hear any sound or movement, and we couldn’t find any tracks until a minute or two back. So we followed them and they disappeared for a while until they appeared again, then disappeared, then appeared going back the way they came. This time going in a completely different direction.”

Nestariel dismounted with Edhelwen and said gravely, “ Sounds like someone took them and is playing with you…any elf-trained horse wouldn’t wander like that.” Lily gave her a confused look and she explained, “ Ridhion from the stables noted that one horse was obviously elf-bred and told Sarethiel who told us.” Lily nodded her understanding.

Nestariel rubbed her forehead and said, “ If we could just lure them in somehow…” Edhelwen’s eyes were grim as she said, “ I think I have the perfect plan…”