Return to Valinor

When they returned to the beach, the habitants of Enedvása were still busily getting Thorondil settled under a canvas pavilion. Gandalf stood to one side with Elrond and Galadriel looking worried. Frodo glanced at Carantaliel anxiously and said, “This doesn’t look good, Cara.”

“Laume…” she replied.

As they headed towards their elders, Bilbo suddenly accosted them. “There you are! Where’ve you been, boy? You’re needed! You too, my lady!” he said breathlessly.

“Where are we needed, Bilbo?’ she asked.

Bilbo gestured at Thorondil, “They want you again… need for you to look for the wound. And you, lady, as the smallest of your people here, they think best to heal him of it. Everyone else is too big to get to it.”

“Our conversation will have to wait, Frodo.”

“Nai,” he answered with a sigh.

“What conversation?” asked Bilbo impatiently.

Laying a hand on his kinsman’s shoulder, Frodo replied, “Not now, cousin. I promise I will tell you later.” Strangely at that moment, he realized that he was a great deal taller than Bilbo. When did that happen?

“Come, Frodo,” said Carantaliel, startling him slightly, “Mithrandir is beckoning.”

Wasting no more time, the pair hurried over to the wizard and his Elven companions.

“Gandalf,” panted Frodo anxiously. “I understand we’re wanted?”

Crossing his arms on his chest, Gandalf replied, “Indeed, Frodo. Where have you two been?”

“Must you two be larking about at such a time?” asked Elrond testily. “We’ve been looking for you for a quarter hour or so…”

The hobbit sensed Carantaliel take a breath to respond hotly, but he put a hand on her arm to save her tirade. “Is that what you think, my friend?” he asked, rather insulted by the elflord’s tone. “My feelings for Cara are not so shallow, nor are hers for me, I think. There is much more I would say to you on the subject, but now is not the time. Suffice it to say, that where your granddaughter and I were relates very directly to the events here.”

“He is right, herumin,” Cara agreed earnestly. “I dreamed about the eagle and much more. At least I thought it was a mere dream at first, for who would have thought such a thing would happen here at Enedvása? But when I saw Thorondil fall I knew that it was no simple dream, and the implications of all that I saw in my vision terrified me.”

Wisely, Galadriel interposed, “This obviously is a discussion that must take place once you have finished your task here, my dear,” for the Lady of Light noticed immediately the white pendant around her neck. “Let us go down to Thorondil and see what you can do for him…”


It was well into evening before Frodo and Carantaliel could say they believed Thorondil was out of danger. The hobbit found several deep puncture wounds around the base of the eagle’s neck where a wicked harness had been attached. On the underside of the contraption were spikes that Carantaliel discovered to be poisoned. Who had ridden the great bird to Enedvása or why they felt the need to rein him in with such an evil restraint was unknown, although the she-elf sensed inherently who that must have been. Frodo guessed as well, but neither voiced their fears aloud just at present. They threw themselves into their task, for only Thorondil could tell them for certain what had happened to him.

While Frodo physically cleaned the wounds, Carantaliel used her enigmatic Elvish medicine, anointing the lesions with efficacious-smelling potions whilst murmuring soft healing prayers. The two worked well as a team, which did not go unnoticed by Carantaliel’s family.

Elrond stood apart watching them for some time with an unreadable expression upon his suave face.

“You cannot save Cara from her fate, my dear,” spoke Galadriel quietly, “any more than you could have for your daughter.”

The elflord spared his wife’s mother a brief glance, “That does not mean that I will not worry for her all the same. Cara has had much sorrow in her life. I would like to spare her more.”

“We do not know the outcome as yet. There is potential for great joy. I think we must trust in the Ainurs’ message…”

“Easier said than done, I’m afraid,” he sighed. “Celebrían has already reproached me for returning to Valinor without our children. I can only imagine what she will say to me if I support Cara and Frodo. She is counting on Cara joining with Figwit.”

A brief look of consternation crossed Galadriel’s serenely beautiful face, “I will speak to my daughter. She must realize that regardless of Cara’s feelings for Frodo, she will not marry Figwit. In any case it is too late. They have already pledged their intentions to one another.”

Elrond looked at Galadriel sharply, “What do you mean?”

She nodded in the pair’s direction. They were settling wearily under a tree near the pavilion to be close to their patient. “Did you not see that Cara wears the pendant Arwen gave Frodo before he left Gondor?”

The elflord looked back at them, instantly picking out the milky gem against Cara’s even paler skin. Quietly he brooded, “Foolish… they are too hasty…”

“Are they indeed?” asked Gandalf who had heard the last of the conversation as he joined them. “I think Frodo and Cara know precisely what they’re doing. Why should they wait, my friend, when they make each other happy?”

“You think this is a good idea?” he asked the wizard.

“I think it is not for us to decide, Elrond,” Gandalf replied.

The once-lord of Imladris said reasonably, “But they barely know one another. What if Figwit is right and it’s just an infatuation?”

“Cara is not a child,” said Galadriel crisply. “Nor is Frodo, for all his small stature. Both have had ample opportunity to take other lifemates over the long years. That they knew what they wanted once it was presented to them speaks well for their commitment to one another. I have seen neither doubt nor regret in either of them since Frodo came to Valinor.”

“The regret may come later…”

She nodded solemn acknowledgement, “So it may. Yet, it is their choice, not ours.”

“So her family has no say in how she lives her life?”

“Why should we? Would you want me to tell you how to live yours?” Elrond started to speak, but Galadriel continued, “For I would have some things to say to you about your relationship with Celebrían.”

“Of course not,” he subsided. “Your point is well taken, my dear.”

“I thought not,” she smiled gently and put a hand on his arm. “Cara has a stubborn streak in her as wide as the Bruinen is long. I think she comes by that not surprisingly?” she raised a teasing eyebrow at him.

Elrond smiled slightly in return, “You know I find it difficult to refute you.”

“That’s as it should be.”

Both the elflord and the wizard laughed heartily, knowing they would always be bested by Galadriel’s serene logic. Just at that moment Bilbo walked up and asked, “What is so funny?”

“Nothing worth repeating, my dear Bilbo,” smiled Gandalf with mysterious amusement. “How goes it with Thorondil?”

Oblivious, Bilbo merely answered, “Better apparently, according to Frodo, but neither will commit to anything further until the morning. They plan to watch the night by his side.”

“Cara has learned well from you, my friend,” said Gandalf to Elrond. “Thorondil bids fair to recover all the more speedily at the hands of such a gracious and compassionate lady.”

“Let us hope so, my friend,” agreed Elrond. “Let us hope so… for I tell you this puzzle has me greatly disturbed.”

Bilbo sounded uncharacteristically pensive as he remarked, “Frodo is disturbed by this as well. He knows a lot more about what’s going on here than he’s telling me. There’s a lot going on with that boy that I don’t understand.”

“Oh really?” asked Gandalf with his customary raised eyebrow.

The wizard expected a comment on the closeness between the hobbit’s young cousin and the she-elf, just as they were so recently discussing, but Bilbo surprised them all by commenting, “Like, has anyone else noticed that Frodo is a good deal taller than when he first got here?”

“You must be mistaken, Bilbo,” said Elrond.

“My lord, I’ve lived with that boy most of his life,” said the hobbit. “I know how tall he is, and I tell you he’s grown since he got here.”

They all turned to look at Frodo sitting next to Carantaliel, his legs stretched out casually before him. The princess was curled next to him with her head on his shoulder. It was evident that she was still taller than the hobbit, but the difference was not so great as when Frodo first arrived.

“Curious,” mused the wizard. “This bears some looking into, I think…”

“Well, my friends,” said Galadriel, “there is nothing more we can do tonight. Let us trust in Cara and Frodo for now. The morning is soon enough for other questions…”


Neither Frodo nor Carantaliel slept much during the night. They tended Thorondil through until dawn, trying to get him to eat and drink. By morning the eagle was breathing easier, merely sleeping to recover his strength. He could not speak, however, due to his injuries. The relief in his golden eyes was enough to tell them of his gratitude for their help.

Wearily they made their way back to the palace, and as the lovers reached the second floor Bilbo met them at the top of the stairs.

“How are things down at the beach?” asked Bilbo.

“As good as can be expected, I think,” answered Frodo. “When his wounds heal, we’ll know more. It’s still early. What are you doing up and about?”

“Waiting for you two,” he replied archly. “The Lady wants to see you two after you’re rested.”

Frodo looked up at Carantaliel and murmured, “I suppose there is no help for it. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather get it over with.”

“Agreed,” said Carantaliel. “Bilbo, are you coming with us?”

Looking from his cousin to the princess and back, he said, “Say, what’s this all about? I think perhaps I’d better.”

“Come along then, Bilbo,” said Frodo. “This concerns you as much as any of the others.”


-end of Chapter Twelve-