Scions of the Third Age

With the prince staying at Barliman’s with his party, the clientele were on their best behavior. The rowdiness from the hobbit group’s prior visit disappeared instantly, so Hobbiton’s mayor felt somewhat easier about staying an extra day or two in Bree. Although, he limited Elanor’s exploring to the Prancing Pony’s environs. No wandering in town.

Folcred gave Fastred a similar restriction, so the hobbit lad and lass were effectively stuck in the inn.

“What are we supposed to do today?” asked Elanor wistfully as she propped her chin in her two small hands. “This is worse than being stuck inside because of the rain. It’s a perfectly lovely day outside.”

Fastred looked sulky too as he replied, “I don’t know. My father has threatened me within an inch of my life to stay put in the inn. I thought this trip was going to be fun, but all I’ve done is stay inside…”

“Well, at least you’ve gotten to ride with Eldarion.”

“That’s true,” he conceded, “but I doubt we’ll see much of him until we get back on the road. He gets to go where he wants.”

Both children were startled to hear, “Humph! What are you two brooding about?”

Gimli the dwarf was looking down at them with a cocked eyebrow and crossed arms.

Elanor stood directly and Fastred followed her example somewhat belatedly, as he had not yet met the dwarf. “Good morning, Master Gimli,” she greeted him respectfully. “We were trying to figure out something to do since we are not allowed to go outside into the town.”

“If you were dwarf children…” he began grumpily, but as he looked down into Elanor’s guileless blue eyes he checked what he was going to say. Samwise’s pretty daughter was not a dwarf-child, nor was the sturdy hobbit lad at her side. No, these were children to be protected from the seamier side of the town, he owned. “Ah… nevermind,” he waved the comment away then added, “I don’t suppose you two would be interested to know that Barliman’s collie is having her puppies as we speak in the stable?”

“Puppies?” Elanor perked up instantly.

Gimli nodded, “You’d better hurry. She could be done by now…”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!” she exclaimed and stood on her tip toes to salute his hirsute and weathered cheek with a grateful kiss. “Come on, Fastred… before we’re too late!”

Pulling the lad by the hand, Elanor was off in an instant with her friend silently in tow.

“Gimli, I do believe you are growing sentimental,” mused Legolas, who was rarely far from his friend’s side.

“Humph!” he groused at the elf. “Do you always go around eavesdropping with those pointy ears of yours?”

Legolas laughed heartily and clapped a friendly hand on the dwarf’s shoulder, “Only on your conversations, my friend. Come, you must be hungry to be in such a dour mood. I think Merry and Pippin are already on second breakfast.”

“Now that you mention it…” he agreed. Still, as he accompanied his friend in search of food, the dwarf could not help but think about the sunny hobbit lass. What was it about delicate females with golden hair that turned him into a pile of mush?


When the hobbit children entered the stable, they found Nildë the puppy sitting in front of a stall watching the birth taking place inside with great interest, her black head cocked and tail wagging slowly.

“Good morning, Nildë!” greeted Elanor gaily.

The puppy looked up at her, wagging her tail mightily, and trotted over to paw her skirts.

“I think she wants you to pick her up,” suggested Fastred when the lass seemed curious at the pup’s behavior.

Upon leaning down to the small animal, Nildë readily went into the girl’s arms and settled there contentedly to continue watching Barliman’s collie and her puppies.

“I guess you were right,” Elanor grinned at her friend. “Oh look! The mama has four so far!”

The young trio became rapt in watching the miracle of birth taking place before their eyes, but kept a respectful distance, knowing animals are easily spooked. Unfazed by their interest, however, the collie sensed the children were no threat to her litter and went on about the task of birthing her pups with placid tolerance for their presence.

Fastred found them a couple of hay bales to sit on and they spent some time in the stable with the dogs, oblivious to all that went on around them.

People went in and out of the building on their business, hardly pausing to see what event had the hobbit children so enrapt.

So, when heavy steps stopped behind them and lingered, Fastred looked up over his shoulder, expecting to find his father or another one of the adults in their party.

He was startled then to discover a human boy about his own age looming behind Elanor’s back.

The hobbit lass had not spared any attention to the newcomer, and Fastred nudged her knee with his to make her aware. She looked at him questioningly and he gestured for her to look up behind her.

Jumping a little in her seat, Elanor tried quickly to recover her composure, but found it somewhat difficult.

The boy was tall, taller than Eldarion, and carried himself with brutish freedom. His expression was rather stupid and slack-jawed, but Elanor saw cunning and restlessness behind his pale, colorless eyes.

Instinctively she held Nildë closer to her and the puppy growled quietly at the intruder.

“Cute dog,” he said roughly and stuck out a stubby hand to pat the top of Nildë’s head.

Yet, the puppy sensed Elanor’s fear of him and snapped at the approaching hand. The boy drew back before she could bite, and Elanor pulled the little dog away from him as well, but his reaction was instantaneous.

Angrily, the boy tried to smack Nildë in retaliation and Elanor was instantly on her feet to keep the puppy out of his reach.

“Don’t you dare!” she said indignantly. “You startled her. She reacted the only way she knew how.”

“Because she’s a stupid animal!” he said threateningly and seemed intent on advancing towards them.

Fastred, however, had also stood and threw himself between Elanor and the boy.

“Why don’t you move on… friend?” he suggested mildly, though his stance was prepared to defend his friend.

“Why should you two get to take over here?” he challenged.

Elanor held on to her indignation, “We would’ve made a place for you, if you had asked nicely.”

Still sensing the anxiety in the girl’s voice, Nildë started barking to warn off the boy.

“Why should I have to ask? Shut that dog up!”

Again he moved towards Elanor and the puppy menacingly and Fastred planted himself right in front of them.

“Not another step.”

The boy stopped and gave Fastred the once-over. His laugh was a gruff bark as he said, “What? You think you’re going to take me on, dwarf-boy?”

Suddenly an arrow whistled through the stables, neatly missing the boy’s hand but close enough that he felt the burn of its passage. Startled he looked towards the door where Legolas was just lowering his bow and Gimli was calmly examining the blade of his axe.

“I would be more careful throwing around epithets, if I were you,” said Gimli nonchalantly. “Master Greenholm may be a tall lad, but it’s doubtful he’ll reach dwarf height.”

Seeing he was completely outnumbered, the boy said nothing more and ran out of the stable into the daylight.

“Coward…” Fastred mumbled to himself.

“I thought you two were going to stay out of trouble?” asked Gimli with an arched eyebrow.

“Truly, my lords,” the lad spoke up before Elanor could, “we were minding our own business. He just came in, made a lot of racket and then spooked the puppy…”

Elanor added, “And wasn’t very nice about it either!”

“It’s over now,” said Gimli philosophically. “But you, boy… you’d best take note of when you’re outmatched. It’s honorable to stand up for a lady, but that boy would’ve made mincemeat of you.”

Crossing his arms, Fastred answered, “Aw… I’m not scared of the likes of him, my lord. I have brothers, you know, and I know how to take care of myself.”

The dwarf was silent a moment, sizing the lad up much as the boy had earlier. Suddenly, he laughed heartily, “I just bet you do, young Fastred! Come on you two, before you find some more trouble to get into!”


Fortunately for Elanor and Fastred, Gimli and Legolas chose not to tell their fathers about the incident. The children stuck close to the common room the rest of the day, and by morning the entire party was back on the road.

They made good time and soon the company turned onto the road to Buckland and the Bridge. Elanor began to feel butterflies in her stomach, whether that was in anticipation of meeting the King and Queen or some lingering unsettled feeling about the encounter with the boy back in the stables in Bree, she was unable to distinguish.

Meriadoc could smell home in his nostrils and pushed the group onward as fast as he dared. The Master of Buckland enjoyed spending time traveling with his friends, but he missed his wife and infant son dreadfully and was ready to get back to them and his duties.

His task nearly complete, Eldarion minded not one way or the other how soon they arrived at the Bridge. His parents were still a day or so behind he believed, but he had no opposition to getting there early to prepare for their coming.

Now that Lady Aibreán was feeling better, Elanor had the supreme pleasure of riding with Eldarion on several occasions. Fastred had ridden behind the prince, but the horse’s equipage was light, without the high formal saddle usually favored by horsemen like the Rohirrim, so the hobbit lass was able to sit in front of the young man.

It was a fair day, crisp but not cold yet in the Shire – too warm still for snow in Hobbiton, if they even got any this year at all. Elanor remembered how golden the leaves were when they left all those weeks ago. Some still clung stubbornly to the branches, but most had fallen to the ground swept this way and that by an errant wind. There was much dry crunching under the horses’ hooves and Elanor smelled earth and mustiness as they stirred the sere piles in their path. She could not believe she had been gone so long!

As they rode up the lane to Meriadoc’s home Estella met them at the door, baby Rorimac squealing gleefully in his mother’s arms. He was off his pony in a trice and hastened up the lane to kiss his pretty wife soundly and cuddle with little “Rory.”

“My darling, we have unexpected guests,” he announced to her breathlessly. “What can we do to accommodate everyone?”

Estella’s eyes grew big to see the varied company that escorted her husband home. She might have expected Peregrine, Sam and Elanor, but there was also a small party of unknown hobbits, as well as men and even an elf and a dwarf!

“Meriadoc!” she gasped. “You could at least have given me some notice. I don’t have any rooms ready… and the larder isn’t even half stocked…”

“Do not put yourself out, Mistress,” Eldarion sketched a quick bow. “We have means to house and feed everyone here. My august parents will arrive within the next day, I believe, and we have supplies to set up pavilions for them. If we could just have permission to pitch our camp across the Bridge?”

“Your Highness, of course” Estella curtsied, charmed by the young man’s manners. “But Meriadoc will be of more assistance to you than I in that case. Is there anything in the meantime I might do for you?”

“Nothing for me personally, Mistress,” he answered. “But knowing my mother she will welcome a warm bath once she arrives. Would you mind preparing a space where she might retire to do so?”

“I would be delighted!”

Sam leaned over to Elanor, still perched atop Eldarion’s mount, “Elli, hop on down and help Mistress Estella. You may as well – this is what being a lady-in-waiting is about, my girl.”

“Yes, Papa,” said Elanor eagerly, swinging deftly onto the wagon and then leaping lightly to the ground. Finally, the time had come!


After that, the company scattered to their various tasks. Eldarion and his men set to making their own camp first and quickly had tents up and a large fire made for cooking. Despite Estella’s dismay over her empty larder, she still provided quite a bit for their supper, insisting they must eat more than just a watery stew and days’-old bread. Gratefully the men accepted her hospitality and enjoyed the excellent ale and roast chicken and fresh baked bread she offered.

They were soon back on their feet once dinner was over began to make short work of the accommodations for the Court of Annúminas. Everyone pitched into help. Even Fastred was pressed into service fetching and carrying.

In the meantime, Elanor went with Estella, alternately watching Rory while his mother was occupied with a task or sorting linens as the Mistress of Buckland directed. After several hours Estella was finally satisfied that the chambers they set up for the Queen would be “passable,” and Elanor collapsed in a hungry heap on the floor.

“You poor dear,” Estella exclaimed. “You’ve been working so hard, you haven’t eaten a morsel. Come, let us find you a little supper and then it’s off to bed you go. Tomorrow will prove to be an even busier day, I warrant!”

Agreeing with a sleepy nod, the hobbit girl followed her hostess down to the kitchen where she ate a hearty meal of dried meat, cheese and crusty bread. After her last gulp of cider, Estella sent Elanor up to bed – no use lying on the hard ground like the men, she told her – not when there was a perfectly decent little room overlooking the Bridge.

She made no protest and was grateful for the soft mattress after spending several days on horseback and bumping around in the wagon. Elanor sincerely hoped she would never have to get used to such things. She was asleep within moments of her head hitting the pillow.


-End of Chapter Thirteen-