No Home Here

Chapter Eighteen: Revelations

Estel sat atop his own horse again, having recently been perched there by his elven brother. A little way outside of Imaldris’ gates the trio had stopped and a hurried conversation had taken place.

“I do not want to find out what Ada will do if we ride in with Estel in front of me!” Elrohir had exclaimed in hushed tones. “It is bad enough when it’s you that is injured, but if it is Estel he will most likely explode before we even have the chance to explain.”

Elladan nodded in agreement, though he had secret doubts that Estel could stay in the saddle unaided for that long. The young man, however, was soon perched atop Sadron once more, and flanked by his brothers he rode through the gates of Rivendell.

When they stopped, Estel swayed slightly and was almost carried forward onto his horse’s neck by the sudden stop. Elladan and Elrohir, however, surveyed the stable yard with practiced eyes, keeping a lookout for their father or an advisor that might give them away.

Seeing no one but hurrying household staff, the elves dismounted and then pulled their brother gently off of his horse. Slapping the three mounts on their hindquarters in turn, the brothers headed inside knowing that the horses would return to their stalls, where a stable-hand would look after the faithful animals.

After walking a few steps, Elladan realized that Estel was not going to be able to walk into the house under his own power. The young man had grown steadily weaker throughout the day and leaning back against Elrohir as they rode towards home. Now the boy was far too pale, and he obviously was having difficulties putting one foot in front of the other.

Sighing quietly, the elf let he fall a step behind Estel, motioning for his twin to do the same. Without a word they each put a hand on the other’s shoulder, then clasped their other hands lower. Walking sideways, they caught up to Estel from behind and swept his feet out from under him with their joined hands, catching him with their combined arms and lifting him up off the ground with the whole chair-like contraption.

To Elrohir’s alarm, the boy didn’t even protest as he was carried down the maze of hallways and to his room. When they reached the boy’s door, however, they ran into a problem. The solid wooden door was shut tightly, and neither of the elves had a hand free to turn the knob with.

Elladan made a feeble attempt to open it with a foot, but had to stop before getting his high lest he jostle Estel with his leg. One look at the boy’s pale face was enough to make the elven twins very hesitant to jostle him at all.

“Should we switch him to me so that you can open it?” Asked Elrohir with a hint of frustration. Elladan understood, however, that the anger was directed at the door and not at himself or their younger brother.

“No.” He said shortly. Elrohir nodded, and they stood there for a moment, contemplating how to overcome this newest foe. After a bit, however, their ears picked up on a conversation coming from their father’s study, which was around the corner. As soon as he recognized his father as one of the speakers, Elladan let out a holler.

“ADA!” He called. “Will you come help us with Estel please?” Elrohir winced, and Estel shifted uneasily at his loud shout. The voices abruptly halted, and there was a moment or two of silence before the twins heard the study door open. Their father, looking fairly worried, came bustling down the hallway.

“What is it bo…” He trailed off, seeing the limp figure in the twins’ arms. “Estel!” He exclaimed, rushing over to his sons and taking the young man’s face in his hands.

“Ada, the door?” Elladan asked impatiently. Elrond shook his head.

“No, take him into my study. That way he will be closer to my room and the healing halls.” The two looked puzzled, yet nodded and began to carry the young man down the hall and towards their father’s chambers. At the door, however, they froze, jerking Estel slightly. He moaned and Elrond frowned, impatient.

“Boys, now!” He said anxiously. The elven twins blushed as they brushed past the dark-haired young men that had been watching from the doorway.

“Excuse us.” Elladan mumbled, knowing that their father would never let them live down any disrespect shown to guests. Even if the brothers were horribly ashamed at their younger brother’s actions towards these twins, Elladan and Elrohir still couldn’t see just why it was necessary for them to come and report to their ada.

Shaking his head, Elrohir lightly lay Estel’s head down on an empty couch, brushing a few decorative pillows out of the way as he went. Elrohir arranged his feet on the sofa, and Elrond ducked into his washroom to fill a basin with water. These arrangements left Elladan and Elrohir alone with their three mortal visitors.

As Elladan knelt by his their semi-lucid foster brother, Elrohir straightened and gave the two identical young men his version of the look: an unblinking and rock-hard glare that he learned from Glorfindel. With his eyes he demanded to know why on earth they had come to his home. But neither of the two would meet his eyes: they became all too engrossed in the rug that was spread across the floor.

At that time, however, Elrond chose to re-appear in the room, breaking his son’s death glare as he sat lightly on the couch next to Estel’s head. The young man was still awake, but squinted as if the light hurt his glazed and feverish eyes.

“Elrohir, would you dim the room a bit?” Asked the elf lord with concern written all over his face. Elrohir nodded, strode to the far end of the study, and snuffed out a few of the candles on their decorative holders with his bare fingers.

The men watched with interest, and the elf could feel their eyes boring into his back as he repeated the process with a few of the other lights in the room. As he worked he could hear Elrond questioning Estel and his twin, and Elrohir could tell that the men were obviously waiting quite impatiently to say whatever it was they had come for.

The elf turned back to his father and brother to find that they had settled themselves in armchairs and were obviously waiting for him to do the same. He moved over to his twin’s right and sat, keeping silent until his father decided to speak. Throwing a quick look over his shoulder, Elrohir could see that Estel was half-sitting, propped up by the discarded pillows and looking very weak. At that time Elrond chose to speak.

“Boys, these are Garren and Gareth, whom I believe you already know, and their supervisor, Reland.” The three nodded nervously to the elves, and Elrond continued. “I believe they have something to say.” With that the twin boys shifted and fidgeted, and Reland sat back in his seat. Finally one of them seemed to pluck up the courage.

“We just wanted to say that we’re very sorry for getting you kicked out.” He said, not looking at the family. “We just knew that we were going to get in trouble… so we… made up a story.” The other boy nodded, but the elven twins had confused looks on their faces.

“But what would you be in trouble for?” Elladan asked with a frown.

“Playing around with the knives.” One of the two answered. “They were just so… different than we’re used to seeing.” Gareth explained.

“We were only sparring, not really fighting. But we figured that he would tell you, so we told mother that he attacked us.” Garren finished quietly. “It seemed like a good plan, because you would be gone before he got a chance to say anything to mother.” At this Elrohir shook his head.

“Who? You mean Estel saw you?” He looked curiously over at his younger brother, who was looking at his hands as if there were suddenly three of them. He didn’t miss the identical nods that the twin men gave him, however.

“He came in while we were fighting.” Gareth said sadly. “And asked for the knives. But when he stepped on one of them we ran out. We waited until after everyone was in bed to tell mother that he attacked us.” The two hung their head in shame under the wilting glares of the elf lords and his twin sons. Elladan suddenly seemed to remember something.

“You said he stepped on a knife?” He exclaimed loudly. At the two quick nods to the affirmative he spun and faced his brother.

“Estel! You didn’t tell us! What got into you? You didn’t tell us that they were playing with our weapons, you didn’t tell us that you cut your foot, and you didn’t tell us that they were spreading lies about you!” What more is there that we don’t know? He practically yelled.

Estel seemed to shrink into the sofa with every word from his brother’s mouth, but Elrohir was quickly at his side.

“Feet.” He demanded, and the young man reluctantly swung his legs over to where his brother could reach them. Elrohir pulled off both boots, and was about to ask which foot was cut when he realized that the question was unnecessary. One of the boy’s socks had a dull crimson stain on the bottom.

Sighing in frustration, the elf pulled off the sock, only to be faced by another. The process was repeated three times before Elrohir finally found Estel’s foot. By this time the other two elves were snickering softly.

“So that is where our socks have gone!” Exclaimed Elladan. Their laughter was quickly quenched, however, when Elrohir turned up Estel’s foot to find a gruesome gash running almost the entire length of the bottom of the boy’s foot. Elrond winced, as did many of the room’s other occupants.

The cut was a dark, crusted purple color, and the area around it was inflamed. Sighing softly, Elrohir maneuvered his brother’s foot so that it was propped up on a pillow before leaving the room to fetch a bandage. Elrond decided that there had been more than enough excitement for one night, and quietly dismissed the guests to the rooms that had been given to them earlier in the day.

The story had not come as a shock for him, having heard the men’s side of the story before his sons had returned. The only explanation that he could come up with for the three reaching Rivendell before his sons had been that the twins had been greatly slowed by the ill Estel. Shaking his head, the elf sat beside where Estel lay on the couch.

“Oh Estel, why does evil find its way to the most innocent of us all?” He asked quietly. Sighing, he waited for his son to return, realizing that it was going to be another long night.