The Littlest Warrior

Elrond and company made their way through the gardens, across the cobblestone courtyard, and down the lilac strewn winding path to the stables. Glorfindel and Estel led the group, with Estel fairly bouncing the entire distance, asking questions every step of the way…

“Glorfy, Affaloff won’ throw me on the ground will he?”

“Of course not Estel, Asfaloth would never do something like that to you.”

“Are you sure Glorfy, cause my brudders said Affaloff is a war horse, and war horses are weally strong, and weally fast, and dey throw dere en’mies to the ground and step on ‘em,” he said as he stomped the ground for emphasis.

“Well, yes that is true Estel, but we are not at war little one, and even if we were you are not an enemy, so Asfaloth would never try to step on you.”

“Glorfy, does Affaloff know I not the en’mie?”

“Yes of course he does Estel. He knows exactly who you are, he has seen you before with your father and your brothers, and he has seen you out in the gardens playing.”

“Oh, ”

“Yes, and he would never step on one of our warriors, not even the little ones.”

“Weally?”

“Really.”

At that moment, Estel stopped in the middle of the path as though he had been struck by lightning. “Glorfy I havta go back!” he shouted.

“Go back? To the house, why little one? I promise you Asfaloth will not hurt you?”

“No, no!” Estel shouted, “I forgot somet'ing, I hafta go back.” Elladan quickly knelt at his brother’s side and tried to calm him…“What is so important Estel? Why do you want to go back?”

“I forgot my gift for Affaloff,” the child pouted, “I need to give him my present so he will like me so we can be friends.”

“Estel,” Glorfindel chided, “you do not have to bring Asfaloth gifts to get him to like you, just be yourself, and he will like you just fine?”

Estel was having none of it, “But I made it for him, and ‘Westor and me searched and searched to find the pieces for it, and I want him to have it, I hafta go back…Adaaaaa.”

“Peace Estel,” Elrond comforted as he knelt beside his son, “what is this gift you made for Asfaloth?”

“Iss a s’prise,” then the child leaned over and whispered in his father’s ear…"I not supposed to tell anybody or else it won’ be a s’prise Ada.”

“I see…well do you suppose you could tell me where the gift is? Then perhaps one of your brothers can run back to the house and get it for you.”

Estel thought for a moment weighing the decision as to whether he should reveal one of his biggest secrets, and one of his premier hiding spots all in one fell swoop, Deciding that maybe - just this time, it was for the best he whispered to his father again…

“Iss in my secret place Ada.”

“And where is that little one,” Elrond whispered back.

“In the bottom of my chiffa…chiffa…”

“Chiffarobe?”

“Yeth, in dere. ’Westor wrapped it up for me, in pretty cloth…and dere’s a liddle sack with treats.”

“Very good son…Elladan if you would be so kind as to look in the bottom of Estel’s wardrobe you will find a small sack and…a present for our favorite stallion. Mind you now, be careful with it, your brother has obviously put a lot of effort into this gift; make sure that you do not damage it.”

“Of course Ada,” then smiling he turned to his brother saying, “I will be right back Estel, quick as a flash…promise you will wait for me though…I do not want to miss one moment of your ride all right?”

“I pwamice ‘Dan, but hurry,” he said as he bounced up and down – a sure sign that a trip to the privy was needed, “iss late…an I don’ want Affaloff to go to bed, Glorfy says he gets cranky if he misses his sleep.”

“All right gwador, quick as a flash I shall be!” an off he ran back up the path.

Estel tried to wait patiently for his brother to retrieve the present, but the combination of meeting Asfaloth, and the ever-increasing urgency of his bladder were getting the best of him. While they waited on the path, Glorfindel and Elrond tried to pry information out of Erestor as to exactly what this special gift was that Estel had made; but the counselor held fast, and refused to divulge what he knew.

“I will not be the one to ruin Estel’s surprise, you will all just have to wait and see.”

This, unfortunately made both elves even more curious, and they continued to pressure the counselor for information; Glorfindel was quick to try his hand with one of the weakest bits of reason Erestor had heard in a very long time.

“Erestor…I have a right to know what the little one has made…what if it is something that Asfaloth will object to?”

But Erestor was prepared for any argument, especially any from Glorfindel, and quickly turned the tables on the warrior…

“Do you really think that after all these years of watching you with that horse, that I would help Estel make something that the beast would object to? Do you think me that foolish…or just that inept?”

“Well no, no…of course not meleth,” he stumbled on “I…I just want to make sure that…”

“You just want to make sure that you know everything…even things that are not really your concern. This is between Asfaloth and Estel; if the little one will not tell you then I certainly will not break his confidence.”

"You and Estel have been keeping yourselves very sequestered of late seron vell, (beloved) ever since Estel and I had that talk about why horses do not have birthday parties.”

"Birthday parties Glorfindel?” Elrond asked quizzically.

"Yes," Glorfindel answered as he lowered his voice. "The little one was making sure I knew his birthday was coming up, he wanted to make sure I did not miss it. Somehow we got on the subject of whether horses have birthdays, and he was not pleased to know that they do not have parties or get gifts. I suspect that he got started on this then, with a little help from you-know-who."

"Ah, I see.” At this point Elrond leaned over and whispered in Glorfindel’s ear “I could order him to tell us,” he said conspiratorially.

“I heard that,” Erestor said as he turned from helping Estel pick flowers. “It will do you no good to bandee orders about, Estel is also a Lord of Imladris, and I am following his instructions.”

“He has you on that one Meldir…technicalities are his specialty” Glorfindel offered.

“Yes, I know, why do you think I took him into service in the first place?” the elf lord grinned.

Just then, Elladan appeared at the top of the path carrying Estel’s gifts. As he neared the group, Estel took off at a run in his direction calling out to him.

“Dan you found ‘em!”

Gently handing the package to his brother he stacked the little sack on top and replied…

“There you are gwador nín, (my sworn brother) all in one piece just as I promised…now, are you ready to go and see Asfaloth?”

“Yeth,” the child responded as he again began to bounce on his toes.

“All right then, lead the way. ”

Estel turned and resumed his march to the stables, carefully holding his packages, lilacs hanging from the pockets of his leggings; Asfaloth would indeed get the surprise of his life.



As the party reached the doors of the stable they were met by Colwandë, Imladris’ Ostler. “Good noon day to you M’Lords…Master Estel. I was not expecting your arrival Milord, no one informed me that you would be riding today…shall I prepare your mounts, it will only take a few minutes?” he said anxiously. Lord Elrond raised his hand to calm the nervous stable master then spoke reassuringly…

“Good day to you as well Colwandë…there is no need to fret, we are not going riding…at least not all of us,” he said as he looked down at his son. “Asfaloth has graciously agreed to give Estel his first real ride, and we…well we are just here to lend moral support.”

“Asfaloth you say? Well this will certainly be a momentous occasion, for he allows no one other than Lord Glorfindel to sit him, unless there is a dire emergency. Do you mind if I stay and watch?”

“Feel free to join us Colwandë, it may very well be the only time any of us will ever see something like this.”

“Indeed,” he replied, nodding his head in agreement. Gently then, Elrond pushed Estel through the doors saying…

“Go on son, you lead the way, this is your day.”

Estel took a few tentative steps towards Asfaloth’s stall then turned and grabbed Glorfindel’s hand.

“Glorfy…mayhaps you ought to go first…just in case he’s havin’ a cranky.”

The Balrog slayer laughed aloud. Taking the boy by the hand, he led him up to Asfaloth’s stall; the majestic horse stood a full 17 hands high and his snow-white coat had been brushed until he almost seemed to glimmer in the fading sunlight. His full thick mane was thrown over the left side of his neck with a long white tendril of a curl that fell just between his ears over his forehead. His tail hung almost to the ground, and he held it high and swished it back and forth as he pranced nervously in his stall. Estel stood there stock still, mouth agape, all he could think of was how huge this animal really was. Now that he had seen him up close, he was positive that Asfaloth was either going to step on him…or eat him. Opening the stall, the balrog slayer stepped inside and gently stroked the horse under his jaw. Turning, he motioned Estel forward and said,

“Allow me to introduce you; Estel, this is Asfaloth…by Asfaloth the IV out of Gwelwen, (Air Maiden) he said, reciting the horse's lineage. Asfaloth…this is Master Estel Elrondion, son of Elrond, Lord of Imladris.” Estel couldn’t speak…he didn’t think he could move; he was wrong. The horse snorted, shaking his head, then pawed at the ground and moved forward to the open stall door. It was all Estel needed to see, the little one shrieked “He gonna eat me!” then bolted for the door at a dead run dropping his package and wetting his pants as he ran. The assembled elves ran after the boy chasing him part way up the path, Elrohir was finally able to catch up to him and grabbed the sobbing child by the back of his little cloak. Estel turned and flung himself into his brother’s arms saying, “He was gonna eat me…don’ let him eat me ‘Roh!”

The others caught up to them and Elrond knelt taking the boy in his arms offering soothing words of comfort.

“There, there ion nín…all is well, did Asfaloth scare you?”

“Don’ let him eat me Ada…he was gonna eat me I know it!”

“Ohh, hush now Estel…Asfaloth does not eat little boys…he would never do anything like that.”

Estel, mouth at full pout, pulled back so that he could look his father in the eyes.

“Are you sure Ada?”

“I am positive little one, he was only trying to say ‘Mae govannen’, besides, your brothers, Glorfindel, Erestor, Colwandë and I are all here…we would never let any harm befall you, and we would certainly not let anyone eat you,” he said as he rubbed his nose against the child’s and tickled the boy’s sides making him giggle.

“What say you now, do you still want to take your ride?”

Estel looked at the faces of those around him, he wasn’t quite convinced that he would not become the main course in Asfaloth’s feedbag and was just about to voice that opinion when the great white stallion nudged Colwandë aside and stood front and center before Estel. The child clutched his father about the neck as tightly as he could and buried his little face in Elrond’s shoulder. If this great beast was going to eat him he would have to get past his father first. Slowly Asfaloth moved forward, gently he nuzzled Estel’s back and nickered softly in his ear. Gradually Estel looked around and seeing the horse so close he quickly buried his face in his father’s shoulder again. But Asfaloth was persistent; again he nudged the boy, this time more firmly and used his nose to gently separate the child from his father. As Estel looked up Asfaloth bowed his head and softly rubbed the boy’s tummy with his nose, giving the child a good tickle. As the giggles started, Estel tentatively reached out and patted the horse on the nose. Growing more confident he turned in his father’s arms and used both hands to stroke the horse’s muzzle.

“There now,” Glorfindel said smiling, “did I not tell you that you two would be friends?”

Estel smiled at the big white horse and whispered in his ear…

“I made somet'ing for you, an, an I brought you a treat.”

Erestor silently moved forward and handed the hastily discarded packages to Estel, who, having found his courage in his father’s loving arms, now placed the gift on the ground in front of Asfaloth. The horse bent his head low and caught the end of the gold colored cord that secured the bright blue fabric to the box. Tugging gently, the cord came undone and the fabric, with Estel’s help, fell away from the box. Lifting the lid Estel revealed a beautifully hand tooled black leather headstall bearing the crest of Imladris, with three tiny silver bells on each side. Asfaloth nickered his approval loudly and shook his head, repeatedly nudging the child in his chest.

“Estel,” Glorfindel exclaimed, “he loves it, he wants you to put it on him.”

Looking up at the crowd, Estel sought out the face of his tutor. ”Westor, will you help me get it on?” Erestor nodded and moved forward to assist the littlest Elrondion as Estel began to explain.

“’Westor and me looked all over for da bells, we searched and searched and den we found ‘em in da attic. Den we went to da tanner and he gave us some scraps and me an ‘Westor worked and worked and worked Ada. Look right here Ada…’dose are my ‘nitials’…right ‘Westor? An, an ‘dese are Affaloff’s…see?”

“Oh Estel…it is a beautiful gift, I am sure Asfaloth will get many wonderful years of use from it.”

Glorfindel then stepped forward his eyes welling with tears of emotion. “This is a most generous gift Estel, and I can see that Asfaloth loves it…the silver bells are beautiful pen neth, they suit him perfectly. He has always hated the bridle and bit, complained that it hurt his mouth; this gift is very thoughtful Estel…very thoughtful.”

“An I put da bells on…well…almost…’Westor helped too, an…an ‘Westor held my hand an I put my ‘nitials on – right ‘dere see?”

“I see, I see little one.”

“Wait…’dere’s more,” grabbing the sack Estel opened it and shook some of the contents out into his tiny hand. Asfaloth’s eyes widened in delight, for there in the child’s hand was his favorite hard sugared treat, it could only have come from the Lady Nénilya, and the horse was impressed with the circle of friends this little king had already managed to amass. Nudging the boy’s hand gently back towards his chest Asfaloth snorted then looked to Glorfindel to translate.

“Estel, I do believe he wants to share the treat with you.” The child giggled and quickly popped a piece into his mouth. Smiling at the two new friends Elladan made the pronouncement, “I think the time has come for these two to go for their ride, what say the rest of you?”

“Aye!” Glorfindel boomed. “We have waited long enough for this moment.” Reaching out his hand he continued, “Estel, come little one I will give you a hand up.” As the boy moved towards the warrior Glorfindel’s eyes grew wide, it was then that he noticed for the first time that the child had wet his pants. Now what was he to do, he wondered? He did not wish to embarrass the child in front of everyone, but he had given his word, and he could not put him aboard Asfaloth with a wet seat. Noticing Glorfindel’s distressed countenance Elrond looked into the slayer’s eyes as the warrior mouthed the words ‘he is wet’. The elf lord knew all too well what this meant, there could be no ride today; Asfaloth had already made this issue clear with Glorfindel – he would not be peed upon again, and he called Estel back to him.

“Estel…the hour grows late ion, this has been a very exciting day, and I think that Asfaloth may be tired, I am afraid we have infringed on his bed time, mayhap we should wait until the morrow for your ride.”

The El’s were just about to voice their objection when Glorfindel elbowed ‘Roh and motioned in the direction of Estel. A quick glance gave Elrohir the reason for the delay in plans, and grabbing Dan’s arm before he could speak he quietly whispered ‘wet leggings’, in his ear. The smile immediately left the elder twin’s face, as he knew this could not only be an embarrassing moment for his brother, but a serious disappointment as well. As Estel pleaded with their father that it was not too late to ride, Glorfindel whispered an explanation in Asfaloth’s ear while Elrond slowly led the now crying child away. Upon hearing the reason for the change in plans the great white horse moved quickly up the path and blocked Elrond’s passage. Each time the elf lord tried to move around him his path was further blocked. Finally, when he was sure he had his attention, the prince of horses bowed his head and lowered himself to the ground to receive Estel.

“Well,” Erestor said aloud, “it would seem that the decision has been made for you M’Lord, Estel wants to ride, and Asfaloth wants a rider.”

Smiling down at the huge animal, Elrond patted Estel on the back and acquiesced, saying, “All right little one, we shall do it today.” He lovingly positioned the child atop the horse’s back trying as best he could to arrange his little cloak so that as much of it as possible was under his bottom, Then holding Estel’s hand he bid the great horse to rise. Coming now to his full height Asfaloth waited patiently while each of the elves gave Estel some little piece of instruction. Then, as they stepped back, Glorfindel gave his faithful friend a nod and Asfaloth moved slowly and carefully up the path. Looking back at the elves, the great war horse raised his head high in the air and shook it causing the bells on his new headstall to ring. Estel was beside himself, he giggled and grinned as Glorfindel’s great mount broke into a slow canter and took him jauntily up the trail to the house. As the elves followed the boy up the path cheering him on Glorfindel turned to Erestor and said.

“Remind me to put some extra apples in his feed tonight, will you? Sometimes I forget to tell him what a truly magnificent being he is.”

“I will my love…and…” Erestor hesitated, then smiled.

“And what meleth?”

“And I will be sure to send him some of the honeysuckle soap he is so fond of…for his back.”