The Littlest Warrior

Haldir pulled on a fresh shirt while he watched Rúmil braid his hair anew. “Hurry Rúmil, the bell for supper will be sounding in a few minutes.”

“Do not worry over me brother, I am almost done…you however, still have to get Estel out of the bathing pool.”

“Estel…have you finished in there yet?”

“Almost Halli,” the child called out giggling.

“Estel…are you bathing or bubbling? I hear an awful lot of splashing going on in there.”

“I doin’ bofh Halli – honest.”

Haldir stepped to the door and took a quick peek, “Well I think you have made a pretty fair task of it, but it is time to get out now little one, we do not wish to be late for supper, and Orophin will no doubt be here in a few minutes so we must hurry.”

“A’right Halli, I comin’,” he said as he scrambled out of the shallow pool. Grabbing his drying cloth from a stool by the side of the pool, Estel covered the front of his body with it and attempted to wrap the rest of the fabric around him as he had seen his father and brothers do a thousand times. Unfortunately he was neither as coordinated or as long of reach as they were, and wound up exiting the bathing pool with the cloth clutched to his chest and his little bottom exposed to the wind. As Haldir finished dressing, Rúmil scooped Estel up, gave him a good tickle, and began drying him off.

“We must hurry little one, let us get your braises on, Halli, where did you put his hosen?”

“They are over there on the chair. Here, let me help.”

Between the two of them they dried and dressed Elrond’s little bath demon, and Haldir was patiently brushing the tangles from his hair when the second bell calling for residents to assemble for supper was rung.

“Oops, second bell Haldir…Orophin will be knocking on the door any second now, you know how much he hates being late.”

The sentence was barely past Rúmil’s lips when the knock came at the door.

Knock…Knock!

“Edro!” (open)

Opening the door only partially and leaning in to deliver his message, Orophin urged his brothers on to dinner.

“That was second bell, I hope the two of you are ready,” but before he could say another word his gaze fell upon Estel, standing between Haldir and Rúmil, holding their hands - barely knee-high to Haldir, wearing his royal blue robe and slippers with silver braided trim, with a slender mithril circlet on his neatly brushed head.

“Orophin,” Haldir started, “we would like you to meet a friend of ours…this is the Lord Estel
Elrondion…Estel, this is our little brother Orophin Hesonion, Counselor of Lothlórien…”

Estel was momentarily awe-struck. As he stood there trying to visually “get to the top” of Orophin, he realized that his head had tilted back as far as it could go and he’d only made it as far as the counselor’s chin. Normally a polite child, Estel would have said hello, but for the moment the only word that was able to escape his lips was…”Wow.”

Picking the child up so that the boy could get a better look at his brother, Rúmil continued.

“Orophin this is Estel…Haldir and I have been assigned as tirn for him while we hunt…”

Phin gave Rúmil a much practiced silencing glance anticipating that his brother was about to say too much. Haldir also heard the beginnings of “too much said” for little pitchers, and quickly jumped in to divert what would undoubtedly become an onslaught of questions.

“…for bunnies…while we hunt for bunnies. Estel and I had a hunting expedition just the other day, as a matter of fact.”

Orophin was beaming – and grinning, children were few and far between in the Elven realms, particularly in Lothlórien, and it appeared that his brothers had found a little treasure here in Imladris. “It is very nice to meet you Estel,” he said bowing slightly. “Have my brothers been taking good care of you?”

“Iss nice to meet you too O-ro-, O-ro-phin, an yeth, Halli an Wú have been taking weal good care of me…we had a lot of fun today didin’ we Halli?”

“Yes we did little one.”

Staring at Orophin, Estel’s anticipated questions began anew. “Halli, I thought you said that O-ro-phin was your liddle brudder?” “He is not liddle Halli,” the child said, correcting the March Warden’s perceptions, “he is weally big, he is bigger than you Halli, he is bigger than Ada, he is…,” the realization was only now hitting the youngster, “oh my, you are bigger than Glorfy!”

The four continued their discussion of big and little, as they made their way to the dining hall, with Estel skipping along and occasionally being swung back and forth between Haldir and Rúmil. When they finally reached the entrance to the dining hall, Haldir stopped to make sure that they were all as straight and tidy as they could be. Estel understood this procedure quite well, and surprised the three Galadhel when he proceeded to ‘arrange’ them in the hallway prior to entering the room.

“Halli is my circle on straight?”

“Yes Estel your cir-clet is straight.”

“A’right, Halli you stand here…and Wú you stand here, and O-ro, O-ro, (sigh) ‘Phin you have to stand in the back cause you are the biggest…an I will be right here cause I am the liddlest.”

“Estel?”

“Yes Halli?” he said staring up adoringly at his three companions.

“Who showed you how to do this?”

“Westor. Westor says iss always im-por-tent to make a N-trance.”

“I see,” the warden replied as he tried to stifle a laugh. “Well then, come along my brothers, this will be a first for us, we have never made an entrance before, let us be sure to do Estel proud.”

“Aww don’ worry Halli youl do just fine.”

With that, the littlest lord of Imladris turned, straightened his robes, squared his shoulders, stood as tall as he could and marched through the doors of the dining hall followed by Rúmil and then Haldir and Orophin who walked side-by-side and moved in tandem. Music was playing softly in the background, and as the four approached Lord Elrond’s table, the smiles around the room began to multiply. The sight of Estel, followed by three of the most proficiently dangerous elves in any realm was a sight to behold. Elrond was engaged in an animated conversation with Glorfindel when Erestor leaned over and whispered in his ear, drawing his attention to the new arrivals.

Gazing upon his youngest looking so grown up and in control, gave Elrond’s heart a tug, ‘It will not be long now’, he thought nostalgically, ‘soon he really will be a man and I shall have to let him go’. He felt the tears begin to well, and turned his head, blinking hard to push them back. He glanced at Erestor who seemed to be having the same problem – staving off the tears. “You have taught him well old friend, the day approaches when we shall have to…”

“Please…do not say it El…for now let us not think of what is to come…let us just enjoy our gift, our dear gift.”

“As always my friend, your counsel is wise, we still have many more days of adventure ahead of us, and we should embrace them all without thought of the end.”

The closer Estel got to the table the bigger his grin became. Finally, in the last ten feet he broke formation and ran open armed into his father’s lap joyfully calling out “Adaaaaaaa” as he went.

“How are you feeling Ada…do you feel better now?"

“I feel just fine my love, just fine.”

“I better take a look…just to make sure,” the child said seriously. Holding his father’s cheeks between his hands he slowly turned Elrond’s head from side to side looking for only he knew what. He then checked the eyes using a finger to pull down the lower lid on each, again searching for something only he could identify. “Hows you tummy?” he said as he gently patted his father on the stomach.

“My tummy is just fine; actually I am looking forward to having a wonderful meal tonight.”

“No more wumbling?”

“No more rumbling – I am fine, I promise.”

“Westor – what ‘bout you?”

“Me?” the shocked Seneschal replied.

“Yeth you, silly Westor,” he said as he leaned over and kissed the seneschal’s cheek, “I could take a look for you.”

Blushing slightly, Erestor was, after almost two years, still amazed at how freely and unabashedly this child gave his love. “That will not be necessary little nestron, I feel quite well thank you.”

“A’right Westor, no zam-in-ation this time, but you tell me if you start to feel bad…a’right?”

Erestor, whose approach to child rearing was to always treat a child’s ideas and thoughts with respect and sincerity, did not so much as crack a smile; Estel was serious, and Erestor’s response was as well.

“You shall be the first to hear of any ailments on my part.”

“Good, cause I don’ wanna have to give you any medi…medi…”

“Medicine?”

“Yeth, dat…Ada has not showed me how to make da tea yet so don’ get sick, m’kay?

Estel was taking no chances, the luncheon fiasco had frightened him more than he had let on, and he was determined to make sure that his loved ones were well. He knew that Erestor hadn’t eaten any of the tainted cabbage but as far as he was concerned one could never be too careful when it came to that green sludge.

Turning to his father Estel proceeded to introduce his entourage, “Ada you know Hal-deer the March wa’den, but do you know his brudder O-ro-phin? I know you know ‘Wú, cause you and Wú had a meeting, but do you know Phin?”

“As a matter of fact I do, we have been friends for many years…welcome to the last Homely House my friends, please join us; tolo, mado, a sogo uin mereth!” (Come, eat and drink of the feast) he said gesturing to the empty seats at his table.

“Thank you Milord Elrond.” As the three brothers took seats on the side of the table directly opposite Lord Elrond they were pleased to see the twins entering the dining hall. Approaching the dais they nodded their greeting to everyone seated nearby and each came up to their father and kissed his cheek before taking a seat.

“Good evening, how is everyone doing this eve?” Elrohir asked. As the positive responses came from around the table, the first of the servers entered the room bring tray after tray of food. Setting the first bowls and platters on the table the cooks watched as appreciative smiles acknowledged their culinary efforts. More and more residents began to filter into the hall, each nodding their greeting to Lord Elrond’s seat, as the tables were laid with food. Within minutes, the hall, with the exception of the boards (tables) designated for the warriors, was almost completely filled. Bowls of steaming food were passed around and Erestor carefully filled Estel’s plate with all of his favorite things; sliced roast chicken, green peas, his special ‘cloud’ potatoes and gravy, and on a side plate a hot buttered roll and a slice of spring melon. Sitting between his father and Erestor, Estel smiled a big smile across the table at his new friends, and cautioned them about eating too much.

“Don’ eat too much Halli, make sure you leave room for dessert, Lady Nilya made us booberry pie, do you like booberries Halli?”

“I love blueberries Estel, they are one of my favorites…”

“One of mine as well,” Orophin added, "Haldir makes a pretty fair blueberry pie himself, he used to make it for us all the time when we were younger.”

“That is right…I had almost forgotten that,” Rúmil offered, “why ever did you stop making them Halli, as I recall they were quite good.”

“The best,” Phin added.

“Well…” the warden began, “I stopped making them right after the two of you got into the larder and ate an entire basket of uncooked berries. When I found them they were covered in berry juice – little mouths ringed in blue, blue fingers, blue tongues - they were sick for three days afterwards and it took me weeks to get the stain out of their hair.”

This revelation sent up a howl of laughter and jokes around the table with the twins leading the charge.

“I wouldn’t laugh so hard if I were you,” Erestor scolded laughingly, “as memory serves, the two of you had a similar escapade with near disastrous results, Elrond exactly how many hours did it take you to get those berries out of Elrohir’s ears?”

“Not long…not nearly as long as it took to get them out of Elladan’s nose.” Finally silencing the twins’ jibes, the meal continued in companionable conversation and an exchange of news from the two realms. It had been sixty years since the wardens from Lórien had visited and there was a lot of catching up to do. As Elrohir regaled the dinner party with old tales of Rúmil’s forays into the land of romantic encounters, laughter once again circled the table. It was a much-needed change from the seriousness that launched their week, and the elves welcomed the levity. Although Estel loved to listen to the grown-ups he loved it even more when they allowed him to participate in their chats, and the child chose this moment to add his newly acquired information to the mix.

“Da ellith like Halli too!” Estel quipped as he nodded assuredly.

“Really, how do you know this Estel?” queried a mischievous Glorfindel.

“I heard ‘dem say so,” the little one replied with a smile.

“Now Estel…” Elrond admonished, “you know it is not nice to repeat things that you hear…especially if you heard a private conversation.”

“Now Ada, started Elrohir mischievously, “let him speak…if someone said something nice about our friend Haldir…it was something nice, right Estel?

“Yeth…I t’ink so.”

“And if they said it loud enough for Estel to hear…” Elladan continued, “and of course if he was not eavesdropping…you were not eavesdropping were you Estel?”

“Whas eaves, eaves..”

“Eavesdropping – it means if you were hiding and listening to a conversation.”

“Oh no…I wassen hiding Dan, honest, I was standing right dere in da door in front of ev’vabody when Perwaen said Halli was hebenly.”

“Whoa-oh! Heavenly? She said our Haldir is heavenly?” Elladan continued teasingly.

Haldir shook his head helplessly, covered his face with his hand, and hung his head while Estel prattled on.

“Uh-huh, and dweamy; I asked Linwë what dat means and he said it means she likes the way Halli looks…and I asked if she likes da way we look and he said yeth, but she likes the way Halli looks in a special way. Is it not nice to be special Ada? Linwë said it means she likes Halli…she likes us too, but it means Halli is special an…where is Linwë Ada? All da warriors are gone…where did dey go Ada?”

“All right little one, that is enough revelation for one evening…I am sure we all agree that Haldir is special…”

“Oh and let us not forget ‘dweamy’ Elrohir chided as he tilted his head and batted his lashes at his long time friend. The March warden was just about send back a zinger of his own when the doors to the dining hall opened and a contingent of 20 new arrivals entered.

“Look Ada!” Estel called out. As the child pointed towards the doorway, diners in the hall slowly stopped eating and began to get to their feet. The arrivals moved further into the hall and it became apparent that they were dirty and sweaty, the dust from the trail covering their clothes and boots. When the last one entered the hall, scattered applause began on the fringes of the room, applause that built to a crescendo, accompanied by shouts of praise and appreciation. The last few days had been rough ones and word had spread quickly throughout Imladris of the attacks and the impending danger to all in the house. When the patrols were sent out to warn kings Thranduil and Thengel and to retrieve the outpost sentries, many prayers were sent along with them. Now they were back, they were home, dirty, weary, and hungry – but home nonetheless.

“Look Ada…” Estel cried, “Da Warriors!”