How Faye Met Endis

It began in the late hours of a rainy spring night. A soft, damp breeze whispered down the stable aisles, flickering the tiny flames of the two oil lamps which burned quietly at the stall door of a laboring white mare. Dozing underneath the lamps, their backs resting against a bale of straw, were two she-Elves. The scene gave the impression that the she-Elves were waiting for the mare within to do what she was doing right underneath their noses. It seemed as though the she-Elves were going to miss witnessing the event that both had been eagerly anticipating for weeks.

Luckily for the Lady Celebrían and her daughter Arwen, there was a third pair of eyes watching on this night. Several horses in the other stalls in the stables stirred slightly as another woman appeared, a third lamp in her hand. After studying the new arrival for a moment, most of the horses lost interest, and the Lady Faye continued down the aisle as quietly as she had entered.

This was a great and long-fought-for change in the horses of Rivendell. For many centuries, the generations of horses that had lived in the Valley had shown fear and hostility towards Faye when she was near them. Though no unclaimed horse had yet been found that could tolerate Faye upon their backs for longer than a few minutes, the last few decades had seen the horses finally grow accustomed to Faye’s presence. No longer did they snort, throw their heads, or paw the ground when she was nearby. A fair many had progressed to allowing her to pet and handle them.

However, at that time, only a handful of horses could accept Faye upon their backs without succumbing to fits, and those were already claimed by other owners.

Faye approached the dozing she-Elves, smiling as she realized that both were asleep. Silently setting the lamp on the ground, she stepped around them and peered over the stall door. It took a great deal of effort to suppress a snort of laughter.

“You were just waiting for them to fall asleep, weren’t you?” she said softly.

“What are you doing out here, Faye?” came a soft, groggy voice. Faye turned to see that Celebrían had awakened. “I thought you were staying up at the house tonight.”

“It is a good thing I did not,” Faye replied with a wide smile. “You two were just about to sleep right through Saiya’s birth.”

If Celebrían had been groggy before, it quickly vanished. In moments, the she-Elf was on her feet and standing at Faye’s side, looking down at her sweaty, straining mare. The new foal’s front legs and head were already out. Arwen, who had been awakened by Celebrían’s movement, settled an arm around her mother’s waist, her delight shining on her face.

“You can do it, Saiya,” she said encouragingly. “Push!”

In response, the mare groaned and thrashed her legs, and another few inches of the baby appeared. Celebrían opened the stall door and entered, kneeling at her mare’s side and rubbing her hands over the swollen belly.

“Arwen, come and help Saiya move the foal,” she said. “If we can straighten him out a bit, it will make it more comfortable for her.”

“How do you know it is a colt?” Arwen asked, and as she stepped around the door, Faye closed it behind her.

“I do not,” Celebrían replied with a laugh. “I am just guessing. We will know in a few minutes.”

Faye smiled privately, understanding the interest in the sex of the baby. Celebrían had promised several months before that if the baby was a filly, it would become the replacement for Arwen’s aging mare. However, if it ended up being a colt, it would be Celebrían’s to eventually sell.

A sudden flicker of lamplight from the next aisle over caught Faye’s attention, and she quietly took her leave of Celebrían and Arwen to see who else was in the stable. She found a stablehand and a guard standing in front of a smaller stall, gazing within at the occupant. The guard nodded at her as she approached.

“Is Saiya giving birth?” he asked.

“Yes,” Faye replied, realizing that Saiya was not the only mare laboring on this night. “And who is this in here?”

“A broodmare from the upper pastures,” the stablehand replied, gesturing to the chestnut mare within. This birth had finished, and the young foal was already trying to scramble to its feet. “I was just about to check the foal.”

But at that moment, the struggling newborn fell over onto its back, displaying its little self to the observing Elves. The stablehand and the guard laughed warmly.

“Never mind, then,” the stablehand said. “It is a little colt. Well done, Allyla.”

Her curiosity satisfied, Faye turned and headed back towards Saiya’s stall, arriving just in time to hear Arwen’s laugh of delight.

“Let me guess,” Faye said, watching as Arwen started drying the dark grey foal with a soft towel. “A filly?”

“Yes,” Arwen replied. “And I already have a name for her.” She stroked the filly’s head, laughing as it tried to suck on her fingers. “She will be called Rokka.”

* * * * * *

As the next few months passed, the attitudes of the newborn foals became much clearer. Rokka, who had received almost daily handling by Arwen and Celebrían from the start, was very playful and friendly. She learned how to lead by halter with fairly little effort, and seemed to love attention from every source, whether familiar or a complete stranger, or even Faye.

The colt, on the other hand, had quickly proved to be far more than a handful. At first, he had astonished the stablehands, for his appearance gave no bearing to his simple parentage. He was a glorious dark bay, and his movements were strong and proud. But his attitude was nothing short of nasty. For the first several months of his life, he had refused to allow anyone to touch him, and he had thrown angry fits when being halter-trained. Among the other colts of the season, he was the most dominant. The rest of them had soon shown clear evidence of this on the cuts and scratches that marred their hides.

It was Arwen that named the fierce young colt. It was a warm, humid morning, and activity in the stables had been rather rushed in an effort to complete the daily tasks before the full heat of the day set in. One of the last tasks was to test Faye with Allyla, the mother of the colt. The old broodmare had, at first, been a promising prospect due to her astonishing patience with her imperious son and her general tolerance of just about anything. But as it turned out, Allyla’s tolerance could not be stretched so far. After thirty seconds of wild bucking, the mare pitched Faye head-over-heels onto the ground and bolted to where Arwen and Celebrían were standing with Saiya and Rokka.

“I guess she will just have to stay a broodmare,” Arwen said, sighing as she patted Allyla’s sweaty neck. “But it was a fair try.” Arwen glanced around, her eyesight scanning the small crowd that had gathered to watch Faye’s most recent effort. “Who has her colt?”

“The colt is up there,” Faye replied, having approached while Arwen was searching. She pointed to a grassy hill further down the Valley, where the small form of the colt could be seen. “I heard the stablehands say that he didn’t want to follow his mother.”

“That colt is going to be a hard one to break when he gets old enough,” Celebrían commented. “Does he yet have a name?”

“Not yet, Milady,” said the stablehand that had just appeared to take Allyla. “We have not yet thought of one.”

Arwen, who had just plucked a long piece of yellowed grass from Faye’s hair, suddenly smiled.

“I know,” she said brightly. “Call him Endis.”

“Endis, Milady?” the stablehand asked.

“Yes, from ‘end this’,” Arwen explained. “Remember, Faye? You used to shout that all the time when we first tried to teach you to ride. ‘End this! End this!’”

Though the explanation had earned Arwen a scowl of annoyance from Faye, and laughter from everyone else amused by the friendly jibe, the suggested name stuck. It was not long before the whole Valley knew the colt as Endis.

* * * * * *

It was almost six years later before Endis finally proved himself valuable, and that was barely in time to save his life.

The six years had not passed smoothly for the horse trainers of Rivendell. Their expectations at seeing Endis stand at stud due to his beautiful stature and form were quickly dashed as he reached adulthood, and his temper swings grew dangerously unpredictable. The decision was eventually made to have him gelded in hopes of curbing the behaviors—such as biting, striking, and wild stall pacing—that had been attributed to him being a stallion. And for a while, it seemed as though that had done the trick. He soon stopped trying to bite and kick at every other horse that passed his stall, and his handling manners improved.

Once Endis had finally been broke to ride, he was assigned to a scout and sent to patrol the outer borders of the Valley. A journeyman passing through the area at the time had discovered Endis grazing alone two days later, and had found the scout soon afterwards suffering from a badly broken leg. To general surprise and disbelief, the scout reported having been viciously kicked by the gelding after attempting to doctor a small cut on his rump.

Several other guards and scouts tried their hands at Endis as time passed. But though none had been as badly hurt as the first scout, all had eventually been thrown, or kicked at, or bitten by the angry gelding. And none of the trainers or stablehands could figure out why, and nor could they find a way to control Endis’s wild temperament.

The answer to those questions came with Lord Elrond. On a cool spring day about a month after Endis’s last owner had suffered a mild concussion from being thrown onto hard cobblestone, the Elf-lord himself came to determine the gelding’s fate.

“I saw what happened between him and Azulir that day,” Elrond said. “I believe Endis has a dominance issue. He fights back against anything he does not want to do, and refuses to let any rider tell him otherwise. My old stallion Beonin did that as well.”

“But Beonin was a wonderful horse,” Glorfindel, who had accompanied him to the stables along with Elladan and Elrohir, said. “He respected and loved you. And he was nothing if not gentle when you had Arwen riding him.”

“Respect is what is missing here,” Elrond replied. “Endis has no respect for us. He tolerates riders only until he loses interest. Teach him that, and I believe he will become an excellent horse.”

To prove his point, Elrond had Endis saddled and brought out to the training field. They were met there by Faye, Arwen, and Rokka. Rokka, unlike Endis, had lived up to her expectations, and had been Arwen’s loyal mount for years.

“Ada, are you sure that is safe?” Arwen asked nervously as Elrond boosted himself onto Endis’s back.

“I will be fine, my Evenstar,” Elrond replied. “I am only going to test him.”

There was nervous silence as Elrond took Endis out around the field at a steady trot. Faye, who was standing with Arwen, furrowed her brow in unease. She had also seen the gelding act up before, and did not wish such a fate to befall Elrond.

And sure enough, after about ten minutes, Endis appeared to lose interest in the exercises Elrond was putting him through. He deliberately pulled up from the canter, and threw his head when Elrond checked him, rearing up slightly. When Elrond tried to pull him back, he twisted sideways, almost unseating the Elf-lord.

“Be careful, Ada!” Arwen cried, but it was too late.

Feeling Elrond’s momentary unsteadiness, Endis jumped forward and gave a powerful kick. The great Elf-lord was dumped unceremoniously onto the ground, unharmed but very grim as he regained his feet.

“Endis is much worse than Beonin was,” he said, settling a comforting hand on his anxious daughter’s shoulder. “It could take years to break him of this. I do not think we can afford that kind of time, effort, and risk.”

Faye had been reassured to Elrond’s health much more quickly than Arwen, and was no longer paying attention to the Elf-lord’s words. She was staring intently at the gelding, watching him lazily graze near where he had thrown Elrond. Endis paused when Faye took a few steps toward him.

“Faye, do you think you can catch him?” Glorfindel asked. “That, at least, Endis does without too much fuss.”

“He let me catch him when he threw Azulir,” Faye replied, still approaching the gelding. Endis pressed his ears back, but did not move as Faye grasped his reins. “Are you sure there is no hope for him?”

“Not unless you think you can ride him,” Elrond said. “Otherwise, he might just have to be. . .”

Faye was not fond of horses, so why she was suddenly struck with the urge to attempt a ride on Endis, nobody would ever figure out. However, before Elrond could finish his sentence, Faye had grasped the saddle and pulled herself up, much to the shock and surprise of everyone else. Endis snorted loudly and stomped his foot, clearly irritated. Faye settled herself into the saddle, turning to gaze at Elrond and Glorfindel, who were both staring at her in stunned silence. Arwen was gaping in shock, and even Rokka seemed surprised.

“That. . .” Glorfindel began, hesitating. “That. . .is a good start, Faye.”

Faye grinned slightly, then turned and focused her attention on the gelding. When she tightened her grip on the reins, Endis popped his lips and pawed the ground. When she attempted to check him, Endis threw his head and started off at a fast trot. For a moment, she was unsteady, but was able to recover herself before the gelding could take advantage of it.

“Woah, Endis,” she hissed, pulling on the reins. “Steady.”

And though the horse gave a loud snort, to Faye’s utter amazement the gelding obeyed. As he slowed to a softer trot, she heard Arwen’s whoop of joy, and Elrond’s delighted laugh.

“This is very promising,” she heard him say. “Endis is not the slightest bit afraid of having Faye on his back.”

“He is acting no more unruly than usual,” Glorfindel agreed.

Faye was slightly distracted by listening, and so could not react as Endis abruptly halted. She was thrown forward onto his neck, and then onto the ground when the horse ducked his head. Faye growled, angry at the horse for upsetting her one moment of triumph. Endis pulled his reins from her hand and bolted off across the clearing, tail flat over his back.

“Faye, are you hurt?” Arwen asked worriedly as Faye raised herself to her feet.

“I am fine, my child,” she said gruffly. She turned to Elrond and Glorfindel, and abruptly made her decision. “I will take him, my Lords.”

And before either Elrond or Glorfindel could reply, Faye ran off in pursuit of the stubborn gelding.

* * * * * *

Though it took several hours—and a chase that brought them as far as the Bruinen itself—Faye was able to recapture Endis and ride him back to Rivendell. And from then on, the wild bay gelding officially belonged to her.

Faye was able to teach the gelding what nobody else had yet been able to do—respect. The same presence that caused the other horses to fear her also served to tame Endis’s rebellious streak. And once it had become clear that the pairing of Faye and Endis was going to work out, she was finally able to complete the last riding lessons that had been put on hold for centuries.

And as Endis started coming around, so did Faye. The gelding taught her the true delights of owning a horse. The first time she and Arwen went trail riding up into the mountains was one of the fondest memories she possessed. And the simple act of grooming and caring for Endis had its pleasures as well, though it still served to show that their relationship was not completely perfect.

On the cool, cloudless evening prior to the soon-to-prove eventful journey to Lórien, Faye and Arwen were with Endis in his stall, checking his feet while he was distracted by the bucket of feed Arwen had brought. Faye was kneeling beside him, picking clumps of hard dirt from around the frog of his left hind foot, while Arwen braided his long black tail.

“He seems to be ready,” Faye said after a moment, straightening up and resting a hand on Endis’s back. “In perfect health, as far as I can tell.”

“He is a very handsome boy,” Arwen commented, finishing the braid and securing it with a piece of rough twine. “I am sure he will do just fine.” She walked around him and put her arms around Faye’s waist. Faye returned the embrace with a smile. “You have done wonderful work with him, Faye. I didn’t think it was ever going to happen, but you finally have a good friend in a horse.”

Arwen released her and headed towards the stall door. Endis glanced at her as she passed by, snorting softly but not removing his head from the bucket of feed. Faye moved to follow, but at that moment, Endis abruptly whipped his newly braided tail around, smacking her squarely on the backside with the twine-wrapped tip. She let out a small yelp of surprise, and Arwen burst out laughing.

“Oh, yes,” Faye said with a scowl, glaring at Endis as she rubbed her smarting backside. Endis raised his head and looked at her, amusement clear on his face.

The gelding abruptly turned and pressed his nose against Faye’s hand, drawing another laugh from Arwen and a glare from Faye. Faye sighed and rolled her eyes, obligingly scratching the gelding behind his ears.

“We’re the absolute best of friends.”

The End.