Disclaimer: I borrow characters and settings from Tolkien but they belong
to him. I gain no profit from their use other than the enriched
imaginative life that I assume he intended me to gain.
Many thanks to Nilmandra for beta reading this chapter.
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2. Battles
With Gelmir's and my help, Legolas and his friends soon had tunnels with holes through which they were popping their heads like chattering squirrels. I could not resist making my own tunnel too, which I did connect to Legolas's, and I saw Gelmir grin at me and start hollowing out his own safe haven in the snow. It had been a long time since either one of us had surprised a passer-by on this path.
"Make your snowballs ahead of time and store them in your tunnels for when a target comes along the path," I instructed the elfings. They nodded excitedly and began piling snowballs into their dens. "Get ready now. Gelmir and I will watch for targets." With much giggling, they scrambled into their tunnels. "Remember that you have to be quiet," I called.
"We will," Annael answered. He and Turgon had connected their tunnels too. There was no chance they would be quiet.
I slithered into my own tunnel and put my head out just enough to see the path. Off to my left, I could just see the top of Gelmir's dark head. He was still mumbling admonitions to Turgon and Annael, whose tunnels were near his. Legolas crept next to me, and I could feel him quivering with anticipation. A movement on the path caught my eye, and two little ellyth, about the same age as Legolas and his friends, walked sedately into sight. I smiled with satisfaction; I had not played this game for years but I still knew a juicy target when I saw one. I drew my head down to face my excited little brother. "Miriwen and Aerlinn are coming."
His eyes grew huge, and he scuttled back into position in his own tunnel. I was too old to enjoy throwing snowballs at small ellyth, but I was not too old to enjoy watching my brother and his friends do it, so I once again peeked out to see what was happening. To their credit, the elflings waited until the ellyth were well within range before they began hurling snowballs at them. Predictably, Turgon broke first and flung a missile that hit Aerlinn on the shoulder. All the work we had done to create hiding places immediately went for naught though, because the three of them then screeched at the tops of their lungs as they attacked.
The ellyth spun toward them and, taking only a second to recover from the shock and spot the heads darting in and out of sight, they grabbed handfuls of snow and tried to defend themselves. They really had no chance, however. There was nothing wrong with their aim or their arms, but they were exposed and Legolas and his friends were well sheltered. The ellyth were powdered from head to foot with snow and the elflings were untouched when Miriwen finally cried, "Oh, leave the stupid things," and the two of them turned and ran.
The elflings exploded from their tunnels into the space under the trees, whooping with glee and triumph. "Victory!" cried Turgon, jumping around with his arms over his head. I am ashamed to say that both Gelmir and I were laughing so hard that we had to lean against trees to keep from falling down.
"You need more snowballs now," I finally managed to gasp, and the three of them set to work with a will. They plainly enjoyed this game, just as Gelmir and I had always done. I had a sudden vision of an occasion or two when the game had concluded with an adult telling us off in no uncertain terms, but I decided not to mention that. Legolas was having much too much fun, and in truth, so was I.
We were not yet back in our tunnels when Gelmir suddenly hissed, "Someone is coming." We all ducked down behind the drift and watched the path as a couple emerged walking along it hand in hand. It was Annael's parents.
Turgon started to edge toward his tunnel, but Annael was plainly torn, and Legolas grabbed my arm pleadingly. "It is Annael's nana," he whispered urgently. I looked at his troubled little face. For Legolas, almost anyone's nana was untouchable just now, and I strongly suspected that Annael's nana in particular was dear to his heart. I reached around him and caught Turgon by the hood.
"No," I said firmly. "They get a pass."
Turgon let out a squawk of protest that made Annael's parents turn their heads toward us. Annael and Legolas both jumped up and waved. "Hello, Nana! Hello, Ada!" Annael cried.
The two of them smiled benevolently as the rest of us ducked out of sight. "Hello, sweetling," called Annael's mother. "Hello, Legolas dear. Are you both having a good time playing in the snow?"
"Yes, we are," Annael assured her, beaming.
"That is nice," his father called. There was a pause as his parents presumably walked out of sight, and then he and Legolas dropped down to where the rest of us were. Legolas had a silly smile on his face that made me laugh.
"Back to your tunnels to wait," I ordered, "and this time be quiet." We all crept back into hiding with our renewed supply of snowballs. Again, I stuck my head out to keep watch, and this time, the elflings were reasonably quiet, having apparently spent some of their excitement in the attack on the ellyth. This path had always been busy, and I did not have to wait long before another Elf came into sight. It was Legolas's tutor, Galeril.
I drew back and looked at Legolas. "Is someone coming?" he asked in muted excitement.
I nodded. "It is Galeril."
Legolas gasped. "He made me stay late today," he breathed, righteous fire plainly flaring in his breast. He started back toward his own tunnel. I thought fleetingly about Nimloth's admonition that he was not to get into trouble, and I knew what I had to do.
"Wait!" I told him firmly, grasping his arm. "Let me do this." I took a snowball in each hand, backed out of my tunnel, and then doubled over and ran along behind the drift toward Galeril until I was away from the tunnels. I did not have time to consider my actions because I needed to launch an assault before any of the elflings could do it, so I waited until Galeril was just past me and then jumped up and threw a snowball that hit him in the back of the head.
With a gasp, he spun toward where I had risen and now stood in plain sight. "Galeril," I called, "are you all right? How unfortunate that snow fell off a branch just then!" He eyed the nearest branch, a good five feet from the path. A sudden giggle drew both of our attentions and I turned to see Legolas peeking out of the hole in his tunnel, his face pink with suppressed glee.
"Unfortunate indeed," said Galeril dryly. And suddenly he laughed. "Are you happy that Eilian is home, Legolas?" he called, and Legolas nodded wordlessly. "Good. You will be ready to work hard tomorrow, will you not?" Legolas nodded again, less enthusiastically this time. "I will see you then, elfling," he called and went on his way, smiling to himself. From the corner of my eye, I saw Gelmir's hand reach out and grab Turgon's wrist as it raised a snowball from behind the line of drifts.
I ran back to the tunnels to find Gelmir shoving Turgon back into his. He grinned at me. "Galeril was your tutor too, was he not?" I grinned back and nodded and then crept into my own tunnel where Legolas was waiting for me.
"Thank you," he said, looking deeply satisfied.
I ruffled his hair. "What are brothers for?" We settled down to wait for more prey. The afternoon was waning, so classes were ending on the warrior training fields. Thus I was not surprised that the next person to come along was one of the novice masters on his way home. For a second, I stared at the Elf, desire to fling a snowball warring with fear and good sense.
Legolas tugged on my cloak and I dropped down to face him, breathing hard. "Who is it?" he whispered.
"Maldor."
"Who is that?"
"He is one of the novice masters. He taught me unarmed combat when I was a novice," I answered. And did it mighty roughly too, I did not add. I had hated Maldor on sight and was in trouble because of it on a regular basis during my entire time as a novice.
"So he was like your tutor?" Legolas asked, trying to clarify matters. He was evidently confused by my inaction. I nodded. Legolas did not even pause. "Let me do this," he said grandly and slid into this own tunnel before I could stop him.
I looked after him in horror. Legolas was only too likely to be a novice himself one of these days. I could not fit in Legolas's tunnel and looked out of mine just in time to see Legolas loose a snowball that caught the unarmed combat master full in the face.
Maldor spun to face the direction from which the attack had come and I ducked down and stayed down, but Legolas apparently had more nerve, for the unarmed combat master's voice said, "It is young Legolas, I see."
"Mae govannen, Maldor," said Legolas politely, making me snort with laughter despite myself.
There was a pause. "Is Eilian with you?" Maldor asked. He had always had unfortunately acute hearing.
"Yes, he is right here," Legolas answered. I reminded myself to have a little talk with him later about the need for warriors to keep one another's presence hidden from the enemy.
"Tell Eilian he should come to the training fields while he is home on leave," Maldor's voice continued. "I am always happy to provide more lessons for our warriors."
"I will," piped Legolas and a second later he was beside me. "Maldor says you should come and have more lessons," he said.
I smiled at him weakly. "Thank you, brat."
He nodded and patted my hair. "What are brothers for?" he asked.
Maldor apparently went on his way with no further attacks. I had seen no one else looking out of their tunnel. Gelmir was probably cowering in his den with Turgon and Annael to protect him, I thought in disgust. Maldor had once broken Gelmir's nose during a training session.
"We have to go home soon," I told Legolas. "It is getting late."
"Just a few more minutes," he pleaded. I seldom could resist Legolas's pleas in any case and could not bear to end his good time just yet. So I nodded and popped back up to watch again. The traffic on the path was likely to dwindle now, for anyone on it would be going home late. I was just about ready to give up the hunt when two tall figures approached. With a thrill of apprehension, I recognized my father and older brother. I ducked down.
"It is Ada and Ithilden," I told Legolas, whose eyes grew huge. We stared at one another for a moment and then simultaneously grabbed for snowballs. "Now," I cried and burst from my hiding place as Legolas popped up beside me from his. In a coordinated attack that would have made any warrior captain proud, we let our snowballs fly at the same instant. Mine struck Ithilden in the stomach and, a second later, Legolas's caught our father's left arm.
Annael and Turgon now popped up and threw their snowballs too, although I noticed that Gelmir was still conspicuously absent. My father and Ithilden dodged, narrowly escaping being hit a second time. They looked at us and then at one another. Suddenly I realized that Legolas and I had both forgotten to duck back into our shelters. I dropped down and reached my arm through the opening into Legolas's tunnel to grope for a hold on him and pull him down too, but it was too late. Before I lost sight of Ithilden and our father, I saw them both seize handfuls of snow and come running across the drifts toward us, howling war cries as they ran.
A hand reached into my tunnel, caught hold of my ankle, and gave a hard yank. I skidded along the slippery tube, unable to get hold of anything to stop myself from sliding out, face down, onto the ground with Ithilden on my back reaching around to shove a handful of snow into my face. I twisted my head and failed to avoid the snow but did catch a glimpse of Adar gently tossing a loose snowball at Legolas's back. My little brother was shrieking with glee as Adar caught him around the waist and swung him into the air.
Then Ithilden pushed my head sideways into the snow, filling my ear with it, and I went back to trying to get him off me. Ithilden is quite a bit bigger than I am and, squirm as I might, I could not dislodge him. Turgon was dancing around near us, throwing snowballs at my brother, but Ithilden was laughing like a maniac and responded by pushing another handful of snow down the back of my tunic. I had seen him in battle so I knew how ruthless he could be, but I was still surprised. I gave what I hoped was a pitiful wail. "I surrender!"
Ithilden pushed my face down into the snow one last time and then got off me and reached a hand to help me up. Being pinned by Ithilden does tend to knock the breath out of a person, so I was still dazed and let him pull me to my feet. He was grinning happily. Off to the side, I could see Gelmir standing with a sheepish look on his face. I threw him a disgusted glare, and he shrugged apologetically.
I looked over at where Adar had Legolas under one arm and Annael under the other. He held them both upside down over a deep snow bank. "What do you think?" he asked Ithilden. "Shall I drop them?"
"No, Ada!" Legolas squealed. He and Annael were both giggling, so I did not think they were too frightened of whatever Adar was threatening them with.
Ithilden grinned. "They seem repentant. Perhaps you should be merciful."
Adar laughed and set the two elflings down on their feet again. He looked over his shoulder. "Gelmir," he called, making my friend jump.
"Yes, my lord?"
"It grows late. Can you see to it that Turgon and Annael get home safely?"
"Of course." Gelmir hurried to obey, catching at Turgon's cloak and beckoning to Annael. I smothered a grin. My father and Ithilden each made Gelmir nervous and having them both here was rattling him. He shepherded his charges onto the path and led them away.
"Can we do this again tomorrow?" I could hear Turgon asking as they disappeared.
Adar took Legolas's hand. "Come, my heart, we will get you home and into dry clothes and see if we can find you something hot to drink in front of the fire." Hand in hand, the two of them started toward the path, with Adar shortening his usual long stride and Legolas skipped happily along beside him.
"Galeril came by, Adar, and Eilian threw a snowball at him for me, and then I threw one at Eilian's novice tutor. What was his name, Eilian?" He looked back to where Ithilden and I were walking along together. Our father's gaze was turned back onto me too, although it was now dusky enough that I could not see his expression very clearly.
"Maldor," I provided a little weakly. Next to me, Ithilden gave a small snort.
There was a moment's silence. Finally, Adar looked down at Legolas. "I think that the next time you throw snowballs, you should find someone who wants to throw them back at you. That would be more fun anyway. Galeril and Maldor should be able to walk the path without having snowballs thrown at them. Do you not agree?"
Legolas sighed. "Yes, but I had a very good time, Ada. Eilian is good at playing."
We had come to the entrance to the palace and, in the light of the newly lit torches, I could see Adar smiling. "Eilian has always been good at playing," he said and glanced back at me again. And this time, I was surprised to see something like gratitude in his face. He led Legolas off to help him into dry clothes, and I went to my own chamber to soak in a hot tub and then dress for evening meal.
When I entered the sitting room for a glass of wine before the meal, I found Adar in his big chair near the fire, with Legolas in his lap already dressed in night clothes. Legolas was clutching the raggedy blanket that he slept with, and Adar was helping him eat from a plate of bread and cold meat.
"Are you not going to eat evening meal with us, brat?" I asked.
Legolas shook his head. "I am too sleepy," he announced, and I could see that for myself. The look in his eyes was already vague, and he had leaned his head on Adar's chest, as if he could barely hold it up.
I looked at our father. "Shall I put him to bed for you, Adar?"
He shook his head. "I will do it. I have told the servants to delay evening meal a little." He set the plate aside and then rose and left the room with Legolas in his arms. Ithilden came in just then, and we sat by the fire warming ourselves with it and the wine. At length, Adar returned and we both stood.
To my surprise, he came directly to me and embraced me. He drew back and looked at me, seemingly amused by my confusion. "Legolas had a good day today, Eilian, and I thank you for that. Sometimes I forget that a gift for play is one to be treasured too. Your naneth told me that often enough that I cannot understand why I do not remember it more often."
Unexpected tears stung my eyes and I blinked them away. "I had a good day today, too, Adar. And I thank Legolas for that." He smiled and put his arm around my shoulders and we went in to evening meal.
The End
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Joee1: I'm glad you liked it. I have to admit that I enjoy writing the cute elfling stuff sometimes. I get tired of writing about disemboweling Orcs.
Angaloth: It took me a while to get used to writing this way too! I kept wanting to jump around and talk about the other characters and speak really formally and Eilian is just not the formal type. Cute is good.
Frodo3791: I'm glad you like this fluffier story, Frodo. This is just family playing together and it's exactly what they all needed too!
Alice: If you think it was weird at first reading in the first person, you should have seen what it was like for me writing in the first person! I stared at my blank computer screen and said "Wait! How do I do this?" And you see how Adar reacted. I'm not sure he was pleased at what Eilian taught Legolas, but he was sure pleased by how happy Legolas was.
Socket: Thank you! I missed writing about little Legolas too. This story is done, I'm afraid, and now I think I have to go back to more serious stuff. But little Legolas is always there where I need to go back to him. Not like in real life!
Firnsarnien: I don't think I could sustain the first person longer than two chapters! I only tried this because I knew the story would be short. I hope the snow tunnels provided just as much entertainment as you thought they might.
Lamiel: I wanted to experiment with first person POV and it seemed easier to do it in a short elfling story than in some of the more complicated plot lines I have on my list of stories to do. Eilian is pretty young by elven standards. He'd be about 70 or so, which means he's of age but not by much. Tolkien says some elves don't reach their adult appearance until they're 100. And as you say, he's slow to mature. Eilian and Turgon in combination is a frightening thought.
Dy: I don't know the song but the title alone is so cute! Little Legolas is a sweetie and is fun to write about.
Farflung: Your review was positively poetic, Farflung, and I enjoyed it shamelessly. I'm afraid Eilian really thinks that ignoring his problems is the best way to deal with them. Sigh. One of the things first person POV let me do was highlight a little more how vulnerable Eilian is to the disapproval he expects from his father and Ithilden. He looks carefree and he certainly invites trouble, but he's still stung by their disapproval. So Legolas's unconditional love is something he really treasures. And as you can see, the five snow tunnelers did get into some mischief here, but I laughed myself silly writing this and I firmly believe that Thranduil and Ithilden laughed about it too.
Many thanks to Nilmandra for beta reading this chapter.
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2. Battles
With Gelmir's and my help, Legolas and his friends soon had tunnels with holes through which they were popping their heads like chattering squirrels. I could not resist making my own tunnel too, which I did connect to Legolas's, and I saw Gelmir grin at me and start hollowing out his own safe haven in the snow. It had been a long time since either one of us had surprised a passer-by on this path.
"Make your snowballs ahead of time and store them in your tunnels for when a target comes along the path," I instructed the elfings. They nodded excitedly and began piling snowballs into their dens. "Get ready now. Gelmir and I will watch for targets." With much giggling, they scrambled into their tunnels. "Remember that you have to be quiet," I called.
"We will," Annael answered. He and Turgon had connected their tunnels too. There was no chance they would be quiet.
I slithered into my own tunnel and put my head out just enough to see the path. Off to my left, I could just see the top of Gelmir's dark head. He was still mumbling admonitions to Turgon and Annael, whose tunnels were near his. Legolas crept next to me, and I could feel him quivering with anticipation. A movement on the path caught my eye, and two little ellyth, about the same age as Legolas and his friends, walked sedately into sight. I smiled with satisfaction; I had not played this game for years but I still knew a juicy target when I saw one. I drew my head down to face my excited little brother. "Miriwen and Aerlinn are coming."
His eyes grew huge, and he scuttled back into position in his own tunnel. I was too old to enjoy throwing snowballs at small ellyth, but I was not too old to enjoy watching my brother and his friends do it, so I once again peeked out to see what was happening. To their credit, the elflings waited until the ellyth were well within range before they began hurling snowballs at them. Predictably, Turgon broke first and flung a missile that hit Aerlinn on the shoulder. All the work we had done to create hiding places immediately went for naught though, because the three of them then screeched at the tops of their lungs as they attacked.
The ellyth spun toward them and, taking only a second to recover from the shock and spot the heads darting in and out of sight, they grabbed handfuls of snow and tried to defend themselves. They really had no chance, however. There was nothing wrong with their aim or their arms, but they were exposed and Legolas and his friends were well sheltered. The ellyth were powdered from head to foot with snow and the elflings were untouched when Miriwen finally cried, "Oh, leave the stupid things," and the two of them turned and ran.
The elflings exploded from their tunnels into the space under the trees, whooping with glee and triumph. "Victory!" cried Turgon, jumping around with his arms over his head. I am ashamed to say that both Gelmir and I were laughing so hard that we had to lean against trees to keep from falling down.
"You need more snowballs now," I finally managed to gasp, and the three of them set to work with a will. They plainly enjoyed this game, just as Gelmir and I had always done. I had a sudden vision of an occasion or two when the game had concluded with an adult telling us off in no uncertain terms, but I decided not to mention that. Legolas was having much too much fun, and in truth, so was I.
We were not yet back in our tunnels when Gelmir suddenly hissed, "Someone is coming." We all ducked down behind the drift and watched the path as a couple emerged walking along it hand in hand. It was Annael's parents.
Turgon started to edge toward his tunnel, but Annael was plainly torn, and Legolas grabbed my arm pleadingly. "It is Annael's nana," he whispered urgently. I looked at his troubled little face. For Legolas, almost anyone's nana was untouchable just now, and I strongly suspected that Annael's nana in particular was dear to his heart. I reached around him and caught Turgon by the hood.
"No," I said firmly. "They get a pass."
Turgon let out a squawk of protest that made Annael's parents turn their heads toward us. Annael and Legolas both jumped up and waved. "Hello, Nana! Hello, Ada!" Annael cried.
The two of them smiled benevolently as the rest of us ducked out of sight. "Hello, sweetling," called Annael's mother. "Hello, Legolas dear. Are you both having a good time playing in the snow?"
"Yes, we are," Annael assured her, beaming.
"That is nice," his father called. There was a pause as his parents presumably walked out of sight, and then he and Legolas dropped down to where the rest of us were. Legolas had a silly smile on his face that made me laugh.
"Back to your tunnels to wait," I ordered, "and this time be quiet." We all crept back into hiding with our renewed supply of snowballs. Again, I stuck my head out to keep watch, and this time, the elflings were reasonably quiet, having apparently spent some of their excitement in the attack on the ellyth. This path had always been busy, and I did not have to wait long before another Elf came into sight. It was Legolas's tutor, Galeril.
I drew back and looked at Legolas. "Is someone coming?" he asked in muted excitement.
I nodded. "It is Galeril."
Legolas gasped. "He made me stay late today," he breathed, righteous fire plainly flaring in his breast. He started back toward his own tunnel. I thought fleetingly about Nimloth's admonition that he was not to get into trouble, and I knew what I had to do.
"Wait!" I told him firmly, grasping his arm. "Let me do this." I took a snowball in each hand, backed out of my tunnel, and then doubled over and ran along behind the drift toward Galeril until I was away from the tunnels. I did not have time to consider my actions because I needed to launch an assault before any of the elflings could do it, so I waited until Galeril was just past me and then jumped up and threw a snowball that hit him in the back of the head.
With a gasp, he spun toward where I had risen and now stood in plain sight. "Galeril," I called, "are you all right? How unfortunate that snow fell off a branch just then!" He eyed the nearest branch, a good five feet from the path. A sudden giggle drew both of our attentions and I turned to see Legolas peeking out of the hole in his tunnel, his face pink with suppressed glee.
"Unfortunate indeed," said Galeril dryly. And suddenly he laughed. "Are you happy that Eilian is home, Legolas?" he called, and Legolas nodded wordlessly. "Good. You will be ready to work hard tomorrow, will you not?" Legolas nodded again, less enthusiastically this time. "I will see you then, elfling," he called and went on his way, smiling to himself. From the corner of my eye, I saw Gelmir's hand reach out and grab Turgon's wrist as it raised a snowball from behind the line of drifts.
I ran back to the tunnels to find Gelmir shoving Turgon back into his. He grinned at me. "Galeril was your tutor too, was he not?" I grinned back and nodded and then crept into my own tunnel where Legolas was waiting for me.
"Thank you," he said, looking deeply satisfied.
I ruffled his hair. "What are brothers for?" We settled down to wait for more prey. The afternoon was waning, so classes were ending on the warrior training fields. Thus I was not surprised that the next person to come along was one of the novice masters on his way home. For a second, I stared at the Elf, desire to fling a snowball warring with fear and good sense.
Legolas tugged on my cloak and I dropped down to face him, breathing hard. "Who is it?" he whispered.
"Maldor."
"Who is that?"
"He is one of the novice masters. He taught me unarmed combat when I was a novice," I answered. And did it mighty roughly too, I did not add. I had hated Maldor on sight and was in trouble because of it on a regular basis during my entire time as a novice.
"So he was like your tutor?" Legolas asked, trying to clarify matters. He was evidently confused by my inaction. I nodded. Legolas did not even pause. "Let me do this," he said grandly and slid into this own tunnel before I could stop him.
I looked after him in horror. Legolas was only too likely to be a novice himself one of these days. I could not fit in Legolas's tunnel and looked out of mine just in time to see Legolas loose a snowball that caught the unarmed combat master full in the face.
Maldor spun to face the direction from which the attack had come and I ducked down and stayed down, but Legolas apparently had more nerve, for the unarmed combat master's voice said, "It is young Legolas, I see."
"Mae govannen, Maldor," said Legolas politely, making me snort with laughter despite myself.
There was a pause. "Is Eilian with you?" Maldor asked. He had always had unfortunately acute hearing.
"Yes, he is right here," Legolas answered. I reminded myself to have a little talk with him later about the need for warriors to keep one another's presence hidden from the enemy.
"Tell Eilian he should come to the training fields while he is home on leave," Maldor's voice continued. "I am always happy to provide more lessons for our warriors."
"I will," piped Legolas and a second later he was beside me. "Maldor says you should come and have more lessons," he said.
I smiled at him weakly. "Thank you, brat."
He nodded and patted my hair. "What are brothers for?" he asked.
Maldor apparently went on his way with no further attacks. I had seen no one else looking out of their tunnel. Gelmir was probably cowering in his den with Turgon and Annael to protect him, I thought in disgust. Maldor had once broken Gelmir's nose during a training session.
"We have to go home soon," I told Legolas. "It is getting late."
"Just a few more minutes," he pleaded. I seldom could resist Legolas's pleas in any case and could not bear to end his good time just yet. So I nodded and popped back up to watch again. The traffic on the path was likely to dwindle now, for anyone on it would be going home late. I was just about ready to give up the hunt when two tall figures approached. With a thrill of apprehension, I recognized my father and older brother. I ducked down.
"It is Ada and Ithilden," I told Legolas, whose eyes grew huge. We stared at one another for a moment and then simultaneously grabbed for snowballs. "Now," I cried and burst from my hiding place as Legolas popped up beside me from his. In a coordinated attack that would have made any warrior captain proud, we let our snowballs fly at the same instant. Mine struck Ithilden in the stomach and, a second later, Legolas's caught our father's left arm.
Annael and Turgon now popped up and threw their snowballs too, although I noticed that Gelmir was still conspicuously absent. My father and Ithilden dodged, narrowly escaping being hit a second time. They looked at us and then at one another. Suddenly I realized that Legolas and I had both forgotten to duck back into our shelters. I dropped down and reached my arm through the opening into Legolas's tunnel to grope for a hold on him and pull him down too, but it was too late. Before I lost sight of Ithilden and our father, I saw them both seize handfuls of snow and come running across the drifts toward us, howling war cries as they ran.
A hand reached into my tunnel, caught hold of my ankle, and gave a hard yank. I skidded along the slippery tube, unable to get hold of anything to stop myself from sliding out, face down, onto the ground with Ithilden on my back reaching around to shove a handful of snow into my face. I twisted my head and failed to avoid the snow but did catch a glimpse of Adar gently tossing a loose snowball at Legolas's back. My little brother was shrieking with glee as Adar caught him around the waist and swung him into the air.
Then Ithilden pushed my head sideways into the snow, filling my ear with it, and I went back to trying to get him off me. Ithilden is quite a bit bigger than I am and, squirm as I might, I could not dislodge him. Turgon was dancing around near us, throwing snowballs at my brother, but Ithilden was laughing like a maniac and responded by pushing another handful of snow down the back of my tunic. I had seen him in battle so I knew how ruthless he could be, but I was still surprised. I gave what I hoped was a pitiful wail. "I surrender!"
Ithilden pushed my face down into the snow one last time and then got off me and reached a hand to help me up. Being pinned by Ithilden does tend to knock the breath out of a person, so I was still dazed and let him pull me to my feet. He was grinning happily. Off to the side, I could see Gelmir standing with a sheepish look on his face. I threw him a disgusted glare, and he shrugged apologetically.
I looked over at where Adar had Legolas under one arm and Annael under the other. He held them both upside down over a deep snow bank. "What do you think?" he asked Ithilden. "Shall I drop them?"
"No, Ada!" Legolas squealed. He and Annael were both giggling, so I did not think they were too frightened of whatever Adar was threatening them with.
Ithilden grinned. "They seem repentant. Perhaps you should be merciful."
Adar laughed and set the two elflings down on their feet again. He looked over his shoulder. "Gelmir," he called, making my friend jump.
"Yes, my lord?"
"It grows late. Can you see to it that Turgon and Annael get home safely?"
"Of course." Gelmir hurried to obey, catching at Turgon's cloak and beckoning to Annael. I smothered a grin. My father and Ithilden each made Gelmir nervous and having them both here was rattling him. He shepherded his charges onto the path and led them away.
"Can we do this again tomorrow?" I could hear Turgon asking as they disappeared.
Adar took Legolas's hand. "Come, my heart, we will get you home and into dry clothes and see if we can find you something hot to drink in front of the fire." Hand in hand, the two of them started toward the path, with Adar shortening his usual long stride and Legolas skipped happily along beside him.
"Galeril came by, Adar, and Eilian threw a snowball at him for me, and then I threw one at Eilian's novice tutor. What was his name, Eilian?" He looked back to where Ithilden and I were walking along together. Our father's gaze was turned back onto me too, although it was now dusky enough that I could not see his expression very clearly.
"Maldor," I provided a little weakly. Next to me, Ithilden gave a small snort.
There was a moment's silence. Finally, Adar looked down at Legolas. "I think that the next time you throw snowballs, you should find someone who wants to throw them back at you. That would be more fun anyway. Galeril and Maldor should be able to walk the path without having snowballs thrown at them. Do you not agree?"
Legolas sighed. "Yes, but I had a very good time, Ada. Eilian is good at playing."
We had come to the entrance to the palace and, in the light of the newly lit torches, I could see Adar smiling. "Eilian has always been good at playing," he said and glanced back at me again. And this time, I was surprised to see something like gratitude in his face. He led Legolas off to help him into dry clothes, and I went to my own chamber to soak in a hot tub and then dress for evening meal.
When I entered the sitting room for a glass of wine before the meal, I found Adar in his big chair near the fire, with Legolas in his lap already dressed in night clothes. Legolas was clutching the raggedy blanket that he slept with, and Adar was helping him eat from a plate of bread and cold meat.
"Are you not going to eat evening meal with us, brat?" I asked.
Legolas shook his head. "I am too sleepy," he announced, and I could see that for myself. The look in his eyes was already vague, and he had leaned his head on Adar's chest, as if he could barely hold it up.
I looked at our father. "Shall I put him to bed for you, Adar?"
He shook his head. "I will do it. I have told the servants to delay evening meal a little." He set the plate aside and then rose and left the room with Legolas in his arms. Ithilden came in just then, and we sat by the fire warming ourselves with it and the wine. At length, Adar returned and we both stood.
To my surprise, he came directly to me and embraced me. He drew back and looked at me, seemingly amused by my confusion. "Legolas had a good day today, Eilian, and I thank you for that. Sometimes I forget that a gift for play is one to be treasured too. Your naneth told me that often enough that I cannot understand why I do not remember it more often."
Unexpected tears stung my eyes and I blinked them away. "I had a good day today, too, Adar. And I thank Legolas for that." He smiled and put his arm around my shoulders and we went in to evening meal.
The End
*******
Joee1: I'm glad you liked it. I have to admit that I enjoy writing the cute elfling stuff sometimes. I get tired of writing about disemboweling Orcs.
Angaloth: It took me a while to get used to writing this way too! I kept wanting to jump around and talk about the other characters and speak really formally and Eilian is just not the formal type. Cute is good.
Frodo3791: I'm glad you like this fluffier story, Frodo. This is just family playing together and it's exactly what they all needed too!
Alice: If you think it was weird at first reading in the first person, you should have seen what it was like for me writing in the first person! I stared at my blank computer screen and said "Wait! How do I do this?" And you see how Adar reacted. I'm not sure he was pleased at what Eilian taught Legolas, but he was sure pleased by how happy Legolas was.
Socket: Thank you! I missed writing about little Legolas too. This story is done, I'm afraid, and now I think I have to go back to more serious stuff. But little Legolas is always there where I need to go back to him. Not like in real life!
Firnsarnien: I don't think I could sustain the first person longer than two chapters! I only tried this because I knew the story would be short. I hope the snow tunnels provided just as much entertainment as you thought they might.
Lamiel: I wanted to experiment with first person POV and it seemed easier to do it in a short elfling story than in some of the more complicated plot lines I have on my list of stories to do. Eilian is pretty young by elven standards. He'd be about 70 or so, which means he's of age but not by much. Tolkien says some elves don't reach their adult appearance until they're 100. And as you say, he's slow to mature. Eilian and Turgon in combination is a frightening thought.
Dy: I don't know the song but the title alone is so cute! Little Legolas is a sweetie and is fun to write about.
Farflung: Your review was positively poetic, Farflung, and I enjoyed it shamelessly. I'm afraid Eilian really thinks that ignoring his problems is the best way to deal with them. Sigh. One of the things first person POV let me do was highlight a little more how vulnerable Eilian is to the disapproval he expects from his father and Ithilden. He looks carefree and he certainly invites trouble, but he's still stung by their disapproval. So Legolas's unconditional love is something he really treasures. And as you can see, the five snow tunnelers did get into some mischief here, but I laughed myself silly writing this and I firmly believe that Thranduil and Ithilden laughed about it too.