The Paradise of Elves – Part 9:  Adjustments

Elrohir stood in the centre of the garden, looking down at the basin of water as it spilled its contents gently into the pool beneath.

‘Ah, there you are, my friend,’ Legolas said cheerily, putting a hand on his shoulder.

The response was no more than a sigh.

‘I thought I saw you come in here with the light of your life,’ he continued.  ‘But I have just seen her with her pack of giggling ellyth, so I thought we might be able to escape to the forest for a while.’

Elrohir drooped in his friend’s grasp.  ‘She says she is not a substitute for my brother,’ he muttered.  ‘She says that if I cannot stop talking about him all the time and start treating her as a person in her own right, I can just go away until I become better company.’

Legolas’s grip shifted so that he held his friend consolingly. ‘That sounds rather unsympathetic,’ he responded carefully.  ‘After all, you and Elladan have been first in each other’s eyes for over three thousand years.  It will take time to grow used to the change.’

‘Oh, I do not blame her.’  Elrohir lifted his head.  ‘I am being very boring.’

‘What made her snap now?’  Legolas asked.  After all, he thought, the unfortunate elleth had tolerated her love’s moods with unfailing kindness up to this point.

‘I only suggested that we went fishing,’ his friend said, sounding a touch aggrieved.

‘Ahh.’  Legolas nodded with understanding.  ‘I do not believe she is very fond of sitting on the river bank while you splash around in the water.’

‘She has come fishing with me before!’

‘Indeed she has, my friend,’ Legolas informed him with amusement.  ‘How do you think I know she dislikes it so?  I do not believe she has yet recovered from the time you took her to picnic while you fished and she sat there in the rain for hours because the fish were biting.  I heard all about it!  It was pointed out to me quite plainly that I had better not repeat your errors.  You have to remember that she is an elleth, Elrohir.  To her, going fishing means an opportunity to sit in the sun by the sparkling water while you look into her eyes and tell her how beautiful she is.’

‘But the fish bite better when it is overcast.’

‘I know that, my friend, and you know that – but we do not choose to go fishing in our prettiest dress, with our hair fancily arranged.  Ellyth hear a different language from the one we speak, Elrohir.’

The despondent twin reflected.  ‘What can I do to make it up to her?  I really do not want to remain in her bad books.  It is bad enough not having my brother around without her absence to make it worse.’

‘Do not chase after her!’  Legolas exclaimed in alarm.  ‘She will think that she can make you do whatever she wants.  Give her time to get over it.  Then – I suppose we could arrange an excursion suitable for ellyth.  A formal picnic, perhaps – with white cloths and crockery and blankets to keep the grass from staining their gowns.  Wine glasses. Cakes.  We could even prise the lovebirds out from their little paradise and take them along with us.’

Elrohir brightened.  ‘Just the six of us.  No fishing, no hunting – nothing to get us dirty or wet or injured – simply a pleasant day in the company of friends.  She would like that.’ 

They turned and began walking through the gardens, reaching out and touching individual blooms as they passed.  ‘I miss him,’ Elrohir spoke softly.  ‘I miss him more because he is here, but not with me.’

‘He will return,’ Legolas said with certainty. ‘He is lost to us only briefly. It will take more than ellyth to keep us apart.’