9: In the Company of Elves

"So why are you here, my friend?" Aragorn asked the Elf after Thandir finished his impromptu dance, laughing all the while. Healers had come and were tending to Théodfrid as well as to the second would-be assassin at Thengel’s orders. The other two Elves never relaxed their guard on the man. Thandir knelt beside the dead man and casually removed the arrow from his back while everyone else looked on.

"We decided to stop at Edoras on the way back to Imladris," the Elf said as he examined the arrow point, using the end of the dead man’s cloak to clean it of blood. He looked up at Aragorn with a smile. "I wanted to be able to tell Lord Elrond how you fared."

"What about the orcs?" Aragorn asked, not really satisfied with the elf’s answer.

Thandir’s expression went cold and unreadable and several people standing near shrank from him. "The orcs are no longer a concern," Thandir finally said, his voice low and menacing.

"That is good to hear," Aragorn replied, evincing disinterest. He’d lived too long in Imladris to be affected by the mood swings of the Firstborn. Thandir stood up and gave the Mortal an appraising look, recognizing the tone, and laughed. It was as if the sun had suddenly returned from behind storm-threatening clouds.

"Yes, indeed. It is good to hear, my children." He spread his arms wide. "Let us therefore rejoice and make merry."

Thengel decided it was time to intervene and stepped forward with a low bow to the Elves. "My thanks again for your timely intervention, Thandir of Imladris. I welcome you and your brethren to Edoras. Remain with us awhile if it pleases you and allow us the opportunity to feast you as is only proper."

Thandir gave Thengel a bow of his own, though, the Rohirrim noticed, not as deep a one as their king had given him. "Your thanks are unnecessary, Thengel King, but welcome, as is the invitation to feasting with your people, for in truth, I grow weary of Celegrýn’s cooking, if you want to dignify it with that word."

"At least I know how to boil water, Thandir, which is more than I can say for you," one of the other Elves said, laughing, though he never relaxed his grip on his bow nor turned his gaze from the man who was being treated for his knife wound. "Even Gilgirion knows that much and you know how incompetent he is around a campfire."

Gilgirion rewarded his fellow Elf’s words by sticking out his tongue and making a rude noise.

The Rohirrim found themselves laughing involuntarily at the banter between the Elves and the air seemed to brighten somewhat and tensions began to ease. The Mortals were still nervous in the presence of the Cyrtenfolc, but willing to accept them in their midst, especially as they saw how their king and the Dúnadan spoke easily with them and welcomed them.

"And here I thought you were practically perfect in every way, Thandir," Aragorn said teasingly. "I don’t think I could bear the shock of learning otherwise."

"Hah!" was that Elf’s only comment, but he came to Aragorn and gave the Mortal a hug, kissing the top of his head. "It’s good to see you again, too, Little One. I’d forgotten how amusing you Mortal children are."

Aragorn made no comment to that, merely smiling indulgently, for he was well used to the ways of the Elves. Thengel then ordered his men to remove the body of the dead man. He stared at the other man, who had remained sullen and silent at the not too gentle treatment of the healers.

"Remove him from my presence," he ordered. "I will deal with him later."

Celegrýn and Gilgirion relaxed their bows and stepped away from the man after one of the Rohirric guards bound his arms and led him away. Thengel then turned to Thandir and his fellow Elves, speaking in Sindarin.

"Come, my friends and be ye welcome unto my home," he said, speaking formally. "Lord Thorongil will take ye to where ye may refresh yourselves. I would fain have ye join me and my family to partake of the noon meal."

"Your words are gracious, Thengel King, and welcome," Thandir said with equal formality. "We accept your kind invitation."

Thengel nodded and dismissed the court. Aragorn motioned for the Elves to follow him but Thengel stopped him with a gesture. His expression was unreadable, though Aragorn detected a hint of amusement in the king’s eyes.

"We will speak later with you, young man, about carrying hidden weapons in our presence."

Aragorn reddened at that but gave the king a respectful bow. "I am yours to command, my lord," he said quietly.

"Yes, you are," the king said dryly and with another gesture dismissed him. As they were leaving, Thandir gave Aragorn an appraising look but otherwise did not speak, for which Aragorn was immensely grateful. Soon the Mortal showed the Elves to a large guest chamber in another part of Meduseld. It contained two beds, but Aragorn assured them another bed would be brought in.

"Here you may rest and refresh yourselves, mellyn nîn. I will escort you to the feasting when you are ready." He made to leave, but Thandir put a hand to his arm.

"Stay awhile, Estel, and give us news of Imladris, for it has been over ten years since last we were there."

So Aragorn sat on one of the beds and told them what they wished to know, including his own tale of taking up the Chieftainship of the Dúnedain, though he said nothing about Arwen. "I did not know how to respond to adar’s revelation at first," he said at one point while the Elves gave him sympathetic glances. "But in time I came to accept what I could not change, though I was reluctant to embrace my destiny wholeheartedly." He paused for a moment, staring at nothing in particular. "I was afraid that by taking up my heritage as Isildur’s Heir I would lose the only family I have ever known, but now I realize that is not the case. Elladan and Elrohir are still my annoying older brothers and Elrond is still my loving adar, and always will be."

Thandir, who was sitting next to Aragorn on the bed, smiled and placed an arm around the Mortal’s shoulders, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I am glad to hear that, Estel, for you do not realize how grateful we all are that you came into their lives... our lives. You saved our souls by your innocent presence and brought life back to Imladris where long had there been a pall of death."

Aragorn looked at Celegrýn and Gilgirion for affirmation of Thandir’s words and they both nodded, their expressions solemn, yet not sad.

****

The Elves stayed for three days, one day longer than they or Aragorn had planned, for Thengel asked them all to remain long enough to witness the trial of the would-be assassin. It was a short affair and quickly done. Rohirric justice was swift and in some ways brutal, but neither Aragorn nor the Elves could find fault in the way Thengel handled the situation.

The man turned out to be one Framhere from somewhere in the Eastfold. Beyond that, they got no other information, not even under torture. Thandir volunteered himself and his companions to try to gain information, but Thengel had politely refused the offer.

"I think we need to keep this within the realm of Mortals, my lords," Thengel said to the Elves. "My people are already uneasy by your presence, for you are but a myth to them and they are afraid. Framhere of the Eastfold may die believing that we are ignorant of his true intent and allegiance but he is forgetting his dead companion."

"And what has the Dead told you, O King of the Mark?" Thandir asked, curious and not at all offended by the Mortal’s refusal of his help. Even Estel looked relieved by that, the Elf had noticed with amusement.

"For one thing, we know who he is and where he comes from and who is his master." This was Hildebrand who had joined them in the discussion about Framhere. "He is one Grimwulf son of Béowulf of Wulfingháma in the Eastfold. He is one of Isenbert’s ceorls."

"Ah, Isenbert of Isenbrandingsdale," Thandir said with a nod. "Well that explains much. I think the fox has decided to turn and fight, Thengel King."

"But we have no way of knowing if my mother was a party to this or not," Thengel said, then sighed. "Even so, our laws are clear. Those who are of noble blood or are gently born cannot suffer aught but exile. We do not execute our nobles."

"No, only their slaves," Celegrýn said pointedly and Thengel blushed under the implied reprimand.

"Hush, child," Thandir said quietly to the younger Elf. "This is why we have few dealings with Men. Their ways are not ours and it is best not to get involved."

"And yet you did," Aragorn said, speaking for the first time since the discussion began. "I am still at a loss as to why. You did not just happen to decide you were going to visit Edoras on my account. We had met and had spoken and you could see that I was well. There was no need to come here. So why did you? What game do you play, Thandir of Imladris?"

There was a tense moment as the two stared at one another. Aragorn did not flinch, nor was he belligerent in his stance. He stood with easy grace and confidence in himself before the Firstborn, a confidence Thandir had not noted in him previously. But then, he thought to himself wryly, I last saw Estel when he was a raw youth hungering to join his brothers on patrol. Now before me stands a Man in the full flower of his strength, though not yet in wisdom.

"If game I play, Thorongil of the Dúnedain," the Elf said quietly yet with cold disdain, "it is a game of my choosing. Be glad that I do so, or else Rohan might even now be mourning a beloved daughter, or the king himself."

None of the Mortals could dispute that. None of them liked the implications either, least of all Aragorn.

Framhere was executed and the matter dropped, but not forgotten. The next day Aragorn took leave of the king and his family and the friends he had made. He and the three Elves, along with a contingent of warriors, including Wídfara, rode out of Edoras with the dawn, the Elves riding without tack upon borrowed horses.

****

From Edoras to Helm’s Deep lay nearly thirty-seven leagues of open steppe. Once they crossed the Snowbourn they rode steadily, though not at a ground-eating pace. Aragorn’s company would take five days to travel along the royal road where the land was relatively flat for most of the way, though the road itself was in poor condition, even nonexistent in some spots.

The Elves rode in silence among the Mortals and when they spoke they spoke only among themselves in their own language, though should any of the Rohirrim address them, they switched to Westron. While the men were chary around them, the Elves proved good hunters and always fresh game was added to the cooking pot when they stopped for the night. They also took their turns at the watch, sometimes not even bothering to wake the next person, standing through the night, singing softly as the dawn crept across the land. The Rohirrim little liked it, believing they were being treated as children incapable of standing watch, and Aragorn said as much to Thandir, but the Elves paid little heed, smiling knowingly and with some condescension.

"At least we all get a good night’s sleep out of it, though," Wídfara said with a wry grin. He, alone of all the Rohirrim, was easy among the elves and even got up the nerve to speak to them, shyly greeting them with an "Aur vain" every morning (Thorongil had taught him that much of the Elvish language), to which the Elves courteously responded in kind.

Aragorn, for his part, was unsure what was going on. Something had changed between the time he had unexpectedly met Thandir and the orc-hunting party and when Thandir and his companions arrived unlooked-for in Edoras. It wasn’t that he was ungrateful, but he was concerned. The Elves rarely, if ever, interfered with the doings of the Secondborn unless it directly impacted upon them and he could not see how the troubles of Rohan were of any concern to them. As he had no answer and Thandir refused to supply him with one that satisfied him, he had no choice but to let it go. That did not mean he would not keep his eyes open.

So, they continued on. The mountains loomed closer as the road swung southward, bringing them to the Deeping-coomb which was the entrance to Helm’s Deep, that redoubtable fortress that had often been used as a refuge in times of trouble for the Rohirrim. Aragorn was surprised that the Elves insisted on accompanying them, for he assumed they would continue on.

"Imladris will still be there waiting for us, Estel," Thandir chided the young man. "For now, we are enjoying the trip. Once past Helm’s Deep we will be going on foot again, for we will not take these fine steeds with us."

Helm’s Deep was the staging post for the éored patrolling the Westfold and the Westmark. The West Emnet lay to the east but it was the land between the Gap of Rohan and the River Adorn south of the River Isen that was the main focus of the patrols, for it was here that the Dunlendings tended to strike. The villages were many and widely scattered in this rich region that stretched forty leagues from the Isen to the White Mountains and nearly fifty leagues between the Gap and the Adorn, though only the northern reaches of the Westmark were firmly under Rohirric control. South of where the mountains bent eastward, Rohan’s suzerainty did not hold with any degree of certainty.

Hilderic’s command was extensive and very short of men. It was impossible for the éored under him to patrol the area with any degree of success. The depredations by the Dunlendings were increasing and the villages were demanding better protection. Into this situation rode Aragorn and the Elves with only a small contingent of Riders, about thirty men.

If he was disappointed by the number of men joining his command, Hilderic gave no sign. Instead he greeted the captain of the troop with welcoming words and high praise. Aragorn he greeted warmly as a brother and the Elves with deep respect bordering on awe. Gilhael greeted his cousin with heartfelt gladness and spoke familiarly with Celegrýn, for they had often hunted together in years gone by.

"Well do I remember our last hunt together," Gilhael said with a laugh. "I never climbed a tree so fast in my life."

"And you without any Silvan blood in you," smirked the Elf, whose grey eyes danced with delight at meeting his friend.

"How long do you plan to stay?" Gilhael asked Thandir.

"For as long as we choose," Thandir replied and he ignored the surprised looks and grimaces among the various Mortals around him. "That is, if your captain has no objections."

Hilderic shook his head. "None, my lord. You are welcome to stay for as long as it pleases you." He did not look entirely pleased himself, but Thandir merely bowed his head in acknowledgment.

Gilhael raised an eyebrow at his royal cousin but Aragorn only scowled and shook his head as he followed Hilderic into the redoubt. Thandir merely smiled.

****

All words and phrases are Rohirric (Anglo-Saxon) unless otherwise noted.

Cyrtenfolc: Fair Folk. Cyrten is pronounced "churten".

Mellyn nîn: (Sindarin) My friends.

Ceorl: A member of the lowest class of freeborn citizens within the Mark; a peasant. The word is pronounced "churl". 

Aur vain: (Sindarin) Fair morning.

Note on geography: The dimensions of the Westmark are based on Karen Wynn Fonstad’s Atlas of Middle-earth. The actual distance between the Gap of Rohan and the River Adorn is 48.6 leagues (146 miles).