7. Palantír: Riddles in the Hall of Fire

Aragorn shivered, but reached into his memories for a picture of warmth and love. A memory from his childhood came to his mind…

He was ten, and he watched his brothers returning from a patrol in the mountains into the hidden valley of Imladris. They have been cleaning the mountain passes from the remaining goblins, who fled the battle of Five Armies after their chieftain Bolg have been killed. He envied them so much – he wanted to be a powerful warrior as well!

As it was though, he was just a boy, and having a cold in the moment, which was quite unfair. Despite that he sat in the Hall of Fire, wrapped in a warm blanket with a cup of hot tea in his hand, and hung upon their every word as his brothers talked about the news from Laketown, about great battles and dragons. He wished to see them by his own eyes then. How innocent was that child, Aragorn reliving the memory in the palantír thought. Now, he has seen too much of battles, too much death and suffering… But he stopped those thoughts immediately before Sauron could take any advantage of them, and returned to the boy in the Hall of Fire, named Hope.

"Hey, little one," Elladan turned to him suddenly back then, just when the talk turned to the logistics of supplies for refugees and other unimportant topics, and his head started to nod. "You have grown again, have you been drinking Ent-draughts?"

Estel chuckled and shook his head to indicate that he haven't. He just tried to drink a little of Elrond's wine when the Elven lord wasn't looking, but he found it distasteful and didn't know what the Elves see in it.

"You grow really quickly," Elladan smiled, and there was a strange wistfulness in his voice, that Estel did not recognize in that time.

"Do you want a riddle?" his brother asked suddenly, and the boy nodded eagerly, pleased by the attention.

Elladan grinned. "So… if you fall down the stairs, what will you fall against?"

"Elladan!" his father scolded him. "Do not give him such riddles! He might want to try it!"

Elladan smirked. "Against your will," he winked at Estel. "Well, I'll think of another riddle then." He thought for a moment, and then a slow smile spread on his face as he looked at Estel. "Which can move faster, heat or cold?" he asked without a preamble.

Estel looked at him with an uncomprehending expression. Elladan gave him several minutes, but when Estel couldn't think of an answer, he Elladan laughed. "Cold! Because you can catch it!"

That was followed by a wave of laughter in the room, and Estel grinned proudly for being faster than cold.

Elrond in his formal patterned robe shook his head good-heartedly. "Well, maybe you can catch cold, but you should be long in bed by this time, young Dúnadan!"

Estel grimaced. "But I want to listen to Dan and Ro. I have just cold, not a… pneumonia. Or bronchitis." He searched in his mind for the words for a moment - he just learnt them from Elrond in the healer lessons.

"That doesn't change anything about your need to sleep. Now go, and maybe tomorrow you will be already better."

Estel sighed, but complied. But on the way out of the room, he turned to the others once more. "I don't want to be sick anymore," he announced. "Last year I had an ear infection, and then a cold. And nobody else ever gets sick…"

Elrond smiled at him with understanding. "It is normal that children get sick. Elves don't, but still Elladan and Elrohir spend more time in the healing wards than you. If they could get sick as well, my hair would turn grey very soon…"

"It was just a scratch!" Elladan protested.

"You mean the concussion?" Elrond raised his eyebrows.

Estel chuckled. He seemed content with the response - for now. Elrond knew that the question will necessarily come again - the only child of Men, growing up in the house full of Elves. Self-doubt and sense of inferiority could not be avoided at times…

"Go to sleep now," Elrond smiled at him, "and I will steal some nice book from Erestor and come to read you in a short while."

"The one about Calimehtar fighting the Wainriders?" Estel asked hopefully.

Elrond smiled. "Maybe…"