Chapter 2. Mistakes

Brushing the dirt from his leggings, Legolas backed up and ran his gaze over this second dig site. It too probed into a shallow cave, and it too had been abandoned. "Whoever it is really wants what they're after."

"That kind of desire can make Men do foolish things," Eilian said.

Legolas bit his lip. "Maybe Alfirin was right to worry about Ithilden."

"Big brother is tough," Eilian said soberly. "I'd back him against any Man."

"He's not exactly himself at the moment." Legolas looked away into the murmuring trees. "His attention is mostly on the baby."

Brow wrinkled, Eilian looked down. He'd been there when Sinnarn was killed, had, in fact, been leading the mission. He too felt guilty for the death of Ithilden's son. Legolas sighed. Hope for the future didn't wipe out grief for the loss for any of them.

They mounted and rode on but had gone only a short distance before Eilian turned his head sharply to the left. An instant later, Legolas felt it too. The trees in that direction were alarmed. They urged their horses toward the river.

"That's Ithilden's horse," Eilian said as they rounded a thicket. The horse lifted its head from its peaceful grazing and whickered a greeting. It stood with one foot raised, evidently lame.

Legolas jumped to the ground and inspected the animal. Its injury looked to have come from a stone, not battle, and Ithilden's bow was still strapped to it.

"Come," Eilian murmured. "I hear something that way."

Leaving their mounts to share a friendly meal with Ithilden's, they crept forward. A mule was tethered near rocks with a cave like opening.

"Do you want me to hold up the lantern?" came a woman's voice.

"I want you to stand where I won't fall on you." Ithilden's deep voice was sharp with exasperation.

Legolas exchanged a look with Eilian. Simultaneously, they sheathed their swords and walked to the cave.  The cave's floor extended only a yard before it dropped away in what looked like a fresh collapse. Legolas edged one foot carefully forward and stretched to peek down the dropoff. Tree roots poked from a wall, and Ithilden was using them to climb. Beneath him, a man and young woman watched with upturned faces.

At the sight of Legolas and Eilian peering down, the woman gave a little shriek. Ithilden grabbed tighter to the roots and leaned his head back to see what had startled her.

"What are you doing down there?" Eilian asked.

Even in the hole's dim light, Legolas could see Ithilden's eyes narrow. If they'd been in Ithilden's office, Legolas would have braced himself, knowing Ithilden was about to skin him using only his sharp tongue.

"I'm having a tea party," Ithilden snarled. "What does it look like I’m doing?"

"No need to be nasty." Eilian's voice was edged with amusement, showing the nerve that Legolas had always admired. "We're here to rescue you. Alfirin is worried." Eilian scanned the man and girl. "Shall we rescue them too? Judging by that shovel, I suspect they're the ones who dug up two other places we found. Adar would not approve. Maybe we should leave them."

The girl shrieked. "That's villainous!"

"Oh, be quiet, Sera," the man said wearily. "Can't you tell he's joking? I apologize for my daughter."

Eilian glanced at Legolas. "No doubt she's at a 'difficult stage,'" he said a little sourly.

Ithilden was tugging at the end of the rope tied around his waist. "Be ready to catch this, Eilian."

Eilian moved closer to the edge. Pebbles pattered into the hole. Legolas backed a little away.

"Be careful, Eilian," Ithilden snapped. "That bank is treacherous."

"Did you learn that the hard way?" Eilian still sounded amused. He leaned forward as Ithilden gathered rope in his hand and swung it to build momentum. He let it fly, and as Eilian stretched to grab it, the ground under his front foot collapsed. He pinwheeled his arms, fighting for balance, but he'd leaned too far. He fell into the hole, arms still swinging. He did manage to grab the end of the rope and take it down with him.

Legolas flung himself on his belly and looked down. Eilian sprawled on the ground, blinking up. Ithilden lay next to him, Eilian having evidently knocked him from his perch. "Are you all right?" Legolas asked.

"Just give me a moment," Eilian wheezed.

Ithilden clambered to his feet and seized the rope Eilian still held. "Legolas," he said, "if you fall grabbing for this, I will assign you to partner with Tinar every day until the end of this age."

Legolas grimaced. Tinar was the most unpleasant Elf he knew, even worse than Maldor, the unarmed combat master who'd made Legolas's life miserable when he was a novice. He stayed on his stomach, spreading his weight. "Throw it accurately, and we'll have no problem."

It took three tries before Ithilden tossed the rope neatly into Legolas's right hand. Ithilden slid an arm under the man's back and tied him to the other end of the rope. "Fodor first," he said. "Be careful. His leg is broken."

"Wait," Sera said.

They all turned to her.

"Before you go, Father, tell me where to dig for the treasure."

Ithilden's mouth dropped open, though Eilian and Fodor looked unsurprised. "You can't be serious," Ithilden said. "I told you Bilbo buried no treasure in these woods."

"He has to have done it." Sera sounded desperate. "If I don't have dowry, Mica says we can't get married."

"Oh, screw Mica," Fodor burst out. "No, wait. Don't. Keep away from him. If he's so set on getting money through marriage, he's not worthy of you."

"A difficult stage," Eilian said, just loudly enough for Legolas to catch.

"Go, Legolas," Ithilden ordered, bracing Fodor on his feet.

Legolas snaked back to more solid ground, stood, and pulled slowly and steadily. Fodor appeared over the edge of the hole, but Legolas didn't stop pulling until he had the man flat on the ground outside the cave. He rushed to the man's side.

Sweat slicked Fodor's forehead. "I'm all right. Get the others."

Legolas tied one end of the rope to a boulder, then once again slithered on his belly to toss the other end back into the hole. He peered down. Ithilden and Eilian were both turned toward an opening in the cave's wall, swords in hand. Ithilden snapped his fingers and pointed for Sera to move behind him. To Legolas's surprise, she did as she was told.

"What is it?" she asked shakily.

"I won't be certain until I see it," Ithilden said, "but it sounds like a troll."

#

Ithilden gripped his sword, ready for whatever appeared. Overhead, Legolas let out a stream of surprisingly strong curses in Sindarin. Ithilden sometimes wondered if Thranduil had forgotten Beliond's foul mouth when he put Legolas's well-being into the bodyguard's care. Legolas's feet appeared over the edge of the hole.

"Wait, Legolas. Pull the girl out first," Ithilden called, pointing Sera toward the dangling rope.

The creature in the tunnel drew closer. Over the thud of its heavy footsteps, Ithilden heard labored breathing. A figure loomed into the lantern light, its shoulders hunched, its face lumpy. It paused, squinting in the daylight.

"Sera!" Legolas called. "Grab the rope."

From the corner of his eye, Ithilden saw her frozen in place, eyes wide and terrified.

The troll growled, then narrowed its eyes and lunged toward Ithilden. He dodged and drove the tip of his sword into the troll's thigh. At the same time, Eilian's blade flashed in the lantern light. The troll let out a howl and flailed from sided to side, swinging its massive arms. It caught Eilian on one shoulder, knocking him onto his backside.

Ithilden leapt to distract it, stabbing at the troll's gut. It grunted and backed out of the way toward the tunnel entrance.

Ithilden caught a flicker of movement and realized Sera was climbing on rocks near the tunnel, shovel in hand. "The rope!" he shouted and instantly realized he had no hope of being obeyed. He shuffled toward Eilian, who was back on his feet. The troll turned to face them, its back to Sera.

She wedged the tip of the shovel between two rocks and leaned on the handle. The rock above the troll teetered, nudging the stones around it.

"No!" Ithilden cried. "You'll bring the whole thing down on our heads."

Sera leaned again.

Echoing the words that were still erupting from Legolas, Ithilden pushed forward, Eilian at his side, herding the troll toward the tunnel entrance.

The rock Sera was prying popped loose as if thrown by a slingshot. It cracked the troll in the back of the head. The troll blinked, then stood swaying as if trying to work out what had just happened. Other rocks began to fall, like a waterfall gathering speed.

Ithilden scrambled out of the way, aware of Eilian stumbling back too. Sera screamed over the thunder of rocks. Ithilden looked frantically but couldn't see her through falling dirt and rocks. The rockfall slowed. Dust settled. The only bit of troll still visible was one lumpy foot. The tunnel entrance was completely blocked. Ithilden sheathed his sword, looked to be sure Eilian was intact, and spun to scan for the girl.

"Sera!" Ithilden cried. "Where are you?" Even to himself, his voice was muffled by the roar still ringing in his ears.

"Here."

He stumbled toward her faint voice. She was slumped on the ground, her shoulders against a rock, her fist still tight around the shovel.

"Are you hurt?" he demanded.

She frowned. "I don't think so." She struggled to sit up. Her gaze went over Ithilden's shoulder to the pile of rocks. "Look," she said with awe in her voice.

"I have looked," he snapped. "What were you thinking? You could have killed us all."

"No. Look." She pushed to her feet and took two staggering steps.

Ithilden turned to see what she was talking about. A shaft of light from overhead pointed like a finger to a glint of gold among the rocks. Sera plucked the gold out and held it up to examine it. Ithilden moved to stand next to her as Eilian came to her other side.

It was a gold medallion, stamped with a carving of an owl. Ithilden searched his memory but didn't recognize the design.

"Could it be Mannish?" Eilian asked doubtfully.

Sera's hand tightened around the object. "Of course it is." She threw Ithilden a triumphant look. "I told you some of Dale's treasure was here."

"Is everyone all right?" Legolas called from overhead. Ithilden looked up to see him dangling from the rope near the top of the hole.

"We're fine," Eilian called.

"Climb back up, Legolas," Ithilden said. "I'm sending Sera first."

"For the sake of our safety if not hers," Eilian added in Sindarin.

Legolas laughed and vanished as Ithilden tied the rope around Sera's waist.

Sera tucked the medallion into her tunic, grabbed the rope, and started to climb as Legolas pulled. When the rope reappeared, Ithilden gestured for Eilian to go next, but his brother said, "No. You need to be on your way." He grinned. "You're about to have a daughter of your own."

Ithilden scrambled up. At the top, Legolas said, "Our horses are with yours. Take mine or Eilian's. We'll manage these two." He jerked his head toward Sera and Fodor, then lowered the rope to retrieve Eilian.

Ithilden started toward horses and home, dashing past Fodor and Sera. She was gabbling about the medallion and Mica.

"That is a terrible idea," Fodor said. "I only came on this treasure hunt because I was sure it would lead to nothing."

Driven by he knew not what, Ithilden stopped and turned back. "You should listen to your father. He loves you and wants what's best for you."

"He can't decide everything for me." Sera turned away from her father.

"You'll regret not listening," Ithilden said.

She lifted her chin. "At least the regrets will be of my own making."

Ithilden had no answer for such a daft desire. He pointed to the medallion. "The owl is a symbol of wisdom. Try to take the message." He spun back and ran.

#

"There you are," cooed Gwaleniel, Alfirin's healer mother. She caught the baby and held her up for Ithilden and Alfirin to see. "Perfect!" she cried. "And beautiful."

"Like her naneth." Ithilden kissed Alfirin's sweaty forehead. Alfirin loosened her grip on his hand and fell back onto the pillow.

Gwaleniel busied herself for a moment, then wrapped the baby in one of the soft blankets Alfirin had made. She held the little girl out, and for the first time, Ithilden took his daughter in his arms.

Feather light, she regarded him with solemn eyes as if deciding whether to trust him or not. Sinnarn had cried at birth. This wisp of a girl was quiet and sweet, just as he'd imagined her.

"Little one," he whispered, "daughter, I promise you I will protect you always."

She pursed her tiny pink mouth, then opened it in a lusty howl. His heart trembled with love and fear. Come what may, she was his little girl. He carried her toward Alfirin's outstretched arms, laid her in them, and let her go on her way to what she and life would make of one another.