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My Brother's Keeper by daw the minstrel	27 Review(s)
naneth	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 8/20/2004
Feeling vindicated for my earlier deduction, I will simply enjoy the remainder of the story! Did I mention that I devour mystery novels in my "spare" time? Author Reply: You're very clever, Naneth, and it killed me not to be able to chat about my characters, but I always give away plot points and I was trying to shut my mouth for once. I like mysteries too. I get them from the library because you can go through a bunch and never read them again and they kind of pile up.

meckinock	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 8/20/2004
It's starting to look as if Sinnarn owes his existence to Divine intervention. Ithilden is not accustomed to having events spin out of his control, so I guess this comedy of errors is good practice for marriage. So Thranduil thinks his sons are locked up snugger than bedbugs, huh? Too bad that elvish hearing can't pick up that train whistle in the distance. They oughta know that Legolas will stop at nothing once his concern for his big brother is aroused. Speaking of Big Brother, Eilian and Maltanaur make a pretty good detective duo. I guess Elves don't need to stock up on coffee and donuts while waiting for the deal to go down. Only thing I don't get is...what's in it for Hiolith? Looks like his needs are pretty simple. Is he in it for the money? If the men are forcing him to supply them with dangwath, that's nothing that a gallon of kerosene and a buy-bust couldn't handle. Time to flip Hiolith and find out... Author Reply: You are so right about Ithilden wanting control! Hence his desire to go pound on someone. Thranduil does his best to keep Legolas locked up but the kid is just slippery. Poor Thranduil. If I thought my 14 year old was out at night going after drug dealers, I'd have a heart attack. Hiolith is an interesting puzzle. I think he's not happy with his current situation but he can't quite see how to break free. Author Reply: PS What's a buy-bust?

Emily	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 8/20/2004
Aha! Now that's a twist I did not expect, though it's very welcome. But before any of that: poor Ithilden! He is not having an easy time with Alfirin! He was so kind speaking to Legolas. I could have hugged him. Now that the truth has come out about Eilian's actions, I feel even worse for Legolas. How frustrated, bored, and worried he must be. I can't imagine it. He might be just a smidgen annoyed if/when he finds out the real plot. Eilian and his keeper make me smile. Maltanaur knows exactly what's going through Eilian's mind. Eilian's doing a good job convincing himself that he doesn't want to use the plant. Here's to hoping he keeps on thinking that. (By the by, I'm in Jersey, where it's hot and muggy and stays that way all day. No cooling down at night. Snow, even in stories, is a nice thought right now.) Author Reply: Poor Ithilden, indeed. He and Alfirin are both reserved, rather dignified people, so this is particularly awful for them. And Legolas is very lucky that he has this loving family, even if his mother is gone. They all dote on him and (unfortunately) overprotect him a little. Eilian as an undercover vice cop! That's what's been going on, and one can only hope that he stays away from the herb. Maltanaur is keeping him in hand and won't let him wander too far. Thranduil chose well when he chose the bodyguards for his sons. My husband is from Jersey, a town called Fanwood which is near the Plainfields. His birthday is the same as Bruce Springsteen's as I've always thought that maybe there's just been some confusion over who I'm supposed to be married to. ;-)

Rikki	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 8/20/2004
Poor Ithilden. I am sure he and Alfirin will look back and laugh about his courting techniques someday, but for now how embarassing for the heir to the throne. Let's hope that the couple eventually gets to go on a normal date. Legolas is also in a bind trying to figure out how much to tell his adar about Eilian and how much he wants to protect his brother from any harm. For a teenager (which is about where I put him in the timeline), Legolas is pretty thoughtful for his age. I would almost say mature, but I have a feeling that the window may come in to use as a door before all this is over. You know between Eilian and Legolas, it is a wonder that Thranduil doesn't have grey hair is bald from pulling on it in frustration all the time. Author Reply: Ithilden and Alfirin have had disaster after disaster. As a matter of fact, in my outline for this story, that's often what shows up. There's a line that reads: Ithilden and Alfirin, another disaster. LOL. They'll muddle through eventually, but for two kind of dignified people this is just awful. You could be right about Legolas. I have a problem though in that I've said there are no windows in the cave. I'm using the description that we get of the cave in "The Hobbit" and Bilbo says the only way out is the Great Doors and the trap door in the cellars. So Legolas will have to be slippery.

Karri	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 8/20/2004
Ah, well, that's better! Eilian the spy is much preferable to Eilian the junkie. ;-) Now, if only they can wrap things up before Legolas put himself in the middle of it. I am glad that Hiolith's heart is still more or less in the right the place in giving up the dangwaith for the sick soldiers. Author Reply: Hiolith is interesting to me. I'm trying to keep him elfy. He's afflicted but he's not a modern day junkie. And Eilian enjoys being a spy. So this is Mirkwood Vice, Karri!

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 8/20/2004
There have been a lot of commercials on NPR recently about how "getting involved" with one's children is The Best Way to keep them drug-free. Unfortunately, the commercials don't have much to say about how parents might usefully go about getting involved. Thranduil seems to have this problem. Somehow, he has gotten the idea that, in order to be a Good, Caring Parent, he must Get Involved when Legolas turns up with dangwath in his hand. But he doesn't seem to know how to deal with the problem, and so he puts it -- and Legolas -- away so he doesn't have to see or think about them. If he and Ithilden and Eilian would only realize that the baby sees and understands far more than they would like . . . but then, they're males. That's probably hard for them. But really, they should have told Legolas. Joe Pistone told his family the basics of what he was doing when he became Donnie Brasco, and he did that for years on end. The worst part is that Legolas will find out in the end. He'll find out not only what Eilian is doing, but also that his family didn't trust him enough to tell him the truth, and therefore lied to him. And so that will erode a little of his trust in them. And coming up on those extremely vulnerable adolescent years, that won't be good. All this could have been prevented with a simple conversation, but Thranduil and Ithilden are both too arrogant to have it. Sigh. Much as he hated to acknowledge it, he would simply have to accept that there with things that were beyond his control. Mm-hmm. And if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a Cadillac. Alfirin's shawl reminds me of a shawl I used to have, until it slipped out of my hand on the train one day. Sniff. I miss that shawl. Maybe it vanished into the alternate dimension where Alfirin lives, and maybe she'll find it at home to replace her burned one. Yeah. That's what I'll believe from now on. And Tonduil comes home with a nice case of épée pox. Yup. I've had it, too. In fact, my latest case is almost healed, a week and a half later. The secret to surviving épée pox is to pass it along. For every bruise you get, you dish one out. But wait . . . Tonduil's probably getting it from that horrible weapons master, Maldor, I think his name is. I remember him. He's a rat bastard, that one. If Tonduil wants, I can go a few rounds with Maldor and lay some welts on him. So Thranduil thinks Ithilden is "reserved" around Alfirin, huh? He might want to get some of his spies to follow the lovebirds around. He'd be laughing for days. I still want to know what it is that dangwath does and what exactly its effects and dangers are. I still don't see why it's such a dangerous drug. Other than the fact that Men and Elves can become addicted to it, does it actively hurt them like heroin, or is it basically harmless, like caffeine? Who has made it illicit? Under whose laws is it so? Do Thranduil and the Men have a mutual agreement about this, or does one submit to the laws of the other? If it is illicit under human law, that would explain why the Men cannot grow it themselves . . . but then, they use it for medicinal purposes as well. Yet another example of how outlawing a substance can, in the end, cause more problems than the substance itself causes. Author Reply: I thought that Thranduil would not tell Legolas at first because Legolas is not good at being deceptive and this all happens in a very small community. So Legolas might give Eilian away. And now, Thranduil is worried that Legolas is going to become involved in some way because he already has. You ask hard questions about the drug, FP! My thought was that it caused euphoria in elves who did not have shadow sickness, and I think that could get them killed. Hiolith is kind of a loner too, and I think that plays into it. But since I'm just talking out of my hat, who knows? You don't think Thranduil can surrender control? LOL Maybe not. Thranduil would indeed be laughing if he saw any of these scenes with Ithilden. He can have kind of a twisted sense of humor sometimes. Tonduil appreciates your concern and begs you to come over and kick Maldor's butt. Please!

esamen	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 8/20/2004
Oh, a new chapter . . . what a gift to celebrate the end of the week. Yes, I thought that was what Eilian was doing. The story is great . . . lots of mysterious levels of understanding and discovery. AND lots of conflicting viewpoints about the problem plant. . . among both the men and the elves. Just fascinating. I love it! Happy (writing) trails to you this weekend. P.S. Ithilden and Alfirin are too cute. Are you going to let them have ONE good date? You're being awfully cruel. And I think her family was inside, listening. Author Reply: I have found that SoA readers all caught on to what Eilian was doing pretty quickly. What smart readers! It's hard actually to work out what drug problems might look like in ME. This plant is not being used by frivolous young folks, for instance, but it does make problems for those who get hooked. At least I think it does. PS I think her family was inside listening too. :-)

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