Summary: My variation on the theme of Elrond and Gil-galad's relationship.
Notes: I apologise for the slow up-date. I thought Gil-galad would march to war in this chapter, but I decided that more character development was necessary first, so that is moved back to (probably) the next chapter. I am looking for a beta reader, so if anyone's interested, let me know. Thank you, all of you who have reviewed!
Finellach Gil-galad shook his charge awake just before sunrise three mornings later. "Wake up, Elrond."
The child sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Why?" he mumbled.
"You have to do the exercises Thelagon gave you before Meril comes for you. Otherwise, you won't have time to do them and both of us will have to suffer Thelagon's ire."
Though Elrond knew that Thelagon would not really anger over such a lapse, Elrond would certainly not incur his disappointment, and so the Half-Elf rolled out of bed and began the exercises. First were the exercises to help the breathing, then there were the stretches to warm up the limbs and get the blood flowing, and finally the kicks: fifty front, thirty back, twenty to each side. After the whole routine, which took about half an hour, Elrond felt ready to face anything, including his nurse.
He hesitated when he got to the sidekicks, aware of the King's particular annoyance at poorly executed ones.
"Have some confidence, Elrond, they were satisfactory yesterday. I will correct you if you stray. But continue. Once Meril arrives, she will surely herd you off and fatten you with sweet meats."
"Nay, I will have none of her."(1)
Gil-galad arched an eyebrow. "And, pray, why is that?"
"She will kiss me hard and a talk to me as if I were a baby," Elrond explained.
"Indeed, and you shall endure it with patience and politeness, as I did. It is good practice." Gil-galad's tone signaled the end of the discussion and Elrond returned to his kick sets.
He was just beginning the final twenty kicks when they heard Meriliavas bellow from the antechamber. "Elrond! Where are you? Breakfast!"
"The bold lady!" Gil-galad whispered, exasperated. "She is no longer my nurse, she has no right to burst into my chambers like that. I shall have to speak to the guards."
"I thought it was my room, sir."
"Your room, Elrond, happens to be located in my chambers, as I'm sure you are aware."
"I'm sure they feared to stop her, sir," Elrond returned, as the door opened to admit the nurse, who promptly scowled at Elrond's exercises and untidy hair.
"Elrond is finishing his morning exercises, Meril. He will be through shortly," the King said.
"Hmph. Why a child of his size need do exercises before breakfast is beyond me. And Thelagon is no help. Between the two of you he will soon end up like you, my lord."
"Between you and Irímë, you ought to be able to undo the damage we inflict, Meril."
"Barely, Finellach. The teams are well matched."
The King shooed the other two toward the door. "Get ye gone! Elrond, I shall see thee ere noontide."
After they were out into the hallway, Meril asked, in a much more pleasant tone, "It is still an hour before breakfast, what shall we occupy ourselves with, sweet child?"
"Can we go see the new foal?" Meril nodded and they set off to the stables.
After breakfast, Meril saw Elrond to the Healing Hall for his daily instruction there. The healers taught him how to sort and label the herbs for drying and how to make an infusion of mint leaves that would help settle his jumpy stomach. They also gave him a little book with beautiful illuminations of herbs so that he could practice identifying the ones that grew in the gardens.
He was outside, trying to identify some of the herbs in the king's garden when Gil-galad found him. "The healers are teaching you to identify herbs, Elrond? That's an important skill."
"Yes, sir. I remember some already from what Makalaurë (2) taught me. And they taught me how to make a mint infusion and to label herbs for drying, too."
"And do you enjoy assisting the healers?"
"Yes, there is so much to learn!"
"I am glad, then." The King paused and seemed to drift off into thought. "I have come to ask you whether you still wish to accompany me when I march North with my army, Elrond."
"I do, sir."
"Are you certain, Elrond? If you march with us you will see much that no child should see, and you will not have the carefree days of childhood. You will spend most of your time with Meril, Thelagon, or the healers, and you will be expected to be quiet, patient, and to keep out from underfoot."
"You forget that I have marched with Maitimo (3) at a much younger age, sir."
"I do not forget, Elrond. I just wish to remind you of the conditions of the march, and to impress upon you that this time we march to war, not to another camp or to Himring."
"I will not be left behind again, sir. If I stayed here there would be no one. Círdan will command his fleet, Elros is old enough to be a mariner among the mortals, you will surely want to take Thelagon, and most of the healers, and even Meril, I suppose, will go, to help with supplies and repairs and such. And you, my lord, you will go and there will be no one." The child's words picked up speed until the last statement, which was spoken nearly inaudibly, more to himself.
Gil-galad wrapped his arms around him, a gesture that both had grown very comfortable with. "That is why I have given you the choice of coming, Elrond. You shall come with me. Pull yourself together, little one," he soothed.
After lunch, Meriliavas took Elrond to Thelagon's office for his daily studies. It was geometry today, and they were reviewing Elrond's work from a few days ago.
"I know you understand the concept, Elrond, so why do you continue to miss the problems with the circular rings and the angles? Last week it was the ellipses."
"They're boring."
The tutor tapped his pupil's arm, which was engaged in sketching an armored Elf with a spear on the parchment before him, giving him warning look. "Don't you find it interesting that you can find the exact proportions of a shape given the arcs?" he asked after Elrond had put his pen down.
"Yes, and I'm glad I know how to do it, but now it's trivial."
Thelagon almost choked at Elrond's choice of words. Though his face rarely showed it, he often found himself amused at the Peredhel's quirks. "'Trivial'? Ah. Now that you understand the theory you see no point in practicing what you know."
"Why should I? As I said, I'm glad to know it for knowledge's sake, but I'm not planing on being an engineer."
"But what if you are sent out in command of a company and you have to build a shelter? Wouldn't you want to be more practiced in geometry so that you knew your men were doing things correctly? If you were unsure they might resent your leadership."
"A ringed structure?"
"Balar's court is arranged in a ring, and tents are sometimes arranged in a ring, too."
Elrond was silent for a while. He hadn't thought about that. "Very well. I will apply myself better to my studies, even when I do not think they will likely be useful." If he was ever given his own command he didn't want to disappoint his men!
"That is what I expect, Elrond. I am teaching you not only subjects that are traditionally apart of the education of the descendants of Finwë, (4) but also things that I have found useful in my own experience. There is usually much over lap between Fëanor's curriculum and what is useful. The Noldor are not typically theorists. If you continue to neglect your work because you find it tedious, or as you say, 'trivial,' then we will be having a discussion with the King."
This sobered Elrond, and he swallowed. "Yes, herdir." (5)
"Now try these problems again, please."
Next Thelagon took him outside to practice the martial arts, as the fields were now crowded in the morning, and Thelagon had his own duties then.
"Elrond, you will be sparring with your brother today. I have watched him at training and you are both skilled enough to spar safely without weapons. I think you will find that you are nearly equal."
Elrond's eyes shown at the chance to spar with his brother. They had been kept so segregated that he only saw his brother in the evenings anymore, or on high days when most of Balar was together, feasting or fasting.
Elros was already on the practice field, with his tutor, one from Círdan's house. "Brother, we get to spar together!"
"I know! I can't wait!"
"Where were you, though? You're half an hour late."
Elrond looked up at his brother, who was now nearly a head taller than he, and groaned. "Yes, sorry. Thelagon made me do extra geometry."
"That's alright. It's not your fault, then."
"Enough chat boys," Elros' tutor said. "Bow and you may begin. No hard throws, please. You will have half an hour and then I will call for you to take a break."
The twins took up their positions and bowed to each other. Both eyed the other cautiously. They had never sparred together before and they didn't want to hurt each other but they didn't want to loose either. One of them made a move and suddenly they circled each other. Shortly after Elros stepped in for a punch, but Elrond caught the arm at the wrist and elbow and started to pull his brother in towards him to gain leverage to push him away and off balance, but Elros twisted out of the grip and pushed Elrond backwards with his forearm. Elrond stepped back and then stepped in again to wrap his arm around his brother's shoulder. Elros used the close proximity to bounce his brother away.
They sparing increased steadily in energy and they had both taken turns on the floor until Elros fell and let out a yelp. Elrond immediately sat down beside him. "What's wrong, brother? What hurts?"
Elros felt the back of his shoulder and turned his brother to his side to look at it. "You're bleeding!"
Thelagon knelt down to look at it and spotted a small, sharp rock beneath Elros. "He fell on this. Most of his weight must have fallen on it to for it to cut. Ceremir has left; he was called away to speak with one of Círdan's advisor's so I will find an ointment for you, Elros. You don't want it to get infected." He glanced at Elrond who was staring at the cut, bewildered. "It's not your fault, Elrond. You didn't throw him that hard." This didn't do much to appease Elrond, but he turned and left for the Healing House anyway.
"Really, brother. It doesn't hurt that much. It just stings a little," Elros said.
At Elros' words Elrond seemed to jump out of his momentary stupor. "It's still bleeding though. Your shirts ruined but, here," he said grabbing one of the moelass leaves that grew nearby. He lifted his brother's shirt up and pasted it on his brother's wound using his saliva."
"Thanks, little bro. I heard you've taken up the healing arts. I think you're going to be really good at it someday."
Elrond smiled broadly.
Just then they saw a group of boys wander over towards them. "Watch out for these guys," Elros whispered. They like looking for fights. 'Dan says he's going to put them to work in the docks soon."
"Hey Elros! They finally let you spar with your little brother!" one of them called.
"What's this?" another said, seeing the bloody shirt. "And without weapons, too!"
"He fell on a rock," Elrond said, sending them a warning glare.
"And you are the King's new little protégé?" one of the boys taunted. "Your reward for running away, I hear. Where are you when the other boys are out drilling, anyway? I've never actually seen you before. And why don't you work for Círdan with your brother?"
"Ignore them, brother," Elros said. "They wouldn't see you because they're not allowed in the Healing Hall or the court of the High King." He spoke as much to the boys as to Elrond.
"Healing? That's a girl's skill! I suppose it's not your fault though," another boy spoke with disdain. "The High King is barely passed his majority and doesn't know what he's doing. I don't know why Círdan ever trusted Eärendil's sons to that son of a kinslayer anyway," he was obviously repeating the words of his father or another close relative, but they were too much for the Peredhil. Elros tensed visibly and Elrond, before he thought about what he was doing, lashed out with a kick to the boy's stomach.
The boy fell to the ground, winded, but Elrond didn't stop there. He punched him hard in the chest and then efficiently threw another boy to the ground. When he looked for his next victim he realized that they were all retreating and he felt Elros at his back trying to restrain him. "Brother! Peace! They are only words. They didn't mean…"
Elrond shook his brothers restraining hand off, but walked away from the group of boys after sending them a final icy glare. Trembling he said, "He insulted my King and my brother. No one does that."
It was then that Thelagon returned. "What happened?" he shouted, seeing the two boys on the ground between the Half-Elves and the group of boys.
Elrond was not yet ashamed of his actions and therefore was able to answer first. "They insulted my brother and the King. I fought them."
Thelagon hid a sigh and turned to the boys on the ground. "Are you injured? Bruised and winded, it seems. Cathir, Andro, Elaisin--you are free to go. You have chores you should be doing. Peredhil--you will help me see these to boys to the Healing Hall, then I will speak further with you, Elrond. No talking, any of you."
An hour later, Elrond was again in Thelagon's office, this time waiting for his tutor to return and hand out his punishment. Thelagon was apparently speaking to Elros and the three uninjured boys to get multiple perspectives on what happened.
"It is unlike you to act on your passions, Elrond," Thelagon said as he entered his office. "I know that you are indeed very passionate, but usually you keep them inside," he mused. "I suppose every one has his breaking point. But, as pleased as I am over your indignant anger at the insults to your brother and King, that, Elrond, was completely unacceptable." He paused, eyeing Elrond, mystified. "Is there anything else you would like to say?"
"How are they, herdir?" he asked with concern.
"They are only bruised and embarrassed. There was no further harm done. You have apologized?"
"Yes."
"Then, as your punishment, you will take up a horse stance (6) and stand there for two hours. After that you will return to your room and stay there until morning. If the King wishes to impose additional punishments when he hears of this, then he, of course, has that right." He waited expectantly as Elrond assumed the horse stance. "No, lower. You will balance these teacups on your thighs and head," he said, pouring water into three ceramic cups. "Every time one falls, or the water splashes out of one, freshly heated water will be used, and every third time, 15 minutes will be added to you time."
At first Elrond defiantly endured the stance and the heat, his body tense. Eventually he began to tremble and he forced himself to relax in order to conserve energy. He felt the trembling stop after a few long moments of agony, and sweat broke on his back. The sweat moved to his forehead, chest, and eventually over his whole body. He shook convulsively again, but this time it was his whole body. Again the tremors subsided, and he began to feel sick. At this point he had dropped the cups twice already, and was desperately trying to still himself and ignore the burning heat from the teacups.
"Your time is through, child. You have done well." It wasn't Thelagon's voice, but Gil-galad's. In his concentration he hadn't even realized that Thelagon had left and Gil-galad had entered in his place. He removed the cups from Elrond, and when the Half-Elf didn't stand up immediately he put a hand on his shoulder. "Elrond, can you stand up?"
Gingerly, he brought his feet together and straightened, but he swayed dangerously, and his muscles quivered violently. Immediately Gil-galad stepped forward to steady him. "You are in no condition to walk, pen neth. I will carry you.
Gratefully, Elrond allowed himself to be carried to his room. Gil-galad lay him down on his bed and sat down beside him.
"You did a noble thing today, Elrond. Think not that the harshness of Thelagon's punishment means that he is not proud of you. You showed great loyalty when you defended your brother and me, and I am very proud of you, too. You merely chose to display it wrongly. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir. It won't happen again."
Gil-galad selected a jar of ointment off of a shelf. "This will help soothe your muscles. I will massage them again later after they heal a bit. Here, let me remove your leggings so that you don't have to bend your legs. He easily removed Elrond's tunic and leggings "Remove your loincloth" he instructed as he spread a towel out on the bed. He lifted Elrond onto the towel and gently felt the red areas on Elrond's thighs and scalp where the teacups had been. He let his hands hover above the burns and sent cooling energy to them, watching the red already start to fade. He then began rubbing the ointment into his skin with his warm hands. He rubbed it all over his stomach, back, legs, shoulders, chest, arms, and buttocks, and neither spoke while he worked.
Elrond was slightly surprised to find that he was lying naked before Gil-galad, but realized that all of his muscles were sore and that the cream couldn't be applied while he had clothes on. He relaxed as Gil-galad worked--his hands were so warm and soft and gentle--and was nearly asleep by the time Gil-galad helped him dress again.
Gil-galad smiled down at him and kissed his brow gently. "Are you hungry, pen neth?"
"No, but thank you, sir." Elrond replied sleepily.
"Then try to go to sleep, dear child. I will stay in my rooms this evening, so call if you need anything." Gil-galad waited for a response, but Elrond was already asleep.
Notes:
(1) Cf. Shakespeare, "A Winter's Tale." I've borrowed a line or two that Prince Mammilius uses to his nurse.
(2) Maglor. I'm sure he was skilled at healing, too.
(3) Maedhros. Since they lived in Himring, and the came all the way to the mouth of Sirion, I'm sure the twins were subjected to life in a military camp.
(4) The Noldor seem to be more interested technique and practice than theory, but this is just my personal speculation. I would not be surprised if Feanor, the inventor of the tengwar, devised a curriculum for the Noldor to use for teaching their young.
(5) Master, teacher (sindarin)
(6) Horse stance: feet 2 shoulder-widths appart, back straight, weight distributed evenly across the feet, hamstrings engaged, hips open, knees relaxed, but in this case deep enough so that the thighs are basically parallel to the ground. Trust me, it hurts (but it will give you buns of steel!). A traditional punishment for way-ward martial arts students, complete with the tea.
Okay, first, I apologize to anyone who's seen Drunken Master, and I freely admit (if you haven't guessed already) that my Elves have a decidedly Asian…er…Hong Kong streak. In any case, they know their Kung Fu (though they don't call it that!) and they know how to do qi-healing. Oh, come on: can't you just see Glorfindel leading a company of his men through their training exercises on the Balar beach under a glorious sunrise? Just like the beach training sessions in one of those classic Kung Fu flicks? The long hair blowing in the sea breeze? No? My powers of Elf-minstrelsy aren't working? Go rent Once Upon a Time in China (and no, it's not related to Once Upon a Time in Mexico) if you don't know what I'm talking about with the beach scenes. *Starts humming Wong Feihung theme. *
Send Caethieu feedback
Visit Caethieu's website
The characters belong to the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and New Line Cinema. No profit is being made by the authors or the archivist and no disrespect is intented.
Do not post this work elsewhere without the author's consent.