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Light Fingers - Chapter 16 - Epilogue
The morning sun had barely begun to peek into the window of Ivoreth’s bedchamber when Celebriel gently jostled her awake. “Time to get dressed, Ivoreth,” she urged as she moved over to rouse Raini and then help the child into her traveling clothes. “Don’t forget to put on the stockings and then linen trousers under that split skirt – you’ll ache bad enough at the end of the day without having rubbed your skin raw as well.”
Ivoreth eyed the long, thin, silken stockings that had appeared on top of the folded pile of her traveling clothing two nights earlier. “Won’t they be hot in the sun?” she asked, finally pulling her sleeping gown over her head and making for the basin and pitcher to wash her face and body before dressing.
“The weather isn’t warm enough yet to make them uncomfortably hot,” Celebriel answered easily, easing a similar set of stockings over the younger girl’s thin legs before starting to work the suede trousers over them. “And until the day warms, you’ll be glad of them.”
The elleth took a quick comb and braided both girls’ hair into submission and tied the ends with short lengths of thin ribbon the color of the sky. “There,” she exclaimed when both stood before her, dressed and groomed, “almost ready. Fold your sleeping gown, Ivoreth, so I can add it to your cushion pack, and then off you go to the kitchen to break your fast.”
Ivoreth felt her little sister slip a hand into hers as the two of them made their way to the back of the apartment and the last breakfast they would have in the place they’d called “home” for weeks. Elrohir was waiting for them, and set out plates of bread, sliced meat and honey biscuits as well as wedges of the orange fruit from the very Southlands that Ivoreth had become very fond of. “Eat well,” he said as he poured cool water into little bit of wine in their goblets. “Our next meal will not be until after Anor has set.”
Ivoreth settled down immediately to do exactly what Elrohir told her to do, grateful that he was even speaking to her this morning after all those days of pointed silence. As she ate, she watched her Ada’s brother carefully fill five skins – three large, and two smaller – with water from the barrel and then tamp the sealing corks firmly into place. Those he laid aside at the end of the table to then open the door to the larder and bring out everything that remained within, including several loaves of bread, part of a wheel of cheese and a pair of linen bags that Ivoreth knew held some of her favorite treats: dried fruit slices. All of that Elrohir packed into another suede pack and stacked with the water skins on the end of the table.
“Finished?” he asked brusquely.
Ivoreth nodded and claimed the now empty plate from in front of her sister as well.
“Rinse and stack the dishes, then, while I make certain we aren’t forgetting anything,” Elrohir directed and then turned away from her. Ivoreth sighed and went to do as she was told. One day, she promised herself, she would win her Ada’s brother’s forgiveness. One thing was for certain, however, she’d never steal again – not if it meant losing the affection of those she loved again.
I love them?
The realization caught her very much by surprise. She’d already decided she loved her Ada – but until that moment, hadn’t realized that she’d handed over her heart to both of the other Elves as well. They were family – the only family she had in the world now. She couldn’t not love them – and be hurt when that love was rebuffed.
“I’ve checked the bedchambers,” Celebriel announced from near the apartment entrance.
“Good,” Elrohir nodded in satisfaction. “We might actually get off on time. Come here.” He motioned Ivoreth to him once she’d finished with the dishes. “This,” he stated in a very businesslike tone as he draped the strap of one of the smaller water skins over her head and one shoulder, “is your water for the day. Drink sparingly, so that we don’t have to stop often, but don’t forget to take a swallow or two every hour or so. It will be your responsibility to make certain that it gets filled every morning before we leave – whether you are the one doing the filling or not.”
“All right.” Ivoreth fidgeted with the skin to get the strap to sit comfortably on her shoulder. “What about Raini’s?”
“I’ll have her skin with mine,” Elrohir replied. He unfolded a length of strong linen and then sat down in one of the chairs. “Come here, nethben nîn,” he called to Raini and held out his arms to her.
Giggling, the little girl ran to him and clasped her arms around his knee. “‘Ro’ir! Pick me up!”
The Elf lord laughed and gathered the little girl up into his lap and tickled her for a moment. “Hold still, now,” he cautioned her and then cast the length of linen behind his neck and shoulder. Working quickly, he had the material securely tied and Raini tucked into a comfortable looking sling to his chest where she could lay her head on his shoulder or rest back within the nest created by the linen. When he stood up, her short legs dangled, and she peeked out the top of the sling and giggled again at Ivoreth far below. Elrohir then settled the straps to two water skins over his head and shoulder, letting them fall to his hip.
“That’s everything,” Celebriel stated, entering the kitchen with two suede bags tied together with long straps and one smaller bundle of wrapped material. “Are we ready?”
“Where’s Ada?” Ivoreth needed to know.
“He’s with the horses,” Elrohir told her bluntly. “He’s waiting for us.”
“Are you ready?” Celebriel asked her.
Ivoreth nodded, looking around the kitchen one last time. “We’re not coming back here again, are we?”
“No,” Celebriel said softly, moving to put a hand on her shoulder, “not for a very long time, at least.” She put out her hand. “Let’s go.”
Ivoreth was surprised when they rounded the corner to the yard in front of the stables to see the King and Queen standing next to her Ada. Ada’s face lit up in a wide smile. “You look like a very experienced traveler, my daughter.”
Ivoreth grinned at the comment, patting her water skin and smoothing her hand over the soft suede tunic.
The Queen moved away from her husband’s arm and knelt in front of her. She bent forward and deposited a soft kiss on Ivoreth’s forehead. “Navaer, nethben. You go to one of the most beautiful places in all of Middle-earth,” she said in a voice that was oddly unsteady. “And I wish you to take something there and deliver it for me – can you do this?”
Ivoreth nodded, her eyes wide.
Arwen leaned over and gave Ivoreth two more gentle kisses, one on each cheek. “Each of these kisses belongs to one whom I will never see again – and I would like it very much if you would pass them along for me. This one,” she touched one cheek, “I would like you to give to an elf named Erestor. He was my teacher when I was very small, and a friend when I was older. And this one,” she touched the other cheek, “I would like you to give to my father. Tell them both that I love them very much.”
Ivoreth could see that the Queen was very close to tears. “I will,” she promised, her heart full even though she couldn’t quite understand the reason behind the Queen’s emotions. “I promise.”
“Will you also promise to come back when you are older, to serve as one of my ladies? As my niece, it is your right.”
Ivoreth raised her eyes to her Ada. “Can I?” she asked.
Ada nodded. “When you are ready, my daughter, I will bring you back to your Aunt Arwen for a time.” He reached down to help his sister rise and then pulled her into a tight embrace. “Be well, little sister.”
Now the King came over and crouched down in front of Ivoreth. “The next time I see you, you will be a grown-up young woman. Take good care of your Ada for me, will you?”
No longer afraid of this gentle man, Ivoreth nodded easily. “Good-bye, Sire,” she said and gave her closest guess at a proper curtsey.
“Good-bye, little brother,” Elrohir said, extending his hand down to the King and then pulling him up into an embrace as well. “Take good care of my sister, now, or we’ll have to come back and remind you of why you should take good care of her.”
“Oh, hush!” Arwen sniffled her tears back and then bent a kiss onto Raini’s forehead. “Farewell, little one. I’ll want to see you too, someday.”
Ivoreth’s brow came together, and she gazed first at her Ada and his twin, and then at the King. “Little brother?” she asked, confused.
Elrohir actually chuckled and Ada smiled in amusement. “Yes, daughter. Elrohir and I are the big brothers,” and his finger pointed at the King, “and Estel is the very little brother.”
“But he looks older,” she complained. Neither Ada or Elrohir had a single strand of silver in their long hair, where Estel’s hair glistened with silver threads amid the dark.
“We are Elves,” Ada reminded her gently. “Estel is Edain.”
“You’ll understand eventually,” the King guffawed softly and then placed a kiss on either cheek and then one on her forehead. “Take my kisses to Erestor and your Ada’s Adar for me as well – but the last one was for you alone. Be good, and grow up strong and happy, Ivoreth – I can think of no better place for you to do so than where you’re going.”
And then her Ada sprang onto the back of Môrraud and held out his arms as the King lifted Ivoreth up to him. She blinked in surprise as she settled into a second seat in front of him securely fastened to his saddle. The cushion of material Celebriel had been carrying made the seat itself just that much more comfortable, and the King helped slip her booted feet into the loops that held her legs to either side of Môrraud’s neck. She leaned back into her Ada’s chest, and an arm immediately went around her that made her feel quite safe and secure in her high perch.
“Are you certain you’ve had a chance to say farewell to your old friends, nethben? If you need to, we can stop along the way out of the City…”
Ivoreth immediately thought of little Samul – but then discarded the idea. Even though the orphanage the King had taken him to was a big and clean and happy-feeling place, she couldn’t help feeling trapped just by being within the walls. No, Samul would be well there – and he was small enough that he would forget her easily as he made new friends.
And there was no going back to the cistern. She didn’t belong there anymore – no doubt word of Daren’s fate and perhaps even her own had made it within those cold stone walls – and few there had been real friends anyway. In that long, desperate and frightening time after her Da had been killed, she had only had her brother and sisters – and now, all but Raini were gone. Leaving the city and the memories behind would be scary at first, but in the end, she’d be happier in a new place with her new family – her new Ada.
“There’s no one to farewell, Ada,” she told him with a shake of the head.
All about them, the other Elves who would be riding with them had mounted their horses. She heard Raini squeak in surprise as Elrohir leapt onto the back of his warhorse. It wasn’t until she watched Elrohir that she noted that he didn’t have reins with which to control the horse – and that Ada didn’t have reins to manage Môrraud either. Both Elves seemed perfectly balanced, however. A quick glance about her told her that none were using reins, but all were in complete control.
The King and Queen drew back away from the party. Both raised their hands in farewell. Ivoreth caught her breath as the Queen began to sing, and the King caught the melody and joined his voice to hers. The entire group joined in the refrain as the horses began to move, with Ada and Elrohir leading the way, Celebriel immediately behind them on a beautiful grey and five other Elves behind her.
The song continued all the way down the many Circles of the City and then out the Great Gate. Ivoreth swiveled as much as she could to take a long, last look at the City of her birth, trying hard not to glance to the side as they passed the low wall behind which was the grave of her little brother.
Ada’s hand landed on her shoulder. “A new life begins for you now,” he spoke into her ear. “A new beginning.”
Ivoreth nodded and turned to face forward. In front of her, the green grass of the Pelennor stretched all the way to the purple shadows of mountains on the horizon. She was heading away from all she had known before – a life filled with hardship and grief – and toward a future that, from the security of her Ada’s arms, no longer appeared bleak and harsh. This was the beginning of a new life indeed – a new and better life for both her and Raini.
She leaned back and smiled as the strong arm about her tightened immediately. “Let’s go home, Ada,” she said confidently, her eyes to the horizon.