Brotherhood, Chapter Twentynine.
23 Nov 2009 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
curiouswombatHere is the next chapter of Brotherhood - in which we find out how Legolas' plan to rescue Tindómë works out...
Word count 3,150
Rated 15 as usual
Beta'd by the inestimable![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
speakr2customrs
Chapter Twenty-Nine.
As the light began to fade Lomion had brought her a bowl of soup and an apple. It had been hard for Tindómë to appear normal and play the part of a helpless hostage. She asked him again to please, please, put her ashore or contact her kinsman, Prince Legolas, for a ransom. She begged him not to present her to his overlord to use as a negotiating tool with the Haradrim.
The quiver in her voice, and the slight tremble of the lower lip, was probably quite convincing, she thought, especially as she had really wanted to say to him, “Yay! Rumil is coming, the edhel are coming, you are just so dead!”
A sailor came in to take away her plate and to empty the chamber pot which she had, eventually (Eww! Gross!), had to use. She didn’t like the way he looked her up and down appraisingly; if she hadn’t known that help was on its way, she thought, she might be very glad that her value to the sailor’s boss lay in her – non-existent – gweneth.
It was dark now; they hadn’t given her a light. She lay, as relaxed as she could, trying to keep her mind as open as possible, waiting to ‘feel’ or ‘hear’ something.
Yes! There was Rumil’s emotional touch at the edge of her consciousness – love, hope, and minor notes of cold anger and concentration. She tried to ‘send’ him love back, and hope, and her absolute confidence that they would be together again soon.
“Tindómë,” Elladan’s mental voice came only a few minutes later, “Rumil has seen your ship. We will be with you soon.”
“GOOD,” she thought hard, and a few moments later she ‘heard’ Elladan once again. This time his mental tone had changed.
“I am afraid that Elrohir, Galanthir and I are probably about to shock Gimli, Faramir, and Éowyn by stripping to swim out to you…”
He left her mind, with the mental equivalent of a chuckle, as she thought ‘Éowyn?’ and then, almost to her own surprise, ‘It will be good to see Éowyn.’
………………………………………………………………
As soon as he recognised the ship coming towards them in the darkness Rumil had called to the others, down below him, but then he paused and thought of Tindómë. He thought of how she looked, how her fëa shone out of her bright eyes, how she sounded when she giggled, how she felt in his arms; he let the feelings of love, hope, desire even, build up – he wanted her to be able to feel it, even from here.
After a minute or two he carefully felt inside himself, to the place which he already thought of as Tindómë’s, and there was a whisper of hope and confidence. He cherished that feeling, that sense of connection for another minute, as those below began to move into place, and then carefully pulled his thoughts away from his beloved and turned them back to the man who had taken her.
The twins and Galanthir stripped off at the river’s edge and then replaced their belts; swords and knives all that they wore, now, as they slipped into the river and began to swim in the dark water. The moon had not yet risen; the men on the ship would not notice them.
Legolas clasped the arms of each of the mortals before they climbed into the rowing boat – it looked to be smaller than the boats of Lorien, but serviceable – and then, with Orophin, he came up to join Rumil.
They watched the pale shapes, between the ripples, that were the swimmers. When they were well over half way to the Corsair vessel Legolas reached down for his bow. This was the signal to those in the rowing boat, and one of the Riders pushed it out into the water before taking his place at the oars.
As the swimmers reached the side of the ship the archers all nocked their first arrows. There was no need to talk – each already knew his targets – Orophin would start at the front of the vessel, Rumil at the rear, and Legolas would start with the helmsman.
Rumil looked at the man he was about to kill, standing alone at the rear of the vessel; felt himself one with his bow, saw the flight of his arrow in his mind, slowed his breathing.
“Loose,” ordered Legolas.
The arrow followed the path Rumil had chosen and, as the man slumped onto the deck, Rumil had already nocked his second arrow, moved his attention forward to the man nearest the helmsman, and loosed again. This target had his eyes wide open as he looked at the arrow in the neck of the man at the wheel. They remained wide open as he collapsed onto the deck with two arrows in his own throat.
Five seconds earlier there had been five sailors on the deck of the ship; now there were five corpses. Rumil concentrated on ‘his’ section of the ship, a third arrow ready to loose; Orophin and Legolas would do likewise on theirs. He did not even look for the swimmers until he saw a dark head come over the edge of the deck where the rope hung down towards the water. Once Elladan was on the deck Rumil allowed himself a glance towards the river – where the rowers were making good speed.
………………………………………………………………
The river had been pleasant enough to swim in, he had certainly swum in colder water, and that for pleasure.
This was the only point in proceedings where leggings might have been an advantage, Elrohir thought, as he carefully followed his brother up the rope; his bare feet soundless against the wooden planking of the ship.
The deck of the vessel was, as expected, occupied only by corpses. There was one, small, doorway leading below decks at the rear of the ship, a larger one forward near the wheel. Elrohir remained beside the rear one; Galanthir and Elladan went forward. Elladan would take the wheel and ensure that the vessel did not drift over towards the far bank.
All was quiet; no-one below decks had noticed the ‘change of crew’ above. Then there was a soft ‘bump’ as the rowing boat touched the side of the larger vessel where the length of rope still hung down. It occurred to Elrohir that he should have looked to see if there was a rope ladder or a piece of net to throw down – it was difficult to imagine Gimli climbing up a rope.
Difficult to imagine, perhaps, but clearly not beyond the dwarf’s capabilities. A couple of quiet ‘Hrumph’ sounds, and a few odd thumping noises probably made by his boots as he climbed up the side of the ship, and the first head over the gunwales was Gimli’s.
Orophin had told the twins that, when the Fellowship had reached the fences of Lorien, Gimli had made so much noise that he probably woke wardens asleep three miles away. Elrohir could well believe it.
No surprise, then, to see Galanthir tense and wait by the doorway, knives in hand. The man who came through knew no more of what happened to him than those lying on the deck had before their souls went… wherever the souls of the Second-Born went.
Elrohir was quite surprised that no-one came through the doorway he was watching; it must be less used.
Soon Faramir and the two Rohirrim were also on deck.
“Éowyn will stay with the rowing boat,” Faramir said, “to make sure it does not float away. She has her sword should anyone try to take the boat.”
He paused with a slight smile, glanced down just as far as the sword in Elrohir’s hand, and then continued, “but I don’t expect anyone will get that far. We will go straight away to our own task.”
The four moved to the forward part of the deck and then, weapons drawn, disappeared through the doorway into the main accommodation.
“All goes well, Tindómë,” Elrohir spoke directly to her mind; he knew she was listening for him. “Stay in your cabin – Faramir, Gimli and the two Riders are now going to move through the ship from the bow end, clearing it as they go. They will reach you soon.”
……………………………………………………………
Legolas’ plan was working perfectly, Éowyn thought. She had not been all that happy when Faramir told her to stay in the rowing boat, but she was pretty sure that Rumil couldn’t be all that happy about staying ashore and he had not questioned the commands at all. It was logical for her to be the one who stayed in the boat; the others were, in all honesty, more skilled fighters than she was and, she assumed, less likely to be distracted by naked male bodies.
She kept her hand on the hilt of her sword and waited.
……………………………………………………………
Tindómë sat on the edge of her bunk in the dark cabin. She tried to keep calm; she didn’t want to distract Rumil. She knew the ellyn and the others were now on the ship; all she had to do was to wait as they cleared the cabins, or whatever there was outside her door, from front to back.
She wished Rumil could be amongst them but Elrohir had told her that the best bowmen had stayed ashore.
She could hear no sound of raised voices but there were sounds of doors opening and closing, and footsteps. Now the door to her cabin was opening. She stood up and moved towards it. Soon she would walk out of this cabin with her head held high and with proper Elven dignity. Yes.
She hoped Gimli was doing her side…
……………………………………………………………
There was a noise just above Éowyn’s head – not from the deck, but from closer at hand. The porthole nearest the stern had opened and a head and shoulders appeared – was someone was trying to escape that way? The light from inside the cabin was sufficient for her to see that the hair was fair and short.
She put her sword down carefully in the bottom of the boat, picked up one of the oars in both hands, and swung it – hard!
……………………………………………………………
From the bank it was clear that the plan was going well. The ellyn were on the deck, should anyone venture above, and the four who were to go below decks had done so. All three bowmen, even so, kept their gaze fixed firmly on the boat.
Rumil saw Éowyn move – the stern was his assigned area of the vessel. When he saw what was happening he prepared to loose an arrow at the would-be escapee, if they tried to climb out of the porthole, but, knowing how Tindómë got annoyed if he tried to help her when she thought she could manage something, he waited to see what would happen.
He let out a small sound of satisfaction when Éowyn’s oar connected soundly with the man’s head and he slumped over the edge of the porthole.
Beside Rumil Legolas made a similar, equally satisfied, sound.
Suddenly something changed. Rumil could feel a shaft of anger as if it was an arrow through his chest. He had not been emotionally aware of Tindómë since the rescue had started; he was sure that she was purposefully remaining calm and blocking all her emotions to prevent distracting him. Now he was very aware.
“Something is wrong,” he said, but he did not move from his position and kept his eyes trained on the rear deck of the vessel out in the middle of the river. He kept his breathing slow and steady; his own emotions under complete control.
He considered whether, if anything happened to Tindómë when he was here on the shore and not there on the ship, anything that he could do nothing about at this distance, he would feel tempted to turn his bow towards Legolas.
……………………………………………………………
Elrohir heard the sound of something solid hitting bone and then a triumphant “Ha!” in Éowyn’s voice. Whatever had happened she had clearly dealt with it. He turned his attention back to the small door up from below decks. There were footsteps and the door was opening – he kept his sword at the ready although it was probably Faramir, or Gimli, with Tindómë.
It was, indeed, Tindómë. But, even before he could see who was behind her, he knew something was wrong by the expression on her face. She was well named ‘tithen maethor’, he thought fleetingly – she did not look at all frightened but she was, very clearly, angry.
Framed in the light from the open door doorway was the man who called himself Lord Lomion, with a knife held against Tindómë, his arm around her neck.
“Drop your weapon, elf, or I will slit her pretty little throat.”
Elrohir did not hesitate to comply – he carefully placed his sword on the deck.
“El, we have a problem…”
“Where is your boat, elf?” the man asked, with a sneer in his voice.
“Tied at the stern,” Elrohir answered.
‘So you will just have to step forward and out of that doorway…’ he added silently.
The man pushed Tindómë forward but, as she took her third or fourth step, there was a sudden flurry of movement as her knee bent up and her hand moved rapidly down and then back.
The man fell. Tindómë’s boot knife was buried to the hilt in his groin, blood all over her hand. But it was quite possible that the cause of the man’s death was Elladan’s throwing knife in his upper back. Or it could have been the arrow in his neck.
……………………………………………………………
For a second or two there were no sounds at the rear of the ship after Lord Lomion’s body crumpled onto the deck. Elrohir immediately picked up his sword and Tindómë felt a sudden urge to giggle as she wondered whether a naked ellon with a sword was more or less scary than a fully clothed one. There was, she thought, a joke in there somewhere but this probably wasn’t the time or place…
“Move away from the doorway, Tinu,” Elrohir said, “someone else is coming.”
She could hear the footsteps herself, and she stepped out of Elrohir’s way, but then recognised the voice.
“Dratted ships, all wood and doors, where did that, that… rukhs go?”
Elrohir’s sword remained at the ready but the merest trace of a smile flitted across his face before Gimli, axe in hand, appeared.
He took one look at the body, then at Tindómë, and then at a point somewhere just past Elrohir’s left ear, before he spoke again.
“Aye, well, I’ll see to the door. You look after the lass. I think we’ve finished down there, anyway.”
Tindómë felt Elrohir’s hand on her arm and then she looked down at her own hand, covered in blood, and felt her head begin to swim; the last time her hands had been covered with blood it had been Rumil’s…
There was more noise now, other people moving, Elrohir was holding her firmly against himself and was saying “Take deep breaths.”
Somewhere inside her head he was also saying “It is all right, Tindómë, you were right to do what you did.”
Knowing he was in there with her was, oddly, a comfort. She just thought about Rumil on the ground, his blood on her hands as she helped Elladan uncover the gaping hole in Rumil’s abdomen, and then Elrohir spoke to her again, quietly, in Sindarin.
“Ah, yes. No wonder you feel a little faint. Lean on me and then think of Rumil as he is now. He is on the shore; he can see you, he will know that you are well.”
She took the deep breaths Elrohir advised, and tucked her head under his chin; it was comforting to be held.
……………………………………………………………
Something had happened on the deck above her head, but Éowyn didn’t know what. She had heard what the dung-beetle (she couldn’t bring herself to give him a name, even if it probably wasn’t his real one) had said to whichever elf was on the rear deck and she had held her sword firmly; ready to thrust into him if he jumped down.
But then there had been two solid, ‘thunk’, sounds in quick succession and the sound of a body hitting the deck, followed by something in Sindarin. She was pretty sure that the man must be dead; especially as she had also heard Gimli talking. So she was both relieved and very curious when a rope ladder appeared and she heard Gimli address her directly.
“Tie the boat up, lass, and then pass up the clothes and spare my eyes the sight of these elves.”
Faramir, she thought, would probably prefer her to stay in the boat and spare her own eyes too. But she wanted to know what was going on, and how Tindómë was, so she bundled up the leggings and took them up onto the deck herself.
The sight that greeted her at the top was in part… unexpected. She had expected to see the body with the arrow in it, although the knife in the back, and the blood which seemed to be from somewhere in the lower abdomen, seemed to be overkill, but Tindómë in an embrace with a naked elf was something of a surprise. Especially as, if the bowmen on the riverbank could see well enough to shoot so accurately, Rumil must surely be watching them.
Both Legolas and Orophin had said that “Tindómë will draw comfort from Rumil… and from the rest of us. We are kin.” But Éowyn had somehow expected them to comfort her verbally; you so rarely saw elves touch anyone else, certainly not full body contact. No wonder Gimli didn’t know which way to look!
She looked around for Faramir. She could hear his voice on the forward deck – he sounded calm, and so everything must be under control.
A voice at her shoulder reminded her again about the naked elf holding Tindómë.
“Thank you, Éowyn, I will put them on right away, poor Gimli doesn’t know where to look. I think it must be his lower eye-line…”
……………………………………………………………
At last Legolas lowered his bow down to his side. Rumil, and Orophin, followed suit and then Rumil turned to Legolas and bowed his head slightly.
“I am sorry, Legolas, for disobeying the order to take the man alive.”
Legolas looked at him coolly for a second or two.
“No, you are not sorry at all,” he answered dispassionately.
Then he walked to Rumil and clasped his arm.
“Nor should you be, my friend,” he said, “you did exactly as I would have done. Except that it probably gave you more pleasure…”
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Odd bits of Sindarin
gweneth - virginity
tithen maethor – little warrior
And even a bit of Khuzdul – the language of the dwarves!
Rhuks – orc.
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The BtVS characters do not belong to me, but are used for amusement only. All rights remain the property of Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon, and the original TV companies. The same is true of the LotR characters for whom all rights remain the property of the estate of JRR Tolkien and the companies responsible for the production of the films.
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As usual comments and feedback is greatly appreciated.
A small squee moment so that I have it noted - Return of The Key has now had over 34,000 hits at Twisting the Hellmouth - so has passed 2,000 hits per chapter!
Word count 3,150
Rated 15 as usual
Beta'd by the inestimable
speakr2customrsAs the light began to fade Lomion had brought her a bowl of soup and an apple. It had been hard for Tindómë to appear normal and play the part of a helpless hostage. She asked him again to please, please, put her ashore or contact her kinsman, Prince Legolas, for a ransom. She begged him not to present her to his overlord to use as a negotiating tool with the Haradrim.
The quiver in her voice, and the slight tremble of the lower lip, was probably quite convincing, she thought, especially as she had really wanted to say to him, “Yay! Rumil is coming, the edhel are coming, you are just so dead!”
A sailor came in to take away her plate and to empty the chamber pot which she had, eventually (Eww! Gross!), had to use. She didn’t like the way he looked her up and down appraisingly; if she hadn’t known that help was on its way, she thought, she might be very glad that her value to the sailor’s boss lay in her – non-existent – gweneth.
It was dark now; they hadn’t given her a light. She lay, as relaxed as she could, trying to keep her mind as open as possible, waiting to ‘feel’ or ‘hear’ something.
Yes! There was Rumil’s emotional touch at the edge of her consciousness – love, hope, and minor notes of cold anger and concentration. She tried to ‘send’ him love back, and hope, and her absolute confidence that they would be together again soon.
“Tindómë,” Elladan’s mental voice came only a few minutes later, “Rumil has seen your ship. We will be with you soon.”
“GOOD,” she thought hard, and a few moments later she ‘heard’ Elladan once again. This time his mental tone had changed.
“I am afraid that Elrohir, Galanthir and I are probably about to shock Gimli, Faramir, and Éowyn by stripping to swim out to you…”
He left her mind, with the mental equivalent of a chuckle, as she thought ‘Éowyn?’ and then, almost to her own surprise, ‘It will be good to see Éowyn.’
………………………………………………………………
As soon as he recognised the ship coming towards them in the darkness Rumil had called to the others, down below him, but then he paused and thought of Tindómë. He thought of how she looked, how her fëa shone out of her bright eyes, how she sounded when she giggled, how she felt in his arms; he let the feelings of love, hope, desire even, build up – he wanted her to be able to feel it, even from here.
After a minute or two he carefully felt inside himself, to the place which he already thought of as Tindómë’s, and there was a whisper of hope and confidence. He cherished that feeling, that sense of connection for another minute, as those below began to move into place, and then carefully pulled his thoughts away from his beloved and turned them back to the man who had taken her.
The twins and Galanthir stripped off at the river’s edge and then replaced their belts; swords and knives all that they wore, now, as they slipped into the river and began to swim in the dark water. The moon had not yet risen; the men on the ship would not notice them.
Legolas clasped the arms of each of the mortals before they climbed into the rowing boat – it looked to be smaller than the boats of Lorien, but serviceable – and then, with Orophin, he came up to join Rumil.
They watched the pale shapes, between the ripples, that were the swimmers. When they were well over half way to the Corsair vessel Legolas reached down for his bow. This was the signal to those in the rowing boat, and one of the Riders pushed it out into the water before taking his place at the oars.
As the swimmers reached the side of the ship the archers all nocked their first arrows. There was no need to talk – each already knew his targets – Orophin would start at the front of the vessel, Rumil at the rear, and Legolas would start with the helmsman.
Rumil looked at the man he was about to kill, standing alone at the rear of the vessel; felt himself one with his bow, saw the flight of his arrow in his mind, slowed his breathing.
“Loose,” ordered Legolas.
The arrow followed the path Rumil had chosen and, as the man slumped onto the deck, Rumil had already nocked his second arrow, moved his attention forward to the man nearest the helmsman, and loosed again. This target had his eyes wide open as he looked at the arrow in the neck of the man at the wheel. They remained wide open as he collapsed onto the deck with two arrows in his own throat.
Five seconds earlier there had been five sailors on the deck of the ship; now there were five corpses. Rumil concentrated on ‘his’ section of the ship, a third arrow ready to loose; Orophin and Legolas would do likewise on theirs. He did not even look for the swimmers until he saw a dark head come over the edge of the deck where the rope hung down towards the water. Once Elladan was on the deck Rumil allowed himself a glance towards the river – where the rowers were making good speed.
………………………………………………………………
The river had been pleasant enough to swim in, he had certainly swum in colder water, and that for pleasure.
This was the only point in proceedings where leggings might have been an advantage, Elrohir thought, as he carefully followed his brother up the rope; his bare feet soundless against the wooden planking of the ship.
The deck of the vessel was, as expected, occupied only by corpses. There was one, small, doorway leading below decks at the rear of the ship, a larger one forward near the wheel. Elrohir remained beside the rear one; Galanthir and Elladan went forward. Elladan would take the wheel and ensure that the vessel did not drift over towards the far bank.
All was quiet; no-one below decks had noticed the ‘change of crew’ above. Then there was a soft ‘bump’ as the rowing boat touched the side of the larger vessel where the length of rope still hung down. It occurred to Elrohir that he should have looked to see if there was a rope ladder or a piece of net to throw down – it was difficult to imagine Gimli climbing up a rope.
Difficult to imagine, perhaps, but clearly not beyond the dwarf’s capabilities. A couple of quiet ‘Hrumph’ sounds, and a few odd thumping noises probably made by his boots as he climbed up the side of the ship, and the first head over the gunwales was Gimli’s.
Orophin had told the twins that, when the Fellowship had reached the fences of Lorien, Gimli had made so much noise that he probably woke wardens asleep three miles away. Elrohir could well believe it.
No surprise, then, to see Galanthir tense and wait by the doorway, knives in hand. The man who came through knew no more of what happened to him than those lying on the deck had before their souls went… wherever the souls of the Second-Born went.
Elrohir was quite surprised that no-one came through the doorway he was watching; it must be less used.
Soon Faramir and the two Rohirrim were also on deck.
“Éowyn will stay with the rowing boat,” Faramir said, “to make sure it does not float away. She has her sword should anyone try to take the boat.”
He paused with a slight smile, glanced down just as far as the sword in Elrohir’s hand, and then continued, “but I don’t expect anyone will get that far. We will go straight away to our own task.”
The four moved to the forward part of the deck and then, weapons drawn, disappeared through the doorway into the main accommodation.
“All goes well, Tindómë,” Elrohir spoke directly to her mind; he knew she was listening for him. “Stay in your cabin – Faramir, Gimli and the two Riders are now going to move through the ship from the bow end, clearing it as they go. They will reach you soon.”
……………………………………………………………
Legolas’ plan was working perfectly, Éowyn thought. She had not been all that happy when Faramir told her to stay in the rowing boat, but she was pretty sure that Rumil couldn’t be all that happy about staying ashore and he had not questioned the commands at all. It was logical for her to be the one who stayed in the boat; the others were, in all honesty, more skilled fighters than she was and, she assumed, less likely to be distracted by naked male bodies.
She kept her hand on the hilt of her sword and waited.
……………………………………………………………
Tindómë sat on the edge of her bunk in the dark cabin. She tried to keep calm; she didn’t want to distract Rumil. She knew the ellyn and the others were now on the ship; all she had to do was to wait as they cleared the cabins, or whatever there was outside her door, from front to back.
She wished Rumil could be amongst them but Elrohir had told her that the best bowmen had stayed ashore.
She could hear no sound of raised voices but there were sounds of doors opening and closing, and footsteps. Now the door to her cabin was opening. She stood up and moved towards it. Soon she would walk out of this cabin with her head held high and with proper Elven dignity. Yes.
She hoped Gimli was doing her side…
……………………………………………………………
There was a noise just above Éowyn’s head – not from the deck, but from closer at hand. The porthole nearest the stern had opened and a head and shoulders appeared – was someone was trying to escape that way? The light from inside the cabin was sufficient for her to see that the hair was fair and short.
She put her sword down carefully in the bottom of the boat, picked up one of the oars in both hands, and swung it – hard!
……………………………………………………………
From the bank it was clear that the plan was going well. The ellyn were on the deck, should anyone venture above, and the four who were to go below decks had done so. All three bowmen, even so, kept their gaze fixed firmly on the boat.
Rumil saw Éowyn move – the stern was his assigned area of the vessel. When he saw what was happening he prepared to loose an arrow at the would-be escapee, if they tried to climb out of the porthole, but, knowing how Tindómë got annoyed if he tried to help her when she thought she could manage something, he waited to see what would happen.
He let out a small sound of satisfaction when Éowyn’s oar connected soundly with the man’s head and he slumped over the edge of the porthole.
Beside Rumil Legolas made a similar, equally satisfied, sound.
Suddenly something changed. Rumil could feel a shaft of anger as if it was an arrow through his chest. He had not been emotionally aware of Tindómë since the rescue had started; he was sure that she was purposefully remaining calm and blocking all her emotions to prevent distracting him. Now he was very aware.
“Something is wrong,” he said, but he did not move from his position and kept his eyes trained on the rear deck of the vessel out in the middle of the river. He kept his breathing slow and steady; his own emotions under complete control.
He considered whether, if anything happened to Tindómë when he was here on the shore and not there on the ship, anything that he could do nothing about at this distance, he would feel tempted to turn his bow towards Legolas.
……………………………………………………………
Elrohir heard the sound of something solid hitting bone and then a triumphant “Ha!” in Éowyn’s voice. Whatever had happened she had clearly dealt with it. He turned his attention back to the small door up from below decks. There were footsteps and the door was opening – he kept his sword at the ready although it was probably Faramir, or Gimli, with Tindómë.
It was, indeed, Tindómë. But, even before he could see who was behind her, he knew something was wrong by the expression on her face. She was well named ‘tithen maethor’, he thought fleetingly – she did not look at all frightened but she was, very clearly, angry.
Framed in the light from the open door doorway was the man who called himself Lord Lomion, with a knife held against Tindómë, his arm around her neck.
“Drop your weapon, elf, or I will slit her pretty little throat.”
Elrohir did not hesitate to comply – he carefully placed his sword on the deck.
“El, we have a problem…”
“Where is your boat, elf?” the man asked, with a sneer in his voice.
“Tied at the stern,” Elrohir answered.
‘So you will just have to step forward and out of that doorway…’ he added silently.
The man pushed Tindómë forward but, as she took her third or fourth step, there was a sudden flurry of movement as her knee bent up and her hand moved rapidly down and then back.
The man fell. Tindómë’s boot knife was buried to the hilt in his groin, blood all over her hand. But it was quite possible that the cause of the man’s death was Elladan’s throwing knife in his upper back. Or it could have been the arrow in his neck.
……………………………………………………………
For a second or two there were no sounds at the rear of the ship after Lord Lomion’s body crumpled onto the deck. Elrohir immediately picked up his sword and Tindómë felt a sudden urge to giggle as she wondered whether a naked ellon with a sword was more or less scary than a fully clothed one. There was, she thought, a joke in there somewhere but this probably wasn’t the time or place…
“Move away from the doorway, Tinu,” Elrohir said, “someone else is coming.”
She could hear the footsteps herself, and she stepped out of Elrohir’s way, but then recognised the voice.
“Dratted ships, all wood and doors, where did that, that… rukhs go?”
Elrohir’s sword remained at the ready but the merest trace of a smile flitted across his face before Gimli, axe in hand, appeared.
He took one look at the body, then at Tindómë, and then at a point somewhere just past Elrohir’s left ear, before he spoke again.
“Aye, well, I’ll see to the door. You look after the lass. I think we’ve finished down there, anyway.”
Tindómë felt Elrohir’s hand on her arm and then she looked down at her own hand, covered in blood, and felt her head begin to swim; the last time her hands had been covered with blood it had been Rumil’s…
There was more noise now, other people moving, Elrohir was holding her firmly against himself and was saying “Take deep breaths.”
Somewhere inside her head he was also saying “It is all right, Tindómë, you were right to do what you did.”
Knowing he was in there with her was, oddly, a comfort. She just thought about Rumil on the ground, his blood on her hands as she helped Elladan uncover the gaping hole in Rumil’s abdomen, and then Elrohir spoke to her again, quietly, in Sindarin.
“Ah, yes. No wonder you feel a little faint. Lean on me and then think of Rumil as he is now. He is on the shore; he can see you, he will know that you are well.”
She took the deep breaths Elrohir advised, and tucked her head under his chin; it was comforting to be held.
……………………………………………………………
Something had happened on the deck above her head, but Éowyn didn’t know what. She had heard what the dung-beetle (she couldn’t bring herself to give him a name, even if it probably wasn’t his real one) had said to whichever elf was on the rear deck and she had held her sword firmly; ready to thrust into him if he jumped down.
But then there had been two solid, ‘thunk’, sounds in quick succession and the sound of a body hitting the deck, followed by something in Sindarin. She was pretty sure that the man must be dead; especially as she had also heard Gimli talking. So she was both relieved and very curious when a rope ladder appeared and she heard Gimli address her directly.
“Tie the boat up, lass, and then pass up the clothes and spare my eyes the sight of these elves.”
Faramir, she thought, would probably prefer her to stay in the boat and spare her own eyes too. But she wanted to know what was going on, and how Tindómë was, so she bundled up the leggings and took them up onto the deck herself.
The sight that greeted her at the top was in part… unexpected. She had expected to see the body with the arrow in it, although the knife in the back, and the blood which seemed to be from somewhere in the lower abdomen, seemed to be overkill, but Tindómë in an embrace with a naked elf was something of a surprise. Especially as, if the bowmen on the riverbank could see well enough to shoot so accurately, Rumil must surely be watching them.
Both Legolas and Orophin had said that “Tindómë will draw comfort from Rumil… and from the rest of us. We are kin.” But Éowyn had somehow expected them to comfort her verbally; you so rarely saw elves touch anyone else, certainly not full body contact. No wonder Gimli didn’t know which way to look!
She looked around for Faramir. She could hear his voice on the forward deck – he sounded calm, and so everything must be under control.
A voice at her shoulder reminded her again about the naked elf holding Tindómë.
“Thank you, Éowyn, I will put them on right away, poor Gimli doesn’t know where to look. I think it must be his lower eye-line…”
……………………………………………………………
At last Legolas lowered his bow down to his side. Rumil, and Orophin, followed suit and then Rumil turned to Legolas and bowed his head slightly.
“I am sorry, Legolas, for disobeying the order to take the man alive.”
Legolas looked at him coolly for a second or two.
“No, you are not sorry at all,” he answered dispassionately.
Then he walked to Rumil and clasped his arm.
“Nor should you be, my friend,” he said, “you did exactly as I would have done. Except that it probably gave you more pleasure…”
……………………………………………………………
Odd bits of Sindarin
gweneth - virginity
tithen maethor – little warrior
And even a bit of Khuzdul – the language of the dwarves!
Rhuks – orc.
……………………………………………………………
The BtVS characters do not belong to me, but are used for amusement only. All rights remain the property of Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon, and the original TV companies. The same is true of the LotR characters for whom all rights remain the property of the estate of JRR Tolkien and the companies responsible for the production of the films.
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As usual comments and feedback is greatly appreciated.
A small squee moment so that I have it noted - Return of The Key has now had over 34,000 hits at Twisting the Hellmouth - so has passed 2,000 hits per chapter!
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Date: 23/11/2009 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 23/11/2009 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 23/11/2009 07:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 23/11/2009 07:03 pm (UTC)Now, let's find out what that was all about, yeah?
Great chapter, excellent story.
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Date: 23/11/2009 07:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 23/11/2009 07:03 pm (UTC)Very nice.
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Date: 23/11/2009 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 23/11/2009 07:35 pm (UTC)The git! the utter git!! Glad that fate decided things should not run so neatly and that Eowyn got her licks in regardless.
Also glad that Tindome got to take an active part in her won rescue, for all that it would have given her no joy and possible nightmares. Simply barricading her door until she heard Gimli or the El's voices would not have been half so satisfying and I am allergic to shrinking maidens. Poor girl!
Eowyn is getting some fast lessons in Elf culture. Wonder if she can persuade Faramir to go for the odd starlight bath.
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Date: 23/11/2009 07:58 pm (UTC)Of course Faramir's decision was actually logical - except that he may not have made it for totally logical reasons!
Wonder if she can persuade Faramir to go for the odd starlight bath.
Funnily enough I have just (in my coffee break during this afternoon's clinic) written Éowyn having a not dissimilar thought!
Tindómë really is not the sort to sit back and wait to be rescued - even though she would have been sure that that arrow would come. The ellyn would not be surprised about this, nor would Gimli...
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Date: 23/11/2009 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 23/11/2009 08:06 pm (UTC)Absolutely!
I realised, as I worked out the plan, that if they get each person to do what they do best, then it was a bit like having a party of 12th-20th level adventurers in D&D - they are going to beat most opposition reasonably easily. But that is how they would want it to work - no point in coming up with a bad plan just to give the opposition a chance...
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Date: 23/11/2009 08:00 pm (UTC)DawnTindómë! Very nice rescue.no subject
Date: 23/11/2009 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 24/11/2009 07:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 24/11/2009 08:40 am (UTC)I'm so glad that it worked.
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Date: 24/11/2009 10:44 pm (UTC)So, how will they find Lomion's boss now?
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Date: 24/11/2009 11:12 pm (UTC)So, how will they find Lomion's boss now?
The immediate problem of rescuing Tindómë is solved, but there will still be things to puzzle or sort out... although maybe not in the next chapter.
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Date: 30/11/2009 11:25 pm (UTC)I loved the whole thing but particularly the line about Gimli's lower line of sight! LOL
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Date: 01/12/2009 12:01 am (UTC)