7 a.m.

There is to be a huge celebration today! I am so very excited, there are elves coming from all of the realms in honor of those who were lost in the great battle against Sauron. Nana says never to say that name because it brings great evil, but I don’t see how writing it can hurt. I hope there is dancing, but it appears this will be a more solemn gathering. No matter, for it has been long since we have had a celebration of any kind.


8 a.m.

The Valar hate me. Nana has told me that I am to be in charge of Haldir today and this evening. I should be at the party but instead I shall be watching my silly little brother. So here I am, still at the breakfast table and charged for the day with being the guardian of Horrible Haldir. He is sitting across from me slurping his porridge. I swear he is no elfling. He has been a pudgy child who eats too much ever since Nana and Adar found him. I still wonder if he’s only a half elf or something and Nana and Ada are too embarrassed to tell me the truth. Nana has left already to speak to King Amroth about something of importance. I do not see why it matters, the king is so often gone, and Ada takes care of nearly everything here anyway. Speaking of Ada, he is telling me now to put away my journal and please see to the task assigned. It seems Horrible Haldir has dribbled his juice down the front of his shirt and Adar is unable to assist with cleaning him up, as he has reminded me Haldir is my responsibility today. I shall have to write more later.


9 a.m.

Not only did I have to find Haldir a clean shirt, but I also had to give him a bath. I don’t know where he was playing this morning, but he smells like rotten fish. He refuses to tell me what he was up to, so I have refused to do anything he will enjoy doing today. But then he began growling and biting and acting like a wolf. So we are preparing to take a walk to the orchard to pick apples. I am very much hoping some of my friends will be there so I might speak with someone whose best idea of what we should do today is not to reenact the Kinslaying with their stuffed animals. Perhaps I shall tell Haldir how it is that Nana knows so much about the Kinslaying and see what his reaction is. I shall have to wait until we are far enough from Nana and Ada to say anything about that. Perhaps today will not be a total loss.


10 a.m.

On the way to the orchard, we met up with the guard captain’s daughter, Valarda. She’s twice my age, but barely acts it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a dress and I am positive as a child she knew how to shoot arrows before she could sew. I had not seen her for some time, and I now know this is because she was in the army from Lorien who fought in the Last Alliance. I truly hope she does not have her heart set upon marriage, for I cannot imagine the elf whom would fall in love with her. Maybe an elf like Haldir, he seems as if he will grow up to be an odd sort of elf. I wonder if


11 a.m.

Realized that Haldir and Valarda were suddenly gone. Sat under a tree to write when they began talking about her experiences on the northern fences training as a march warden. They went on ahead to the orchards. According to them, they thought I was “right behind them.” Haldir has informed me that he thinks he would like to be a march warden when he has grown. I shudder to think of the state of the borders with elves like these two guarding them. We picked a basketful of apples, then sat under the trees in the shade to eat some of them. Valarda had with her some strawberry taffy, though as soon as Haldir and I were eating it, she resumed her tales from the war front. It’s really rather bad how she glamorizes the killing of orcs. Haldir is thoroughly enjoying himself, so I am using the opportunity to write, of course. Although I have a fair idea that he will be a sticky taffy mess by the end of the tale and that Valarda will easily excuse herself rather than help clean him up. I know I would.


Noon

I am surprised and shocked. Not only did Valarda help me get Haldir to the river to clean him up, she helped me to carry the basket of apples as well. We made it to the river much faster than I would have myself, what with carrying the basket between us. She is a good singer as well, I have found out. She has taught me three ballads on the way to the water, one rather sad one, and two that were very funny. I shall have to remember to sing only the first when Nana and Ada are around. Then she was able to convince Haldir to clean himself up by making a game out of it. Much easier than trying to force him to wash up. He likes to be clean, but not when I am the one asking him to be so. Valarda says there are riders coming, so I am going to have to finish this later.


1 p.m.

Valarda was right. There were riders, a group of about twenty of them. Most of them had dark hair, although one stood out, with flowing, golden hair. He approached slightly ahead of the others, sitting proudly on a very pretty white horse. He wanted to know which way the Great Mallorn was, that he was just getting used to things again. I thought it sounded strange how he asked, like he had been away on a journey, but not anywhere on Arda. I pointed in the direction for him, and he nodded and thanked me. Then, one of the dark haired elves smiled and was looking near my feet. When I looked down, I saw Haldir peering up at them, one hand wrapped around my leg, hiding behind my skirt a bit. I looked back up at the elf and he said to me, “That is quite the handsome young elfling you have, my lady.” To which I responded, “He is not my elfling, he is my brother.” A few of the elves laughed quietly, but the elf who had spoken to me merely smiled and nodded. Then, I added, “I do not have any elflings, in fact, I am not even married.” This caused even more of the elves to laugh, and the elf who had spoken said, “I shall make a note of that information if ever I should find need of it. Erestor, see to it that you have recorded it thus.” Another of the dark haired elves, the only one not laughing in fact, nodded about this, as if he were going to take down my name for the records. Instead, they nodded to us once more, spoke among themselves in an odd elvish tongue, and continued on their way. As soon as they were gone I stamped the ground with my foot. Valarda said not to worry; she had seen others act stranger when they saw a group of beautiful male elves. I began to blush furiously, and she informed me that it was a deeper red than when the dark haired elf had commented about me. When I told Haldir we were leaving, he offered to take the basket back. I told him it was too heavy and he said it was now empty. I asked him what happened to the apples. I must have asked him in a way that scared him, for he ran up the nearest tree and refused to come down until I promised to stop making mean faces at him. I do not know where he gets such ideas. Valarda finally persuaded him to climb down, and it was only after this and more strawberry taffy that he revealed that he had fed the remaining apples to the pretty white horse just before the group of riders had left. We are now waiting for Haldir to clean himself up for what seems the hundredth time today.


2 p.m.

After cleaning up Haldir and getting back to the city, Valarda had to bid us farewell for the day. She said she had to get ready for the evening celebration and that she looked forward to seeing me there this evening. I did not have the heart to tell her I was stuck watching Horrible Haldir instead of being at the party. Actually, I did not want her to think me still a child for being told I would not be attending. The white horse we saw earlier is grazing nearby and strangely, is neither tied up nor in the care of any of the grooms nor his master. Haldir is curious about it, so we are going to investigate as soon as we put the empty apple basket upstairs.


3 p.m.

Never have I met a tamer horse. He nuzzled Haldir, even after finding that he only smelled like food and didn’t actually have any with him. Then he bowed his head patiently as Haldir petted him. It is getting busy on the ground and I am going to have to keep Haldir inside the tree soon as more guests arrive. For now, I think we are going to take a walk to the bookbindery. They tend to have scraps of paper and parchment that can be obtained for elflings to draw on with a piece of charcoal or a pen and ink. Haldir is quite reluctant to leave the Great Mallorn again, but I have told him we will not be gone long.


4 p.m.

I met two of the elves from Imladris while we were at the bookbindery. The first was the elf who did not laugh at the river, the one named Erestor, the chief advisor of Elrond, it turns out. He seems to be very intelligent and quite proud. His eyes are very dark, darker than any I have ever seen before, almost black. I like him quite a lot I think, he did not speak to anyone as if age mattered. He even spoke to Haldir as if he was an adult, even when he asked him a silly question about why the white horse was roaming free. Erestor told him it was because the horse was not really a horse, but something more than that, and though he knew, that one would have to ask the elf named Glorfindel about it, for he knew not who Glorfindel wanted to have know. The other was an elleth, very quiet and very pretty. Her name is Nenniach, and she is a scribe for Lord Elrond and also one of his advisors. I told her I thought she had a lovely name, and she said it was because of her eyes. They are a little bit of every color I have ever seen, and yet from far away, they are no color I have seen before. They were interested in the techniques used by the binders in Lothlorien and wished to observe the workings of the shop to see how they might improve things in Imladris. Haldir and I collected up the scrap pile and made our excuses to go back to the Great Mallorn. Right now, I am sitting in Haldir’s room while he draws pictures on the scraps of paper. A few times I went to the window to look out at the tents and decorations for the festival below. Haldir drew me a picture. He claims it is me sitting next to the river. I have lots of butterflies on my head and on the ground around me. I gave him a pat on the head and he smiled and then went back to his work. At least it is better than the last picture he drew of me with fangs and pointy wings with fire coming out of my hands.


5 p.m.

I discovered why Haldir was so impatient to return. He has been keeping an injured cat under his bed and feeds it small fish he catches in the river. This also explains why he stinks of fish every morning for the past week. I allow him to feed the cat, but tell him we shall have to tell Nana and Ada about it tomorrow. I do not know how Lord Celeborn will take having Lord Kitty living in his tree. We normally do not keep pets of any kind in the trees because we do not want to attract other animals to the trees we are living in. Having a bird nest in the ceiling of your home or a squirrel den in your living room is not a pleasant thing to live with. Valarda stopped up to see if I was coming to the party. I had to tell her of my bad luck. Haldir seemed a little put off by the fact I called him ‘it’ a few times, but really, if he were in my place, I do not think he would have hesitated to refer to me by something worse. Valarda said she would try to think of a way to save my night, but that she was accompanying her father to the celebration. I keep forgetting she lost her mother at birth. That likely explains her career path and upbringing. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have Nana around, or Ada for that matter. I hope if I ever have elflings, that nothing bad happens to me or to their father. That would be horrible. Now I feel really bad for everything I wrote about Valarda. At least I never say any of this to anyone else. I like Valarda, actually. In fact, if I could have a sister, I don’t think I would pick any of my other friends. I think I would pick her. I should try to do more things with her. Especially on days when I am in charge of Haldir. Right now, the elfling in question is hungry, so we are going to go to the dining room to see if Nana and Ada had the sense to have food sent up to us, or if we are to fend for ourselves this evening.


6 p.m.

Indeed, Nana and Ada did not forget us. And there was a note as well, saying how they were sorry that I would not be able to come to the festival this evening, but that tomorrow night one of them would watch Haldir so that I would be able to partake in some of it. Things are looking up a little. Haldir has managed to get a variety of different foods onto his tunic and pants and I stopped bothering to tell him when something missed his mouth halfway through the meal. I knew I would have to clean him up in the end anyway, and his attempts to clean himself usually resulted in spreading the mess further. I swear, he is not an elfling. He is a little orc in disguise. I must take him now to the bath. At least this task will keep my mind off of the fact that party is beginning below.


7 p.m.

Haldir’s fourth bath of the day was the longest, as I found that the ends of his hair had managed to skim the top of the honey pot at some point. I found a long nightshirt for him, showing him that because it reached the floor, he didn’t need to put any sleeping pants on. My logic behind it was that it would merely be one more thing for him to get dirty the next morning. Very upset by the idea that someone might see him in a ‘dress’, he found a pair of sleeping pants in his dresser, pulled them on, and proceeded to tuck the extra length of the shirt into them. This created a bulge around his entire middle, but I found arguing with him about his fashion sense was useless. I did tell him his behavior was going to drive me to drink. I then smuggled some wine up from the party. I had to tell Haldir I would let him try it or he said he would scream and yell the moment I had reached the bottom of the stairs. It was quite easy for me to obtain, actually. I walked out of the talan with Haldir and down the stairs until we reached the last two flights of steps. Then I told Haldir to hide in the shadows while I went to the ground to get the wine. As I made it to the bottom, Nenniach, the elf from the bookbindery, spotted me. I spent a few minutes chatting with her, and managed to slip a glass of wine from one of the servers. As soon as I had the glass, I kindly excused myself and snuck back up the tree. Once in Haldir’s room, I held the glass out to him. He sniffed and said it didn’t smell good. I told him that meant there was more for me then, and as I was about to drink it, he reached forward and stuck his finger in, then sucked the wine off of it and told me it wasn’t too bad, remembering that Nana always says you should try something before you decide you don’t like it. This wouldn’t have been bad except I hadn’t expected it, so the majority of the wine ended up on Haldir, or more precisely, the nightshirt he was wearing. Bath number five is commencing now, and as soon as I finish this sentence, I am going to dry him off and perhaps tie him to his bed if need be, for I am running out of clothes to dress him in.


8 p.m.

Just finished reenacting the Kinslaying with Haldir, three stuffed squirrels, a stuffed pig, two stuffed wargs, a stuffed oliphant, a stuffed sheep, four stuffed horses, and a stuffed cat. I really wish I had a way to get more wine. Apparently, we are now going to reenact the awakening of the Eldar. I can hardly wait. At least he is still clean. Valarda stopped up and asked if there was anything she could get for me. I told her more wine, pointed to the glass, and told her what happened. She laughed, took the glass, and said she would get some to the room one way or another. I love this elleth.


9 p.m.

(Haldir is still clean!) The Eldar are awake, the kin have been slayed twice now, with a varied outcome from the first Kinslaying of the evening. Now, I can hear music below, and I am jealous of those on the ground. Obviously, there is dancing. Haldir asked if I could read him a story. I began to tell him one, but only three pages into it, I became very distracted. He might not be the prettiest or the fairest elfling, but he certainly is one of the smarter ones. Hopping off of the bed, he asked if I wanted to dance. I told him it was impossible to dance with him, and instead of telling him it was because of his height or his age or something else mean which I normally would have said, I simply stopped at that. Haldir argued that we could still dance, but that I would have to both lead and also carry him. Odd as it was and seemed, I put down the book and picked him up. We danced through a waltz and a jig, both of us giddy and giggling as I held him up with one arm and held onto his left hand with my right. The second song ended, and as we slowed, applause from a single elf came from the doorway. Quickly I put Haldir down on the floor, and curtseyed to the elf at the door and said my good evenings to him. The dark haired elf from the river stood in the entranceway clapping, a bottle of wine under his arm. He held out the bottle and said, “Your friend from the river asked me to bring this up to you. She was otherwise occupied and unable to bring it herself.” I think I might have blushed, and I mumbled my thanks as I took the bottle and set it upon the dresser in Haldir’s room. The dark haired elf stooped down to Haldir’s level, asking if he could cut in. Haldir looked a little confused, but nodded. The dark haired elf then stood up again, held out his hand, and asked, “May I have this dance?” He had the next dance, and the next, and the one after that, until well over an hour had passed. Haldir didn’t seem too upset, he danced with his horses, and his oliphant, and one of the wargs, and many times with the stuffed pig, commenting that this was the best dancer and liked dancing more than the others. At the conclusion of the eighth song the elf asked where the restroom was, and Haldir said he would show him where it was, as he needed to use it as well. When I told Haldir it wasn’t proper to use the restroom at the same time as the other elf, he looked confused and said he didn’t see why, because he and Ada were in the bathroom at the same time many times. The dark haired elf smiled and said he was sure it would not be a problem. Haldir grabbed hold of his hand and led him down the hallway. I do not know what it is that I am feeling, but I think I might like this dark haired elf more than just a little. They are back, and it looks like the elfling is still clean! More later.


10 p.m.

I feel like such an idiot! Such a stupid, stupid, elf. AI! The dark haired elf…but first, I should explain it all. I finally convinced Haldir to lay down and try to sleep. He protested at first, but it was meager, and he did not whine as much as usual. I do not know if this is because he was truly tired or if it was because of this strange elf from Imladris being here. After tucking him, and his menagerie, into bed, he requested a song. It was a Vanyar lullaby, one which I know well. Though I was a little embarrassed to sing with the other elf there, I did so regardless. Haldir nodded off during the third verse, but I finished the song, stroking the soft hair of my sweet little baby brother until the end of the song. I cannot believe I just wrote that. Stoking the hair of Horrible Haldir until the end of the song. There. Much better. I finished the song because it would have been rude to stop mid-song, in case the dark haired elf was still listening, which I was sure he was not. Then I kissed him on the forehead, and turned around. I really expected the dark haired elf to be gone, but he was sitting on one of the tiny low stools in the room, his hands folded as he watched me. “You sing very well. Like the nightingale.” He told me. I thanked him as I stood. “You show much care with your brother.” He said, and I declined to tell him what I really thought of Haldir. Then he stood and walked to me and added, “I think you will be a good wife and nana one day.” That seemed like an odd comment, but I thanked him for it anyway. Then I blurted out, “Is that because I remind you of your own wife? Does she treat your elflings thus?” Stupid, stupid, stupid. The kind of questions only a child asks. Stupid. But he chuckled, and his laugh was unlike the laugh of an elf, it was deeper, and I knew I liked his laugh. He said, “I do not have any elflings, in fact, I am not even married.” And then he said the weirdest thing ever. He told me, “But, perhaps you do, and maybe she does.” Very strange elf, I thought. Cute, yes, but very strange. Then, he took my hands into his and said in a voice I will never forget, because it was very low and very perfect, and he said, “I must return to the celebration. Thank you for the song, Lady Celebrían.” Then he lifted my hands to his lips, and he kissed them, very lightly, and just so perfectly. I just didn’t know what to say. So, of course, idiot that I am, I blurted something again. I asked suddenly, “What is your name?” He chuckled, that nice laugh I like again, and kissed my hands once more before letting go, and went to the door, and then he just laughed, and left. AI! I blushed, I knew I must have done something wrong, I was so glad I was not at the festival, I do not know the customs of Imladris, I would have surely embarrassed my parents. But then, he came back, and of course, he saw my blush, and his smile faded a little, and I thought I had done something very wrong. Then he asked, “You truly do not know me? You do not remember, you visited my realm once when you were a child, with your father.” When I did not answer, he smiled apologetically and said, “I am terribly sorry, I had thought you recalled. I am Elrond, of Imladris.” And now, elves and elleths, the Lady Celebrian says the most brilliant line of the evening. I said to him, “Elrond…of Imladris…Lord Elrond of Imladris?” He nodded and smiled. If I could have kicked myself in my backside I would have. If Haldir had not been asleep I would have had him do it. My tongue was permanently tied now, and Lord Elrond smiled and bowed and left. I went to the window and watched as Lord Elrond walked gracefully down the stairs to the celebration. He was so elegant, so graceful, and I knew him to be a half elf. I suppose if that is the case, then Haldir could not be a half elf. Perhaps my brother is a half orc.


11 p.m.

The music is quieting outside and I have no inclination to try to join the party now. I think I shall crawl into Haldir’s bed with him and his zoo. This way I shall be on hand if he should need anything tonight, and I cannot be faulted for not taking proper care of him.


4 a.m.

In an obvious attempt not to disappoint, Haldir is now taking his fifth or sixth bath of the past twenty-four hours. I awoke to someone poking my shoulder. The first thing I saw was a pair of pitiful looking grey eyes, just on the brink of spilling tears. The first thing I felt was the bed I was practically swimming in. I have a new set of night clothes set out for Haldir, have washed myself up and changed, and am waiting for him to return. Most would not tempt fate twice in one night, but I think if I leave now, Haldir will cry and think it is his fault I have left. Which would be correct, but I do not want to deal with a sleep unhappy elfling at the moment when sleepy is enough of a challenge. I had better flip the mattress and change the sheets before he returns.


5 a.m.

Lord Kitty was not pleased about the impromptu mattress flipping. Apparently, he isn’t happy with the fact that the smell is now on his side of the mattress. In fact, even with the clean sheets and the windows open, the odor is still lingering. I offered to bring Haldir into my room, and I am now sitting at my desk writing this with the bit of light coming through the windows now. Haldir and his stuffed pig are snuggled in my bed. I am going to join them in a moment after a prayer to the Valar that his bladder is now completely empty. There is also a black and white cat on the end of my bed. Lord Kitty limped in after us, and after his pathetic attempt to crawl onto the bed, I placed him at the foot of it, where he immediately curled up. I guess I have a cat now.


8 a.m.

Nana asked me at breakfast how my day was yesterday. I told her it was relatively uneventful, and quite boring. If she finds out how much fun I had, she’ll stick me with Haldir more often, and I do not have the time for that. I told Haldir I would help him cover up his accident from last night, and for that, he seems eternally grateful. He managed to make it through the entire meal without dripping anything on himself. Valarda left a note with Ada, which he gave to me after breakfast. She wants to pick berries today and wants to know if I am available this afternoon. I sent her a note telling her I thought it was a wonderful idea. But only if Haldir can come along.