~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ Part Six ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
“It was good to see you. May you have an enjoyable time while you are here,” the Swan said.
"Safe journey to you," answered Thranduil, and the Swan gave a nod. I rocked back and forth on my heels impatiently. Morning was breaking, travel was faster before the sun rose and heated the horses. I also wanted to get the damned mask off of my face, but the Swan insisted we not remove them until we were far from anyone who could identify us.
"And to you,” said the Swan, nodding his head. “Be safe," he added.
"Be wise," said the King, eyes smiling.
For the first time in the conversation, the Swan smiled, and then grinned, shaking his head merrily at the joke. As he turned away, he motioned me to my horse, and I mounted. We began to ride off at a leisurely pace, and I was about to ask why we were riding in a direction opposite of where we were going. The Swan turned his horse suddenly, and I did the same. His hands were no longer on his reigns, for he had pulled his hood up over his head and was untying his mask. With his face hidden in shadow, we rode close the inn, and the Swan cast something in King Thranduil’s direction.
The King caught the feathered mask easily, and he smirked briefly before walking back inside. I could have easily wrung the Swan’s neck for that – he has no concept of how long it takes to make these masks. I was still upset, not only about the previous evening, for that I could have overlooked, but for a name he’d called me that hurt more than any night spent without him.
We flew across the fields in the misty morning. Usually, we travel only out of sight of the town or inn before stopping to unmask and stow our instruments, but we seemed to go a bit further this time. When finally we did slow, the sun was shining down upon us. My mask was the first to go as I eased my horse to trot, and next the lute was packed away.
He was ahead of me by a halfdozen steps, and singing. Always singing, if we weren’t speaking, he was singing. Today it was a Sindarin song, a drinking song to some, that could be heard. It was really a song about the first coming of the new wine, but it was short and easy to recall and worked well enough for a drinking song. I let him finish the tune without interrupting.
“Na vedui! Na vedui!
Tolo, panno i hûl nín!
Sogo, sogo! Daro, bedithon minui!
Sogo mae! Cuio mae! Mado mae! Meletho mae!
Na vedui! Na vedui! Na vedui!”
As I coaxed my mount to pace alongside the Swan, I spoke to him finally for the first time since he’d made me stable the horses the night before. “Your protégé?”
“You might wish a scandal, but I do not,” he said sharply.
“Protégé?” I repeated, still bitter about the previous night when he had used the word in reference to me in front of King Thranduil. “In my mind, that brings about the exact thoughts you are hoping not to convey.”
“Can it be helped that your mind is impure?” he teased me as I tucked the mask I had removed earlier away in my cloak. “Tell me then, what would you have me call you?”
“We’re traveling companions. Perhaps, associate? I would like to think we’re equals,” I dared say. “Protégé makes it sound as if I’m beneath you.”
“If I am recalling correctly,” he said before spurring his steed, “you spend quite a bit of time beneath me.”
Scowling again, I couldn’t help conceal a smirk as I tugged the reigns and instructed my horse to catch up to the one racing ahead.
~*~ The End ~*~
-----------------------------------------
Canary, The by Zhie
Chapter End Notes:
Elvish Drinking Song Translation:
Na vedui! Na vedui!
At last! At last!
Tolo, panno i hûl nÃn!
Come, fill my cup!
Sogo, sogo! Daro, bedithon minui!
Drink, drink! Stop, I'll go first!
Sogo mae! Cuio mae! Mado mae! Meletho mae!
Drink well! Live well! Eat well! Love well!
Na vedui! Na vedui! Na vedui!
At last! At last! At last!
The Ballad of the Girl of the Squirrels is an original tune written in honor of Mal and is sung as a duet in the style of a folk ballad. Thank Eru I’m Not an Elven Lord is based on Thank God I’m a County Boy, as sung by John Denver. My mother introduced me to John Denver’s music when I was knee-high to a swallow, and he’s part of the reason I wanted to learn to play the fiddle. Glorfindel is based upon the song Gloria as sung by Laura Branigan, and sat in the back of my mind for a very, very long time, because all I knew I wanted was to rewrite that song because Glorfindel’s name just fit, and it wasn’t until many years of Gondolin research later that it fit together. Originally, this was to include a song about a different balrog slayer, but that ballad has found a home elsewhere. What Do You Do With a Drunken Elf? was written at the last minute, because I always thought there should be a song right there. It was inspired by, but not sung to, What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?, another tune my mother taught me. Oh, Mary! came about when I realized I wrote a song for Mal, but not for Mary, and wanted to give the Canary a little something to do while the Swan was away. Na Vedui! (At Last!) was a last minute addition when I decided to have the Elves actually sing a song in Elvish (in this case, Sindarin).
Six songs, six parts, a truly Elvish Experience ;-)
Huge thanks and huggles to Mary and Mal, for without them and their stories, this never would have been, and most of all to Thaladir for being worth this (originally, I wrote the squirrel song to get to use him in 'I Came to the West for THIS?!'; and then everything just grew wild from that) and anything else I might have to do to get to play with him.
Thank you for reading!
-The Canary, AKA, Zhie
Na vedui! Na vedui!
At last! At last!
Tolo, panno i hûl nÃn!
Come, fill my cup!
Sogo, sogo! Daro, bedithon minui!
Drink, drink! Stop, I'll go first!
Sogo mae! Cuio mae! Mado mae! Meletho mae!
Drink well! Live well! Eat well! Love well!
Na vedui! Na vedui! Na vedui!
At last! At last! At last!
The Ballad of the Girl of the Squirrels is an original tune written in honor of Mal and is sung as a duet in the style of a folk ballad. Thank Eru I’m Not an Elven Lord is based on Thank God I’m a County Boy, as sung by John Denver. My mother introduced me to John Denver’s music when I was knee-high to a swallow, and he’s part of the reason I wanted to learn to play the fiddle. Glorfindel is based upon the song Gloria as sung by Laura Branigan, and sat in the back of my mind for a very, very long time, because all I knew I wanted was to rewrite that song because Glorfindel’s name just fit, and it wasn’t until many years of Gondolin research later that it fit together. Originally, this was to include a song about a different balrog slayer, but that ballad has found a home elsewhere. What Do You Do With a Drunken Elf? was written at the last minute, because I always thought there should be a song right there. It was inspired by, but not sung to, What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?, another tune my mother taught me. Oh, Mary! came about when I realized I wrote a song for Mal, but not for Mary, and wanted to give the Canary a little something to do while the Swan was away. Na Vedui! (At Last!) was a last minute addition when I decided to have the Elves actually sing a song in Elvish (in this case, Sindarin).
Six songs, six parts, a truly Elvish Experience ;-)
Huge thanks and huggles to Mary and Mal, for without them and their stories, this never would have been, and most of all to Thaladir for being worth this (originally, I wrote the squirrel song to get to use him in 'I Came to the West for THIS?!'; and then everything just grew wild from that) and anything else I might have to do to get to play with him.
Thank you for reading!
-The Canary, AKA, Zhie