There was a sharp pain at his side, and Haldir glared at Orophin. His brother did not apologize for pinching him, but instead focused his attention to the empty wine bottles. "It appears the supply of refreshing drink has gone dry," he announced. "I am going to fetch another few bottles from the cellar. Haldir." Orophin pushed back in his chair and was out of the room before anyone could object. Haldir stood, wiped his mouth, and folded his napkin before placing it beside his plate. He inclined his head toward those at the table, then followed after Orophin.
"If you had not been drinking it so fast, we would not be out of wine already." Haldir bounded after Orophin to catch up to him.
"If those two elflings were not making me so nervous, I would not have been drinking so fast." Orophin slowed his pace. "Did you notice how they whisper and look at us?"
"I had not been paying much mind to it. They are curious. They did not know we were their uncles until they arrived here today. Think of it this way – what would your reaction have been if you had been told that Glorfindel was your uncle just after reaching your majority. Bit of an odd situation, would it not be?"
"But Glorfindel is not our uncle, right?" Orophin asked.
"No, of course he is not. That was merely an example." Haldir rolled his eyes. "Why could you not have come down here without me?"
"Because of those twins! They are creepy! I just cannot tell them apart. It is as if Clebri finally found a way to get me back for every nasty thing I ever did to her," Orophin shivered.
"I can tell them apart."
"Then you are one of the few. Ada just keeps calling them ElrohirorElladan, and when I asked Nana, she admitted that she snagged one of their robes with her shoe so that she could keep them straight."
Haldir grinned. "That is why she is so quiet this evening! She must be annoyed that they are not wearing them now."
"And I heard them talking about that grey archer nonsense again." Orophin shook his head. "If only I knew what it all meant."
"More than likely, it is some sort of twin talk."
"Twin talk?" asked Orophin, highly interested.
"Of course." Haldir reached the bottom of the tree and knelt at the base of the trunk. "When Elrond first found out he and Celebrian were to be parents of twins, he shared with me all of his pleasant childhood memories. I had often thought asking him about that part of his past would sadden him, but he remembered his brother with great joy. He and Elros had a language they used to talk to one another -- twin talk, as Erestor named it. Something only they two knew."
Orophin helped Haldir lift the wooden door, which led to a narrow tunnel beneath the tree and shivered. "You are right that it takes but one of us to procure the wine – shall I stay up and guard the door?"
"Nay. I hate the passage and the spiders as much as you do." Haldir looked up at Orophin, and shook his head at the pout and sad eyes directed toward him. "Fine. But you will lose both arms if you even pretend to lock me in down here." Haldir lowered himself into the tunnel and crawled through the passage to where the wine was kept, trying not to see what crept along the ceiling and walls.
"So you think it all a game they play? It just seems awful odd, each time we see them, they act strangely and speak of this cloaked stranger, and never do others question it." Orophin kept the door held high, lest Haldir think he was closing him in.
"Maybe they are all the more used to their behavior than we are," Haldir suggested, shouting his answer back down the tunnel.
"Perhaps. But why has Rumil not deemed their mannerisms to be peculiar?"
"Because," answered Haldir, handing up a pair of bottles, and then two more, "Rumil is himself an odd elf."
Orophin pondered this. "I will give you that, but does it not seem just the slightest bit strange? When last I asked him of it, he did not answer, and that was many a year ago."
Haldir lifted himself from the tunnel and helped to replace the door, carefully rolling the sod back over the hidden yet not unknown entrance. "You do not suspect sweet and innocent young Rumil being a party to the mischief of the twins?"
"I suspect Rumil to be not as sweet nor as innocent as he appears to be." Orophin began the climb back up the Great Mallorn. "We should know. I mean, if he is anything like his brothers..." Orophin trailed off, obviously in thought. "Haldir, did Elrond teach you any of this twin talk that he and Elros made up?"
After dinner, Haldir and Orophin excused themselves immediately, citing the eventful day and need for sleep. They hid themselves near the tree, waiting for their nephews to venture forth.
It was not long before two elves stepped off of the final step, arm in arm as they strolled down the path. They walked on, admiring the woods, and began to speak as soon as they thought they were far enough from elven ears.
"Allumeyay! Ed'hay i'earhay ar'hay eleneahay! Aminhay owenay onray 'kelayanay yelay!**" Elladan kicked a rock near his foot and it ricocheted off of a tree.
"Inaday!" commanded Elrohir, shooting him a warning glance.
"Aminhay iraethahay." Elladan said nothing more for some time, and then the talk continued.
High above in trees overhead, the two brothers listened to the conversation, Haldir translating the majority of the phrases.
"Elladan just asked when they would approach the grey archer, to see if the tales are true. Elrohir has suggested not saying a word to the cloaked stranger. Elladan has reminded him that the cloaked stranger appears never to leave the grey archer's side."
"Who in the name of Arda are they talking about?" wondered Orophin. They kept their distance, speaking low so that the younger elves could not hear them.
"I am just as curious as you, Oro." Haldir listened a bit more, then added, "Elrohir has suggested they return to the mallorn. Elladan is agreeing with him."
"Well, this was pointless." Orophin scuffed his foot against the branch he stood on, immediately knowing his mistake without having Haldir point it out to him.
"Tiro!" shouted Elladan, pointing in the direction of the tree. Within seconds, the two elves below had weapons drawn and were poised under the tree to attack.
"Man?" Elrohir's voice, his bow aimed directly where Orophin had announced his presence.
"Den dago!" Elladan, his sword drawn, pointed up at the tree.
"Daro! Avo!" Orophin dropped from the tree to the ground. A few moments later, Haldir followed, then reached out and tilted the points of the arrow and the sword to the grass.
"The Grey Archer," both of the twins said, looking at Orophin in awe.
"Excuse me?" Orophin glanced at Haldir, who shrugged, then back at the twins.
"You are the Grey Archer." Elrohir began to search in his pockets for something.
"He is?" asked Haldir.
"I am?" questioned an equally confused Orophin.
"You are," confirmed Elladan, who also began to search for something now. Simultaneously, both pulled out half of a tattered sheet of parchment. "This was from the first writing. The Valar – or, we at least believe it to be the Valar because we never knew how else they could just appear in our room – have been telling us the stories of the Grey Archer and the Cloaked Stranger since we could read. We could not decide who should keep the very first message we ever received, so we each retained half. You are the Cloaked Stranger." Elladan handed Haldir his piece. It was stained with dirt, blood, and other substances that the blond elf dare not guess. Elladan took the sheet back and folded it once again.
"And as we have already said, you are the esteemed Grey Archer." Elrohir's half was much better preserved, bearing only slight creases in a few places where folds had not been. "It was a picture, and the frame around the edges, was the alphabet and numbers. Soon after, the stories grew longer, and the adventures more numerous."
"We believe it is a history of sorts, sent to us by the Valar. Now that we know who some of the characters are, we are even further convinced."
"Who are the other characters?" asked Orophin, as he handed the parchment back to Elrohir.
"Well, as we found out, our grandmother is the `Lady of the Mirror', and grandfather is the `Great and Wise Lord of the Forest'. Father is in it, even, as `The Peredhel', and mother, too, `The Flower-Haired Maiden'." Elladan counted off the characters as they were listed.
Haldir looked over at Orophin. "You were right to think him not so sweet and innocent."
Orophin nodded.
"Not to think who so sweet and innocent?" asked Elrohir.
"Nothing, it is a private matter." Haldir did not intend to crush the expectations of two old elflings in love with the idea of being spoken to by the Valar. "Perhaps you might share the stories you have learned with us?"
The eyes of both twins lit up. "We had hoped to ask you the same thing!" exclaimed Elladan.
"We want to know what is fact and what is fiction, and what is slight exaggeration," added Elrohir.
"You are the story keepers, though. Share what you know, we will tell you the rest," Orophin said, settling down under the tree.
"Where to begin?" wondered Elladan once they were all comfortably upon the ground.
"At the beginning, of course," laughed Haldir. "Wentrakay yelay i'narnhay."
- - -
Haldir's memories were not having the effect he would have liked. With each new thought, his mind filled with thoughts of those he would now not see for some time, if ever again. `And with each unhappiness I feel I am growing colder.'
He laid his thoughts to rest briefly, before realizing the last one. `Growing colder. If Glorfindel told the truth, I should not have feeling, I should not feel anything once I am in the halls. If I am cold, I can not yet be there.' He wondered what hell he was stuck in, a place not unlike death, but without life. Without hope.
`But there is always hope,' he reminded himself. When he did think of the joys in his life, he had felt warmer. He would need to concentrate only on what would cheer him, and rapidly think of something else if his sorrow returned. `The happiest time... a time when everyone was happy...'
- - -
"So, you are bonded, you are married, and you are sure you do not want to take this last chance to run away before evening comes and you are dragged away, ever more enslaved to your wife until the end of all time?" Glorfindel motioned in the direction of the stables. "Asfaloth is saddled; I would not fault you if you were to commandeer my horse for so noble a cause."
"Nay, nay, and a thousand times more, nay!" Elrond's smile was broad, and likely had not been shown for so long a time. In fact, he had hardly been able to stop himself from smiling ever since the end of the ceremony. Across the wide expanse of the lawn and gardens of the Last Homely House, guests wandered, sampling food and wine that could be found around just about every corner. The three elves huddled around the groom each held glasses of alcoholic concoctions, though Elrond himself had hardly the time to think of food, let alone eat it.
Haldir grinned, elbowing Glorfindel. "Now, now, that is my sister you speak of. She is not all that terribly bad to live with. Though I must say, days will come in the future when I am glad she is no longer lurking in the woods." Erestor and Glorfindel both appeared amused by the comment, waiting to see Elrond's response.
"Brother, be not hasty with your words," Elrond said, draping an arm around Haldir's shoulder, "or I shall employ an artist to capture the entirety of the wedding night, and send you the results to be hung in the Great Mallorn."
"Lest I should fear going blind at the sight of the paintings in the halls of the tree, I now hold my tongue." Haldir sipped his wine to the laughter of the older elves.
"A dangerous gift that would be, for dare I say I know the father of the bride to be quite the lascivious elf in his own home, and such artwork, I dare say, might cause an undue war to be unleashed." Glorfindel seemed to puzzle the rest, and thus he added, "If you do send such a work of art to Lothlorien, be not surprised if you should see a picture of the Lord and Lady of the Golden Woods illuminating your Hall of Fire with naught but their smiles."
"Ai! Truly, I did not need that image!" Haldir gulped the rest of his wine, the other elves now heavy with laughter.
"What image might that be?" A voice behind him alerted him to the presence of his sister. She tilted her head at the group, and commented, "I thought it was only ellith who traveled in packs."
"We are not traveling, my lady, we are quite stationary at the moment," Erestor said, regaining his composure first.
"And what business is being conducted herein that you boastfully chuckle over the crowd to be heard by all?" asked Celebrian, moving next to her husband and into his arms.
"We are advising his lordship, as all good advisors do," Glorfindel stated.
"On what matters would my lord husband need advice at this very moment?"
"Why, on matters of his wedding night, of course." Glorfindel took Celebrian's hand and pulled her to the edge of their small circle, a move intended to free her from their conversation. Quickly she moved round to Elrond's other side where Haldir stood, knowing her brother would do nothing to exclude her.
"I doubt any of you could add much to the knowledge he already possesses," Celebrian replied curtly.
"That is where you are mistaken," Glorfindel smiled. "There are quite a few things I might instruct him about."
"I am sure there are, Glorfindel. But as they often say, three is a crowd."
"I often say three is a party," he smirked.
Celebrian ignored Glorfindel and turned to Erestor. "You doubt my abilities to advise in such a matter?"
"Erestor, you have never bonded. You have never married. You are quite open, though I cannot imagine why, on your personal choice to be celibate. I hardly see what you could offer to this conversation."
Erestor crossed his arms, still holding his drink. "You can learn a lot from books, you know."
Celebrian rolled her eyes, landing them on Haldir. "Do not think to tell me you were offering advice to Elrond."
"Not really. I was mostly here to absorb what information I could," he admitted, then added, "Though, I did tell him about... your secret..."
Celebrian's eyes went wide. "You did no such thing!"
"Told them all, I mean, they were here, too, so, it was only fair."
Celebrian looked up at her husband, who grinned, then to Glorfindel and Erestor, both of whom had looks of innocence upon their faces. As Glorfindel made to take a step forward, Celebrian wriggled from Elrond's grasp, and excused herself from the group. "It was lovely to speak with you all. You, I will see later," she promised Elrond. "You, I might have to kill," she told Haldir, wagging a finger at him as she swiftly departed.
The group waited for her to be out of earshot, and then huddled closer. "What is this secret, Haldir, you must reveal it now!" Glorfindel pleaded, Erestor and Elrond both nodding.
Haldir grinned and whispered to them, until all four were once again laughing over the whole of the crowd for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
Chapter End Notes:
**[Twin Talk was nothing more than grelvish mixed with pig latin. The phrases were all taken from the following site: http://www.grey-company.org/Circle/language/phrase.htm Is it Sindarin? Quenya? Do I know? Does it matter? Nope. It helped with the atmosphere, and because it's supposed to be made up, there was no reason for it to be Sindarin or Quenya. The Sindarin is from the Council of Elrond site: http://councilofelrond.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Content&file=index&action=ViewContent&cid=9
[Twin Talk]
Allumeyay! Ed'hay i'earhay ar'hay eleneahay! Aminhay owenay onray 'kelayanay yelay! ~Finally! By the sea and the stars! I thought they would never leave us be!
Inaday! ~Quiet!
Aminhay iraethahay. ~I'm sorry.
Wentrakay yelay i'narnhay ~Tell us the tale.
[Sindarin]
Tiro! ~Look!
Man? ~What?
Den dago! ~Kill it!
Daro! Avo! ~Stop! Don't!