Tending Elrond's Heart

Kneeling in a small, well-tended garden behind the House of Healing, Elrond carefully pruned the plant before him with practiced, gentle hands. Never had this bush bloomed, not in all the years of lavish attention Elrond had slathered upon it - fertilizing, watering, pruning, whispering soft words of encouragement - still it remained as barren as when its tender new shoots had first pushed through the dark, fertile soil.

Elrond's sleek, arched brows knitted, as he sat back on his haunches, eyes the color the deep water wandering over his one failure…always he had had a way with plants, both herbal and floral, yet never could he encourage this frustrating bush to put forth a single blossom. Sighing, he shook his head slightly in consternation, returning his attention to the job at hand. It may not have bloomed before now, nor today, but Elrond was determined that it would bloom someday. He would not give up until it did.

"Lord Elrond…" came a soft, deep voice from within the House of Healing. Looking up, Elrond saw his Chief Advisor, Erestor, standing at the double doors that led into the healer's domain from the garden. "There is an Elleth here who claims to know the young one in your healing room."

The identity of the injured Elleth had been a mystery since the previous afternoon when Elrond's sons had brought her to Elrond to be healed. Elrohir had reported to his father later that night that, although he and Elladan had inquired of everyone in the vicinity of the archery field, no one seemed to know who she was, or who her kin were.

Rising, Elrond brushed the dirt of the garden off his leggings and robes, rinsed his hands quickly in a bowl of water kept on the patio for that purpose, and followed Erestor into the House. Approaching the room where the injured Elleth lay, still in a deep healing sleep, he paused, holding Erestor back from entering as well, as an angry voice reached their ears from within the room.

"Stupid, stupid female! Wake up, you lazy good-for-nothing! Lying there pretending to be too ill to rise from that comfortable bed to earn your keep! Have you any idea how you've embarrassed me by allowing yourself to be injured and taken here? How will I hold my head up in public? Clumsy, stupid girl! Wake up, I say! Wake!"

It was the soft moan that reached Elrond's keen ears that propelled him into the room, rather than the shrill ranting of the shrew a moment before.

"Madam! Pray tell me the purpose for this visit and your reason for trying to so callously wake my patient from the healing sleep she so desperately needs?" Elrond asked, his voice tightly controlled, although he felt the strongest urge to throttle the Elleth standing near his patient's bed.

"My Lord! I…I am this one's guardian, Lady Ethuilrost, " she answered, dropping into an awkward curtsy. "I am most pleased to make your acquaintance again, my Lord…I believe we met on another occasion…the Bonding Ceremony of…"

Elrond cut her off in mid-sentence, not in the least bit interested in her story or her saccharine smile. "Her guardian did not miss her presence until now?"

"She did not return last night, and I went out looking for her, my Lord. An acquaintance mentioned that she had met with an accident, and was taken here."

"Your reasons for trying to wake her, when she is so obviously under my care?"

"She often exaggerates her complaints, My Lord," the Elleth replied, laughing weakly. "Too often she lies in order to escape her work…"

"Be that as it may, she does not exaggerate this injury. Too close did she come to the Halls of Mandos…she is under my care and will remain so until I deem her ready to return," Elrond stated, his voice still low with barely restrained anger. Something about this termagant female struck a nerve within him.

"Of course, My Lord…as you wish…" she answered, curtsying again. She walked out of the room, her lace trimmed gown rustling, without a single backward glance at the patient, Elrond noticed, adding that to his growing list of suspicions.

Once the Ethuilrost was gone, Elrond ordered Erestor, "Find out all you can about that Elleth, as well as the young injured one…something rings false about her claims."

"Aye, I feel it also, Elrond. I will report to you as soon as I have news." With a slight bow, his Advisor left the room also.

Looking down at the face of the young Elleth, Elrond noticed the subtle facial expressions that heralded a waking from the healing sleep. She was beginning to regain consciousness, and with it she was beginning to feel the pain of her wound. Placing one hand on her brow, he leaned down and whispered the healing chant again, sending her deeper into her sleep. She was not ready to wake…her wounds were still too raw and painful. Best that she slept through the worst of the healing. He frowned again at the other Elleth's cruel attempt to wake the injured one…and wondered why she would wish to wake her to her pain.

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"The injured one's name is Merenant, Elrond. Her parents sailed several decades ago, when the girl was a mere Elfling, leaving her in the care of her father's brother and his wife, Ethuilrost. It was she who was here badgering the young one."

"Strange behavior for a guardian, Erestor," Elrond commented, feeling that Erestor was holding back information. He cocked an eyebrow at his Advisor, silently willing him to go on.

"All has not been well for young Merenant, my Lord…not well at all since her parents sailed. She was loved by them both, so I have been told, but the loss of a brother in an Orc attack, their only son, was the impetus for their decision to sail," Erestor cast a sad look at the sleeping form on the bed, as he continued. "The decision of her uncle to sail a handful of years ago as well destroyed the last barrier between her and her uncle's wife - a greedy, hardhearted Elleth, by all accounts. I do not believe the young one's life has been an easy one, Elrond."

"Why is it that I have never heard of this young one? The older Elleth's name is familiar to me…I believe her husband's name was Gildin, was it not?" A nod from Erestor confirmed Elrond's thoughts. "Why is it that no one even knew she was missing? She had been gone an entire night and day…"

"No one I have spoken with has seen much of the poor child in the past several years. It is believed that Ethuilrost uses her as a servant in her own house. Rarely is she allowed to leave it."

"What of her schooling? Her training?" Elrond asked, clearly upset that at the thought of the girl being used a slave labor by anyone in his realm, especially by a relative.

"She has had little, I suppose…I have never seen her attend instruction, Elrond…of any kind. I'm sure Elrohir and Elladan would have known her had she had any warrior training."

"Her gown was threadbare, worn and patched," Elrond mused, thinking of how she had looked, so vulnerable and damaged, lying on the healing bed that first night. "Please tell me that was not all she had to wear, Erestor…please tell me no one in my realm lives thusly."

"I cannot in good conscience tell you this, Elrond…from what I have been told, it is all too true for poor, young Merenant."

Elrond stood up, his hands clenched in fists at his sides. "There is no reason for such cruelty…no instruction? No training? Not even decent clothes upon her back? Did her parents sail and leave her without resources?"

"Her resources would have been absorbed by her guardians, Elrond, to be managed until she came of age. In the absence of her uncle, I dare say Ethuilrost would be managing any assets for her," Erestor reasoned. "After hearing tales of this Elleth from many of her acquaintances, it seems she has an inordinate fondness for fripperies and fineries, which drain her accounts. I noticed while she was here that her gown was of the finest quality…"

"…while the child's was not much more than rags," Elrond concluded, his ire rising. "How close is she to her Majority, Erestor? Do you know?"

"My best guess would be very close, Elrond…I believe she should be taking part in this summer's Solstice, although her name has not been added to the roster of Elflings due to participate."

Pacing, his hands behind his back, Elrond muttered curses under his breath. Turning to Erestor, he asked, "Am I not the Lord of Imladris? Are all who dwell in this realm not subject to my will?" At Erestor's respectful nod, Elrond continued. "From this day forward the Elleth Merenant is my ward. She will reside in my House, eat from my table. I will decide her course for the future. Add her name to the list of participants for this summer's Solstice ceremonies. You, my friend, will have the pleasure of settling the books with her aunt. I want any assets Merenant might be owed to be separated from that shrew's grasping fingers…do I make myself clear, Erestor?"

Smiling, Erestor bowed before his Lordship. "Aye, Elrond. I understand, and it shall be done as you have decreed. This very night, if you will grant me leave…"

Smiling himself, Elrond nodded at his Advisor. "Oh, Erestor…you may wish to have an armed escort with you when you go to her aunt's house…I want that female to be properly impressed by the seriousness of the situation."

"Aye, Elrond," Erestor replied, bowing again. He slipped quickly from the room, most eager to do Elrond's bidding.

Turning, Elrond once again gazed at the slight sleeping form on the bed. "Poor child…if only I had known sooner the hardships you faced, you would have never been wounded, for I would have removed you from your troubles sooner." He clucked his tongue, shook his head, and headed back to his garden, trying to ignore the memory of her soft, white breasts that kept coming back to haunt him.