House of the Golden Flower

Morning brought me Ecthelion again, just after dawn when Turgon and I had risen and were dressing. I would have worn the same clothes I had the previous day but for Turgon, who made me take them off and put on different ones. I really didn't see the point of the exercise, but I supposed I could wear clean clothes to satisfy him. I hadn't got the ones of the day before too dirty, and had partially restrained myself from wiping my hands on the chest of the white shirt repeatedly throughout the day.

Ecthelion tapped at the door and Turgon opened it, and they talked together for a moment while I was putting on my boots. When I rose and joined them at the door Turgon motioned that I was to go with Ecthelion. I did so, and we parted ways as we had before. Ecthelion allowed me to roam the halls with my eyes, familiarizing myself with the house as we went, but not allowing me to tarry.

He led me to a large room where cloth was stored and woven and spun, and elf maidens tittered at Ecthelion and I, much to my embarrassment. I was then measured by one of them for clothes, having to pull Turgon's clothing taut so she could get as accurate as possible without making me take them off. Turgon's shirt was so much smaller in the shoulders-not that he was small- that I had to remove it in the presence of the ogling maidens and Ecthelion.

Luckily enough, Turgon's legs and mine were much the same in length, although mine were far different in musculature. His pants were tight across my thighs down near the knee and loose in the seat. After the ordeal of being fitted for clothes, Ecthelion took me downstairs for the midmorning meal. Once again I was seated at Turgon's right hand beside the lady Idril and Ecthelion was a reassuring presence across from me.

We were pretty much the only ones there, seated all at one end of a massive banqueting table. There were a few people down at the end but I dared not glance at them. I was nervous with Idril beside me, but she ignored me calmly and I managed to survive the meal, even eating a little in the lady's dauntingly beautiful presence.

After we had eaten, Turgon and Ecthelion spoke to one another again and I strained to hear and understand what they said, but caught very little of it. Once again, I went with Ecthelion when we left the hall.

He took me upstairs then, and let me roam as I pleased, following me, aiding me the few times I got lost. By noon I had been over the entire palace tower and knew my way around, I had learned where Idril's rooms were, where Turgon's were, found Turgon in his study and gave him a smile in passing, explored the nooks of various rooms, and being hungry again, turned to Ecthelion, who had been keeping up a steady stream of naming-words all morning.

I touched my stomach through the loose shirt and he seemed to understand without further explanation. Quite possibly he was as hungry as was I. He touched his own belly. "Stomach." He explained. "Hungry, inside. Yes?" I grinned at him. "Yes. Very." He seemed surprised at the newd.
d.

In truth, I was picking up launguage far more quickly than Ecthelion had anticipated, and when the mild shock wore off as we were walking down to the dining hall, he tried to see just how much I knew. When we reached the dining hall he seemed satisfied, and sat me down at the table where Turgon, Idril and the guests at the end of the table were already eating. He talked animatedly with Turgon while he ate, sharing glances with me. I pretended not to notice that I was being talked about, and tried some of the white meat one of the servers had put on my plate. It was better than anything I'd ever had before and I was allowed to have as much as I pleased.

Such indulgence was a new thing for me and I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes when I was full. "Good." I told Turgon with a lazy smile. He laughed at me and returned the smile. I risked a glance at Idril, and she was eating and talking to a woman beside her, ignoring me entirely. Ecthelion was digging into his food with the abandon of a dwarf, and I sighed and relaxed, quite happy and content to be thus entirignoignored.

After the meal I allowed Ecthelion to lead me to a library we had found earlier, suppressing a few yawns. I'd eaten more since I met Turgon than I often ate in a week back in my valley, where game and vegetation were scarce enough I had to be careful to mete them out, lest I des the the entire supply. In the library Ecthelion picked out a book and draped himself over a sofa, and I joined him.

With the book propped on his bent knees and me leaning my back against his shins, we sat like that until the light grew poor at dusk. He read aloud, and I drowsed in the sound of his voice, absorbing the vast amount of words poured into me. When it began to grow dark he closed the book and tapped my shoulder to signal me to get up, and laying the book back on the shelf where he had gotten it, he took me back to Turgon's rooms.

I was asleep when Turgon crawled into bed beside me, and I rolled into his warmth and buried my face in his neck. We slept thus in one another's arms until dawn came, and with it, another day of learning.