Filling Santa's shELVES

Disclaimer: I don't own anything even remotely connected to Tolkien's universe, and will not profit from this writing in any way. Seriously - I won't get a single, solitary nickel. Not even a coupon for fifty cents off a diet Coke. It’s pathetic

Filling Santa's ShELVES - A Twisted Christmas Story


Chapter 4


Although the Boss had assured them that the Elves would give them no trouble, the men kept their guns trained on them at all times as they marched them down the corridor to the sleeping area. The Elves were shown into another large room, lined with cots covered with thin blankets.

"Pick a bed, any bed," one man laughed. The Elves heard the slide of a bolt as their captors locked the door behind them, leaving the Elves alone in the sleeping quarters.

"Well, now what do we do?" Rumil asked the other three, seating himself on one of the beds. "We need a plan, Haldir."

"I am completely at a loss, brother. We'll need time, I suppose. We'll need to see what the layout of this place is, exactly how many Elflings we're talking about, how many guards. We'll need to think of a way to get them all to safety - I cannot even begin to think of how to get them back to Arda."

"And we'll need to find the little one they've hidden," Legolas reminded the other three. "I promise you this - before we leave, I will personally rip Saruman into very small pieces, put him in my pocket, and scatter his remains to the four winds."

"Not if I get to him first," Haldir said, gripping Legolas' arm in a comradely gesture.

"You'll need to get in line behind me," Rumil agreed, adding his hand to the other two.

"No matter who kills him, I get to spit on the pieces," Orophin added, placing his hand on his brothers' and Legolas', earning him small smiles from the trio.

A sound at the door brought them to full alert. They spread out, Rumil standing just behind the door.

With a creak, the door swung open, hitting Rumil squarely in the nose. To his credit, he didn't utter a sound, although it smarted enough to make his eyes water.

Expecting another of the armed men, the Elves were shocked to see an Elleth, no more than 100 years or so, just past her majority, slip quietly into the room, eyes downcast, bearing a tray.

"Santa said to bring you your dinner in here," she said softly in Westron.

Legolas recovered first, stepping forward to take the tray from her hands. He placed it on the nearest bed, then put his hand on her arm as she turned to leave.

"Wait, young one. Mani lle esselle?" he asked, dipping his head down, trying to meet her eyes.

Her wide gray eyes looked confused, her brows slightly knit. She shook her head slightly, her long silver hair swishing gently side to side with the motion. "I do not understand…what does that mean?"

"You do not speak Elvish? I asked for your name," Legolas replied, shocked that a full-grown Elf did not understand the mother tongue.

"Oh…my name is Elur," she answered, her eyes downcast once more. She pulled away, her unease apparent in her stance.

"Snow? Your name means snow, Elur. A most appropriate name for this place," Legolas smiled, trying to put the Elleth at ease. "Please, sit with us a while…we are confused and have many questions about this place. How long have you been here?"

"As long as I can remember," she replied.

"Do you remember nothing before here? Nothing at all?" Haldir asked, his voice much more brusque than Legolas', as was his way.

Elur's eyes widened at his tone, and she backed several feet toward the door. As a matter of fact, she backed right into Rumil.

"I think Elur is a beautiful name, suitable for a beautiful Elleth," he whispered, putting his hands on her upper arms to steady her.

Elur let out a squeak, and tried to brush past Rumil to get to the door. "I am sorry, Elur, but we must have answers to our questions first. We will not harm you - I promise," he said, blocking the door.

"Please, Elur…come and sit and talk to us for a while," Legolas asked, indicating one of the beds.

Slowly, the Elleth walked over, and sat herself on the bed, hands folded neatly in her lap, eyes downcast yet again. She seemed unwilling to make eye contact with anyone, and trembled slightly.

"Tell us, Elur…do you remember nothing before this place?" Legolas asked, using a much softer tone than Haldir.

"I remember a tree. A very big tree. It was silver and gold, and…I think I lived in it," she whispered, her eyes darting to the Elf beside her.

"Lorien! She is a Silvan…I knew it!" Haldir said, taking a step forward. "Elur, I am Haldir, March Warden of the Golden Wood of Lothlorien. I, too, along with my brothers, Orophin and Rumil," he explained, pointing to his brothers, "live in the silver and gold mallorn trees."

"Santa said that I dreamed that place. He said that it didn't exist and forbade me to speak of it. That is why I didn't want to tell you - I didn't think you'd believe me," she explained, looking wide-eyed at Haldir.

"She must have been taken very young, if she remembers nothing else, and language is forgotten if not used consistently," Orophin deduced, looking thoughtful.

"Elur, how many Elflings are in this place?" Rumil asked.

"Many. I do not know the counting words to tell you how many."

"Saruman, er…Santa did not educate you? Did not teach you to read or write, or count?" Orophin asked, stunned that even Saruman would keep Elflings completely uneducated.

"For every question answered, there is always another question, Orophin," Rumil said to his brother. "Saruman would have wanted to keep them ignorant in order to more easily control them."

"I am not ignorant," Elur protested in a quiet voice. "I can do many things…cook, clean, take care of the little ones, make toys…"

"Forgive my brother, Elur. He did not mean to imply that you were ignorant," Haldir said, throwing Rumil a stern look. This poor Elleth had suffered enough - there was no point in belittling her.

"My apologies, Elur. I did not mean it the way it sounded," Rumil said, picking up her hand and brushing his lips against her knuckles.

She blushed deeply, pulling her hand away, staring at it as if she had never seen it before. "Oh…oh…" she said, her blush deepening even further, trembling in earnest now. "You are the ones who…who…" She suddenly jumped up from the bed, her eyes wide and filling with tears, her hands shaking. "Please, I must go…I will be punished if I am gone from the kitchen too long. The Elflings will soon be ready to eat…I must help serve them. They will miss me if I am not there. Please!"

She skirted past Rumil, who did not block her way this time, and slipped out the door, locking it behind her.

"What was that about? I did nothing but kiss her hand…" Rumil said, staring at the closed door.

"You are an idiot!" Haldir roared. "Did you not hear what Saruman said? She thinks that we're going to…to…"

"Going to get her with child," Orophin finished for his irate brother. "She thinks we're going to rape her."

"That's ridiculous! I would never touch an Elleth who was unwilling!" Rumil shouted back, glaring at his brothers, his fists clenched, clearly incensed.

Legolas put his hands on Rumil and Haldir's shoulders. "We know that, Rumil," he said, trying to calm both Elves down. "But she does not. Who knows what treatment she's had at the hands of these men? At Saruman's hands? Who knows what he's told her?"

"Oh, Sweet Elbereth…I am an idiot!" Rumil muttered, sitting down on the bed with his face in his hands. "That poor thing…"

"Never mind it now, Rumil. Come and eat…she'll no doubt be back later to pick up the tray, and you can apologize then," Orophin said, gesturing toward the tray of wrapped food.

The Elves did little more than pick at the sandwiches provided, none of them having much of an appetite. Instead, they talked, trying to devise a plan to get the information they needed to plan an escape.

There was one thing they agreed upon immediately…they needed to earn Elur's trust, and the trust of every other adult Elf in the encampment.