The old ways

Eowyn took away the old stripes of linen and washed Haldir back with a soft cloth. Merry tried to peer over Haldir’s shoulder and what he saw made him cringe. How on earth did Haldir survive this. There was a scar running from the neck all the ways down to his hips. It was ragged and looked slightly swollen with angry redness. The Hobbit felt a wave of nausea hit him as he imagined what the wound had looked like when it was fresh. He had heard of the elven power of healing but this was remarkable. Quickly he looked away and studied the interior of this room instead.

When Eowyn was finished and had left again, Merry looked thoughtfully at Haldir.

"Now I know why you doubt that you might not be able to ride with us."

"Yes, the wound was severe, but I have to go. I need to find him."

"Let’s see what I can come up with. You know, my dear Lorien elf, we Hobbits are known for our talent to improvise. Maybe I can come up with something. You lie down now and rest. And do you know what I will do? I will ask around a bit about your Legolas. Maybe someone else had noticed anything unusual." He hopped off the bed and left, winking at Haldir.

The proud marchwarden made himself rest for the remain of the day, slipping into a healing sleep, his mind though fixed on his beloved somewhere out there in the wilderness of Middle earth.

In his dreams he saw his smiling eyes, heard his laughter and felt his loving touch. He wished he could send a wave of love and devotion along their bond, but he didn’t know if Legolas had the time or peace to concentrate on their mutual feelings.

The next morning he felt surprisingly refreshed and managed to sit up on his own. Ignoring the stabs of pain, he slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed.

It felt surprisingly good to be in an upright position again, though he felt dizzy and a bit disorientated. But he had to make progress, he had to be able to leave in a week towards Gondor.

Very carefully he pushed himself towards the edge of the straw mattress and inhaled deeply. One hand placed on the mattress the other to steady him against one of the posters of the bed, as he used his upper leg muscles to stand up. Pain was shooting, like liquid fire across his back up to his neck and he let out a strangled scream, but he was standing.

Panting Haldir hung onto the poster, sweat pouring down his body and face.

Merry ran towards Haldir’s room as quickly as his short legs would carry him. He had interesting news indeed. He had nearly reached his destination, when he heard a scream. It was coming from Haldir’s room and the Hobbit doubled his efforts to get there quickly.

He flung open the door finding Haldir standing on shaking legs, hanging and supporting himself on the bed. His face was ashen and his breath came in short, painful gasps.

"Are you out of your elven mind?" Merry ran over to Haldir, trying to hold him upright without causing him even more distress.

"I have to be able to move on my own, Merry. I have to practice. How else am I going to go to Gondor." Haldir’s voice was strained.

"Yes, maybe, but your injury. It is not fully healed yet. And what if it opens up again? You have to lie down."

"No!" Haldir straitened a bit more "I will not lie down again."

"All right, then you will sit on the bed!" Merry pulled at Haldir’s arm.

Haldir did not want to, but he could feel his legs buckle under the strain and he obliged.

When Haldir was sitting safely on the bed and his breath had eased somewhat, Merry sat down before the e
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"Now, do you want to hear what I found out?"

"Merry, have you really heard anything? Please tell me. I must know."

The Hobbit smiled self-confident. "Sure. Now, I asked many people and nobody could tell anything important. Until I came across the armourer. He told me that the dwarf and Aragorn had come to hisce, ce, asking for some material and a place to work. I know that, that alone is not very unusual, but what they were making was. The armourer described it as a very small peace of armour about seventeen to nine inches in size. It was lined with soft linen and the dwarf adorned it with a silver thread, in which he placed the elvish runes onto it. He said it looked like a little apron of some sort. It even had leather straps to fasten it around something. Now what do you say?" Merry beamed.

Haldir had furrowed his brow and shook his head slightly. "I don’t understand. Of what use is that?"

"Obviously the injury has not only damaged your back, but also your mind. An apron! Now why would someone want to tie that around himself. Yeah, all right, I know for cooking. But I seriously doubt that any of them wanted to cook something, especially not in a sturdy leather apron. Maybe it was some sort of additional protection. But for whom? I’ll bet it was an armour for Legolas. I also have heard that Aragorn and Gimli fussed over him quite a lot. And that was not only because he was grieving."

"Merry, if that what you think is true and that protection is for my husband......."

Haldir was interrupted by Eowyn, who nearly dropped her tray when she entered seeing Haldir sitting, rather than lying down like he should do.

"What do you think you are doing there." She fumed. "The wounds could open up again and my whole work would have been for nothing."

"My wounds will not open up again, but I need to get my body working again or else I will not be able to travel with you."