Sultry in September FIC: Eärendil’s Lost Sons, Tolkien

[alexs_storybook]

Title: Eärendil’s Lost Sons
Author: alexcat
Type: FCS
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from the use of any of these characters.
Warnings: None
Beta: Larian Elensar
Pairing: Oropher/Erestor
Archive: Ao3, OEAM, Alex’s Story Book
Author’s Note: 2013 Sultry in September story for Chaotic Binky
Spoilers: For The Silmarillion
Summary: Oropher and Erestor are sent out solve a mystery. They do have a little fun along the way.

~~~



Oropher was king to a ragtag group of elves who had no other allegiances when they threw in with him. They needed a leader and he was ready and willing to lead so they formed a kingdom in the Green Wood. Darkness began to grow all around them in this Green Wood. His wife had been brutally killed in Doriath many years ago and his son would probably never completely forgive him.

He should have been a lot unhappier than he was.

And lonely.

But he wasn’t.

Erestor had come along. With his blue-black locks and his piercing black eyes, he should have been stern and cold and to many, he was just that. But to Oropher, he was a source of endless delight and joy. The first time he’d laid eyes on Erestor, his heart sang and he was completely smitten. Imagine his delight when he found out that Erestor was as wonderful inside as outside.

Erestor actually lived with Círdan and the young king, Gil-galad, but he spent most of his time here in the Green Wood. He and Oropher hunted and fished and played card games to pass the time and drank wonderful wines from all over the land.

And they loved one another. More than anything else, they loved one another.

“Círdan wants us to what?” Oropher wanted to be sure he’d heard Erestor right. Erestor had just returned from a few weeks at the havens and had a request.

“He wants us to look for the sons of Elwing and Eärendil. There are rumors that they have been seen up the coast. After Eluréd and Elurín were lost and never found, Maedhros wouldn’t allow these two to be lost, or so the story goes.”

Oropher closed his eyes at the mention of Eluréd and Elurín. “Erestor, we found the twins that Celegorm’s men had taken. Or what was left of them. They had been killed and left for the scavengers to clean up. We buried them and never told anyone what happened to them.”

Erestor’s jaw dropped. He had always assumed that Elwing’s brothers had died but he had never known that they’d been found. “I – there are no words. I am so sorry that you had to see that.”

“I had returned to Doriath from a hunting trip with Thranduil. We got there only hours after the city had been sacked and the inhabitants slaughtered. We hurried out to look for the children before we buried the dead, before I buried my wife.”

Erestor did not let the tears fall but Oropher saw them just the same and loved him all the more for holding back.

“So where shall we begin? Perhaps these children had a kinder fate.” Oropher asked him.

“We will travel along the coast. That is where they are reported to have been seen. Maglor is with them, according to the stories.”

“They must be close to grown up by now. It has been a good while.”

“I think so. Perhaps they do not even know who destroyed their home and forced their mother to flee.”

Oropher rose and finished his wine. “Let us get an early start then. I will have food and bedrolls packed and we’ll leave in the morning. Círdan and his young king better pray that I find living children this time.”

**

The new day dawned sunny and beautiful. The horses were ready so the two elves set out. Though their mission was serious, both elves were in a light mood as they rode away from Oropher’s stronghold. The day was too perfect for melancholy.

Oropher had an extra horse with provisions: food, wine, and a few other little niceties from home while their bedrolls were on their own horses.

“You know, I think maybe one of Círdan’s wizards or maybe that gypsy elf, what’s his name, would be better at this than us,” Oropher said as they rode leisurely out of sight of home.

“His name is Gildor and I have no doubt that he’d be better at it than I would. I am an indoor elf.”

Oropher laughed. “Oh Erestor, you know as well as I do that you have spent as much time out on campaigns as I have. You certainly know how to live in the wild.”

“Of course I do but I don’t have to like it. Even having high tea with Glorfindel and Ecthelion was more fun than sleeping in the dirt!”

“Well, when you put it that way, I don’t like it either. So why are we doing this?”

“We are too nice,” Erestor said with every bit of the sarcasm that he could muster.

“Ah, yes, I do keep forgetting that.” Oropher leaned across his horse and kissed his companion on the cheek. “You are a lovely old rogue, do you know that?”

“I prefer to be a lovely old librarian or secretary, if that pleases.”

“As you wish.”

They rode on, heading up the coast to the place where the rumors of sightings had originated. The coastal population was rather scarce, probably because it was painful for many elves to live so near the sea. For some reason, Oropher had never had much of a sea longing and felt little when they dismounted on the sandy beach. Erestor, on the other hand, was visibly moved by the sight of the endless ocean before them.

They walked their horses until they came to a small hut back off the beach. The hut was inhabited by humans, a surprise to both as they thought the whole area only populated by elves. The human spoke Sindarin and told the elves that they’d not seen two elflings anywhere nearby though there were some elves that came through once in awhile in a caravan.

“That would be Gildor and his band,” Erestor said as they left the humans.

“Well, let us find a place to camp tonight and tomorrow we’ll ask some more people who stare at us as if we’re fools. After three or four days of that, I think we can safely return home and say we did our best,” Oropher said as they mounted once again and rode a few more miles down the beach.

They set up camp by dark and built a small fire. Erestor made a meal for them of cold meats and bread, with fresh fruit and some of Oropher’s best wine.

“This wine is very good. It is mine?” Oropher actually had a steward who chose his wines and as long they tasted good, he didn’t worry himself about where they came from.

“Yes, it is a bottle from your cellar. The steward assures me it is old and rare.”

“Trying to ply me with wine and take advantage of me?” Oropher raised an eyebrow.

“Take advantage of you?” Erestor laughed. “You are the king. I am a mere secretary. I think it is you who takes advantage of me.”

All the while, he moved closer to Oropher until he was close enough to kiss him after he stopped talking. Oropher carefully set his glass down and put one hand to Erestor’s face as they kissed.

Clothes soon joined the wineglasses and a bit later, the two lay entwined in their tangled bedding.

“I think you might be the death of me. You don’t look like you have the strength and endurance of a Balrog,” Oropher said as he pushed back a lock of Erestor’s jet black hair.

Erestor simply smiled and kissed him again.

*

The second day’s hunt produced one person who might or might not have seen the children but it had been several years ago so they could be anywhere by now. The only really interesting thing the elf told them was that the children were with two elves, one had red hair.

“Maedhros!” They both said it at once. For some reason, they’d assumed that the children were with Maglor alone. The rumors they’d heard back home had said as such.

“I have less desire to see Maedhros than I do Maglor,” Oropher said. “I hold them all responsible for the death of my wife and that I cannot forgive. Ever.”

“I have little desire either but we did say we’d do this.”

Oropher raised that brow again. “We? You said we’d do this.”

“I know but it gives me a chance to get you alone for a few days. You know how hard it is at home to do this.” He gave Oropher a quick kiss as well as a grope beneath his robes.

“You’re incorrigible! And I suspect you are a liar as well!”

Erestor just smiled.

They rode farther and came across an abandoned cabin. Inside it was dusty but otherwise looked as if it waited for its inhabitants to return. There were two large cots and two small ones, some dishes and lying in the corner as if forgotten was a carved horse, the kind a small boy might play with.

“This was their house, Oropher. I can almost feel them here.”

“They’ve been gone for a long time though, a least one season if not more. The dust is thick. They packed up and moved though it was not a hasty retreat. The toy was simply forgotten on the day they left.”

“Shall we dust a bit and take advantage of sleeping inside tonight?”

“Do we still have some food or do we need to hunt?” Oropher wasn’t crazy about sleeping here but it would be nice to have bed for him and Erestor. The fresh air seemed to be doing wonders for him.

“We still have enough. Not a big meal but if we spend lots of time hunting, then there will be less time for other things.”

“You are a randy old goat.” Oropher grinned as he found the ties to Erestor’s leggings.

The shelter was a better idea than they’d thought, when a few hours later, torrential rains began to fall. They’d let the horses go to find their own food and had brought all their packs inside. They built a small fire in the fireplace with wood gathered when they’d first arrived and snuggled in one of the cots, sipping wine and making love most of the night and the next day as well.

The second day brought sunshine and it was time to go. Time to return to their mission. They reluctantly packed up and headed on, stopping to ask questions or to explore an empty shack or cave along the way. Oropher slipped the little wooden horse in his pack and he looked around to make they’d not left anything.

There were rumors of the two elves and the children but no one had talked to them and had only seen them at a distance. The stories were all secondhand or even further removed when told to Oropher and Erestor.

After a week, Oropher was tiring of the road. He worried about how things were going in his absence and if Thranduil had managed to anger his entire council yet. His son had little talent in the diplomatic arts. There was much to be done in the kingdom and he worried that without his constant vigilance that it would not get done.

Erestor reminded him that his people were competent and knew what needed doing.

“You’re more afraid they that they don’t need you than that they do.”

Oropher thought about getting angry but decided that Erestor was probably right so on they went.

Weeks passed. The summer days began to shorten. The nights were becoming chilly and they’d had to build bigger fires. Erestor became quite adept at hunting their dinner and often brought down an animal large enough to share with the few isolated families they happened across in their travels.

One day, Oropher asked, “Why are we hunting them along the coast? I know they were last seen near the sea but that has been years. What if they are hiding under our noses? Close to us or to Círdan?”

“I think someone would have seen them. Here, there are few who roam and much territory to lose one’s self in.”

Oropher acknowledged that he was probably right but added that he was nearly to the end of the time he allowed them to find the children. He needed to get back to his own kingdom before his son sent out parties to search for them as well. Or before his people deposed his sometimes ill tempered son.

“We will give it one more day then we will head back toward home. Círdan cannot accuse us of not doing our best.”

Oropher agreed.

Lost things are always found in the last place you’d expect to find them or at the last place you designated to look, even children. The next day, both elves fully expected that all their wandering would pay off and they’d find two half grown elflings who’d be thrilled to leave the horrid sons of Fëanor and go with them to a more civilized world with Círdan and the young king Gal-galad.

They ran across signs of inhabitation on the beach. Lobster traps were set and fishing gear had been stowed away from the beach near the edge of the woods.

“Someone lives nearby. Let’s search.” Erestor agreed and they began to look and finally found an empty cabin much like the one they’d stayed in to take shelter from the storm a few weeks before.

They were looking through it when Erestor stood slowly and touched Oropher’s shoulder.

“What? I think we should just--” His words were cut off by the site of Erestor being held at sword point by another elf. He had only seen him one time but he would not forget that face.

The face of all he hated.

Maedhros, son of Fëanor and the author of so much death and destruction among the elves of Middle Earth and all because he swore an oath, an unholy oath to find those damnable stones.

“You!” Oropher hissed between clenched teeth.

“Take it easy and I won’t hurt him.”

“Hurt him and I will gut you with my bare hands, son of a dog.” Oropher was so angry that he had few wits about him and certainly not enough to be afraid of an elf with a blade.

“You are very brave.”

“You and your damned kinsmen killed my wife and made my son motherless. If you think to be forgiven by me then you will wait long. I will hate through this life and the one after.”

“What do you want?”

“Elwing’s sons. You have no business with them.”

“They love us. Given the choice, they would stay.”

“Then let them choose. Do they know you sought to kill their mother? Their father? Do they know what your kinsmen did to their uncles? I saw them, Maedhros, saw the little bodies, half eaten by wild dogs but the wounds were not all eaten away. They had been killed by your brother’s men and you did not stop them.”

Maedhros tightened his lips, the only sign that Oropher’s words had any affect on him at all.

“Let him go. Kill me if you must, like your kin killed my wife. I found her too, with her throat cut. I have wanted to kill the last of your family for a very long time.”

Maedhros lowered his sword and Erestor stepped away, moving toward Oropher.

“They are fishing with Maglor. Let him have this one last day with them. He loves them as if they were his own sons. And they love him. Do what you will with me.”

Oropher glared at Maedhros but did not touch him. He and Erestor went outside instead and sat down on the beach to wait.

Just before the sun set, they saw Maglor and the twins walking up the beach. One very tall elf and two smaller ones who looked to be adolescents. One of the young ones carried a string of fish and the other carried fishing poles. The tall elf was playing a flute as they walked and sang.

Oropher felt his own heart tighten in his chest. Was this the right thing to do? The boys had lived with these – elves – since they’d been small and now he had come to take them to live with strangers. He would be taking them from the only parents they probably remembered.

When they came near, the flute silenced and Maglor approached them. “Where will you take them?” There was no question of if or when.

Erestor spoke. “To Lord Círdan. He will see to their care and education. And to their safety.”

“He has always looked to the safety of those who sought his help,” Maglor acknowledged. “He will see to their education and their wellbeing.”

“What are you talking about, Uncle?” Elrond asked.

“These elves have come to take you home. To take you back to your people.”

“But you are our family,” Elros said.

“You know that we are not. Your mother and father would want you to go with them, to the ones they sought shelter from. To ones not tainted by our sins.”

“Can we stay a few more days?” Elrond asked Oropher.

“No. It is better to pack your things and say your goodbyes. You will not see them again and lingering will not make leaving easier.”

Oropher did not miss the tears in both boys’ eyes as they turned to pack. He could not harden his heart to them either so he just looked away.

“We will wait here on the beach. Send them when they are packed. We’d like to get down the beach a ways before midnight.” Oropher told Maglor.

**

They were on their way within the hour. Both boys rode on the packhorse since it had no cargo now. Their meager belongings had fit into one saddlebag. They’d left with a minimum of fuss as Maglor and Maedhros had stayed in the cabin instead of coming out to watch them go. They’d said their goodbyes privately, safe from the prying eyes of Oropher or Erestor.

As they rode away, Oropher took the little horse from his pack. “I found this in a cabin far down the beach. I figured that it belonged to one of you.”

Elrond took it from him. “Thank you. I left it when we moved a few years ago. Elros remembered his. Papa made them for us when we were babies.”

Oropher realized that they mean their real father had made them and it gladdened his heart that he’d taken a moment to grab the little toy.

They made good time and arrived at the Havens in a little over a week. The boys had been quiet on the journey, not speaking too often nor asking nearly as many questions as Oropher or Erestor had expected. They’d not been sullen or angry either, which is what Oropher expected. They seemed to look forward to meeting Cirdan and Gil-galad.

Círdan welcomed them all with food and rest.

Oropher and Erestor took advantage of the baths while Círdan made away with the children, who seemed almost eager once they met him.

Since no one was about in the bathhouse, Erestor moved closer to Oropher and slipped his hand beneath the water to touch Oropher in a place he’d not touched in weeks.

“I’ve missed this,” Oropher whispered just before Erestor shut him up with a kiss.

They were dressed for dinner but just barely.

Young King Gil-galad was sitting at the head of the table with Círdan on one side and Elrond and Elros on the other. The food was plentiful and looked mouthwatering. Oropher and Erestor ate as much as they could hold while the twins picked at their food. They talked to Gil-galad and once, Oropher even saw Elrond laugh at something Gil-galad said.

Later in his room, Oropher was removing his robes and circlet when Erestor slipped into the room and sat down beside him, removing the circlet and beginning to brush his dark hair.

“Have we done the right thing?” He asked Oropher.

“We have. No matter how much Maglor loved those boys, he had no right to them, no right to keep them from their heritage.”

“Do you think they’ll be happy?”

“Eventually they will. Círdan’s home is filled with people and there is always something going on here. They need to be with others, to learn to lead as their heritage allows.”

Erestor slipped his robe off and stood naked before Oropher. “You are a king. Will you lead me?”

Oropher stood and took his hand. “You know you’ve never let anyone lead you anywhere but I will walk with you, my Erestor. That I can do.”

They moved toward the bed, with Oropher’s clothing falling to the floor with Erestor’s as they went.

~end~