Bloody silmarils, book I by Dilly

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Chapter 11: The Young Man and the Sea

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That midday, in a tavern in Vinyamar, the atmosphere was warm and the spirits joyful despite the drizzle that had been falling continuously since dawn.

The innkeeper, a Grey Elf with a long nose, came quickly to ask the latest customers – a tall black-haired knight and his blond younger brother suffering from a facial allergy – what they wanted to order.

"Hello to you, Innkeeper," said Ecthelion. "We'll have two glasses of goat's milk and the daily special, if it's made with sea fish."

"Sea Bass with Roasted Vegetables, Noble Sire," replied the Sinda.

"Very well," said Ecthelion. Do you have any shrimps?"

"Surely, my lord: beautiful, large prawns."

"Bring us some, too."

When the innkeeper left, Belin said he felt as if people were staring at him. Since he had adopted the elf's clothing and hairstyle, he had blended in relatively well. But that had changed in a few hours. Ecthelion's skin was still perfect, although he never took care of it. Belin's was not. That day he had a flare of acne on his forehead, blackheads on his nose, and shaving cuts on his chin.

"As my father used to say, you have to let the talkers talk," said the Lord of the Fountain. "You're making great progress in the handling of weapons, and that's the main thing. As for horses, this is an area that you already mastered, but you have learned to use our tools instead of your own."

"I've always liked 'orses, sir, ever since I were little. I don't know how to talk to them like you do, but it's as if me and them don't need the same language to understand each other."

Ecthelion nodded, pensive.

"Two goat's milk!" announced the innkeeper, putting the contents of his tray on the table. "And the shrimps, very hot!"

Belin opened his eyes wide when he saw the plate of shellfish.

"Are these beasts really in the sea, milord?"

"Yes. There's even a lot of them. Uh, no, don't eat the head."

"That's good! Thank you, gentle sire."

Half a smile appeared on the ruthless and proud face of the elf lord.

"I-LU-VA-TAR!" suddenly exclaimed a voice to his right. "But who am I meeting here!"

Ecthelion turned with horror.

"Orodreth?!"

Orodreth hadn't changed since the last time they saw him. He was still as blond as ever, with a bobbed hairstyle in the way of Nargothrond, and his candid blue eyes. However, he was no longer wearing Angrod's colours, but Fingolfin's.

"What are you doing here?" Ecthelion asked.

"Well, right now I'm apprenticing with my great uncle Fingolfin in Barad Eithel. And I followed him here for a few days. I'd never seen Vinyamar before. So you followed King Turgon?"

"As you can see."

Orodreth sat down in front of him, next to Belin, who was busy eating his shrimp.

"Hello !" he said to the human. "Are you a companion of Ecthelion ? Oh, by Eru, you've got quite an allergy!"

"You recognize me not, good sire?"

"He's my human squire, don't you remember him?"

"What? My God! No, I didn't recognize him... How he's changed ! It's because of the beard, surely... But this allergy?"

"They are not allergy, milord," Belin replied. "They are youthful pimples, which my older brothers also had at my age."

"Oh. How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Seventeen springs, my lord."

Orodreth suddenly looked terrified.

"They grow faster than we do," Ecthelion explained.

"You scared me!"

Belin then offered to share his shrimp with Orodreth. When they were finished, a waitress came to take them back, and soon put the rest of the meal on the table.

"Here are your fish, young gentlemen," she said.

"Do I look that young?" Orodreth murmured with a disappointed look.

But Belin looked at the waitress with a kind of nostalgic astonishment, and in doing so, he looked miserable again.

"Do you like her?" asked Angrod's son.

"Oh, I was just looking at her because she is not ugly, and seems nice."

"They say that the Sindar are easier than the Noldor," said Orodreth with a scoundrelly air. "You should take advantage of this, Ecthelion. Especially since I've heard that you're very popular."

"No, thank you."

"I... In Barad Eithel... There's a sindarin lady I like. But I think I leave her colder than an iceberg in the Helcaraxë," moaned the blond elf.

Ecthelion seemed as passionate about this conversation as a Vala to whom we talk about contraception.

"My heart bleeds every time she talks to someone else. And you, Belin, is there a lady in your heart?"

"Oh no, milord. There have been no humans in the Gondolin Valley for ten years."

A Spy of Morgoth, who was over there, held out his ear.

"The last one who died was my aunt. And just before that, my mother."

"It's sad..."

"So that leaves me, my brothers, and two of my cousins. I don't have a girl cousin. My brothers Eudes and Robert were not allowed to marry. It is not easy for them, 'cause at the mill they work with women-elves, and they're always good looking, and nice! But they don't want them as spouse. It's 'ard for me too, and I never knew a woman. So I has to take care of myself alone."

"We're all reduced to that," said Orodreth.

"Wait... What do you mean exactly?" Ecthelion asked.

"Well... Relieving ourselves."

"Of course not!" Ecthelion denied.

"You never do it?"

"There's no shame, milord," said Belin.

Morgoth's Spy suddenly wondered why he'd started listening in on this conversation. As for Ecthelion, he had a gag.

"Since I tell you I don't! And after my misadventure with the vampire, I took a vow of chastity."

"You are brave," said Orodreth. "I think Uncle Fingon took a vow of chastity too. He's refused to marry for centuries."

 

 

 

Half an hour later, the two elves and the human were at the beach with bottles of wine and cider bought by Orodreth at the inn. He and Ecthelion were sitting on the sand. The drizzle had stopped, and the sky had cleared. Farther on, Belin had both feet in the water, and he touched the crest of the waves with wonder.

Orodreth uncorked a bottle of cider and handed it to Ecthelion.

"He looks like he's having fun..."

"He had never seen the sea."

Tuor wasn't the first, contrary to legend. But of Belin, the miller's son, few remember today, and all of them live in Valinor, the fairy paradise.

"Come, milord !" he shouted, after taking off his clothes. "It's fresh, but not bad."

Orodreth and Ecthelion put down their bottle and went to join him. They were surprised to find that Belin could swim.

"This is the greatest lake I've ever seen, my sires! And the water is so salty... What's on the other side of it?"

"Did you go there?" asked Orodreth to Ecthelion.

"No."

"Neither do I," said Angrod's son. "I was born here, in Beleriand."

Pensive, the three of them remained silent. Then Orodreth began to splash his companions, and the bathing degenerated into wrestling and swimming contests.

A bit later, Belin, who had disappeared, returned with a net he had made from three pieces of wood and a piece of cloth.

"What are you going to do with that?" Ecthelion asked.

"Catching some shrimp, milord."

 

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Chapter End Notes

Orodreth is a kind of Janice.