Garden Secret. by hennethgalad

Chapter 1

Garden Secret.

   Menegroth bustled with the purposeful vigour of the ants nest it resembled in so many ways. Nimloth held the painting of her mother in her hands and looked around the chambers of Thingol and Melian, still secretly appalled at even standing alone in such once-hallowed rooms. But Thingol was slain, Melian returned to Valinor, and Dior Eluchíl had taken up the grey mantle of his grandfather. 
   Elwing babbled quietly, her wide grey eyes followed the flight of a small white butterfly that fluttered near the tall vase of flowers under which she lay, her small limbs kicking with pleasure. Nimloth smiled and looked down at the picture, she could see the resemblance already; it seemed that her daughter had inherited the looks of the wrong grandmother. The twins took after their father and already promised to share his beauty. 
   Nimloth frowned at the elegant room, she had been too long in the wilds, sleeping in branches, or on moss, living among the Onodrim for years at a time, and then Tol Galen, and the rustic charm of the log cabins under the trees. The splendour of Menegroth seemed outlandish to her, though the skill of the sculptors and gardeners in blending the living forest with graven rock made her discomfort seem absurd. But when she looked up at the pale blue ceiling, she could feel the weight of rock press down on her, though the ceiling itself was high above her head. 
   It was foolish, she had lived in Menegroth for centuries, it was her home, she was returning home. But she shook her head, home had become the green forest, and the true heights and everchanging colours of the open sky. She took in a sharp breath, set aside the painting and stooped over her daughter, touching her gently on the nose. Elwing looked at her mother and said "gah". Nimloth smiled and scooped up the fat little bundle, and the thick little blanket, and stepped outside into the garden.

    Nimloth, singing the old "Awakening" song, plaited garlands for supper as she kept watch on Elwing. The garden was like a great painting, carefully cultivated and tended close to the Halls, but gradually blending into the disheveled beauty of the forest around it. She had scarcely seen it before, it had ever been the refuge and sanctuary of Melian, and few had been invited, on rare occasions, to this high and secret place. The air was filled with soft sound, the light wind stirring the leaves, the song of the birds, and the flowing of the fountains and springs. Nimloth sighed and felt the tension leave her shoulders and neck, as the gentle peace of the forest soothed her spirit. The grief that filled Menegroth was laid aside, for a time, by the necessity of clearing and repairing, and even rebuilding, but waited, skulking, behind every door. No family had escaped, all knew the pain. The mourning would last, for many, until the world ended; and beyond the forest, the shadow loured. But in the tranquil garden of Melian, with Elwing beginning to drowse at her feet, and the shouts and laughter of the twins nearby, Nimloth sang.

   "My lady, shall we serve your luncheon ?" 
The voice of the butler startled Nimloth, she glanced down, Elwing was asleep. She smiled at the stern faced woman, and shook her head.
  "Would you mind ? I should like very much to dine here, and not disturb my daughter in her slumbers..."
The butler put her hand to her heart and bowed with a smile. 
   "So it was for the sleeping Lúthien. It shall be as you please my lady."

   Nimloth laid aside the garland, glanced once more at the sleeping Elwing, then stepped softly through the flowers towards the sound of her sons at play. As she drew nearer through the alder thicket, a low-voiced argument could be heard. Eluréd came running towards her around an outcropping of rock. 
   "Mother !" The small Elfling exclaimed, smiling as though he had not seen her for months, rather than hours "I am rather hungry, mother, may I have some cake ?"
Nimloth smiled and picked up the beaming child.
   "Yes, it is time to eat, and I am sure that there will be something sweet enough for you." She kissed his brow and he reached his arms up to hug her, but only succeeded in entangling her hair. She laughed and looked around. "But where is your brother ? "
Elúred nodded towards a large oak.
   "Sulking in the den."
Nimloth looked doubtfully up at the oak, it was massive and ancient, there was no climbing such a grandmother of a tree for such a small Elf, and she could see no sign of a structure among the thick branches, nor of any disturbance of the honeysuckle wound up and through it. But Eluréd hit her gently with his tiny fist.
   "Not up that tree, silly, in the den !"
   "Will you show me the den ?"
   "Of course, but it is our secret den, and you must tell no one !"
   "Not even your father ?"
   Eluréd frowned "Oh, well, yes, but only father. It is a secret ! "

   Nimloth nodded, holding back the smile, and already the poignant tears, for one day her lovely twins would grow up, and leave her out of their secrets, and perhaps leave her altogether, and voyage South, as Dior ever dreamed of doing.
   "But where is this secret den ? Shall I see if I can find it ?"
Elúred laughed "You never will find it mother ! It is very secret ! But I am too hungry to wait for you to find it. It is behind the fruit fountain, under the lilac."
Nimloth laughed, the Gift of Yavanna was a spectacular piece, carefully carved from stone of many different colours, and though less vivid than real fruit, still gave the unsettling impression of a brimming bowl of fruit seen through fogged glass, or in mist. The water bubbled quietly over the piled stone fruit, spilling tinkling into a stony stream that wound away into the trees. Behind it a great wild lilac was sending its children up the steep rock face that formed a shallow bay around the fountain. Nimloth nodded, it was such an ideal place for a child's den that she wondered whether Lúthien herself had hidden here, long before.

   "Elurín ! It is time to eat ! " Nimloth called softly. But the lilac swayed gently in the breeze, and Elurín did not speak. 
   "This way, mother, put me down, I shall show you. " Nimloth smiled at the earnest grey eyes.
   "Very well, show me the way, Captain Eluréd ! "
   Eluréd grinned proundly, then ran around the sprawling arches of purple flowers. Nimloth followed, but her smile changed to a frown as a foul odour reached her. She hurried forwards, seeing Eluréd stooping under a branch into the dim natural cave of the lilac. She hitched up her robe and crawled after her son, as the stench became unbearable. It was the smell of a carcass; she wondered if a deer, or some other creature of the forest had perished under the shelter of the thick branches. But as her eyes grew accustomed to the low, flickering light, she heard her own breath hiss between her teeth.

   The carcass was the body of a Dwarf. The forest had begun to reclaim him, but under the lilac, on the dusty ground, his armour was untouched by the green tendrils of the unrelenting forest, though the putrefaction of his flesh had made the corpse barely recognisable as the young warrior it had once been. The beard, fair, plaited and bejewelled, was intact, but the flesh was sunken and molten beneath; the macabre face stared sightlessy up at the branches, and a hand, bones beginning to show at the knuckles, was clutched to the armoured chest, as though in salute, or heartache, or pain. 
   Nimloth took a startled breath and almost retched, but took a hold of herself. The twins were looking up at her uncertainly, she remembered that she must remain calm to guide their steps, and smiled soothingly. Elurín had been weeping, his eyes were red, his cheeks wet.
   "Come along, Elurín, it is time to eat, I hope you do not mind that Eluréd has told me of your secret den." 
Elurín blinked then smiled indulgently "Oh no mother, you are not to be left out of secrets."
   "Nor father." Eluréd said. Elurín half glanced towards his twin "Nor father, of course not. Are you angry with us mother ? You looked so cross when you saw our den. It was never a secret from you ! "
   "I am not cross, it is merely that I do not like the smell. But let us leave here now, it is time to eat, and your father, who has been very busy this morning, will wish to hear what you have been up to yourselves. Shall we go to him at once ? "
   "Oh yes ! " both little voices cried in chorus. Elurín wiped his tear-wet cheeks with his little fat fingers. "Shall we bring father here after luncheon ? " 
"You must tell him all about it, and see what he says."