Assistance by Himring

Assistance

Tap-tap-tap comes the sound of the wooden crutches on the stone floor.

The boy is missing his right leg below the knee. He is thin, probably both from lack of good food and a recent growth spurt.

Beside him, keeping pace, a dog with short yellowish fur hops along. He is missing his left front foreleg.

Gil-galad, seeing them approach, rises from his chair on the dais. The audience hall is long. Gil-galad feels a strong urge to leap forward and pick up the boy and tuck him under his right arm and the dog under his left. But the immense dignity of the boy and the expertise with which he wields his crutches restrain him. So does the cheerful insouciance of the dog.

‘Your majesty,’ announces the boy, when the two of them arrive in front of the dais, apparently oblivious that Gil-galad was led to expect a request for royal charity, ‘we have come to help you build Forlond.’

Gil-galad gravely inclines his head.

‘We of Forlond thank you for your offer of assistance.’

Chapter End Notes

I have also used the current tolkienshortfanworks prompt "building".