Elrohir rolled his eyes skyward. “You are being silly, ‘Dan.”
“I am not!” Elladan retorted sullenly. “And do not roll your eyes at me, Elrohir. Ada said that is unkind.”
“Ada is not here,” Elrohir pointed out smugly, “and if he were, he would think you silly, too.”
“Grandmother is here, and she knows everything,” Elladan said archly, pleased by the flicker of unease that crossed his brother’s face. “She will tell Ada you were mean and will...willful,” he added, stumbling over the unfamiliar word.
He had no idea what it meant, but he had heard Glorfindel say it many times. ‘Elrond,’ the captain would report with a sigh, ‘’Rohir is willful and unruly today.’
Elrohir had no idea what it meant, either, but he knew it made their father frown. “I would rather be willful than silly,” he snapped back with false bravado, hardening his heart against the flash of hurt in Elladan’s eyes.
“I know what I saw,” Elladan said stubbornly, his lower lip sliding forward in a beguiling pout, “and there was something in this tree that I have never seen before.”
Only the faintest whisper of soft boots on the mossy forest floor reached Elladan’s ears before a warm hand clamped his shoulder.
“What did you see, my young lord?” Rúmil asked seriously, squatting so that he was on the twins’ level. “There are many wondrous things in the Wood.”
Elladan was speechless for a moment, in awe of the grey-clad guardian. “I do not know,” he admitted, flushing a little at Elrohir’s snort of derision. He looked at Rúmil uncertainly. “It was red like a fox, but much bigger, and streaked with silver. It moved very fast.”
“Indeed?” Rúmil said, sparing a quick glance for Elrohir. “And you did not see it?”
“Because there was nothing there!” Elrohir replied crossly. “He is silly.”
“You should learn to guard your tongue, pen neth,” Rúmil chided mildly, “until you are sure of what you speak.” There was a hint of mischief in his sparkling green eyes as he turned back to Elladan. “Would you like to meet your tree fox, my lord?”
Elladan nodded wordlessly.
“You have seen something few ever see,” Rúmil praised, lifting a reproving eyebrow at Elrohir, “and shown yourself most cunning and observant.” A shrill whistle left his lips and a heartbeat later a slim form dropped fluidly from the branches above.
The twins stared at the newcomer in amazement. He was young, perhaps not quite of age, and was clad not in the silver and grey of the border guard but in a rich chestnut brown that blended easily into the treetops. His silver hair was drawn into a single braid that hung down his back like a skunk’s stripe. “Good day,” he said cheerfully, offering each of the twins a friendly smile.
“My lords,” Rúmil said, with a covert wink for Elladan, “I present the most stealthy of Lórien’s wildlife...my brother Orophin.”