Gildor shifted surreptitiously, trying to keep the haphazardly tied rope in place.
“The prisoner is trying to escape his bonds!” Elrohir shouted happily, the possibility of ‘capturing’ the wanderer anew causing him to bounce with excitement.
“Do not attempt to flee, Evil One,” Elladan warned, his hand tightening on his wooden sword. “You are outnumbered and cannot hope to match our skill with sword and bow.”
“No, indeed,” the younger twin chimed in, his willow bow at the ready, despite the curious absence of arrows. “You stand no chance against us.”
Gildor bit his lip fiercely, struggling to suppress a smile as he took in the twins’ ragged braids and dirt-smudged faces. “I am at your mercy, híren,” he managed. “Where are you taking me?”
“We are going now to a secret place we have, somewhat less than ten miles from here,” the elder twin explained gravely. “There we must decide what to do with you.”
“We must torture him, to see what he knows,” Elrohir said with distinctly uncivilized glee. “Then leave his head...”
One of Elladan’s eyebrows arched in perfect imitation of his father, and Gildor’s cheeks puffed as he tried vainly to hold back a snort of amusement. Flashing a surprisingly stern gaze at the chuckling captive, the elder twin turned to his brother with a sigh. “Elves do not torture prisoners, ‘Roh. Do you not remember what Erestor said?”
“We must kill cleanly or not at all,” Elrohir sighed, obviously unhappy with the high moral standards of the firstborn. His face brightening, he added, “But if we make him an orch, we can...”
The elfling’s words ended in a surprised squeal as another golden-haired giant weighed in on behalf of their captive, and, in what seemed only a heartbeat, Elrohir found himself slung over Glorfindel’s shoulder without ceremony.
“’Tis time for the great warriors to have a bite and a rest, I believe,” the Balrog-slayer said with a grin, settling the giggling youngster more comfortably.
“And not a moment too soon,” Gildor chuckled, lifting Elladan to his own shoulder. “I had just been demoted to ‘orch’. ‘Rohir wanted to torture me.”
Before Glorfindel could reply, Elladan turned a chastising glance on his brother. “Now he will tell Ada, and we will be forced to listen to the histories again.”
Elrohir, however, thought the blame lay elsewhere.
“See, ‘Dan? I told you we should have beheaded him!”
*~*~*~*~*
