As the glowing silver twilight faded toward night, Elladan’s enthusiasm for the adventure took a decided turn downward.
Home now, 'Ohiri. Go bed.
Elrohir shook his head, snuggling closer in an attempt to reassure his brother.
Sweep heah, ‘Wadan. Wif me an horsies an ‘Ildor.
Elladan’s lip wibbled threateningly.
Sweep cwib.
Elrohir frowned. “Cwib not heah,” he said aloud, his voice hitching ominously. “Cwib wif Nana an Ada.”
Anxious grey gazes met in the dwindling light, and a heartbeat later the howling began. “Naaaaaannnnnna...Aaaaaadddddda...”
**********
“Where are they?” Celebrían said again, her restless pacing carrying her the length and breadth of the stone-cobbled courtyard. Though the house had been turned inside out, there was still no sign of the twins. Annoyance had slowly turned to worry, and now Glorfindel had been dispatched to search the stable and surrounding grounds. “They are little more than babies - they were in bed! They cannot have gone far, not on their own...”
Celebrían’s eyes widened in terror as the implications of her musings dawned.
“No,” Elrond broke in firmly, catching his wife’s restless hands in his own. “They are well, ‘Bri. I know they are well. Any moment now they will be discovered asleep behind a hay bale or curled up in the barracks.”
Only the sure sense that they were safe, that they were unharmed and unafraid, at least for the moment, kept Elrond from falling headlong into a state of ineffectual panic. Nothing, however, could have prepared him for the sight that met his eyes as he turned toward the well-worn path that led to the ford and the lands beyond.
Gildor strolled casually through the gates that had only an hour before witnessed his company’s departure, a reassuring smile on his face and two sleepy elflings in his arms.
“I daresay,” he teased gently, “that you will be glad to have these safe again.”
“I daresay we will,” Elrond replied hoarsely, kissing each of the twins in turn before taking Elladan from Gildor’s arms.
Celebrían squeezed Elrohir so tightly he squeaked in protest. “Thank you,” she murmured against her son’s hair, at last raising her head to smile at Gildor. “Where did you find them?”
Gildor chuckled easily, and some of the horror seemed to drain from the evening with the cheerful sound. “In the supply wagon, among the grain sacks. Elbereth only knows how they managed to climb aboard.”
“We will look into that in the morning,” Celebrían said, her voice shaking slightly. “It is time for elflings to be in bed.”
“Sweep cwib?” Elrohir mumbled drowsily.
Elrond nodded, reaching out to brush back Elrohir’s tangled hair. “Yes, ‘Rohir. In the big crib, where you belong.”
Elladan’s tiny brow furrowed as he glanced at his brother, then his face brightened. “Ada?” he asked hopefully, “‘Ildor an horsies sweep cwib, too?”