Alex's This and That

Kitchen Wisdom
Author: alexcat
Type: Gen.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do own this original character but I do not own Middle Earth or Tolkien’s characters, nor do I profit from using them.
Warnings: None
Characters: Oropher, Thranduil, Legolas, Oropher’s wife, Thranduil’s wife, Legolas, Original female character, Bellothia
Archive: Ao3, OEAM, Alex’s Story Book
Author’s Note: Jenny wanted a story about Oropher and Cook, so I decided to give her a month’s worth of them.
Spoilers: For the stories of Oropher and Thranduil, yes.
Summary: Every day, I will tell a little of the story of Bellothia, cook for the house of Oropher.

~~~

Part Nine

Bell hated everything about Barad-dûr. It was dusty. Dry. Dark. Boring.

They waited.

The kings had meetings and yelled loudly at one another.

Oropher came back from the meetings and yelled loudly at Thranduil.

Bell cooked and practiced her archery.

Thranduil came to their tent one night, several months into the siege. “I would like you to go home,” he said without preamble.

Bell jumped to her feet, ready to argue that she was every bit the warrior he was.

“I got a missive today. Lúthwen is with child and is due in the spring. I want you to go home to see my child and help my mother deliver him. I don’t want Lúthwen to feel alone.”

Bell agreed. She and Adandil would leave immediately and she’d return once the child was born. She packed up and was gone by sunrise.

Lúthwen was already large with child when they got back to the Green Wood. She threw her arms around Bell. “I am so glad you’ve come. I miss you almost as much as I miss Trhanduil.” She grinned. “Almost.”

“I wouldn’t have gone had I known. I’m not sure what good I’ll be here, but I make a lovely cup of tea.”

So Bell took care of Lúthwen, making her herbal teas to ease her sickness and to make her cheeks rosier. She did not care for the pale color of her friend, nor the dark smudges under her eyes. She made soups for her and helped sew clothes for the coming child. And said nothing to alarm anyone about Lúthwen’s condition.

Her husband returned to the Dark land to wait with everyone else.

Both for the coming child and for the inevitable war.

Legolas Greenleaf was born on a fine winter morning, the same day that his young mother departed for the house of the dead. He lay in his mother’s arms until she was too weak to hold him any longer.

Her last words were: “His name is Legolas. Please take care of them both.” And she was gone.

Bell cried as though her heart would break and when she was finished, she picked up the tiny elf boy and promised to love him as she did his father and grandfather.

***

Kitchen Wisdom
Author: alexcat
Type: Gen.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do own this original character but I do not own Middle Earth or Tolkien’s characters, nor do I profit from using them.
Warnings: None
Characters: Oropher, Thranduil, Legolas, Oropher’s wife, Thranduil’s wife, Legolas, Original female character, Bellothia
Archive: Ao3, OEAM, Alex’s Story Book
Author’s Note: Jenny wanted a story about Oropher and Cook, so I decided to give her a month’s worth of them.
Spoilers: For the stories of Oropher and Thranduil, yes.
Summary: Every day, I will tell a little of the story of Bellothia, cook for the house of Oropher.

~~~

Part Seven

Thranduil went to the kitchen to find something to eat and Bell wasn’t there. Oropher was sitting at the table peeling an apple instead.

“Where is she, Father?”

“She is at the training field with her husband.” Oropher stabbed a slice of the apple and popped it into his mouth with a grin.

“Why is she there?”

“Because she is going to war and needs the training.”

“She’s our cook and our friend!”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to allow this?”

Oropher laughed. “You think I can stop her? Go down there and if you think I should, come back and tell me. Then you can tell her she can’t go with us.”

Thranduil turned on his heel and ran toward to the field. Bell was dressed as any elven warrior, with her knives at her sides and her bow in her hand. He started to run up to her and Adandil, but stopped short when she pulled back her bow and let an arrow fly toward the target, hitting it dead center then following immediately with a second one that split the first.

He didn’t approach her, stepping back to watch as she worked with a target that was placed on a rope and randomly pulled this way and that as she tried to hit it. She did, hitting with every arrow in her quiver.

Thranduil was deadly with his knives but even he wasn’t that good an archer. Adandil was as good as she was too. His father was right. Any able bodied warrior was needed and Bell surely fit that category.

He found his father sitting at the table, eating a chicken leg. Oropher offered him a piece and motioned for him to sit down.

“Believe me now?”

Thranduil said nothing, munching his chicken in silence.

***

Kitchen Wisdom
Author: alexcat
Type: Gen.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do own this original character but I do not own Middle Earth or Tolkien’s characters, nor do I profit from using them.
Warnings: None
Characters: Oropher, Thranduil, Legolas, Oropher’s wife, Thranduil’s wife, Legolas, Original female character, Bellothia
Archive: Ao3, OEAM, Alex’s Story Book
Author’s Note: Jenny wanted a story about Oropher and Cook, so I decided to give her a month’s worth of them.
Spoilers: For the stories of Oropher and Thranduil, yes.
Summary: Every day, I will tell a little of the story of Bellothia, cook for the house of Oropher.


~~~


Part Five

Adandil was one of the huntsmen who kept the kitchen supplied with meat, so Bell saw him often. He was taller even than Oropher and had hair the color of Thranduil’s. He had come to them with Silvan elves who’d joined them after they’d settled here.

He had been hanging around the kitchen a lot the last few weeks. He always smiled at her but said little. She decided that she’d have to do the talking.

“How did you come to join us?”

“I grew up near these woods and since the Noldor came, we have retreated farther back into the deep woods, far from civilization. My mother and sisters were not happy being so isolated, so when your people came through, I thought it would be a good wayfor them to have a better life.”

“Do they like it here?”

“My sister is already betrothed to one of the king’s guard. My mother has begun to work with the healer, helping her with herbals. So yes, they do.”

“And you?”

“I do. I like having companions to spend time with.”

“Do you have a particular companion?”

He blushed.

She changed the subject and offered him an apple turnover she’d just taken from the oven. “I bake them for Thranduil. He comes by every afternoon for one.”

“Are you – is he – ?”

“No. He is my dearest friend but not that kind of friend.”

She smiled as Adandil’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Would you like to be?” she asked as she handed him a cup of fresh milk.

“Yes,” he stammered. “Will you – may I court you?”

“You may.”

Bell was pleased to have Adandil as a suitor and after only a few weeks, they married in the garden that Bell and Gwaelas had planted the week after they’d moved in.


***

Kitchen Wisdom
Author: alexcat
Type: Gen.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do own this original character but I do not own Middle Earth or Tolkien’s characters, nor do I profit from using them.
Warnings: None
Characters: Oropher, Thranduil, Legolas, Oropher’s wife, Thranduil’s wife, Legolas, Original female character, Bellothia
Archive: Ao3, OEAM, Alex’s Story Book
Author’s Note: Jenny wanted a story about Oropher and Cook, so I decided to give her a month’s worth of them.
Spoilers: For the stories of Oropher and Thranduil, yes.
Summary: Every day, I will tell a little of the story of Bellothia, cook for the house of Oropher.


~~~

Part Three

Bell watched for Oropher in the groups of refugees that came in from Doriath and other cities in the way of the sons of Feanor and their mad oath. Gwaelas was helping Cirdan’s healers take care of the wounded and her son was aiding in finding lodging and food for the influx of homeless into the Mouths of Sirion and the haven that Cirdan offered to one and all.

She hoped he found them soon. Gwaelas was putting on a brave front, but Bell knew that she was frightened that something had happened to her husband. Thranduil had grown into a fine elf, but he still needed his father as well.

And she needed him. Oropher was the best thing that ever happened to her. He gave her a family to be part of when her mother left.

There he was! He looked tired and sad, but then he saw her face.

“Bell!” He shouted as he ran to her. “Are they here too?”

“Yes. We all made it. And so did you!”

Oropher lifted her into the air and swung her around. “I am so relieved that my family is safe!”

Bell knew he meant she was family too.

***

My August posts will be one story made up of 31 ficlets and drabbles. This month is dedicated to GG and Oropher. Oh, and Jenny! Here you go!

~~~

Kitchen Wisdom
Author: alexcat
Type: Gen.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do own this original character but I do not own Middle Earth or Tolkien’s characters, nor do I profit from using them.
Warnings: None
Characters: Oropher, Thranduil, Legolas, Oropher’s wife, Thranduil’s wife, Legolas, Original female character, Bellothia
Archive: Ao3, OEAM, Alex’s Story Book
Author’s Note: Jenny wanted a story about Oropher and Cook, so I decided to give her a month’s worth of them.
Spoilers: For the stories of Oropher and Thranduil, yes.
Summary: Every day, I will tell a little of the story of Bellothia, cook for the house of Oropher.


Part One

Bellothia stood with Oropher at the practice field, watching Thranduil train with the other young elves of Doriath. Oropher, Gwaelas, and Thranduil had come to Doriath only a few months before. She had befriended them because it turned out that Oropher was a distant kinsman of both her and King Thingol. She also was quite lonely since her mother had left the city and disappeared in the forest after her father had died in a hunting accident.

She had volunteered to help Gwaelas in their new home. She knew quite a bit about cooking since her own mother had been one of the best cooks in all Doriath, cooking often for the king and his family as well as their own friends and neighbors. Bell had been happy to help and she’d learned much as her mother’s assistant.

It had been only a few weeks until she’d moved into the family home as well, her room a nice big one off the kitchen. They didn't consider her a servant and she certainly never felt like one as she began to take care of her new family, a family that she loved already.

“So, how do you think he is doing?” Oropher asked her.

“He is strong and very skilled for one so young. He can hold his own against the older elves, ones who have reached adulthood already.”

“He will need his skills and wits. One day we will leave here and have a kingdom of our own, a kingdom that he will rule when I weary of it. Will you come with us when we go?”

Bell nodded, knowing she would never leave this family, not as long they wanted her with them. She had found her home with them, though Doriath was the only other home she’d known.

***