With a secret mission to marry an elf, Wynne must join Legolas' and Elvenking Thranduil's new quest as a horsekeeper. She begins an adventurous journey, encountering orcs and monsters, friendly uruk-hai, a lady dwarf and many Fellowship heroes - but...
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~ Wynne gets a chance to study an uruk-hai more closely and Thranduil tries to get more information. Later Wynne and Legolas talk about fear. ~
26. New Babysitter
The lovely aroma of roasting fish woke Wynne the next morning. Sidra and the children were already up, she could hear the little ones giggling and running around outside. It was sunny and warm, the clouds finally gone, and she decided to bathe before breakfast. Perhaps she should even take the time to clean her spare clothes; they always smelled odd after being worn in the rain.
In the creek, Nugu was busy rubbing elvish hair oil into his black, waist length strands under the watchful eye of Galion. That product was really becoming popular. The uruk-hai was temporarily free of his bonds again and Wynne dismally noticed how swollen and red his wrists had become.
After what she had overheard yesterday, her curiosity about the uruk-hai had increased considerably. She had mostly spent time with Sidra, not really paying much attention to her husband, but now she subtly observed him while soaking her laundry.
He wore only underpants when he bathed, unlike the elves' habit of keeping their shirts on, and was unabashedly exposing his massive legs and broad chest. The thin, welt-like scars on his back drew her eye again. He must have been suffering a severe whipping some time in the past which further added to the compassion she had begun to feel for him.
Though Wynne had never been whipped, she had tasted belts and switches countless times and knew what agony they could provoke. The mere thought of being beaten until one's back was bleeding made her shudder.
"I suppose a shave is out of the question?" Nugu looked quizzically at his guard.
"I am afraid it is. We cannot let you have a knife."
Having been around elves so much lately, Wynne was not used to body hair, and on Nugu there really was a lot of it. His chin sported stubble long enough to almost be considered a beard, and his legs, arms and chest were covered with black bristles.
It suited him – somehow hairs went well with that gray skin tone – but made it harder to grasp he was almost her age. His facial hair in particular made him look older than he was.
Sidra came sauntering by. "I found the perfect babysitter for Muzadi and Rohi." She nodded behind her.
Wynne looked and almost dropped the laundry in surprise. Thranduil sat on a stone with an orcling on each knee, bouncing them up and down while he mimicked a horse. He even made clip-clop sounds though it was hard to hear over the boys' happy laughter.
"If I had not seen this with my own eyes I would not have believed it possible." Galion shook his head in amazement. "Thranduil hates orcs."
"Perhaps he's beginning to understand not all of them are bad." Wynne thought of her own conclusion last night.
