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"The colour scheme is certainly opposite, and they look so similar, it can´t be coincidence." A few elves grinned at me while listening to Elrond´s far too excited voice. It practically drowned over half of the yard. They were laughing about us, probably Elrond´s weird fixation about the most useless details. Who am I fooling, they are laughing about me. My aversion to ridiculous knowledge was as known as Elrond´s love for it.
"You aren´t even listening". I looked up and Elrond looked as hurt as he had sounded.
"You are talking about heraldic devices. Not even the rules and use of heraldry, important knowledge I admit, but about two specific heraldic devices. Not even about the device of two living breathing Elves, Humans or Dwarrow, no you talk about two historic figures." I simply couldn´t understand his fascination. Heraldic knowledge was important, it would be quite embarrassing if I greeted someone incorrectly. "I memorized them well enough Brother, as did you. Why dwell on such a dull topic?"
Elrond grinned smugly at my words as if I had somehow sprung a trap of his making. "Because they don´t make sense, as you would know if you had been listening. And the two devices are not unimportant. They belong to two of the noblest kings of the Elledhrim."
"You don´t need to sound so exasperated. I still fail to see why it is important. Both dwell in the Halls of Mandos and the devices are useless." Laughter interrupted me before I could continue, I had sprung his trap and now he would talk about little else. Worst of all I had to listen. Putting my pencil and paper down I turned to completely to face my brother. He was gracious enough to not comment on finally having my complete attention and I could finish to sketch the tree later.
"You just showed that you did not pay enough attention at the lessons. Finwes device is still in use today. The High King has it drawn when he rides into battle. It´s the device of his house after all." He showed me the page and instead of the typical rhombus I saw a square. He continued to explain, "a rhombus for an Ellon, a circle for an Elleth and a square for a House." The less said about Elu Thingol the better. It was just one of the many topics that one could be sure would at least end awkward or at most end at shouting.
"It must be reassuring for our teachers to be sure that when in doubt you will continue their lessons", I began to tease. Give my brother a few hundred years and a library and he would be the best example of a scholar.
"Don´t complain, I know for sure you will force me to sketch some plant or house or animal with you. It is not as if you are so different. You just choose different subjects." That was also truthful and correctly sketching a house had many important functions. Just as many if not more, as knowing heraldry and it was much more fun. "It is just as well, that they can be reassured we can annoy each other into learning our lessons thoroughly. They have enough to do as it is."
"So tell me brother mine, what makes so little sense, that you annoy me the whole afternoon.", I finally asked. The faster I gave in the more time I had for other endeavours.
"Finwe´s and Elu Thingol´s devices are so similar. They share the theme of the sky with a blue backround and one has the sun depicted while the other has moon and stars. They can´t have evolved independently from each other. And edhellen heraldry shares the same rules, there is no difference between Noldor and Sindar heraldry." I still failed to see the, he knew as well as I about Cuivenen and why shouldn´t they share the same rules. It isn´t as if the rules couldn´t have evolved before the separation.
"Sun and moon Elros, sun and moon."
"I´m an idiot", I groaned while hiding behind my hand.
"Sometimes", agreed my brother laughingly.
"It really doesn´t make sense. We could ask them, they would know for sure."
"We could." I shared a look with my brother. And got the answer why he pestered my all afternoon. If we were to ask them something, for sure we wouldn´t do it alone. We could more or less go to them any time if we wanted, not that we made use of that often. Normally only one of them interacted with both of us if the conversations were longer or only between the both of us. That were the unspoken rules and most of the time we would come to them. It needed to be important for one of them to come to us. Like the one time when the Rain had brought a lot of water and it wasn´t safe to play at the river.
The question now -the question Elrond didn´t want to ask me directly- is this heraldic question interesting enough to go to them.