Three months had slipped quietly through the golden plains of Rohan.
The spring winds were warm now, carrying the scent of blooming heather and the steady, rhythmic clatter of the rail lines that Edwen had built across the land. From Edoras, one could hear the faint roar of the Windmane engines ( he named the trains in honor of a fallen comrade ) as they cut across the plains like steel stallions.
Peace lived in every corner of the kingdom, and yet Edwen sensed that peace would not hold for him much longer.
As the morning mist curled around the iron rails like pale fingers as Gandalf returned at last, riding ahead of a line of ponies and behind him, Thorin Oakenshield and all of his company. Twelve dwarves, one hobbit, and an air of loud, stomping impatience.
Edwen was carrying his son through the gardens when the horn of the city gates sounded: the low, rolling note of visitors.
I'm tellin' you, Thorin," Bofur was saying with theatrical despair, "I can already smell the pine trees of the blasted elf-lands. And now this! Using elf machinery to get there faster? My stomach's already upset."
"It's not elf machinery," Balin sighed. "It's Edwen's invention."
"He is an elf," Dwalin grunted. "Same thing."
"Not the same!" Bilbo piped up, trotting along.
The dwarves ignored this.
Gandalf dismounted and spread his arms grandly."Edwen!
My friend. As promised, I've brought the company. They are hoping to make haste to Rivendell and, I believe, to make use of your… ah… contraption."
"Train, and I have decided to come with you, just let me go get my things and let my wife know," Edwen corrected with a polite smile. After getting his things, he walks up to them. "Let's go," he says in an over-cheerful tone just to mess with the dwarves.
Thorin stepped forward, chin lifted proudly."We will pay for its use."
"You don't have to."
"We will pay," Thorin repeated with dwarvish stubbornness. "We do not accept charity."
Behind him, the dwarves muttered:
"Blasted elves…""Fancy glowing rails…""Bet it runs on moonlight and arrogance…"
Edwen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It runs on steam. And runes. And engineering."
"Elf engineering," Dori muttered.
But when the train whistle echoed across the valley, a deep, powerful roar, several dwarves jumped like startled goats.
"What in Durin's name is that?" Nori hissed.
"Our transportation," Gandalf said cheerfully.
The sleek black engine glided along the track, steam hissing like a dragon waking up. Dwarves stared, wide-eyed, trying not to look impressed and failing spectacularly.
Bombur clutched his beard."Are you sure it's… safe?"
"It is safer than walking through troll country," Edwen replied. "And faster. Instead of weeks, the ride to Rivendell will only take a few days."
"A few days…" Balin rubbed his chin. "That would indeed put us ahead of schedule."
Thorin nodded stiffly."Very well. We will trust your device."
Then, after a beat:
"But only because we must."
"Of course," Edwen said dryly.
As the dwarves boarded, they continued to grumble:
"I swear the seats are too tall. Elvish nonsense!""Everything smells like pine.""That's wood polish, Ori.""Same thing!"
Bilbo, however, climbed aboard with a delighted hop."Oh! Cushioned seats! And little tables! And are those windows that slide open?"
"See?" Edwen said to the dwarves. "Hobbits appreciate good craftsmanship."
"Hobbits appreciate nap time," Gloin muttered.
Gandalf only chuckled and clapped Edwen on the shoulder."Do not mind them. Dwarves grow nervous when dealing with anything invented after the forging of the first shovel."
The whistle sounded again. The engine shuddered, then surged forward, smoothly pulling them eastward toward the hidden valley of Imladris.
Thorin's company clung to their seats at first, startled, impressed, and refusing to admit either one.
And Edwen, sitting near the front, smirked as he overheard one last dwarvish grumble:
"Fine… I admit it… This elf's machine is faster than walking."
"But don't let him hear that!"
He train hummed steadily beneath them, steam curling past the windows as the dwarves muttered, clung to rails, or stared suspiciously at every passing bolt. Gandalf, seated across from Edwen, watched the plains rushing by with the faint smile of someone who had seen countless wonders… but perhaps never this.
"So," Gandalf said, tapping his pipe against the armrest, "I hear whispers that your kingdom is not what it once was. That the horse-lords are now… builders? Scholars? Inventors?"His eyes twinkled. "I admit, Edwen, I am curious."
Edwen exhaled softly, then decided to simply tell him everything.
"Well… Rohan has changed. I changed it."
Gandalf leaned forward."Oh? Do go on."
"We started with education," Edwen said. "Not for nobles only. For everyone. Every child in Rohan, boy or girl, learns mathematics, science, history, mechanics, agriculture, architecture, basic engineering, and reading and writing in both Elvish and the common tongue, even if they are from a different race than the elves."
It was Arwen who was the one who made sure it came to be.
Gandalf blinked slowly.
"…Every child?"
"Everyone."
"Edwen…" Gandalf breathed. "Do you realize what that means? In a single generation, you will have more learned minds than Gondor, Arnor, and the other major players combined."
Edwen smiled faintly."That's the idea."
"And books," Edwen continued, "needed to be cheaper. Faster to make. So I built the printing press. A machine that turns days of writing into minutes of stamping."
Gandalf's pipe nearly fell from his mouth.
"You created a device that copies text by itself?"
"Not by magic," Edwen chuckled. "By design. Now every home in Rohan owns books. Entire shelves of them."
Gandalf whispered, "You may change the fate of Middle-earth more with ink and paper than with any sword."
"And then came the farms. We use something called crop rotation now, planting in cycles so the soil never exhausts itself. Output skyrocketed. We store more food than Rohan has ever held."
Gandalf let out a long, amazed breath.
"No famine," he murmured. "Not for centuries."
Are population has grown a lot since the last time you came. Every race you can think of, humans, half-elves or half-dwarves, elves, dwarves, even hobbits. We had to change are methods and fast-tracked everything to meet the needs. We developed a medication to make elves and dwarves have a high fertility and pregnancy rate. Every year they can have kids do to the medication. We are now looking into how to make other races have the same lifespan as elves. It is slow going, but we think it will happen over the years."
Then there is the wall of stone and steel that is almost completed. It is over 20 feet thick enough for men to march, and the height is over 40 feet." (author's note: think of the wall of a tack on Taitain.) That encircles Revandel to Rohand. Also, Towers every mile with cannons and ballistae." Gandalf's eyes widened.
Edwen explained calmly. "I could not have done it all without my subjects and allies' help."
Gandalf stared.
"Edwen… are you preparing for a war no one else sees?"
"I'm preparing for the world that's coming," Edwen said softly
"And the weaponry?" Gandalf asked carefully.
Edwen nodded."Then let me explain. Every gun, every cannon. Every defensive trap and weapon has and will have they all use blood-runes. If anyone other than me, my soldiers, or Rivendell's own warriors tries to fire them…"
"Yes?" Gandalf asked.
"They explode."
Gandalf jerked upright."They WHAT?"
Edwen didn't flinch."I will not let orcs or any enemies reverse-engineer anything we create. If they touch our weapons, the weapons destroy themselves."
Gandalf stared at him in stunned silence.
"…I see," the wizard said finally.
Gandalf sat back slowly, absorbing it all.
"Schools. Books. Technology. Agriculture. Defenses. A united line between two realms…"
He studied Edwen as though seeing him for the first time.
"You have done more in a handful of years than most kings accomplish in lifetimes. And not for glory. But to give others a future."
Edwen shrugged, a little embarrassed."I'm not a king because I wanted the title. I just want people to live better."
Gandalf leaned back, expression firm but warm. "A kingdom cannot thrive by chance. It thrives by the strength of its people and the wisdom of its leaders. I intend to be worthy of both."
"Edwen… if Middle-earth survives the coming dark, it may very well be because of what you built, not what any of us destroy."
Outside, the massive wall rolled past like a silent giant standing guard.
Inside, the wizard and the elf sat together, one seeing the past, the other building the future.