[Envinyatar]

‘Put that dog down!’ Eärnil’s boyish voice cut through the barking of Huan and the rising murmur over the interruption of dinner. The servant, recognizing the imperious tone of command, hesitated, looking at the King.

Tarciryan gave a stern look to his son, and motioned for the man to take the pup outside. ‘To the boy’s room, if you please,’ he said, ‘where we won’t hear his howls.

Eärnil ignored the look of remonstrance from his mother, and stood up at the side of his chair, his face red with anger. He put his hands on his hips and faced the King and his Father. ‘If Huan is leaving, then I am, too! You can hang the hen and the salad, for all I care. And the dessert, too, along with them.’ As his last act of propriety, he gave a hurried bow to the King and the company then sprinted out the door and down the hall for his room.

He could hear Huan whining and scratching at the door as he neared. Megilwë, who had followed him down the hall, gave him a half-smile and opened the door for the boy. Eärnil shut the door firmly behind him and locked it. Sitting down on the rug near his bed, he let Huan roughhouse with him and lick his face.

At the last, Eärnil leaned back against his bed and put his arm round the pup who sat next to him. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have told them to hang dessert . . .’