"Someone," said Glorfindel, addressing the assembled company of Imladris's inhabitants, "has stolen my horse, and you will all stay right here until one of you owns up." Elrond, the ruler of Imladris and technically Glorfindel's boss, coughed loudly. "Oh, sorry Elrond, I didn't mean to include you." Glorfindel sat down on a nearby step, as Elrond departed, and prepared for a long wait.

Eventually one of the stable-elves cracked under Glorfindel's glare. "I know who took Asfaloth," she said in a scarcely audible voice.

"Well?" snapped Glorfindel, "Who was it then?"

"She made me promise not to tell you."

"I can assure you it will be much worse if you don't tell me. I'll have you thrown into the dungeons and banished from Rivendell!"

Erestor tried to say at that Imladris didn't have any dungeons, but stopped when Glorfindel turned to stare at him instead and contented himself with pointing out that it would be difficult to carry out the two punishments simultaneously.

"Just tell him who did it and we can all go to lunch," said Lindir, who had missed breakfast that morning.

"Very well, it was Arwen. She heard Elrond ordering you to ride out to find for Estel, so naturally she decided to go instead. After all she is betrothed to him."

"Estel! I should have known. I suppose she didn't eavesdrop for long enough to hear about the four halflings and nine ringwraiths? Elrond won't be happy about this." Erestor looked rather worried, realising that Elrond would be impossible to deal with until his daughter returned.

"But why," complained Glorfindel, "did she have to take my horse?"