An Unfair Advantage
Part 3 in 'The Honey Cake Series'
Another birthday, another par of the Honey Cakes series :3 Happy Birthday, Lady Lindariel!
"Erestor", Elladan began, the sigh underlying his words an equal mixture of exhaustion and exasperation. "Are you truly expecting us to take sides against Glorfindel?"
"The seneschal of our father and commander of Rivendell's defences", Elrohir added, helpfully.
"Over the disappearance of a few honey cakes?" Elladan finished smoothly.
Erestor hesitated. Maybe he had made a mistake in approaching the twin sons of Elrond with his request right after their return from a lengthy patrol along the borders of Rivendell. They were clearly exhausted and in no mood to continue their fight for the forces of good at the moment.
Elrohir spoke again, interrupting Erestor's thoughts and solidifying his sense of failure. "Even if we were inclined to incense the mightiest warrior of our age", the younger twin said, and Erestor resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. The twins certainly enjoyed listing Glorfindel's skills and titles, making quite clear where their allegiances lay. He should have expected this. "We cannot possibly begrudge our little brothers his … alleged successes."
The smile on Elrohir's lips was perfectly mirrored by his twin, as they turned away and towards the house.
Yes, Erestor decided, it had been a mistake to approach them right after their return.
The twins had not been pleased when they had been the only elves left without honey cakes at the feast honouring their grandparents, but Estel had shared his own treat with the twins, effectively ruining Erestor's plans. How could he hope to compete against the adorable charm of a 5-year old?
He had decided to rely on the twins' competitiveness instead. Their awe of their old teacher notwithstanding, Elladan and Elrohir rarely backed down from an opportunity to test their skills against Glorfindel's. Yet they had done so now, and in doing so had crushed Erestor's best chances of stopping the golden haired menace.
The newest batch of honey cakes, first of the summer, would be prepared this afternoon – and Erestor grudgingly conceded, would need a new plan.
-o0o-
Leaving Erestor behind, the twins made their way to the main entrance hall of the last homely house. To their surprise they found it empty.
Their father had stopped awaiting their return from scheduled patrols after their first few centuries as warriors. Glorfindel would expect a report, but not so urgently that he would await them in the hall to hear it. No, it wasn't the two elven lords' absence that surprised the twins.
It was Estel's.
For the last year their young human brother had unfailingly been waiting for their return. Often racing to greet them on the steps and, according to Glorfindel, frustrating elves that had lived for millennia with his unending questions of when, exactly, "Dan" and "Ro" would be back.
The twins exchanged a glance of concern, though certain that Erestor would have informed them if something had happened to Estel, it was always a concern that the young human might fall sick.
They decided to continue towards their rooms. In the family wing of the large building, they had the best chances of finding Estel and figuring out what had kept him from meeting them.
They did not have to wait long.
A small shape dashed across the corridor at the top of the wide steps that extended down into the entrance hall. The squeal of excitement that accompanied its passing was unmistakable.
"Estel!"
The child stopped in its tracks and whirled around. "Dan! Ro! You're back!" A large smile spread over his face but before he could race down the steps and fling himself at his older brothers, a new thought seemed to occur to him and he looked suddenly uncertain.
"I'm sorry", he said to Elladan's surprise, "but Glorfindel needs me. I have to go."
"Sorry", he shouted again over his shoulder as he continued his previous mad dash, clearly in an effort to find the golden haired seneschal.
Elladan turned to his twin, a look of surprise and disbelief still clearly on his face.
"I think", he began, "that we were too rash to deny Erestor's request."
"I agree."
-o0o-
The afternoon sun was bathing the yard in front of the kitchen's door in bright sunlight turning the packed earth in front of it almost white as it baked in the heat.
Glorfindel frowned at the sight of a guard stationed beside the small wooden door, sure to be suffering in the intense heat. Erestor really should know better than to abuse his trained warriors like this. It seemed Glorfindel would have to have a talk with Elrond about the reasonable use of Rivendell's defensive resources and Erestor's rights to direct them.
But right now that mattered little. He turned to his young charge. "We will try to enter through the roof again. Are you ready, my little ranger?"
Estel beamed at him, but there was a slight crinkle in his forehead. "What's a ranger, Glorfy?"
"A ranger is a warrior of the North, Estel. One who can remain unseen, if he chooses to. Like we must do today."
The signs of uncertainty faded from Estel's face and were replaced with excitement and determination. "A ranger", he repeated silently for himself, testing the word. Then he nodded once and with a stealth and speed that made his trainer proud, he hurried along the garden path to the kitchen's side wall. He was careful to remain behind the bushes and small hills that lined the path, always out of sight but never making big detours.
He learned quickly, Glorfindel decided. Perhaps, even quicker than the twins had when he had taken them on their first 'missions' in the kitchen.
They made it to the roof with little difficulty but once there noticed that Erestor had learned from his last failed attempt in stopping their incursions. The advisor had placed guards inside the kitchen.
One of them was guarding the main door, while the other was discussing lunch arrangements with the cook, right next to the cellar door that had been Estel's and Gorfindel's escape route last time.
A smile crossed Glorfindel's face. That would be Merendir. The soon-to-be-married elf was clearly taking advantage of Erestor's assignment and was planning his wedding luncheon with the cook. Not that he would have to worry about a thing, Glorfindel knew that the feast for the first wedding in nigh twenty years was something that the cooks and kitchen maids looked forward to a great deal. There would be food to last a three day feast at least.
Still, Merendir's distraction served Glorfindel and Estel well. Like wraiths they slipped through the skylight into the room below. They had little trouble in discovering and acquiring a few of the honey cakes cooling on their tray. If it was possible they smelled even sweeter than normal.
The guard at the door shuffled his feet, but without a direct line of sight to the skylight or of their location there was little chance that he would raise the alarm unless he heard them. Still, Glorfindel thought it best not to lose any undue time, lest Merendir remembered Erestor's precise orders.
He gave Estel, as usual clutching their haul safely to his chest, a boost up to the window before leaving himself. It was almost too easy.
"Can we go to the sunshine place at the lake now?" Estel asked quietly, though with unmistakable glee. Sometimes it felt that the hardest part for the little boy was not getting the cakes, but waiting until he could shove the sweet treats into his mouth.
Glorfindel simply smiled at the boy's excitement and nodded.
-o0o-
It felt good to be home.
Their patrol had only lasted two weeks, a short time when compared to the sometimes years-long journeys they had undertaken with the Dunedain or alone, but the sentiment remained. Home was a refuge.
They had not stayed away for long after they had brought Estel and Gilraen to Imladris. At first they had stayed out of a sense of obligation for failing to protect the boy's father but quickly the self-chosen task had turned to one of joy. Estel had stolen the hearts of every elf in Rivendell in a storm of two-year old charm and with a never ending supply of elation.
Too fast, they knew, Estel would grow up and would have to face the world that was imperilled by a spreading darkness. Until then, they would spend as much time with him as they could – one more reason for them to savour being home.
They had also, quite truthfully, enjoyed the feeling of being adored by their younger brother. Not being greeted by an ecstatic Estel on their arrival had made them realize how much it meant to them with surprising force.
Glorfindel should have known better than to upset that tradition.
Elladan and Elrohir were no longer the elflings that had brought joy and frustration to most elves of Rivendell during the days of their childhood, but they had not forgotten their old ploys and ruses. And they were familiar with all of their old teacher's tricks. Erestor had chosen his accomplices well.
For some reason, however, it seemed that the advisor himself was not convinced of this.
"Elladan! Elrohir!" The yell of Rivendell's chief advisor travelled easily over the green grass of the gardens and onto the bench that the twin sons of Elrond were reclining on.
"Erestor", Elladan greeted him – cheerful in the face of the advisor's exasperation.
"He has done it again! He has stolen the cakes."
Elrohir opened an eye from where he had closed them against the sun's glare to look at Erestor. "Obviously."
That took Erestor by surprise.
For a moment he was struck speechless and merely looked at the twins in disbelief. The guards he had stationed in the kitchen and who had brought him the news of their failure caught up to him, clearly he had outpaced them in his anger and desire to confront Elladan and Elrohir.
"Obviously?" He repeated eventually. Disbelief still clear in his tone.
Elladan rose, nudging Elrohir slightly with the movement as a reprimand for his blunt words. It seemed they did spend too much time with Glorfindel, if his mannerisms and his desire to rile Erestor were starting to rub off on them.
"What Elrohir was trying to say", the older twin explained, "is that we never intended to stop Glorfindel from taking the cakes."
He held up a hand as Erestor seemed about ready to protest. "We planned something better. Elrohir used his … considerate influence with the kitchen maids –"
"As if they wouldn't be just as easily influenced by you, brother."
"- to our advantage." Elladan continued without being fazed by his twin's interruption.
"In fact, I told them I *was* you. In case Glorfindel looks for the perpetrator of his downfall."
This did make Elladan hesitate. He turned to Elrohir, who was now deigning to rise from the bench as well and came to stand beside him. "You did what?"
Now it was Elrohir's turn to ignore his brother's words and he addressed Erestor instead, continuing Elladan's narrative with a question.
"Did the kitchen maids not officially complain about the cake theft?"
The advisor's answer was hesitant, as if it only just occurred to him that, indeed, the cooks had complained about the disappearance of their cakes for the first time today. They had not previously seemed to mind the disappearance of a few cakes, taking it instead as a compliment to the quality of their wares. But now that they had, Erestor would have grounds to reprimand the thieves – and punish them.
"But Glorfindel still got away with the cakes." Erestor voiced his prime concern.
Identical smiles spread across the twins' faces, either at Erestor's question or at the sound of excited giggles that were approaching them from the forest behind.
Elladan, for the moment ignoring his twin's betrayal in the kitchen, looked victorious.
"We knew it would be difficult to stop Glorfindel from stealing the cakes. But why stop him when we can catch him red handed."
"Or as it were", Elrohir continued, barely suppressed merriment in his voice, "blue-lipped."
Estel and Glorfindel came into view. Merrily walking along the path that led out of the small forest patch, past the pond and into the garden. They hesitated when they saw Elladan, Elrohir, Erestor and the guards.
"Dan! Ro!" Estel shouted, a large smile on his blue-stained lips.
A similar, though much more sinister smile crossed Erestor's face as he looked at Glorfindel. "You had the cook put blueberries into the cakes." He noted.
"Honey glazed blueberries to hide their smell." Elrohir confirmed.
"Thank you."
It was almost amusing to see the stately advisor move towards Glorfindel, he resembled a bird of prey stalking a cornered victim. He clearly enjoyed every moment of his sweet victory.
- The End -
I'd love to hear what you thought about this new part of the Honey Cake Series. And what Erestor is going to do to our heroes?