A/N: Hey. Sorry for the long update, my brother had some important work to do for university so he couldn't beta-read my chapters for a while. Then it took him ages to do it while I had to revise for exams (which I'm still in the middle of doing). :D ...oh great! Now the internet isn't working GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
This chapter is longer than any of my others 'cause I've stuck 4 and 5 together, basically so I can start having fun with getting people into trouble (and into the deeper plot) in the next chapter.
Flashbacks: I've now decided that not every chapter will have a flashback, and flashbacks will be in italics. I hope this makes things less confusing. Thank you to those who responded.
Chapter 4: Arriving and Staying
"'She died?'
'Just a little.'"
-Kendra and Buffy, 'What's My Line, Part 2'.
Erestor waited to greet his sister in the courtyard of Imladris. With him stood Elrond, who was waiting to greet their mysterious stranger and speak with him. Glorfindel would join them at dinner, after she had bathed and changed. Hopefully, it would also give her a chance to calm down a little, though Elrond doubted it.
The sound of horses was heard, and then the party came into view. He easily distinguished his sister from the rest of them and, as he expected, Gilnaur was riding right beside her. He walked towards her as she awkwardly slipped off her horse. Morlome turned to face him and a big smile crossed her face as she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"Erestor, I missed you so much!"
"It has indeed been far too long." After returning the embrace, he held her at arms'-length to look at her more clearly. "You look well."
"I am well. Gilnaur is well too," she commented, drawing his attention to Gilnaur, who had come to stand beside them.
"I am glad to see you've come also."
Erestor reached out to grip Gilnaur's shoulder in greeting, but instead felt Gilnaur grasp his hand and pull him into a hug, thumping Erestor on the back. Gilnaur laughed hearty, "Erestor, you never change."
Erestor could imagine some of the looks their watchers were directing at them, but laughed back. "Neither do you."
Gilnaur released him and shook his head. "We should see you more often."
"Yes, we really should," piped up Morlome.
"Come, I'll show you to your rooms and then we have much to talk about."
(&)
Elrond took the stranger to his study, watching Mithrandir look round with mild interest.
"Please, take a seat," he invited.
Mithrandir ceased scanning the room and turned back to Elrond. "Oh no, I'd rather stand," he smiled, leaning on his staff slightly.
"As you wish. I have been told that you come from Valinor?"
"Then you have been informed correctly. At least those elves can do something besides rhyme," he added grumpily.
Elrond smiled. Despite his grumbling, he seemed friendly enough, but then Sauron had seemed friendly enough when he came to Celebrimbor, and nobody needed reminding how that had ended. "They are good at other things besides rhyming; some can even play the lute!"
He was rewarded with a chuckle from his guest.
"Why are you here, Mithrandir?" Elrond asked, deciding to go straight to the point.
Mithrandir smiled kindly at him for the first time since their meeting. "The eyes of Manwe see far. The ears of Varda hear the cries of Middle Earth. Ulmo learns of matters that not even Manwe has seen or heard. They know of the plight of Middle Earth and have sent myself and six others to aid her."
"The Valar sent you?" If true, this was a remarkable blessing. "What of these others you have mentioned?"
"They have travelled to other places. I shall meet with them again, but I see you still doubt. Perhaps this will help put you at rest. Cirdan believes that I will have more use for it than him." He lifted his hand, and on one finger was a gold ring with a glistening red ruby.
"Narya!" Elrond exclaimed. Whatever Cirdan's motives for giving this stranger one of the elven rings, Elrond knew that he would never give the ring to one whom he had any doubt was a wise and loyal friend.
"You are welcome to say here for as long as you wish … Mithrandir," Elrond continued, his eyes still focused on Narya, fingering his own elven ring.
Mithrandir let his hand fall. "Thank you, but I plan to leave within the week. For now, I think I will retire to my room. It has been a long journey and I feel the need to rest my weary, old bones."
(&)
Blue or red? Blue or red? Blue or red? Glorfindel looked between the two dresses, still trying to decide which to wear. It was silly really, her acting this way, but then she had a right to be nervous sometimes. It was quite funny really; she could charge into the face of death and be as calm and fearless as any warrior on Middle Earth (a handy side-effect of dying in the process of killing a balrog), but tell her that she was going to meet her future sister-in-law and she was like a lamb in a pack of wargs.
Choosing the red dress, she put it on, passed a brush through her hair and examined the result in her mirror. Taking a deep breath, she muttered, "Time to meet the family."
(&)
Glorfindel arrived at Erestor's chambers and rested her hand on the door-handle. She was about to march in unannounced, as she was accustomed to now, when she thought better of it. She wouldn't want to barge in on a private family conversation, would she? She knocked and there was a moment of silence followed by noises of someone coming to the door, and then Erestor opened it.
Erestor raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You're knocking now?"
"You object?" she asked, stepping into the room.
"Not at all." He closed the door behind them and took her hand, giving it a light squeeze as a sign of encouragement. "Relax," he whispered, before leading her onto the veranda where they would be eating dinner that night. The table had already been laid and two elves were seated there. "Glorfindel, may I introduce my sister Morlome," he indicated to the she-elf. "Morlome, this is Glorfindel."
Morlome smiled shyly at her and Glorfindel finally relaxed; it seemed like she wasn't the only one who was nervous. Morlome had hair which was as dark as Erestor's, but her eyes were grey, rather than her brother's dark brown. She was also quite pretty. She didn't seem quite sure how to act around Glorfindel, so Glorfindel flashed her a large smile and spoke first. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
She was rewarded by Morlome's smile widening. "I have been looking forward to meeting you as well, my Lady," she added unsurely at the end.
Glorfindel suppressed a smile. "There is no need to call me by rank, and Glorfindel will suffice."
Morlome blushed slightly and nodded. Glorfindel decided that she would probably find many similarities between the siblings.
A deep chuckle came from the elf beside Morlome. "Be glad and enjoy the silence: in a few days, you will not be able to get a word in edgeways."
"Gilnaur!" she exclaimed, blushing deeply.
They all laughed, and Glorfindel turned her attention towards Gilnaur. Now that she could put a face to the name, she realised that she'd see him around Imladris a few times, albeit only a few. Unlike Morlome, he seemed relaxed and confident around her. She recalled that he often worked as a guide between cities, so undoubtedly he worked with Lords and Ladies often.
"And as you have just heard, that is Gilnaur. Now shall we begin?" This was met with enthusiasm.
"Finally, proper food!" Gilnaur exclaimed. "There is only so long a sanity-loving elf can endure only Lembas, stew and soup. So, when will you tell Elrond about your engagement?"
"Tomorrow morning, Elrond has invited us to break fast with him and his family. I think everyone would like to meet Morlome properly," Erestor replied.
"Have you met Elrond before Morlome?" Glorfindel took a stab at starting a conversation.
"Only briefly, but we were never introduced. He seemed very pleasant, though. I suppose he would have to be to found such a beautiful place, but then it was actually designed by Cul-" She quickly stopped and her eyes widened. Gilnaur shot her a look and she quickly turned her eyes back to her plate. An awkward silence filled the room. Glorfindel had gathered from Erestor that his sister and ex-lover had never been on the best of terms. No, she corrected herself, Erestor had told her only so much, but she had gathered that they had hated each other. Morlome's comment seemed to have confirmed this.
In order to distract everyone from the comment, she returned to questioning Morlome; "How was your journey?"
"Well, though I am very sore. I do not travel much at all, and certainly not far, nor on horse back. I was very excited about riding all the way here, but Gilnaur had to teach me how to ride very quickly, so I am not very good."
A sudden idea appeared in Glorfindel's head. "Would you like me to teach you?"
Morlome looked surprised for a second, and then a wide smile appeared on her face as her desire to learn to ride properly appeared to overcome her caution. "Really? Will you not be too busy?"
"I am sure that I can find some spare time for you, as long as Gilnaur does not mind me stealing his job."
Gilnaur waved it off, "Keep her."
Glorfindel beamed at them. Well, everything seemed to going well.
-£-£-£-£-£-
"'So, the Slayer, we thought you were a myth.'"
'Well, you were myth-taken.'"
-Maggie Welsh and Buffy, 'A New Man', Season 4
Imladris- Second Age 1810 (Glorfindel's arrival)
Glorfindel swung down from her horse, getting her first good look at what would come to be home. From the first in a long she saw a faint shadow of the beauty and peace in Valinor.. Imladris was beautiful beyond anything she had yet seen in Middle Earth. She hesitantly admitted that it could rival Gondolin, in its own way.
"Welcome, my lady, to the Last Homely House," said the Imladris scout who had accompanied them through the forest.
"It is beautiful, and peaceful," she said, moving to get a better view.
The solider beamed proudly. "Thank you my lady. We are currently having a celebrating Imladris' tenth year. That is why no-one is here to greet you … but I will accompany you to our Lord." The soldier added the last quickly, hoping she would not take offence.
"Thank you..." she paused, waiting for a name to fill the space.
"Daegon."
"Thank you Daegon, lead on."
She was led off, accompanied by her two Mithlond guides, to what must be the main building. As she pulled off her riding gloves, she schooled herself to act as a respectable elf of her rank, rather than a wanderer.
The hall they entered radiated warmth and seemed to contain the entire population of the haven. On the way to the main table, they were stopped by an elf whom Glorfindel guessed had to be the head of Imladris' forces and defence. He and Daegon held a whispered conversation, allowing Glorfindel's eyes to scan the room. Most elves had stopped feasting and were now discussing intensely. It seemed that they had made an impression, but Glorfindel was unfazed. She had never really liked the subtle approach anyway.
The two warrior elves concluded, and Daegon led the Mithlond elves away, leaving Glorfindel with this new elf. "My Lady, I am Captain Helkagon. I shall introduce you to our Lord." Turning, he marched up to the main table with Glorfindel in tow.
The elves at the main table watched their approach. There were two elves in the centre, one of whom was bursting with a sense of power, majesty and authority. She identified him as Lord Elrond. By the time she had reached the main table she had the full and undivided attention of everyone in the room. The Captain bowed deeply and she followed suit.
"Captain Helkagon, who is our guest?" asked the other elf, whom she had mentally labelled as an advisor or close friend.
"My Lords, may I introduce you to Lady Glorfindel. She has travelled here from Mithlond."
The 'advisor' spoke again; "Welcome, Lady Glorfindel. I am Lord Elrond." She barely managed to control her surprise at this announcement, and Elrond indicated to the elf at his side, "This is the High King Gil-Galad." Her eyes widened. The High King? How could she have mistaken the High King for Lord Elrond? His royal bearing shone forth like the very sun.
"I hope you will join us for the feast." A chair appeared at the table, fetched by a quick thinking servant.
Glorfindel quickly regained her composure and answered, "It would be my pleasure, my lord." As she sat down, the remaining elves quickly went back to their feasting and gossiping.
Her plate was filled while Gil-Galad addressed her. "You seemed surprised, my lady."
"I must admit, I never expected the High King to be present here."
"We are just as surprised to see you. We received no message of your arrival…" He turned to look at Elrond, "unless my friend here has been hiding things from me?"
Elrond smiled and shook his head, "No, not this time. No message arrived."
Glorfindel inclined her head in apology. "Then I must apologise: we assumed that Lord Cirdan had sent a message ahead of us."
Gil-Galad chuckled. "I am sure that no fault lies with you. Lord Cirdan can be slightly ... absent minded."
Glorfindel laughed, remembering her conversation with him. "So I saw."
It was Elrond who spoke to her next: "So what brings you to our home Lady Glorfindel?"
"I was advised to come her by Lord Cirdan."
An elf opposite her interrupted Elrond. "Whatever for? Imladris has no lady for you to serve under, so what use do we have for you." The words did not seem to be delivered with malice but they still held an underlying hostility.
Elrond jumped in with an introduction; "This is Culhith, a good friend and my chief counsellor. He also helped design and build Imladris; we would not be here were it not for his skills, so please excuse his bluntness."
"It is excused." She turned back to Culhith, expression hardening slightly. Surely any fool could see from her attire that she was a warrior. Oh, why did she have the feeling that he would be anything but her friend? 'Well, at least it isn't a Balrog this time,' she thought as she explained herself to this elf that seemed to have taken a disliking to her. "I am a soldier, not a lady of the court, therefore an absence of a lady makes no difference to me."
Gil-Galad poured her some wine, nodding at her comment, "You have the strong aura of a warrior about you; I have no doubt that you are more accomplished with a sword than a needle. Perhaps you will humour me by showing me the depth of your talent during my stay."
"It would be my pleasure, your majesty," not that she had much choice. After serving under a king herself, she knew it was no light thing to deny such a request.
"What rank do you hold?" Elrond questioned again.
"I no longer hold a rank besides Lady." Glorfindel saw their confusion, but did not really want to mention that she had just arrived from Valinor. "I have not been needed in service for a long time now," she eventually added cautiously.
A new voice joined the conversation. "I assume that is why you were sent here, because Lord Cirdan no longer needs you, so he sent you to someone who did." She turned to the new voice, one that she had no clue how well she would come to know. For the first time, she heard the voice and saw the face of Erestor.
He didn't have the coldness of aura that he was to gain once Culhith left; she would have been hard-put to find a cheerful welcome there. It wasn't inviting but it was not cold. She could tell that he was the youngest of all at the table, but he seemed to have a sense of silent authority about him that over-shadowed Culhith. She realised that he had been watching her and coming to his own conclusions about her ever since she had walked into the room. He had not kept silent till now due to shyness, but rather that this was the first time that he had something to contribute to the conversation. He was also a great deal more polite than Culhith.
She made eye contact with him while Elrond made the introduction.
"This is Erestor, one of my most trusted advisors and a trained diplomat. The library would be in chaos without him."
Glorfindel nodded and smiled in greeting and replied, "I am afraid you are wrong on both counts."
"And what would those counts be?" Culhith jumped in on Erestor's defence.
"My reason for leaving and that Mithlond was my home. I was merely passing through, and I took the opportunity to speak with Cirdan." Erestor nodded slightly to himself as if confirming a thought to himself.
"Then why were you not needed in service?"
"My last … home was free of such needs as soldiers. I left my last home for personal reasons," she tried to end the conversation subtly, but no one seemed to take the hint - or perhaps they simply ignored it.
"Sounds like a wonderful place," commented Elrond.
"Aye it does, Elrond," Culhith smiled. "And where, my lady, may this place be? Where come you from, Lady Glorfindel?"
She knew that she should not be rising to the bait, but she was so eager to wipe that smile off his face. Besides, she couldn't lie in front of the High-King himself.
"I came from Valinor and, afore that, Gondolin."
Well, that did indeed wipe the smile off his face.
(&)
Glorfindel stared at Elrond's door, knowing that after her 'little' claim last night at the feast this would be inevitable, and yet she was still harbouring some nervousness. Standing here now made her realise that this meeting could decide the course her future on Middle Earth would take. After coming here and talking to Elrond, her intuition was that she would be serving him, as she had his grandfather. This was not to say that Imladris felt like home, but it was definitely better then wandering Middle Earth looking for a purpose. A lot better.
She straightened her tunic and sword-belt, and knocked on the door. When she heard Elrond call for her to enter, she did so.
Elrond was seated behind his desk, with Culhith and Erestor sitting either side of him. Elrond wore a friendly smile, which was a contrast to Culhith's grimness and Erestor's diplomatically neutral expression. At Elrond's request, she took a seat opposite him and waited for him to speak. "Lady Glorfindel, you claim to be the Lady Glorfindel of the House of Golden Flowers of Gondolin. The same Lady Glorfindel who died slaying a Balrog of Morgoth at the fall of Gondolin," Elrond stated.
"Yes, I am." Her reply seemed rather dull and simple in comparison to Elrond's rather grand statement, but there really wasn't much else to say.
"Do you have any proof?" was Culhith's immediate response.
Elrond shot Culhith a look out of the corner of his eye, he really would have to speak to Culhith after this about being polite to all their guests.
Glorfindel removed her ring and handed it to Elrond, who examined it. As Culhith looked over his shoulder, Glorfindel explained, "This ring is given to the head of my house; it is unique in design, and no copies exist."
After Elrond had finished looking over the ring, he passed it to Culhith, who almost immediately handed it on to Erestor. As the conversation continued, Erestor proceeded to closely examine the ring, something that amused Glorfindel slightly. She wondered if he even knew what he was looking for.
"A fake?" Culhith put forward.
"I doubt it," Erestor countered. "The design looks to be correct and it appears to be genuine, through to be sure you would have to speak to a jeweller. I have very little expertise in this area. However, I do not doubt your claim my lady. You do not appear to be lying, and I cannot see how taking the guise of Lady Glorfindel would aid you in any way. A deceiver would gain more by impersonating someone more ... believable. I have also spoken with your guides."
Erestor continued to examine the ring while Culhith glared at him over Elrond's head. At least she seemed to have one ally. However, Erestor placed the ring down on the table and continued. "I do, however, wonder how this ring remains in your possession after your death?"
All eyes turned back to her and Culhith's smug expression returned. It was really quite surprising how annoying that look was.
"I do not pretend to know how the Valar think, or the many mysteries of life and death. When I became conscious of my surroundings in the Halls of Mandos, I was wearing what I had before my death, including the ring." Glorfindel bit back a smile, remembering for the first time one unfortunate elf who had stood in the Halls of Waiting in his night shirt.
This seemed to satisfy all but Culhith, who fired another question at her: "So why have you returned to Middle Earth from the Blessed Realm?"
She didn't know why Culhith was so set against her, but she was getting tired of all these tedious questions, especially from someone who didn't have the courtesy to be polite.
"I came here because I swore loyalty to King Turgon and his kin. As his grandson, this includes Lord Elrond. I do not take kindly to being accused of perjury and deception, but if you still have any doubts we can settle this in a duel," she stared at Culhith with hard eyes, until Elrond rushed in to answer for his friend.
"I believe that will not be necessary; I have no more doubts over your claim and Culhith would hardly prove a challenge to someone of your skill."
"I agree. I am sure that Helkagon will be far more of a challenge." Gil-Galad stepped forward from the back of the room. She hastily stood and bowed to the king, "I suggest you find some post for her instead of wasting this opportunity. There will be time enough for that later, though; for now, I have some important business I need to discuss with Elrond."
"Thank you, my Lords," she said, her heart filled with hope. "I promise to be of as great a help to you as I am able."
Elrond smiled back. "I have little doubt that you will. Welcome again to Imladris. I hope that you will be here for many years to come."
End of Chapter 4.
Hey guys, that was kinda a long chapter, but it means that I can start going into the deeper plot in the next chapter :D. Well, I always love to hear from reviews, especially as I get so few for this one :(, seeya next chapter.