Chapter 9
Elrond was sure that he wasn't supposed to be grinning at the arrival of Celeborn and Galadriel but he couldn't help it. Celebrian stood beside him, also grinning.
The reason for the visit and both Elrond and Celebrian's amusement was that Celebrian had 'dropped' into one of her letters home that she and Elrond were courting. Much to both their amusement Celeborn had made it to Imladris in record time, Galadriel following they suspected to stop her husband committing kin-slaying in a fit of paternal protectiveness.
Celeborn's greeting to Elrond was the bare minimum that manners would allow. Galadriel was far more polite and she looked almost as amused as her daughter by Celeborn's behaviour. As soon as they were in private, Celeborn turned to Elrond with a glare. Before the elf could speak Elrond smiled and made his own comment.
"Thank you Lord Celeborn, for saving me a journey." The sindar blinked, the wind apparently taken out of his sails.
"What?"
"I was soon going to make a journey to visit you so I could ask for your daughter's hand in marriage, since you are here anyway it makes sense that I ask you now. Hence, you have saved me a journey." The silver haired elf glared violently at him.
"Just how long have you been courting my daughter Elrond?" He snapped. Both Elrond and Celebrian smiled at him and responded together.
"Oh, a while." Much to Elrond's amusement, both of Celebrian's parents looks rather unnerved by the way they spoke together. Once Celeborn had taken a moment to recover, the questioning started again.
"What on Arda makes you think I would give you permission to marry my daughter when you didn't even tell me you were courting her?" Celebrian got in the answer before Elrond even had time to think up a response.
"Because your father-in-law not only approves but thinks it is a fantastic idea?" she said innocently.
"WHAT?" Yelled Galadriel, looking somewhat irate. "What the bloody hell has my reprobate father got to do with this?" All three elves stared at her. Elrond was pretty sure that Celeborn was the only one who may have ever heard the lady swear before. After a moment, Elrond recovered his shock enough to respond.
"Since she has been in Imladris, your daughter has become a regular visitor to the dream visions the maia use to communicate and has become close with Lord Finarfin, as well as my former ward and her entire family. Lord Finarfin has been very supportive of our relationship, though he did give me a very colourful warning about what would happen if I was anything other than perfectly behaved round your daughter. He was the one who told me not to tell you about my interesting in your daughter until the last minute and got Celebrian to agree. I don't think it is a good idea to repeat his exact reasoning." Galadriel rolled her eyes expressively.
"He still doesn't like Celeborn?"
"No offense my lady but I don't think he will ever like Celeborn, he is nearly as over-protective of his daughter as your husband is of his. It is somewhat ironic actually." Galadriel snorted indelicately.
"No comment whatsoever." She muttered.
XXX
Arallë was walking along one of the covered walkways of her parents' house, one that overlooked the gardens and the main entrance to the complex of buildings which housed the increasingly large maia family. To her utter surprise she saw a familiar Sindar ride into the entrance courtyard. Picking up her skirts, she rushed down to meet him.
"Dinembor! Well met my friend!" The dark haired elf swung off the horse and almost instantly curled up, hand holding thigh and cursing in pain. "You are hurt! Can you walk?"
"It is nothing my queen." He muttered. Arallë took one look at the elf's face and rolled her eyes.
"Nothing my foot!" She muttered and wrapped the arm on the side of the injured leg round her shoulders. "Come on."
She helped the elf into the house, giving orders to the servants as she went to prepare a room for him and take his luggage there. Conveniently enough, they met Riona on the way to her sick room. Sick room was technically a misnomer, it was more an injury room that had been set up after it had got round the lady was a skilled healer and even in Valinor elves sometimes injured themselves. Once the elf was sat on the bed Riona turned to them.
"So what is the problem then?"
"There is nothing lady..." He didn't get to finish as Arallë snorted derisively.
"When he got off his horse he curled up in pain round his left thigh. There is obviously some major injury there if the look of pain was anything to go by." Riona rolled her eyes at the elf.
"Left hose off then." Dinembor's eyes went wide as he stared at her and opened his mouth to object. Riona crossed her arms and glared at him, making it clear she was not going to give in on this. With a sigh and a deep blush he lifted his tunic and untied his left hose* and removed it. Riona pushed him down to lay on the bed and examined the swollen mass of purple scar tissue on the outside of his left thigh, just above the knee. "How long have you had this?"
"Since the Battle of Dagorlad." He muttered reluctantly. Both maia stared at him.
"You're a bloody masochist." Riona muttered as she gently placed a hand over the injury and sent her senses out into the limb. Since she had become a maia she had learnt several new techniques to use her maia powers to help in healing. "Was this ever tended?"
"No"
"Why not?" His jaw tensed as he looked at Arallë before he yanked his gaze away, looking guilty. "Why not?" Riona repeated.
"I deserve the pain for failing." He muttered. Riona raised a questioning eyebrow at him as she continued to examine the injury. "I failed Oropher, if I had been paying better attention to him he wouldn't have died! If failed in my most basic duty, I should have protected him!"
Riona looked at her great niece in surprise as the younger maia went over to the distressed elf's side.
"Dinembor, it was a battle, you should know that anything could happen. If anything, it was my husband's fault for being so bloody pigheaded as not to follow the battle plans. It was not your fault that you were unable to defend him in a battle at all." The dark haired elf stared at her.
"But..."
"No! My brother was there and told me what happened, you have no blame." He was still getting more distressed and then suddenly he slumped on the bed in a dead faint.
"Pressure points rock" Riona observed dispassionately. "Now what the hell was that about?"
"He was Oropher's squire, an elf I noticed was always utterly loyal to Oropher. I think he has been his squire since the day Oropher was born; I know he guarded his backside throughout the fall of Doriath..." Arallë sighed as she looked at the now unconscious elf. "How is he?" Riona turned back to the bed with a sigh.
"Not good at all."
XXX
Thranduil leant back in his office chair, thinking about his secret visits to Erywen. That reminded him, not only did he have to plan which delicacies to take her next but he also had to find a way to thank that stable hand and his daughter, they had been very helpful in providing decoys for him. This thought was quickly followed by the realisation that he didn't even know the name of the stable hand, let alone his daughter's name.
Ten minutes later Thranuil was grinning. It was so nice of the elf to be as good as to be the only elf working in his stables with a married daughter. That made things easier.
He quickly found the information he wanted. The daughter and her husband apparently wanted to have children but their quarters were too small and they were too low down on the scale in the palace hierarchy to have much chance of getting the quarters any time in the next century. Though he hoped and was assured that his workforce was generally happy, not everything was perfect. With a bit more work Thranduil had found some suitable quarters. They were a bit far away but they were large and provided plenty of room for expansion later on. The quarters also had the advantage that they had not been earmarked for anyone specific so there would not be other malcontents at him moving them.
Thranduil quickly filled in the paperwork and sent a notice to the couple before leaning back and grinning in satisfaction. That was one job done. Now to go back to plotting presents for Erywen.
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* Medieval fashion note – For the development stage of the middle age that the elves are at male leg wear (especially for higher status people including squires, who were after all minor nobility in their own right) would come in the form of 'braes and hose'. Braes are what my re-enactment group refer to as 'medieval Bermuda shorts', that is fairly loose drawstring trousers that went to between mid-thigh to knee length usually made of either linen or wool. Hose are basically tight trouser (pant) legs. Unlike with modern trousers, there is no bit in the middle, just tight legs that tied to a belt round the waist worn under the tunic. These would have generally been made out of wool except for the very high status people.
It's a bit hard to find images of this unfortunately but oh well.
(If you are wondering about sources, I am a medieval re-enactor for a group called Milites de Bec and I'm taking this from our very well researched authenticity regs. We are also part of Regia Anglorum – a group who even the Americans might know since Regia has 3 groups in America. Regia cover around 900 AD up to 1066 approximately but De Bec do up to the Barons revolt which ends 1217. Braes and hose are normal up till the mid tudor era, though very late hose are rather different in style.)
