Author's Note: Chapter Seven has been reworked and a few ambiguities cleared up (hopefully).
Author's Note2: Could anyone tell me whether Glorfindel is 'Vanyan' or 'Vanyarian'?
--------------------------------------------------------
Glorfindel returned in one cool autumn evening with murder shining in his blue eyes. Erestor took one look at him and pulled him into Elrond's study. Once there, he whipped a length of rope out of his pocket and tied the Balrog Slayer's wrist to a chair.
"There," the steward commented satisfactorily, "now you will need to think before you raise your hand."
Glorfindel glowered at his friend. This trick was familiar to him; it had been used times without number on Elladan and Elrohir when the two had been elflings. The Lord of Imladris had shied away from the sight of any member of his family tied up- even if only an illusion- and let them both get on with it. But Glorfindel considered himself well past the age of tutelage!
"Get it off me now," he ground out, "I have someone I need to see."
"Oh? Need to see an elf about a horse?" Erestor teased, "I have just realized something- you look very pretty in rope!"
Glorfindel broke reluctantly into a grin. Only Erestor, he reminded himself ruefully. "Very well! You have had your fun and made your point; I will not kill Aurief... yet. Untie me."
Erestor instead smiled and left him there. Elrond and Legolas walked in a few minutes later and discovered a swearing, spitting Balrog Slayer still tied by his strong wrist to the chair. They eyed him in some disfavour, both not sure that they wanted to know the reasons for his unexpected appearance.
"Untie me!" The blond yelled, yanking his wrist so hard that the arm of the chair groaned, "There are murders I must commit!"
Elrond backed slowly to the door and put a protective hand to his stomach. The action was enough to get Glorfindel to still. Looking hurt at the indirect admittance of his old friend to the belief that he was capable of hurting him, he sat down and sulked.
The silence was deafening. "Is there something wrong?" Legolas finally asked timidly.
Blue eyes glared up balefully though Glorfindel made no attempt to move. "Erestor has tied me to a chair and left me here to languish of hunger and Lord Elrond seems to imagine that I would cause him and his child injury. Does anything in that seem wrong to you?"
Elrond looked down in some consternation and hastily dropped his hand. Coming forward, he began to untie his friend. "I do not fear you," he said soothingly, "Had I believed you would harm me I would have left! Or ordered Legolas to kill you."
"You comfort me, mellon nin," Glorfindel murmured, sharing a sarcastic look with his amused Lord, "Remind me as to why I protect you with my life when I am clearly so dispensable?"
"Because you are a true friend and I trust you with everything I have," Elrond said placidly, pushing him out of the way so he could sit.
The Elf Lord lowered himself into the chair with a sigh. He was rapidly reaching the level of big enough- being in his eighth month- to truly feel uncomfortable. And oh, but how his back hurt! And he knew it was about to get worse.
If only the Lothlorien healer would arrive! Elladan and Elrohir were beginning to have nightmares about being left to do the delivery themselves. Only this morning, Elrohir has trembled and turned ashen as he spoke of a dream in which he had finally been unable to find the child once he had made the cut. Elrond had kindly forborne to mention that the baby would be big enough by then to be absolutely in obvious view. There was no way even a blind man could miss the child in such small confines!
He opened tired grey eyes and looked at Glorfindel's still cloudy face. "Would you like to tell me why you were preparing for two kinslaying under my roof?"
"The first was Aurief." Legolas was certain that the Vanyan actually gnashed his teeth at the name. "He led me a pretty chase through the woods! I finally found him sitting in a tree and laughing just before he disappeared again."
"Aurief has that interesting personality trait," Elrond agreed, his hand already going to the plate on his desk, still half full of rose petals and apple blossoms that were just begging him to eat them, "Who was the second?"
"Erestor, naturally! He tied me to a chair and left me!"
"You did not think to pick up the dagger I keep in my drawer and cut yourself free?"
Glorfindel stared at the calm half-elf eating colourful flowers to the drawer to his bruised wrist before walking to the window. Pushing his head out, he shouted a hoarse cry of frustration to the gathering dusk before coming back to stand in his former position. "My recent adventures in the wood have addled my brain," he said expressionlessly, "If you will excuse me, I'll go to bed and stay there."
"Sleep well, Glorfindel," Elrond called.
The door shut with the utmost quiet and the Lord of Imladris held his breath and counted to ten before even attempting to stand up. It was rather embarrassing to do so in any case and he was frequently finding himself making excuses not to move no matter how uncomfortable the seat.
"Would you like me to help?"
Elrond glared at Legolas. "This is all your fault, you know," he huffed, "had you not asked it of me I would never have gotten pregnant."
"But then we wouldn't have our daughter!"
Legolas was already turning into a fanatical father in spite of the fact that he had not even met his child yet. True, Elrond had jumped only the other day when he felt movement for the first time; but Legolas himself had not had the courage to ask to feel. Nevertheless, he was sure his daughter would be worth everything.
"Legolas?"
"Hmmm?"
"Help?"
The blond chuckled as pointed ear tips burned red in embarrassment and then bent to help the blushing Elf Lord lever himself out of the chair. He placed a reassuring kiss on the nearest reddened cheek and held on for just long enough to offer comfort. "You only need ask," he whispered, "After all, you do so much for me."
Grey eyes turned to him in astonished bewilderment.
Legolas timidly touched the swelling mound beneath the altered robes. "You give me someone to love," he said shyly.
They shared a smile, both deliberately letting go of inhibitions for this sweet moment to savour life as only the three of them. It would likely never be so, for Legolas could not speak and Elrond likely would not, and even should either of them work up enough courage to say something there were others to consider as well. Namely, the child's half-siblings!
Dinner was, as usual, provided by Erestor personally in a converted room in the Family Wing. The Lord of Imladris had hidden himself in seclusion for the past month and more, not wanting news to spread about his condition to any except immediate family and friends. Only one thing disturbed him- why had Galadriel not sent word of her knowledge?
Elladan brought up the same question. "Ada, why has the Lady Galadriel not written to congratulate you?"
"I do not think she will be pleased, ion nin," Elrond reminded him, "It is probably too much to hope that she will appreciate this situation."
"Is that why she is so silent?"
Elrond and Glorfindel shared a look. "She would have made her displeasure known," the seneschal murmured worriedly, "How is it that she has said nothing? And there is no word from the healer you sent for either."
The three looked perturbed but changed the subject. Galadriel was, after all, quite capable of being cryptic out of some wild belief in not interfering until necessary. But the conversation turned to other more worrying topics- "My Lord, have you any idea where Aurief is?"
Legolas looked around as if expecting to see the elf burst out from a cupboard door. In truth, he wouldn't be surprised if the Lothlorien guard did; his penchant for hiding in rooms where he was not wanted was becoming frustrating. But even a careful look behind the curtains yielded nothing.
"He was in the woods the last time I saw him," Glorfindel snorted, remembering the incident with some annoyance, "He headed north, I believe."
"Glorfindel! How could you not stop him?" Elrond gasped, struggling up from his seat to go to the door. "There was mention of human slave traders in those parts."
A look of wicked cunning and wistful longing touched the blue eyes trying their hardest to look innocently down at the white linen tablecloth. Elladan grinned into his wine; he didn't believe Glorfindel's act in the least!
"Calm down, Ada," he cautioned, "And please sit back down? If you sail out into public like that, no one will pay any heed to what you have to say because they'll be too busy staring at you. Tell me what you would like us to do? It is growing dark and we cannot send our guards out to the north in the dark, surely."
"But Aurief..."
"Good riddance to him," Legolas snapped unexpectedly. He picked up his goblet in bow-scarred fingers and raised it in a mock salute to the window. "I hope those traders do find him. And when they do, I hope they will kidnap him."
"Son of Thranduil, you forget yourself!"
"My Lord, I do not! I remember myself for the first time in months," Legolas shot back, "Too long have we all put up with his insults. I for one will not tolerate it any more. The next time he has something to say to me or of you, he will say it to my face with weapons in our grasp."
Elrond glared coldly down at his lover. "And if he is to be captured by slavers, do you think he will have the chance to say anything at all?"
Legolas looked mutinously up at the dark face, steeling his faltering convictions against the thin-lipped sternness and furious eyes. Angering the possessor of Vilya was not to be courted. "Knowing Aurief, they will probably let him go after a day; once he has talked them into useless anger," the Prince muttered. But he sighed as well and stood up. "Sit down, melme! You do no good by standing at the door like an avenging fury. You cannot even see where you place your feet! I'll go look for him."
"No, you will stay right here. Glorfindel, send a patrol of guards out."
"Elrond! For once, let someone else make the decisions?" Legolas was young, but he was quite as used to being obeyed as the Lord of Imladris was. Indeed, just as much! Because in the wilds, he insisted his men obey every last order from his tongue down to the least detail. "Glorfindel, if I am not mistaken, your troops are already out combing the land for sign of these supposed Slavers?"
The Captain of the Imladris guards nodded briskly.
"Then I need have no fear! Excuse me for my untimely departure, my Lord, but I am afraid I have business in the woods this night."
Glorfindel looked up, found Elrond's eyes flickering to him and nodded. "I'll go with him," he volunteered, "Nothing will touch him and I myself think the rumour is false." So saying, Glorfindel left, and Elladan was left to face his Ada's bad temper all by himself.
Or he might have been, if only a silent half-hour later Erestor hadn't burst in and gasped of the storage rooms being on fire. Elrond made to follow the two but was hit by a wave of pain to his stomach so acute that Elladan was left wondering if he was right to leave his father for a few sackfuls of grain.
"Go," Elrond ground out, waving impatiently at his worried son, "Tis nothing more than an injudicious movement. I will be all right. Send elves in to remove as much food as they can! And make sure to worry about essentials before the rest."
Elladan nodded and disappeared.
Which was exactly when the world went dark.
Author's Note2: Could anyone tell me whether Glorfindel is 'Vanyan' or 'Vanyarian'?
--------------------------------------------------------
Glorfindel returned in one cool autumn evening with murder shining in his blue eyes. Erestor took one look at him and pulled him into Elrond's study. Once there, he whipped a length of rope out of his pocket and tied the Balrog Slayer's wrist to a chair.
"There," the steward commented satisfactorily, "now you will need to think before you raise your hand."
Glorfindel glowered at his friend. This trick was familiar to him; it had been used times without number on Elladan and Elrohir when the two had been elflings. The Lord of Imladris had shied away from the sight of any member of his family tied up- even if only an illusion- and let them both get on with it. But Glorfindel considered himself well past the age of tutelage!
"Get it off me now," he ground out, "I have someone I need to see."
"Oh? Need to see an elf about a horse?" Erestor teased, "I have just realized something- you look very pretty in rope!"
Glorfindel broke reluctantly into a grin. Only Erestor, he reminded himself ruefully. "Very well! You have had your fun and made your point; I will not kill Aurief... yet. Untie me."
Erestor instead smiled and left him there. Elrond and Legolas walked in a few minutes later and discovered a swearing, spitting Balrog Slayer still tied by his strong wrist to the chair. They eyed him in some disfavour, both not sure that they wanted to know the reasons for his unexpected appearance.
"Untie me!" The blond yelled, yanking his wrist so hard that the arm of the chair groaned, "There are murders I must commit!"
Elrond backed slowly to the door and put a protective hand to his stomach. The action was enough to get Glorfindel to still. Looking hurt at the indirect admittance of his old friend to the belief that he was capable of hurting him, he sat down and sulked.
The silence was deafening. "Is there something wrong?" Legolas finally asked timidly.
Blue eyes glared up balefully though Glorfindel made no attempt to move. "Erestor has tied me to a chair and left me here to languish of hunger and Lord Elrond seems to imagine that I would cause him and his child injury. Does anything in that seem wrong to you?"
Elrond looked down in some consternation and hastily dropped his hand. Coming forward, he began to untie his friend. "I do not fear you," he said soothingly, "Had I believed you would harm me I would have left! Or ordered Legolas to kill you."
"You comfort me, mellon nin," Glorfindel murmured, sharing a sarcastic look with his amused Lord, "Remind me as to why I protect you with my life when I am clearly so dispensable?"
"Because you are a true friend and I trust you with everything I have," Elrond said placidly, pushing him out of the way so he could sit.
The Elf Lord lowered himself into the chair with a sigh. He was rapidly reaching the level of big enough- being in his eighth month- to truly feel uncomfortable. And oh, but how his back hurt! And he knew it was about to get worse.
If only the Lothlorien healer would arrive! Elladan and Elrohir were beginning to have nightmares about being left to do the delivery themselves. Only this morning, Elrohir has trembled and turned ashen as he spoke of a dream in which he had finally been unable to find the child once he had made the cut. Elrond had kindly forborne to mention that the baby would be big enough by then to be absolutely in obvious view. There was no way even a blind man could miss the child in such small confines!
He opened tired grey eyes and looked at Glorfindel's still cloudy face. "Would you like to tell me why you were preparing for two kinslaying under my roof?"
"The first was Aurief." Legolas was certain that the Vanyan actually gnashed his teeth at the name. "He led me a pretty chase through the woods! I finally found him sitting in a tree and laughing just before he disappeared again."
"Aurief has that interesting personality trait," Elrond agreed, his hand already going to the plate on his desk, still half full of rose petals and apple blossoms that were just begging him to eat them, "Who was the second?"
"Erestor, naturally! He tied me to a chair and left me!"
"You did not think to pick up the dagger I keep in my drawer and cut yourself free?"
Glorfindel stared at the calm half-elf eating colourful flowers to the drawer to his bruised wrist before walking to the window. Pushing his head out, he shouted a hoarse cry of frustration to the gathering dusk before coming back to stand in his former position. "My recent adventures in the wood have addled my brain," he said expressionlessly, "If you will excuse me, I'll go to bed and stay there."
"Sleep well, Glorfindel," Elrond called.
The door shut with the utmost quiet and the Lord of Imladris held his breath and counted to ten before even attempting to stand up. It was rather embarrassing to do so in any case and he was frequently finding himself making excuses not to move no matter how uncomfortable the seat.
"Would you like me to help?"
Elrond glared at Legolas. "This is all your fault, you know," he huffed, "had you not asked it of me I would never have gotten pregnant."
"But then we wouldn't have our daughter!"
Legolas was already turning into a fanatical father in spite of the fact that he had not even met his child yet. True, Elrond had jumped only the other day when he felt movement for the first time; but Legolas himself had not had the courage to ask to feel. Nevertheless, he was sure his daughter would be worth everything.
"Legolas?"
"Hmmm?"
"Help?"
The blond chuckled as pointed ear tips burned red in embarrassment and then bent to help the blushing Elf Lord lever himself out of the chair. He placed a reassuring kiss on the nearest reddened cheek and held on for just long enough to offer comfort. "You only need ask," he whispered, "After all, you do so much for me."
Grey eyes turned to him in astonished bewilderment.
Legolas timidly touched the swelling mound beneath the altered robes. "You give me someone to love," he said shyly.
They shared a smile, both deliberately letting go of inhibitions for this sweet moment to savour life as only the three of them. It would likely never be so, for Legolas could not speak and Elrond likely would not, and even should either of them work up enough courage to say something there were others to consider as well. Namely, the child's half-siblings!
Dinner was, as usual, provided by Erestor personally in a converted room in the Family Wing. The Lord of Imladris had hidden himself in seclusion for the past month and more, not wanting news to spread about his condition to any except immediate family and friends. Only one thing disturbed him- why had Galadriel not sent word of her knowledge?
Elladan brought up the same question. "Ada, why has the Lady Galadriel not written to congratulate you?"
"I do not think she will be pleased, ion nin," Elrond reminded him, "It is probably too much to hope that she will appreciate this situation."
"Is that why she is so silent?"
Elrond and Glorfindel shared a look. "She would have made her displeasure known," the seneschal murmured worriedly, "How is it that she has said nothing? And there is no word from the healer you sent for either."
The three looked perturbed but changed the subject. Galadriel was, after all, quite capable of being cryptic out of some wild belief in not interfering until necessary. But the conversation turned to other more worrying topics- "My Lord, have you any idea where Aurief is?"
Legolas looked around as if expecting to see the elf burst out from a cupboard door. In truth, he wouldn't be surprised if the Lothlorien guard did; his penchant for hiding in rooms where he was not wanted was becoming frustrating. But even a careful look behind the curtains yielded nothing.
"He was in the woods the last time I saw him," Glorfindel snorted, remembering the incident with some annoyance, "He headed north, I believe."
"Glorfindel! How could you not stop him?" Elrond gasped, struggling up from his seat to go to the door. "There was mention of human slave traders in those parts."
A look of wicked cunning and wistful longing touched the blue eyes trying their hardest to look innocently down at the white linen tablecloth. Elladan grinned into his wine; he didn't believe Glorfindel's act in the least!
"Calm down, Ada," he cautioned, "And please sit back down? If you sail out into public like that, no one will pay any heed to what you have to say because they'll be too busy staring at you. Tell me what you would like us to do? It is growing dark and we cannot send our guards out to the north in the dark, surely."
"But Aurief..."
"Good riddance to him," Legolas snapped unexpectedly. He picked up his goblet in bow-scarred fingers and raised it in a mock salute to the window. "I hope those traders do find him. And when they do, I hope they will kidnap him."
"Son of Thranduil, you forget yourself!"
"My Lord, I do not! I remember myself for the first time in months," Legolas shot back, "Too long have we all put up with his insults. I for one will not tolerate it any more. The next time he has something to say to me or of you, he will say it to my face with weapons in our grasp."
Elrond glared coldly down at his lover. "And if he is to be captured by slavers, do you think he will have the chance to say anything at all?"
Legolas looked mutinously up at the dark face, steeling his faltering convictions against the thin-lipped sternness and furious eyes. Angering the possessor of Vilya was not to be courted. "Knowing Aurief, they will probably let him go after a day; once he has talked them into useless anger," the Prince muttered. But he sighed as well and stood up. "Sit down, melme! You do no good by standing at the door like an avenging fury. You cannot even see where you place your feet! I'll go look for him."
"No, you will stay right here. Glorfindel, send a patrol of guards out."
"Elrond! For once, let someone else make the decisions?" Legolas was young, but he was quite as used to being obeyed as the Lord of Imladris was. Indeed, just as much! Because in the wilds, he insisted his men obey every last order from his tongue down to the least detail. "Glorfindel, if I am not mistaken, your troops are already out combing the land for sign of these supposed Slavers?"
The Captain of the Imladris guards nodded briskly.
"Then I need have no fear! Excuse me for my untimely departure, my Lord, but I am afraid I have business in the woods this night."
Glorfindel looked up, found Elrond's eyes flickering to him and nodded. "I'll go with him," he volunteered, "Nothing will touch him and I myself think the rumour is false." So saying, Glorfindel left, and Elladan was left to face his Ada's bad temper all by himself.
Or he might have been, if only a silent half-hour later Erestor hadn't burst in and gasped of the storage rooms being on fire. Elrond made to follow the two but was hit by a wave of pain to his stomach so acute that Elladan was left wondering if he was right to leave his father for a few sackfuls of grain.
"Go," Elrond ground out, waving impatiently at his worried son, "Tis nothing more than an injudicious movement. I will be all right. Send elves in to remove as much food as they can! And make sure to worry about essentials before the rest."
Elladan nodded and disappeared.
Which was exactly when the world went dark.