Lovely readers,
This chapter is from Erestor's viewpoint a lot of the time :) I just had to… Though he is very clueless half the time ;) Btw on my profile I will post a link that explains Erestor's attitude towards a certain Elven King completely.
I hope you enjoy immensely. For all of those rooting for Gil-findel, I am in the process of writing a one shot to this story. DON'T DESPAIR, GLORFINDEL WILL NOT BE LONELY FOR LONG. :) I honestly wasn't even going to have him in my original thoughts of the story and then he just kinda made his little elf self into my plot bunnies, and voila, he is currently getting his heart broken. But even though he is mad, deep down inside he knows it wasn't going to work anyway.
And yeah, this seems a little fast for Gil-anduil, but remember they have had days to think over their "relationship", even though they are quite clueless still, and they seriously missed each other's company. But that will become apparent in the next chapter.
I have updated previous chapters to fix slight grammar/spelling/elven errors. If you guys catch anything, do not hesitate to let me know. I am not infallible, nor is Sindarin my first language, so feel free to correct me. Also, please note that hardly any of my elvish has the proper accents on it because I have not learned how to do that yet on my keyboard. ;(
Feel free to leave a review; I will comment at the end as I am not currently in a hurry. Thank you for your support! If you bother to leave a comment, I bother to reply because it means a lot that you did so.
Well, ENJOY the story from Erestor's confused POV!
L'Chaim… Philosophie88
P.S. Like my new profile pic… it's from a shirt with Thrandy's face that says "The party don't start till I walk in" BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Galion would say: "like right" :)
"Lord Elrond!" a breathless Erestor came running up the front steps of Imladris. "My lord… AIGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
There was a small high pitched squeal followed by a quick pattering of feet, a large THUD! and Erestor found himself staring at the high ceiling of the entrance way, seeing more than just the painted stars of Elbereth.
"CURSE YOU, FINWË! CURSE YOU!" and the poor elf began to sob, rubbing his head and sitting up.
"Exactly why are you cursing my great grandfather, Res?" came a sweet, innocent voice from around the corner. Gíl-wen appeared in his view, offering a helping hand to the collapsed elf.
He swatted her hand away. "Oh go away, Lady Gíl-wen! It is because of your accursed rabbit that I am in this mess altogether. That, and King Thranduil's atrocious moose…"
"But Res, if you spent quality time with Finwë, you two perhaps would get along better and he would know not to trip you… but what's this about Aglar? The king left a week ago and he is going through Lorien on his return."
"That's just it," replied Erestor standing up again, and this time rubbing his backside. "A guard at the border just returned and said they spotted a contingent of elves headed this way. It seems to be that the party is led by a giant elk. So I assume it is the king, though I too thought he was returning by way of Lórien. Blasted wood elves! I will have to prepare rooms, alert the kitchens, tell Elrond, find a suitable place for Aglar…"
Gíl-wen had stopped listening to Erestor when he said the word "king".
Why on earth had Thranduil come back this way? He said he was going to Lothlórien. Did someone, somehow get injured? Her mind ran through several possibilities as Erestor listed off the things he had to do.
She was suddenly very aware of her appearance and wondered if her golden dress covered in blooming flowers was dry– it was currently hanging on the line. Thranduil had told her that it made her shine like the sun when he saw her in it, teasing her, of course, but he had added in all seriousness after they had both had a laugh that it was her beauty that made it shine brighter– the little flirt. Wear it and surprise him, said a small voice inside her head, and Gíl-wen turned to leave to fetch the gown, and re-braid her hair.
"My lady?"
"Ah, Erestor, did you need something?"
Erestor sighed deeply and shook his head. "You weren't listening, were you, my lady?"
"Sorry, Res, I was just thinking that if the king is coming, I should try to look the best for him, don't you think?"
Erestor looked at her with an expression of surprise and asked: "Who is this elleth standing before me? Certainly not the same one who wore servant's clothes to the first greeting? What have you done with the Lady Gíl-wen? ."
"Really, Res, first you are horrified because I wear a servant's garb, and now you are horrified that I should like to change; whatever shall we do with you, librarian?" She patted him endearingly on the head, before striding in the direction of her chambers.
When Erestor had recovered enough from her rather unique gesture, he try to call out to her, but she had already rounded the corner. During his ramblings, he had asked her to help him organize the house for the king's arrival, which she normally attended to with great delight and would rather mop floors with the staff than do her hair. Here she was now completely caught up in her appearance like all the rest of the silly ellyth that inhabited the valley. She had completely ignored his plight and then had not even given him time to re-state his plea for assistance.
Was this another one of her practical jokes? Perhaps he should go find Glorfindel; maybe he could reason with Gíl-wen.
But first, first he had to find Elrond…
"Glorfindel!"
"Ah Erestor, what is it my friend?" The captain of the Imladris guard was returning from a rather vigorous sparring session when the head housekeeper found him in one of the many passageways of the Last Homely House.
After having reported to Elrond, given out orders to the staff for rooms to be prepared, gone to the kitchen to insure that several extra servings had been added to the evening meal, spent an hour in the library rearranging a bookshelf Finwë had knocked over, and seeing to some problems that the ellyth in charge of arranging the Great Hall were having, Erestor had set about to finding his golden-haired friend. What a stroke of luck he happened to find him ambling the hall that he had turned into.
"Well, see here," Erestor began. "The thing is: that blasted woodland king is arriving here in a matter of minutes most likely; yes, its only been about two and a half hours since he was sighted; so he should be here soon; I told Gíl-wen and asked her to help me…"
Glorfindel stopped listening to Erestor at the first mention of Thranduil. How could this happen to him? He would have to contrive a way to keep his beloved princess away from that no good, excessive, rude, haughty, annoying, flirtatious, cad of a…
"GLORFINDEL?!"
"Yes, Erestor… " king, with bad hair and an ostentatious pet...
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!"
"Yes, Erestor… " If he even so much as sniffed in Gíl-wen's direction….
"Oh, drat it all," cried Erestor hopelessly. "Not you too… No one ever listens to me these days…"
"hmmmm, yes, Erestor… "
Erestor had achieved the impossible. In only three hours, he had the whole household ready for the Elven King's arrival–and he did it with Finwë hopping about at his feet–seriously he should ask the cook for some good rabbit recipes–and without the aid of Lady Gil-wen, whose current affliction he still could not understand. At least she looked quite presentable and more like a princess than he had ever seen, he thought as he cast a glance in her direction.
Gíl-wen stood next to her cousin, arrayed in a silk gown of bright yellow. It was embroidered with large summer flowers and gathered underneath the bust with a wide belt of delicate golden lace. Her long hair was not bound as she usually wore it, but casually drawn back in twists that interwove with a gold and mithril circlet. She had intricately placed small rose buds throughout her tresses, and looked every inch the elven princess she was.
How odd, Erestor thought; he had never gotten a straight answer from Glorfindel as to why she cared so much about her appearance suddenly. Perhaps King Thranduil had uttered an unkind remark and she felt self conscious, not wishing to repeat the incident, though knowing Gíl-wen, she would most likely give the Sindarin king his due with her own smug retort. How very odd.
As the housekeeper pondered these things, the Elven King and his escort approached. Erestor thought he saw Galion cast a mischievous glance in his direction, but he blatantly ignored the woodland butler in honor of civil politics.
Elrond stepped forward to greet the King, followed closely by Princess Gíl-wen. After exchanging pleasantries with the peredhrel, Thranduil stepped forward to greet the daughter of Gil-galad.
"Gíl nin, (my star)" he said rather endearingly and kissed her hand.
"Your majesty," she replied graciously.
Erestor could not contain his surprise and gaped openly at the scene before him.
Lady Gíl-wen, the same elleth who put a frog in his tea when she was an elfling and whose dratted rabbit ran rampant in the halls of Elrond's house, with little rebuke from its mistress, was engaged in quite a charming interlude with the Elven King. She was blushing and simpering like any other common elf maid, quite delighted in the king's attention. They moved, arm and arm to the house, talking of this and that, like ancient lovers reunited after centuries of separation, and Erestor wondered for the third time that day if Gíl-wen was not somehow planning a practical joke for the evening.
He spared a glance at Glorfindel, who, as captain of the warriors, had to remain at his post of honor. His friend's fists were clenched tight and, though he tried hard to conceal it, his face spoke of pure rage. It was rather horrible joke to play on her beloved, Erestor thought, though she played the part quite well. Erestor sent up a prayer to any Valar listening that Glorfindel would see some humor in it and an international incident could be avoid. If he could have heard the Balrog Slayer's own thoughts at that moment, he would have discovered that another prayer had been sent up asking for the strength to avoid said incident while silently disposing of a certain Sindarin elf.
BrownEyedGirl87: I am glad to see that the story evokes the same emotions in you as it does my characters…Don't worry though Gíl-wen won't be confused for too much longer.
Optymistka: You too :) Thanks, though, for keeping me on my toes.
IKhandoZatman: Gíl-wen likes to give nick-names :) I have still to think of one for Thranduil, that will make him glare… hmmmm...
LittleNK: Hey hope you are enjoying the story :)
HinaTea: So they meet in this chapter but the next chapter is truly for you ;)
Lady Silverfrost: I know he is lonely… but I PROMISE… not for long. I was inspired by your pity, however to write a one shot which I will try to finish tomorrow, so look out for it. It will be entitled Glorfindel Gets the Girl ;)
