Chapter Twenty Six
There was something lesser about Imladris when they returned. The leaves had at last begun to fall and the air was chill. With the passing of Elrond and the power he wielded the valley seemed to fall into its natural state of autumnal decay. Glorfindel noted the cracks in the stones of the bridge and the cobwebs hanging between the intricate eaves of the higher balconies.
"It is merely a matter of waiting now," Laiken murmured at his side. "Like the leaves, we shall go one by one." The mood was heavy, their company bordering on silent and sorrowful. Glorfindel wished Lindir was not accompanying Erestor to Mithlond to witness his cousin's wedding for he longed for the lightness of his son's voice.
"We will not leave things out of order," he told his friend as they dismounted. Laiken smirked.
"Sometimes it seems I might as well be speaking to Erestor." If only Erestor were there, Glorfindel thought glumly. "Come, there must be something that can cheer you? Before we begin to prepare our own funeral march."
"You are not a gifted comedian." Laiken shrugged.
"Nairn has gone and the twins will be absent a while so I thought I should try my hand at lightening the mood. That and I have your emotional well being at heart." They wandered through the near empty corridors, past paintings they had not properly noticed in centuries.
"He made you promise to watch over me," Glorfindel said with an accusing glare. Erestor has given him a protector, or rather an obliged mother hen.
"I have no idea what you mean." Laiken pulled a face of shocked innocence.
"I can take care of myself."
"If I told him you could walk on water he would believe me without question but when I tell him you do not need my supervision, he is as stubborn as a goat." Glorfindel managed a half smile.
"I shall tell him you said that."
"You are cruel, my lord!" It was almost enough to make him laugh as he pushed the council chamber door open. The sight of the empty room however robbed him of all humour.
"What are we to do now?" he mused out loud.
"Sit in your study instead?" suggested Laiken. "There would not be so much a sense of them missing." When the other returned, or Elrohir and Erestor at least then they would use the chamber. For two it was empty and oppressive. Glorfindel hesitated a moment, looking at the chamber as if noticing it for the first time. The columns and windows were ornate stone, the walls painted with a woodland scene.
"The first we knew of you was when you appeared in here," Laiken murmured. "Galdor seemed so proud of having delivered you here." The dark skinned elf chuckled. "I thought Erestor was going to faint when he saw you."
"He has not forgiven me for the shock I gave him." Laiken shut the door to prevent him from brooding in the empty chamber.
"You were an impressive sight. Not many people glow." It was getting old, Glorfindel thought with a sigh. "You have a distinctly less noticeable sheen now."
"I try." Occasionally someone would again note that he had a visible aurora, many in Minas Tirith and among Brand's soldiers had whispered among themselves about him believing him out of earshot. The Hobbits had perhaps had the most endearing reactions once their fright over the events at the Ford had subsided. Samwise especially.
"I suppose we should finish the provision stores for those expected from Mirkwood and Lórien," Laiken murmured. "Erestor is going to think he is running an inn before too long." Their smiles faded into an awkward silence, each standing in the door way to Glorfindel's study. Neither moved towards the desks.
"I need to hit something," Glorfindel muttered. "Then I might be able to stomach this." He did not mean to sound surly, he came across more irate than he felt. Laiken murmured something about avoiding him until later and disappeared.
There was something eerily familiar in the air as he wandered through the armoury. Empty pegs where cloaks once would have hung, the training ground was silent. So it had been when Sauron fell three thousand years before. Depopulated and with low morale Imladris had been turned into a valley of ghosts. It was no small evil when the High King was lost, be he crowned or not.
Glorfindel stretched then began to swing at the wooden pole. The dull taps it made were nowhere near as loud as if he had a real partner. There was a diminished guard out in the hills, those not on duty were occupied with other chores or simply at their leisure. He knew he had work to do, just as he knew Laiken had no wish to do it without Erestor's direction or Nairn's sense. Imladris was left in the unreliable hands of two soldiers.
Laiken gave him an hour before appearing. Duty overrode his reluctance in seeking his friend out.
"Erestor gave himself responsibility for the stores," he murmured. "Which one of you is taking after the other in this working yourselves to the ground master plan or did you come up with it together?"
"We independently came to the same it as our similar thought patterns now react in the same ways." Glorfindel continued to stab the dummy. "Get a sword, you could use some practice."
"My swordplay is adequate. I do not intend to use it again. Will you give me your attention if I inform you that when dividing up duties Erestor also increased the supplies given to the long distance patrols? Supplies we can scarcely afford to divert from the perimeter guards." Glorfindel stopped, his sword hanging by his side.
"Why would he do that?" Their borders had not changed, not since Gil-Galad's death had they taken more land under their protection.
"I was hoping you would be able to tell me." It unnerved him how good they each were at keeping secrets. Couples invaded each other's minds, secrets should have been out of the question. "The supplies are not enough to provide for a larger patrol, no additional horses or kit, merely food, arrows and healers' supplies."
"How much more?" Glorfindel had a sinking feeling he knew now what Laiken had uncovered in Erestor's plans.
"Enough to reach Isengard easily." More importantly enough to reach Moria, perhaps even Lórien. "Lord Celeborn has not yet requested our help in securing the dwarf caves." Laiken was watching him cautiously. In those caves Mithrandir had fallen to his death, in a way so similar to Glorfindel's own it was complete with a second more powerful reincarnation.
"Celeborn has other matters to attend to. Moria is not his priority. Once Elrond and Galadriel have sailed he will make his way immediately to Dale. Someone has to keep the children from starting another war so soon after the victory." Whilst he had complete faith in Yarna and to some extent Legolas, it was Thranduil Celeborn admitted to feeling doubtful about. It hardly served to pacify Glorfindel's sense of things about to go wrong.
"Then Erestor is setting plans in motion that are not needed for many moons," said Laiken, frowning. "Unless there is something in Dunland or at Isengard that he feels needs watching?" Not now, Glorfindel thought sadly. There was nothing in Isengard except dusty shelves filled with artefacts only a fool would disturb. Saruman was gone, Yarna would not return to Isengard until the scars had healed and Éomer was hesitant to reclaim Eorl's gift to her.
"Dunland is not our concern. Isengard matters only in that there may be objects of great power hidden in Orthanc. Erestor has told me nothing of this." Of the many councils that had occurred Glorfindel had not been present in all, certainly he knew nothing of lore or the dark interests of Saruman. "Come, let us see if we can find a paper record of this." There was something troubling him: the guard and patrols were his to command and oversee, Erestor had no place in changing their routes or duties. Glorfindel would have thought any orders concerning border changes might at least have been mentioned to him.
Erestor's half of their shared study was untouched and neater than Glorfindel could ever manage. Since all of his husband's work involved books and papers there were no half-mended scabbards or broken chain mail clogging up his side of the room as there was beside Glorfindel's desk.
"Correspondence?" Laiken asked, seeking permission before riffling through the box of letters on Erestor's shelf. It was a rather large box.
"Look for anything in Westron. That should narrow it down." It would remove anything from Soliel, Lórien or Mithlond. Glorfindel began to look through the miscellaneous stack on the desk.
"This appears to be Westron," Laiken said after a moment. "At least, it is not Sindarin or Quenya." They both stared at the letter, the familiar script twisted into words that did not exist in any language they could read. Laiken unfolded it, looking for a signature.
"Éomer." Whilst he had to guess that the letters after the Man's name meant king, there was no mistaking the signature. "This is what we want." He was not surprised that Erestor had taken the time to learn the language of Rohan as well.
"I thought the court used Westron, only the people spoke their own tongue." Laiken had sat down to begin to puzzle through the letter.
"He considers it rude not to address someone in their cradle-tongue," answered Glorfindel. If only Erestor had made an exception and asked Éomer to write in Westron. "Except for me that is, he still seems to think I need to practice Sindarin."
"Do you have any idea how to read this? I suppose he must have used a dictionary, or written it. All I can read are the names." Erestor, Aragorn, Yarna and Éomer's names occurred throughout the letter, the rest remained illegible. "There is no mention of Isengard." They looked both for the Westron and Sindarin word for the fortress but could find neither.
"Doubtless they call it by some other name." Glorfindel sighed and continued to flick through the box Laiken had abandoned. "There is little else. Is there anything that looks likely?"
"We, or at least I should not be looking through his private papers," Laiken murmured. "It is impolite."
"So is sending our guard out without permission from either one of us." He relented, sensing the other elf's discomfort. "Go and search the library for a dictionary, or some other text that we could use to translate this." Irate rather than angry, Glorfindel saw no issue with searching through Erestor's papers in order to find out why his guards were being sent too far south. Since the advisor was not due home for several weeks he did not have the patience to wait for an answer in person.
"I would look for Yarna's hand as well," Laiken said, his head reappearing around the door. "I do not presume to know but she may have a stake in what happens to her father's belongings." Glorfindel was not sure the rights of inheritance applied to traitors. However Isengard was Yarna's, even Éomer had recognised that in Minas Tirith before they all parted ways. Doubtless there were things within the tower she wished to reclaim. Glorfindel knew he should have spoken to her more on the matter before leaving her, when the news first broke that Saruman had turned his cloak he had comforted her without thinking of the practicalities she would have to face.
"I have read any letter she has sent us." Laiken was gone however and Glorfindel spoke to an empty room, sitting at the wrong desk. He did not want to look through the papers and be proven wrong.
… …
VAGUELY IMPORTANT: This chapter is set before the meeting in Dale occurs. Celeborn is not in two places at the same time, I'm simply not writing in chronological order. He goes with Galadriel to the Havens, sees Alsea and Elladan married (tell me if you want me to write that in, I'm undecided), then goes straight to Minas Tirith then Dale, which is where we see him along with Legolas and Aragorn. Sorry if that's confusing. Just see him as a super speedy elf who doesn't like staying still now that his wife left for Valinor.