Author's note: Man I shouldn't have written about ice cream last chapter, because now it's all I can think about :/ Doesn't help that this chapter mentions it, too. I really do bring this on myself sometimes.
Brianne: Rhodri basically has no background on it. Never read any of the books, and basically walked past her siblings watching Peter Jackson's FoTR. Any exposure after that was pop culture references- memes of the Eye of Sauron and Gandalf. She secretly kicks herself for not watching the films or reading the books, you can be sure of that. :P
Guest/s: Hah, Glorfindel is an odd one. So exceptionally powerful, with a whole host of amazing feats on his resume, but mostly because it's necessary. At least this version is. I prefer portraying male characters with a wide range of emotions, with large helpings of both stereotypically "feminine" and "masculine" ones. I think it gives them more depth. Also, nooooo! Rhodri can't teach anyone English, otherwise they'll catch on to when she whips out words like 'wanker.' She keeps it secret for a reason :D

I made sure to keep my angry walk up as long as it took to get to my office, threw open the door and stomped in, closing it firmly behind me. Once inside, I grabbed my guitar, went to my chair, and started strumming away happily, waiting for Glorfindel, Elrond, and Olórin- perhaps others, too- to show up. Sure enough, I was about three-quarters of the way through Classical Gas when there was a soft knock at the door.

"Rhodri?" I heard Glorfindel's voice, gentle and sweet. "Can we come in?"

"Oh, really, Glorfindel!" came from an exasperated Elrond, who knocked on the door loudly and urgently. "Rhodri, we're coming in there!"

"That uncivilised detritivore had better not have come, too!" I shouted at the door as it burst open and Glorfindel, Elrond, and Olórin all tumbled in.

"No, Curumo is not here," the ever-calm Olórin said as he straightened up, raising his eyebrows at me. "You made it quite clear he had outstayed his welcome in front of the entire crowd that had assembled, and he took leave of Imladris shortly after you departed."

"Oh, good," I said, dropping all pretence and smiling as I put the guitar down.

"What in heaven's name were you doing back there?" Elrond demanded, a look of absolute mortification cemented into his face.

"Shut the door and I'll tell you," I said with a grin.

Glorfindel closed the door quickly and everyone took a seat as I explained what had happened during the meeting and how Curumo had confronted me after that.

They sat in a shocked silence for a moment before Olórin finally spoke up. "You- you invaded Curumo's thoughts?"

I nodded once.

"And he didn't detect you?"

"Nope. He only noticed me shaking my head once I had departed. Glorfindel here," I gestured at my spouse, "has been a real sport and let me practice getting into his head without making my presence known. Thanks, darling," I shot him a thumbs-up and winked.

"What do you think the image of the Ring in the grass meant?" Olórin asked nobody in particular.

"Agh!" I vocalised in frustration, kicking myself for not seizing the train of thought and looking into it more closely. Merely observing it seemed to be sufficient at the time. "I'm sorry," I said regretfully. "I should've checked, but I completely forgot."

"I would guess it means he thinks it is still in the fields somewhere, not necessarily that he knows where it is exactly, otherwise he would have simply picked it up, surely," Glorfindel posed to us.

"Let us hope," Olórin said grimly.

"We could send some of our own people to search the region as well, just in case there is something down there worth finding," Elrond mused, rubbing his chin contemplatively with one finger.

"It couldn't hurt," I said with a shrug. "Or, if we want to be a little subtler about it, we could ask the Lady Galadriel to do it."

"Also a possibility," Elrond acknowledged, nodding.

"What of that ring of Bilbo's, then, Olórin?" Glorfindel enquired.

Olórin hummed thoughtfully. "Mmm, yes, I was thinking about that," he said after a moment. "I will be keeping an extremely close watch on that."

"Is there anything we can do to assist?" I asked. Glorfindel and Elrond nodded, watching him attentively.

"We must do what we can to keep the Shire away from anyone's attention, though how we would achieve that, I do not know." His brow creased as he looked upwards, like he was checking the ceiling for any ideas written up there. "It may also be well to try and seek out the creature Gollum, who I don't doubt is searching for the Ring."

My eyes widened. "How much does he know about Bilbo, do you think?"

Olórin shook his head a little. "I am not sure. I would rather that whatever information he does have is not shared with Sauron or Curumo, though."

"They might not have any interest in him, though," Glorfindel said hopefully. "Who knows that he owned that Ring, and even then, who is to say that it is the One Ring?"

"Is that a risk you would be willing to take, Lord Glorfindel?" Olórin asked him with a serious look.

Glorfindel sighed and shook his head. "Forgive me, I was overtaken by optimism a moment there."

"We'll need plenty of that in time to come, I fancy," I murmured, smiling at Glorfindel a little. His hopefulness was hard not to love.

"Perhaps if we can delegate the Ring hunt to Galadriel, we can dispatch some of our own people to patrol for Gollum," Elrond proposed.

"Sounds like a plan," I said with a nod.

"I suppose that is probably all we can do for the time being," Olórin muttered gloomily.

"In which case, there is no sense worrying too much if we can help it," Glorfindel said. "We'll do what we can, and take the rest as it comes."

This was met with resigned nods from all present.

I stood up. "Well, it's a little early for Happy Hour, so how about we go and unwind a little with some cake?" I suggested, my mouth watering at the prospect of fanging into a honking great slice of apple upside-down cake (my favourite).

This seemed agreeable to the others, and so I made for the door before Glorfindel's voice made me turn around.

"Oh, Rhodri, speaking of food," he began.

"Mmm?"

"What was this dish you were speaking of with Curumo?" he tapped his chin with his finger. "Ice cream or something, wasn't it?" Elrond and Olórin both nodded, equally as curious.

"Oh!" I said, having completely forgotten about all that already. "Goodness, yes, I'm quite surprised I never mentioned it before. It is a frozen dessert made by churning milk, eggs, and sugar until you get an airy but thick consistency."

"That sounds delicious," Olórin murmured. Glorfindel and Elrond, appearing quite taken with the idea as well, nodded.

"It is delicious," I replied. "Pairs quite nicely with cake, as a matter of fact," I added, trying to think back to the last time I ate cake and ice cream together.

"Is… ah, is that secret recipe of yours ever going to be trialled?" Elrond broached cautiously. "I, for one, would be more than happy to try it and provide helpful feedback." His question was met with unanimous agreement from Olórin and Glorfindel.

By chance, I did recall my father showing the five of us kids how to make ice cream without a machine one Saturday when the weather was particularly inclement. It had two winning features: the yield of dessert at the end, and sufficiently tired us out that we weren't as liable to engage in chaotic behaviour while trapped indoors.

"What do you say we give it a go now?" I proposed with a grin.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Olórin said, and we made our way to the kitchens.

It was fairly busy in the kitchens today, what with the Council having been called and my birthday celebrations being under way. I availed us of the basic ingredients and tools, and we headed outside to work there. I was glad this particular day had decided to be quite nippy, as it made the job a bit quicker. After filling a huge bowl with ice and salt and then another, smaller bowl inside, we threw the ingredients in and took turns churning it. It ended up taking far less time than I had anticipated because the Elves, of course, were so strong. What had started as a cold bowl of goop became the most gorgeous looking ice cream in ten minutes.

We each grabbed a spoon and took a little.

"Ah, lovely," I mumbled happily. "Just right."

Sounds of delighted approval came from my companions shortly after.

"So you'd have it again, would you?" I asked with a smile, laughing a little as the nods got more and more fervent. "Let's get some cake and get eating, then."

The lack of advanced refrigeration technology in Imladris meant that ice cream would have to be either left as a deep winter treat, or eaten shortly after being made. Not that that seemed to be much of an issue, since today's batch disappeared with exceptional speed. We'd made quite a bit of the stuff, and when we'd taken a scoop each to have with our cake, we offered the (substantial) leftovers to the kitchen staff, who made short work of it.

When we were about halfway through eating our cake when a familiar face showed up and paced over to the table where we were sitting.

"Oh, Sidhiel!" I waved at her cheerfully as she approached us. "Hello! Do you want some cake?" I took the cake spade and made to cut her off a big hunk before she held up a hand in polite declination.

"Thank you but no," she said, though her eyes showed a rather obvious reluctance before she shook her head and spoke again. "I come with a message from Prince Legolas."

"Well, I'll just leave this here in case you change your mind…" I said innocently, moving the cake plate closer to her. "You can always eat and talk, you know."

"An excellent point," said Glorfindel enthusiastically as he pushed the plate even closer. "You've come all this way. It is well to keep one's strength up."

It didn't take much convincing. Sidhiel quickly cut herself a small slice and sat down at the table. "I do not think King Thranduil will like this," she said nervously.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," I returned with a devilish wink. "Besides, you can blame me as much as you like. Communal cake eating is an important part of my culture, and you would have hated to disrupt good relations by declining and thus causing offence."

I cut half my scoop of ice cream and put it on her plate. "Try it with this, and tell me all."

After a moment of borderline inappropriate noises from Sidhiel as she sampled the ice cream with cake, she delivered her report.

"Prince Legolas has sent me with a message regarding Lady Bregedúr."

"Oh?" I asked as I looked up. It had been a few years since I saw her last, and I had been wondering what devilry she was up to of late.

"They are presently expecting their first child," she began, and was interrupted by Glorfindel and I banging on the table and cheering joyfully. Elrond beamed at the news, and even Olórin, who had barely seen her, looked pleased.

Sidhiel was taken aback but graciously waited for us to stop acting like zoo animals before continuing, taking it as an opportunity to shovel down her food.

"Prince Legolas has sent me, however, on a less joyful task," she said seriously.

The smile fell off my face like it was made of teflon, and I regarded her worriedly. "What is it?"

"The Lady Bregedúr appears to be experiencing difficulty during this time, and so she has sent for you."

My stomach dropped. Bregedúr wasn't inclined to accept help from anyone, so something must have been seriously wrong. I quickly stood up.

"Of course I'll go. Do you have any further information about her condition?"

Sidhiel confirmed that she did.

"In which case, I'd appreciate it if you followed me to my office and we can speak about it there. Excuse me, gentlemen and Olórin." Olórin shot me a withering look as Sidhiel and I left, our half-eaten desserts abandoned on the table.

"What's happening, Sidhiel?" I asked her as soon as I had shut my office door behind us.

"Lady Bregedúr has locked herself up in her quarters," Sidhiel confided in me with concern. "She refuses to leave them, even to take food or a walk."

I frowned a little. That was very odd. Bregedúr usually loved the outdoors. I had worried that she would find life in Mirkwood to be a little too dark and cramped for her liking, so her sequestering herself away like this was most out of character.

"Do you know when this started?" I enquired.

Sidhiel shook her head. "Not precisely, as I have been on patrols, but I believe it has been over the last few months at least."

"Hm," I murmured. "Well, I'll pack straight away. Are you happy enough to depart within the hour?"

She nodded, and with that, we got up and left, making our way back to the dining hall to inform the others.

"I need to- where's the rest of my cake and ice cream?" I glanced at my plate blankly and saw a very shameful Glorfindel, Olórin, and Elrond staring back up at me.

"We were unsure how long you would be gone, and your ice cream was melting…" Elrond mumbled abashedly with a feeble shrug. They all looked incredibly sorry, but not sorry enough to not do it again on future occasions.

I shrugged back. What else could I do? It wasn't like I was going to ask them to vomit it back up. "Anyway," I continued, "As I was saying, I need to depart for Mirkwood as soon as I've finished packing."

"I'll come with you," Glorfindel said firmly, standing up. Normally, I would have been wary about anyone accompanying me on work purposes, lest they find out who my client was, but Sidhiel had sort of let the cat out of the bag in that regard.

"Jolly good, my love," I said with a smile. "I'm sorry to dash before the party like this," I said regretfully.

Elrond shook his head. "Never mind that. It is early in the day yet, still plenty of time to postpone it without trouble. I will inform the kitchen staff immediately."

"Thanks, pal," I said gratefully. "Guess we'd better be off, then." I looked at Glorfindel and Sidhiel, who both nodded.

"Travel safely," Olórin said to us, inclining his head and smiling.

"You take care, too," I replied, then looking at Elrond saying, "Behave yourself while we're gone."

"If you insist," he said with such a put-upon tone that you'd think I'd asked him to cut the grass with a pair of scissors.

Half an hour later, the horses were saddled and we were off to Mirkwood. I regretted not using my birthday wish to ask for a smooth journey, because the weather was absolutely bloody awful on the way. The snow at the pass of Caradhras was already starting to come in quickly, and we had a couple of days' nonstop travel to get through without being snowed in completely. Happily, though, we weren't attacked by any travelling bands of Orcs or a rogue Nazgûl.

Eventually, though, we made it there. I was impressed to see that the Mirkwood Elves really had made the best of a bad situation when they were forcibly displaced to the north of the forest. Thranduil's halls were even more magnificent than his father's had been, which was saying an awful lot. The huge, reddish trees gave the place a warm atmosphere, and despite the size of this massive, woven tree-dome, it felt pleasantly cosy. Thranduil had somehow managed to make the setup equally as impenetrable as Oropher's treehive had been, but the place was much more bright and airy, with plenty of glowing sunshine coming in gaps between the branches and through what remained of the amber leaves. I could've envisioned many happy hours sliding around on the huge branches here with Glorfindel were my visit not of a much more solemn nature.

We were taken to the throne room to be presented to Thranduil and Legolas, who to my relief both seemed genuinely pleased to see us.

"Ah, Rhodri, Glorfindel," Thranduil said with a smile, making an inviting gesture. We approached him and nodded deferentially.

"Thank you in advance for your hospitality, Your Majesty," I said respectfully. I looked at him and Legolas. "Our heartfelt congratulations to you both on the news of the expected newest royal family member."

Legolas looked like he was having difficulty staying in his seat. I got the impression he was keen to do away with the niceties and herd me into his wife's quarters. Unfortunately for him, we had the usual handful of questions about how our journey was and what news we had from Imladris. When the small talk had come to an end, though, he took his chance and stood up.

"Allow me to show you to your chambers, and then, perhaps, to see the Lady Bregedúr?"

Glorfindel and I looked over and Thranduil, who excused us with a laugh, and with that, we followed Legolas out.

"Bregedúr does not know you have come," he said to us quietly as we ascended a long flight of spiral stairs. "I worried she might refuse help if I told her."

"Oh, I think she'll tolerate our presence well enough," I said mildly, thinking of all the times she got in my face in Imladris when she wanted attention.

Legolas looked at us seriously. "She is changed these days," he said, and did not elaborate further. I elected not to say anything more, simply following him to the third floor of this huge dome, where we were taken to a large foyer which I presumed to be their chambers.

He led us to a large set of double doors and opened one slowly, sticking his head inside.

"Bregedúr," I heard him say. "I have guests to see you."

"Oh?" came a voice from inside.

Legolas leaned back out and beckoned for us to go inside.

Glorfindel and I strode in and saw a rather obviously pregnant Bregedúr sitting in an armchair, looking up from a book. Her discontented look seemed to clash with her radiant glow.

"Well, well," she said in her usual humour as she looked at us with a wry but joyful smile, "Look what the wind blew in!"

"Ugh, don't even talk to me about wind right now," I said with a groan, skipping over sentimental greetings as I marched over and drew up a chair beside her. "The blizzard that hit us at the Path of Caradhras was an absolute horror show."

Bregedúr raised an eyebrow. "You know how the weather is there at this time of the year, though, you two," she said, eyeing Glorfindel and me with cynicism. "What on earth were you doing travelling through that to come here?"

"We wanted to come and say hello," Glorfindel said with a warm smile. "Congratulations on your baby!"

Bregedúr smiled back. "Thank you, Glorfindel."

"Have you thought of any names?" he asked in excitement. I sensed a hint of baby fever setting in again in him, which had occurred without fail every time someone close to us acquired a child, and Legolas and I watched on happily as he and Bregedúr gushed about the upcoming offspring. I was almost certain that had we been dropped in London, Glorfindel would have become a midwife.

After a while, Legolas requested that Glorfindel come with him to assist with some unspecified errand. Glorfindel obliged, leaving Bregedúr and me alone now.

"How have you been, mate, hm?" I asked quietly, dropping the jovial, brash tone we both usually employed with each other.

"These last few months have been a trial, to be honest with you," Bregedúr said with a sigh as she rested a hand on her belly.

"Mmm, so I heard," I said with a nod. Bregedúr looked over at me in puzzlement.

"Your spouse informed us you were having a hard time. Sent Sidhiel to us, and we came straight out when she delivered the message."

Bregedúr looked indignant at this, but I put a hand on her arm. "He was very worried for you." I raised my eyebrows at her.

"And I'm glad he did arrange for us to be told," I added, "because I wouldn't have wanted one of my best friends to suffer through something like this when I could have at least been there for a bit of support." I smiled at her a little.

Resigned, Bregedúr let out a puff of air and rolled her eyes at me. A small, lopsided smile curved up one edge of her mouth.

"So what's going on that worries your spouse enough to get us over, then?" I continued.

She furrowed her brow a little, though I wasn't sure if it was reluctance or simply pregnancy brain affecting her ability to string a sentence together. Saying nothing, I waited patiently.

"There's… something going on in my brain, Rhodri," she said worriedly after a moment.

"What sort of something?"

Bregedúr regarded me fearfully as she whispered, "I don't know, but it's changed me so suddenly, and not for the better, either."

"Oh? What's changed?"

She absent-mindedly stroked her bump and her voice grew stronger and full of disgust.

"I'm not brave any more. I wasn't ever scared of anything, and now I'm trapped. I can't go outside. I live in here now, Rhodri!" She slammed her fist into the armrest angrily. "Look what's become of me. I was a top scout in Imladris! I slayed Orcs by the dozen! Now I can't even leave my chambers to get food because I'm too afraid." Bregedúr sat seething, fists curled up so tightly her knuckles were white.

"I have an idea of what the problem might be," I broached after a moment. "You certainly wouldn't be the first person to go through this."

Bregedúr's head jerked up as she watched me in astonishment. "You mean other people have had this?"

"Well, I would have to ask you a few more questions first before I could be absolutely certain, but I have absolutely had people come to me with similar issues in my job," I replied. "Would you be interested in talking with me about it in my role as a psychologist?"

With a very intrigued expression, Bregedúr nodded.

"Time for the most boring five minutes of your life, then," I said with a chuckle as I rummaged through my backpack for the papers she needed to autograph.